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Easter 7A, May 24, 2020

Posted on May 24, 2020 by Beth Crane

Acts 1:6-14
Psalm 68:1-10, 33-36
1 Peter 4:12-14; 5:6-11
John 17:1-11

Our opening reading today describes what happened on the feast day the Church celebrated this past Thursday, the Ascension of our Lord into heaven. He has been telling the disciples that he has to go to the Father and that he will send the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of truth. 

There he is with them on Mount Olivet. They ask him if he is going to bring in his kingdom. He tells them that it is not for them to know the timing, but then he assures them that they will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon them and that they will be his witnesses “to the ends of the earth.”

Let us take a few moments and think about this. Jesus has been telling them that he will go to be with God and will send the Holy Spirit, but there is a huge difference between hearing him say these things and standing there watching him rise into heaven, leaving them alone and grief-stricken. 

We can imagine that the apostles felt completely lost as they watched him ascend. He said he would not leave them comfortless, but I think they felt sad and lost as they gazed up into the heavens and saw him disappear behind that cloud.

Two angels appear and ask them why they are staring up to heaven. These angels obviously are not very sympathetic. Then the angels tell them that Jesus will come to them again. This seems to help. They recall that he had told them that he would come again.

Sometimes the Bible leaves things out. We can imagine what a shock it was for the apostles to see Jesus disappear. They had spent every waking moment with him for somewhere between eighteen months and three years, depending on which gospel we are reading. In any case, it was a long time. They had shared meals; they had prayed together; he had taught them; when they had questions, there he was to answer those questions. When they wondered what was the best course of action,  he was there to guide them. Now, he was gone. What would they do? Who would be their leader? We can imagine that perhaps they wept. Perhaps they felt abandoned. They could have felt a whole flood of emotions.

But the scripture does not address that. It simply says, “Then they returned to Jerusalem.” When they got there, they went to that familiar upper room. And Luke tells us who was there—Peter and John, James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James, son of Alphaeus, Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of James. Also Mary, the Mother of Jesus, and the other women who had been there through it all. And Jesus’ brothers. And we are told that they constantly devoted themselves to prayer. He had told them to wait and pray, and the Spirit would come to them, and that is what they did.

We were not physically there when all of this happened, but this story is our story. We did not have the great joy of spending several years with Jesus in a literal sense, but we do have the privilege of knowing him because we have spent time in community together with each other and with him. We have felt his love. He has taught us as we have read the scriptures together. He has led us as we have sought his guidance in prayer together and individually. We have shared the Eucharist, the meal at which he is our host. We have talked to him and listened to him, individually and corporately.

We have not literally stood and watched him ascend, yet we have gazed in awe at the beautiful window over the altar at Grace. As we have looked at that window, we have joined the apostles in watching Jesus ascend, and we have tried to figure out which apostle is whom.

We have not experienced in a literal sense the shock of watching our beloved Lord ascend into heaven, which may be a great blessing, because we have not experienced the sense of loss they must have felt. But we have experienced his presence with us.

That is the important thing. We have experienced his presence. We are his sheep. He is our good shepherd.

Our gospel for today is our Lord’s prayer to God for us.  Jesus says to God, “All mine are yours, and yours are mine.” At other times he has said that he and God are one. I have no doubt that the apostles felt that, as they were walking and talking with Jesus, they were walking and talking with their loving God. As Jesus said, “I and the Father are one.”

At the end of our gospel, Jesus prays, “And now I am no longer in the world, but they ( meaning his followers, us) are in the world.”  And then Jesus prays, “Holy Father, protect them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one as we are one.”

As we stand and watch out Lord ascend to be with the Father, and as we realize on deeper and deeper levels that Jesus is God walking the face of the earth, and as we think of all the time we have spent with our Lord, sharing Eucharist with him and learning from him, and as we realize more and more profoundly that Jesus, God, and the Spirit are one, and as we pray, we may be able to get a sense of what was happening with the apostles all those years ago as they stayed together and prayed, as he had told them to do, and waited actively, expectantly, faithfully, for the coming of the Spirit just as we will do this week as we prepare for the feast of Pentecost.

Jesus asked God to protect us, his followers, so that we may be one as Jesus and God are one. Our Lord was praying in a world where a ruthless empire could kill you for no reason, just as Covid-19 can snuff us out. Our Lord prayed for protection for his followers, and I am hoping and praying that each of us can feel that protection coming from God so that we can feel as close to God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, as Jesus did to his heavenly Father. And I hope and pray that this sense of closeness with and protection by our Loving God will bring you a deep peace, even in the midst of this most distressing pandemic. Our loving God is as close as our breath. Our loving Shepherd. Jesus, is leading us. May we wait and pray for the gifts of the Spirit at Pentecost. 

May we pray together the Collect for Ascension Day, p. 226.

Almighty God, whose Son our Savior Jesus Christ ascended far above all heavens that he  fill all things: Mercifully give us faith to perceive that, according to his promise, he abides with his Church on earth, even to the end of the ages; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, in gory everlasting.  Amen.

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Easter 7A RCL May 28, 2017

Posted on May 28, 2017 by Beth Crane

Acts 1:6-14
Psalm 68:1-10, 33-36
1 Peter 4:12-14; 5:6-11
John 17:1-11

In our opening reading from the Book of Acts, it is forty days after the first Easter. Jesus has died on the cross; his followers have gone to the tomb and found it empty; word has spread that Jesus has risen, During these forty days, many of his followers have seen the risen Lord.

