Easter 7A May 28. 2017
The goal: More WE, Less ME
These days are crazy-making… I don’t even like to check the news when I get up in the morning, which is really not true, because it’s the first thing I do, sometimes even before I get out of bed. The level of crisis that the world is operating under is astonishing, frightening, and even painful. Questions swirl around us about safety. We wonder about the motives of our political and community leaders. We dig in, holding on to our long-held beliefs and positions at all cost. And we wonder, “When did it all go so wrong?”
Of course, the truth of the matter is that it went wrong right in the very beginning, with the couple in the Garden, who decided that their own beliefs were more important than the instructions that they were given for living a good life. When you read through the book of Genesis and beyond, which I highly recommend if you think that life today is screwed up, you see that time and time and time again, the people of God choose their plans over God’s plans. It’s like they can’t help it. Even when there is someone present to say, “I think this is a bad idea,” the people go and do their own thing. And in the end, the prophet proclaims the grand, “I told you so!”
The good news in all of these stories is that the “I told you so” does not come with the destruction or abandonment of the people. Do they suffer? Yes. Do they spend years lost in their own folly? Absolutely. Will they ever learn the lessons that God is trying to teach? Sometimes, for short periods of time. Did God ever just give up? Thankfully, no.
One of the reasons that we continue to need the Hebrew Bible story is to put the life of Jesus into context. Jesus comes to the world waiting to be saved. Generations of Jews, God’s chosen people, have suffered. But their hope has rested in the promise of a Savior. We often talk about how they expected the Messiah would be a brave knight, coming as warrior and king, wiping out the oppressors in payback for all of the pain they have experienced. Many before Jesus claimed to be the One, the fulfillment of God’s prophecy, but none had fit the bill.
And then Jesus comes, and from the very beginning, he was a contradiction to all of the world’s expectations. The birth narratives give us an insight into the humbleness of his beginnings. His call and baptism by John give us a glimpse of his humility. His ministry was so unlike what the Jews were expecting that the religious leaders of the day waged war from almost the first day. And nothing could have been more shocking than to see the man killed, a mere three years after his ministry began.
Of course, Easter changed all of that. The resurrection is living proof that God’s love and power cannot be contained. The empty tomb and the presence of the risen Jesus with the disciples in the 40 days afterward are an enduring witness to the ultimate power of God.
Some of our favorite Jesus stories take place during this season of Eastertide… the walk to Emmaus, Doubting Thomas… these stories are especially poignant because we can relate… to the fear, the questions, to it all… Like the disciples after the resurrection, I ask myself all the time, “What does this mean for how I’m going to live my life today?”
Ascension Day is not celebrated as a high, holy day for most of the Church. Here in Germany, it is observed as a holiday, but has been coupled with Father’s Day, so it’s not really a “Jesus goes back to Heaven” kind of day. So, I’m glad that we have one of the ascension stories as a part of our readings for the day.
As I hear the disciples’ question, I can’ help but think of a child with separation anxiety… “Jesus, when are you coming back?” Jesus’ reassurance comes in an unexpected way. He tells them that they will not know the day or hour, BUT they will receive the power of the Holy Spirit to give them strength to witness to who he is until his return. And they are sent to wait for whatever that will look like… praying and wondering and worrying, I’m sure. Next Sunday, we will experience the birth of the Church in the fiery tongues of Pentecost, but that is Chaplain Baker’s story to tell.
Today’s gospel lesson comes from Jesus’ last discourse – the final prayer at the end of the Last Supper scene, before the unfolding of his arrest and crucifixion. For me, there is an added layer of meaning when we pair it with the ascension scene.
In this passage, Jesus prepares for all that will unfold before him, giving a final prayer and blessing. When they look back on this supper, the disciples will have a better understanding of what Jesus was trying to say. This was Jesus’ lesson: that he didn’t have to be with them for the world to be changed. When we follow him, his is present with us and through us. We are his body – his hands, his feet, his voice – and we have work to do.
