Easter VII

By The Rev. Martha Frances

Year A, Easter VII

The Sunday after Ascension

4 May 2008

Text: Acts 1:6-14; John 17:1-11

Other Readings: Psalm 68: 1-10, 33-36; 1 Peter 4: 12-14, 5: 6-11 

      "Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up toward heaven?" the two men in white robes said to those who had watched Jesus disappear into the clouds.  What an amazing sight they had just beheld!  In fact, the disciples had just spent 40 days experiencing the impossible: Jesus, whom they knew had been crucified, walking among them again:  appearing in the Upper Room where they huddled, too afraid to leave the safety of shelter & each other, joining them on the road to Emmaus & breaking bread with them, encouraging some to try again for a large catch of fish on the Sea of Galilee where they had gone back to their former occupation, & then broiling fish for breakfast for them on the shore.

      For 40 days, they had again lived with this rabbi, this teacher who had shown them a new way of life, who taught them about the Reign of God.  Jesus had once again engendered hope in their lives, had given them reason to live beyond the everydayness of fishing & tax collecting & keeping house.

      Even with the resurrected Jesus again in their midst, they still didn't get it, did they?  They asked him, "Lord, is this the time when you will restore God's reign to Israel?"  They still hoped for a political solution.  They still yearned for him to be the Messiah whom the rabbis had taught them would come.  Surely now Jesus would mount the insurrection to throw the Romans out & restore Israel to its former glory.  Then they could at last introduce God's reign in Israel, for they would then be in charge.  Surely they would have high positions of leadership in the new government.

      Jesus had rebuked them once again.  And they still didn't get it.  They still weren't to know the time for God's reign on earth.  They certainly didn't understand what kind of reign it would be.  They were simply to wait there in Jerusalem for the Holy Spirit to come upon them.  Waiting is something we don't do very well, do we?  We're usually too impatient to wait.  Perhaps it wasn't so simple for them either.  Jesus had said they were to be his witnesses in Jerusalem, in Judea & Samaria, & to the ends of the earth.

      Having said this, he ascended into a cloud which took him out of their sight.  This last Thursday was the actual Ascension Day which we celebrate today.  In a beautifully-illustrated copy of the English Book of Common Prayer I own, the picture accompanying the Ascension Day lessons shows the disciples, male & female, Mother Mary prominent in the foreground, looking & even reaching up into the sky where only the tip of Jesus' robe & his bare feet remain at the top of the frame.  His bare feet remind us that he really was a man, human just like you & me, having walked among us & eaten that broiled fish & held little children in his arms to comfort & bless them.  Jesus had truly been among them once again.  And now he was gone.  Disappeared. Ascended.  Once again, a happening which didn't fit any categories for how a Savior, a Messiah was supposed to act.

      And what were they to do?  Where were they to go?  A friend of mine once called this Ascension time, nestled between Ascension Day & the Feast of Pentecost, a "waiting in the hallway" experience.  You know, we're often told that, when one door closes, another is bound to open.  But in the meantime, we're left waiting in the hall. 

      The disciples are left waiting in the hall.  Which door will open?  And when?  What are we to do in the meantime?  The hallway is not comfortable & pretty boring.  Nowhere to sit.  Nothing to occupy our time except to look at the family portraits hanging there—not very interesting to anybody but the family, & even for them, not for long.  Then, we have to trust that the right door really will open.  I don't know about you, but neither waiting nor trusting is my long suit.  Given the choice, I say, "No, thank you," to both.

      Several years ago at Ascension time, I was in a hallway & didn't even know it.  Pastoral assistant at St. Paul's Church down on Park Place, I had been approved for ordination, & I presumed—as did Fr. Jim McGill, our rector, & the whole congregation there—that I would spend my deaconate right there at St. Paul's.  I was happy at St. Paul's, & the people were happy to have me there.  Less than a week later, Bp. Payne called me into his office to ask me to go to Lord of the Streets.  LOTS was in some financial & leadership difficulties at the time, & I frankly didn't know whether I was up to the challenge.  I wasn't even ordained yet & had been asked to lead a new congregation.  Could I do the job?  Which door was the right one to swing open?  The LOTS' door practically knocked me down when it swung open.  Because I believed that God would equip me for the ministry there, I walked in that door. 

      Three years ago we were presented with the opportunity to bring together two congregations in joint ministry & reconciliation at a time when the larger church & much of society thinks in terms of splintering off into small homogeneous interest groups when things don't go as they hoped.  We've been about this adventure ever since.  The men in white robes are likely saying to us all now, "Men & women of Hope, why stand looking up toward heaven?"  Are we heeding the question which the men in white robes put to us?  How long will some continue to stand in the hallway?  How will Hope use the time when I am on sabbatical to revision who we are together?  How can we invite others to join us in walking through the doorway to a richer way of being Church with one another, all of us aware that each of us is needed to bring our gifts to the table? 

      The diocese is helping us financially & with a diocesan coach to move through new doors.  Jesus promised the disciples they would soon be baptized with the Holy Spirit.  We call that event Pentecost & we celebrate it next week.  In the Gospel reading today, Jesus' prayer to the Father to give the disciples—remember, that's you & I—protection as they & we go out to the ends of the earth to proclaim the new life through Christ.  Jesus recognizes that he & the Father are one & that the disciples are one with them if they follow Jesus' way of life.  Jesus asks God in today's prayer to equip us for ministry.  What responsibility, what ministry, are you ready, with God's help, to take on today?  You might say, "All by myself?  But I'm not ready.  I don't know how to begin."  Indeed, you're not called to go it alone.  You have a community of Christians around you to accompany you on the journey.  Also, next week, we celebrate the feast of Pentecost, the coming of the Holy Spirit to be among us, to walk with us, to be God-with-us every day of our journey.  If you choose, celebrate next week by wearing red, including red hats for the women.  Red is the color of the fire of the Holy Spirit, enflaming each of us, empowering us to become more who God calls us to be, & to be Christ's witnesses to all the ends of the earth. 

      Standing in the hallway is okay for a time, to rest & gain strength & listen for the wind & fire of the Holy Spirit, but we're called to go forth through the door, or the window, to live & witness in the light, along with our brothers & sisters in the faith.  What door is opening for you?  For Hope?