Together, Waiting

Scriptures:  Acts 1:6-14; I Peter 4:12-14, 5:6-11; John 17:1-11

Thursday, May 29 was probably one of the more readily forgotten days of the church calendar – Ascension Day, when we remember that after Jesus was crucified and resurrected, and after the resurrection appeared a number of times to the disciples, Jesus returned to the Father, as described in the book of Acts. To his earthly ministry, Jesus could say, “Mission Accomplished”.  Jesus is passing the baton - It would now be for the disciples to continue to carry out the ministry.  In a way, it was also like the prophet Elijah passing the mantle to his successor, Elisha – remember that as Elisha watched, Elijah was caught up in a chariot and rode into heaven.  With Jesus, the visuals are different, but with the same result…one who had been mentor and teacher is caught up into heaven, and the students are left behind to carry on the master’s work. 

It’s a transitional moment, and transitions can be scary.   We can look back on our graduations from grade school or high school or college, or when we left our parents to begin a life – a job and family - on our own.  We may be glad to graduate, or reluctant to leave home, but either way there are questions – Where do I go from here?  Am I ready to take on life without parents or teachers by my side?  At a basic level, can I – can we - do this?  And of course, those who have mentored us have their own questions – have I given my child or my student enough preparation.  Have I laid enough groundwork that they can move forward without me.

Jesus and his disciples are wrestling with similar questions.  Jesus had been telling his disciples that he would be going to the Father, and they weren’t sure what he was talking about.  In fact, the disciples aren’t on the same page with Jesus at all….Jesus is about to leave them, and  the disciples are asking when Jesus and they would overthrow Rome and win independence for Judea.  They just didn’t get it.  So Jesus gives them some last-minute instructions; he says, in effect – “The answer to your question is above your pay grade, and none of your business” – which wasn’t what they were hoping to hear.  But then Jesus goes on….”But when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, you will receive power to be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”  To the ends of the earth….oh my goodness…what had they gotten themselves into?  It seems that God had much bigger plans for the disciples than they could possibly have imagined.  And then, while they’re trying to wrap their minds around what Jesus said, Jesus was lifted up into heaven, while they were left behind, staring into space, probably with their mouths hanging wide open.

It’s an in-between time….Jesus was no longer with them, and the Holy Spirit had not yet come on them in power.  We’re told three things:  first, they prayed – Acts tells us “All these” – these being the eleven remaining apostles – “were constantly devoting themselves to prayer, together with certain women, including Mary the mother of Jesus, as well as his brothers.”  Secondly, they took care of some organizational housekeeping, electing someone to take the place of Judas among the apostles – somebody named Matthias, about whom we hear nothing from that point on.  Lastly, they were together – together in the upper room where they had been staying, together praying.  They were together, waiting…..and next week we will read that they were all together in one place on the day of Pentecost, when the promised Holy Spirit came with power.

 

They were together.  At least in that moment, Jesus’ prayer at the Last Supper was being answered.  You remember the prayer – the one in which Jesus prayed that God would protect them, and that they would all be one, as Jesus and the Father are one.   While I did not read the entire prayer, Jesus repeatedly asks God to protect his followers, and repeatedly asks God to grant that they may all be one, they and those who believe through their word – which includes us.

Jesus’ ascension marked a transition in the relationship of Jesus with the disciples.  Jesus would no longer be in the flesh walking beside them – but Jesus would still be with them – and even more powerfully than before.  In the flesh, Jesus could only be in one place at a time; in the Spirit, Jesus is with each of us wherever we go.  Jesus’ relationship to his disciples changed, but it did not end – if anything, with the coming of the Spirit, it grew stronger, as the Spirit would remind them of what Jesus had said when he was among them.

But the coming of the Spirit is for next week.  This week, the apostles are together, waiting, in an in-between place.  And really, in a sense, that’s where we all find ourselves – together, waiting.  We say that the kingdom of God is among us and even within us – and yet the kingdom is not present with us in its full glory.  And as individual Christians, we are likewise in in-between places – not where we were or even who we were when we first responded to Jesus’ call, “Come, follow me,” but also not where we will be or even who we will be when God’s transforming work within us is done.  Likewise, as a congregation, we are at every moment in a place somewhere between what we were in the past and what God is calling us to be in the future.

In that in-between place between the Ascension of Christ and the Pentecostal outpouring of the Spirit, the disciples were together, in prayer, waiting.  And when we go through life’s transitions, as we all do, being together and waiting with the church is a good place to be.  It’s a protected place to be, and as Jesus prayed for God to protect his first followers, he also prayed for God to protect us.  When we’re going through times of change and loss, it’s tempting to isolate ourselves, to drift away from community, to drift away from the church.  But these times of change and loss are when we most need the church.  Even if we don’t feel like it.  Even if we feel like we’re just going through the motions – it’s ok.  Some Sundays – not many, but every once in a great while, I feel like that too – it’s ok.  What’s important is not what we feel at any given moment…in the course of a day our emotions are all over the place, for who knows what reasons….what’s important is that we show up, that we show up for one another, that we’re there for one another to help carry life’s burdens, that we’re together.

And it’s important that we take time to wait for the leading of the Spirit, to wrap everything we do in prayer.   Like the apostles, we often have our own agendas – “Lord, is this the time you will restore the kingdom to Israel?  Lord, is this the moment when my life is finally going to come together?  Lord, is this the moment when I’ll finally meet that special someone who will save me from myself?  Lord, is this the moment when this congregation is finally going to hit its stride, with pews and offering plates overflowing?”  All good things to want for ourselves….all perfectly reasonable  things to have on our agenda.  But it’s important that we spend time together, waiting on the Lord in prayer, to listen for God’s leading, to discern whether what’s on our agenda is what’s on God’s agenda, or if God has something different, something bigger and better on the agenda for us.

And  if we wait on God in prayer, we’ll know when it’s time to stop waiting and start acting.  Jesus told the disciples that when the Spirit came in power, they would be his witnesses in Jerusalem, in Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.  Before the coming of the spirit, they were worried about the political situation in Jerusalem and doing organizational housekeeping, electing another apostle.  After the coming of the spirit, they received the power Jesus promised, and they hit the ground running, spreading the good news in every direction.  So there’s a time to wait on the Lord in prayer, and there’s a time to act in response to God’s leading.  Or, put another way, there’s a time to pray with bowed heads and folded hands, and then there’s a time to pray with our arms and our legs and our hands and our feet, as our ministries and our lives become a constant prayer of thanksgiving to God.

“You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in Judea and  Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”  May we at Emanuel Church awaiting the guidance of the Spirit, and where the Spirit leads, may we follow.  Amen.