We also know that the work of Jesus is at its best when we are acting as one. There is power in our work and ministry when we are all on the same page, singing from the same score, rowing with the same stroke, running with the same stride…. You get the picture, right? But when we are out of step with one another, then chaos usually ensures.
Shawn and I have almost a foot height difference between us. It often makes for awkward selfies. But the practical reality of that difference was displayed on our first long weekend away from Stuttgart almost 13 years ago. We took a lovely trip to Prague, and while it was beautiful and romantic, an inordinate amount of time was spent trying to find our stride. I lost track of how many times we were standing on opposite street corners, because I just couldn’t get places as fast as he could. It was frightening, and a little annoying - for both of us. But in the end, we had to have a conversation about when it is important to match our strides. Sometimes that means I have to speed up. Mostly, he has to slow down. But it’s important to do so if we want to get and enjoy places together.
I think this is a good example of what it means to be workers together in the name of God. We have to be willing to work in unison, giving up our need to be the big cheese in charge. Sometimes great things can be accomplished by one, but most often, it is our willingness to work together than makes the biggest difference in peoples’ lives.
Jesus’ words are not just a reassurance that we are not alone, but that we are his people together. Last week, we heard Jesus promise and Advocate – one who walks alongside us in our journeys. But that is not the Spirit’s only role. The Holy Spirit also makes us one body. And in the process of becoming one body of believers, we become unified in our purpose, and miraculous things occur. When we are about making our own needs and wants and beliefs the most, or only, important thing, trouble invariably ensues.
It’s so easy to stay in our comfort zones – to take care of our own needs and do what we’ve always done. But life in Christ demands something more from us. We have to want to become one with Christ and with one another.
Throughout history, from the Garden to the disciples to the current day, the Spirit moves and we have to decide whether we’re going to move with it or not. Jesus said, “The spirit, like the wind, blows where it chooses.” The word for wind and breath is the same at the word for Spirit… ruah. It’s the word from the creations story with the wind stirred the waters. It’s the word when God formed and man out of dust and breathed life into him. And it’s the word used at Pentecost as a mighty wind breathes life into the Church.
The Spirit not only comes to unite us, but to free us from what we have previously known about the world. God’s activity is not confined to what makes us comfortable. Left to our own devices, we sabotage the work of the Spirit by claiming our power over God’s power. So it’s not surprising that Jesus sent the disciples to go back to the Upper Room and wait to receive the Holy Spirit. When we read the Book of Acts, we see the church trying to catch up with the Holy Spirit as they are compelled to cross racial, religious and national boundaries to bring Jesus’ message of love to the whole world.[i]
This season of Eastertide, I have been asking myself the question, “Why Jesus?” And through these last 7 weeks, I have been reminded that I need Jesus because he refocuses my attention on what’s important.
As I look around me and feel like the world is spinning more out of control, I am reminded that life in Christ is less about theological purity and more faithfulness and trust - about loving and serving in the places we are. A pastor friend reminded me that above all else, we are called to be deeply devoted disciples of Jesus Christ, not disciples to our own wants and needs. When I sit and read chapters of the gospels rather than verses or paragraphs, I am more and more convinced that what Jesus cares most is how we love one another.
In this week’s news alone, from the Manchester bombing, to stabbings in Portland, to disunity in our government and our churches, to attacks in Egypt and Syria which kill the innocent just to put forward a political or religious agenda… there is no doubt that we have this disunity this perfected. But Jesus’ prayer is for the whole world… that we may be one.
Somehow, we have to figure out how to make that a reality… in our personal lives, in our church lives, and in our lives in the world. We have to figure out how to make our faith lives our life’s work, and we have to be willing to work toward those goals together, in spite of our disagreements and our own self-interests. And that, my friends, can only be done when we trust the Spirit to be with us in the places and with the people who need us. And through that same Spirit, we can experience “more WE, and less ME.”
Be prepared - our lives will take a different turn than we expect. But Jesus’ promises hold true. 6So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, is this the time when you will restore the kingdom to Israel?” 7He replied, “It is not for you to know the times or periods that the Father has set by his own authority. 8But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” (Acts 1:6-8 NRSV)
Amen.
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