Imagine how they are feeling. He has died. He is risen. What is going to happen now? He has told them that he will have to return to the Father, but that he will send the Holy Spirit to be with them. They have no understanding of the Holy Spirit. What they do know is that they have spent every waking hour with Jesus for a long period of time, They have shared meals with him. He has taught them. When they have had questions or needed guidance, they have gone to him and he has helped them. He has been there, like a light in the darkness. He has been the wisest of guides when they needed advice. Now, he is going to leave them.

The apostles are gathered at the Mount of Olives, a short distance outside of Jerusalem. They ask him if the kingdom of David, our Lord’s ancestor, is going to be restored. He does not answer them directly, but he tells them and us that we humans do not always understand or know God’s timing. What we can do is to be ready at all times to do God’s will. Looking back over two thousand years, we know that the Kingdom of God has been growing all that time. They have no way of knowing that, on the Feast of Pentecost in a few short days, the growth of that Kingdom, God’s shalom, will leap forward with the outpouring of the gifts of the Holy Spirit.

At the Mount of Olives, our Lord tells the apostles and us, “….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.” Here they are, grieving and a bit afraid, wondering what they are going to do without him, and he gives them and us this commission. We are his witnesses to the ends of the earth. He is counting on us to continue his work. Then he is lifted up into heaven. And this beautiful window depicts that scene.

I think they felt many things. I think they felt lost and very sad. But they did not lose faith or give up. They did not run for the hills. The text tells us that they went back to Jerusalem. And what did they do? They did exactly what Jesus had instructed them to do. They gathered together, the first community of followers of our Lord, and they prayed. Luke, the author of the Book of Acts, tells us that there were certain women with these first followers, including Mary, the mother of Jesus and, most certainly Mary Magdalene, and others. They waited together and they prayed together.

In our gospel for today, Jesus is praying for the apostles and for us. In this prayer, Jesus tells us that he and God are one. He says that he has completed the work that he came to do. He has taught the apostles and us how much God loves us. He has shared with us the powerful truth and the healing power of God’s love for us and for everyone. And now, he is depending on the apostles and on us to share that love to the ends of the earth.

Jesus is going to return to heaven, but before he does that, he prays for God’s protection for the apostles and for us. Think of that, Our Lord prays for God’s protection for us.

In our reading from the First Letter of Peter, written to slaves and aliens in Asia Minor who are undergoing persecution, we hear some advice that can help us as we face challenges. Peter tells us that God’s Spirit is resting on us. He advises us to cast all our anxiety on God, because God cares for us. He tells us to discipline ourselves and stay alert. He counsels us to remain steadfast in our faith.

And then Peter concludes with this inspiring prayer,”…the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, support, strengthen, and establish you. To him be the power forever and ever. Amen.” Peter echoes Jesus’ prayer for us. God is protecting us even now.

God is always with us; Jesus is with us; the Holy Spirit is with us, to restore, support, and strengthen us. Challenges will come along, but we are not alone. God’s power and love are with us.

We are looking forward to the Feast of Pentecost this coming Sunday. We know that the Holy Spirit came down on the apostles and gave them the amazing gift to speak heart to heart to every person gathered in Jerusalem for Pentecost.

The apostles and the others gathered with them did not know that, They knew that Jesus had told them to stay together and pray and to be ready for the power of the Spirit to come to them. But they had no idea what this meant until it happened to them and they began to use the gifts of the Spirit to spread the good news of God’s love and forgiveness and healing to a world ruled by a vast and powerful and ruthless empire. But they had faith. They gathered and prayed.

That is what we are called to do. We are called to take some time this week to prepare for the coming of the Spirit at Pentecost. The Spirit still comes and touches people’s hearts and lives in this day and age. If you have something red, feel free to wear it to symbolize the flames that danced over the heads of the apostles.

Let us again pray the Collect for this day on page 226:

O God, the King of Glory, you have exalted your only Son Jesus Christ with great triumph to your kingdom in heaven: Do not leave us comfortless, but send us your Holy Spirit to strengthen us, and exalt us to that place where our Savior Christ has gone before; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, in glory everlasting. Amen.

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Easter 7A RCL June 1, 2014

Posted on June 1, 2014 by Beth Crane

Acts 1:6-14

Psalm 68:1-10, 33-36

1 Peter 4:12-14, 5:6-11

John 17:1-11

This past Thursday, forty days after Easter, the Church celebrated the Feast of the Ascension. Our first reading today describes that event.

Jesus takes the apostles to Mount Olivet, a short distance outside Jerusalem.  They ask him whether he is now going to bring in his kingdom. He tells them it is not for them to know the timing of that. It will happen in God’s timing.We can image that they might have felt embarrassed, or scolded. They probably wished they had not asked that question.

I don’t think Jesus is trying to scold them. He is asking them to trust God for the timing of things, and he is letting them know the amazing things that are going to happen. He tells them that they are going to receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon them. That is going to happen very soon. This coming Sunday we will celebrate the Feast of Pentecost. He tells them and us that they and we will be his witnesses to the ends of the earth. And indeed the Spirit did come upon them, dancing like flames of fire over their heads, blowing like the desert wind–ruach and giving them the gift to speak in all the known languages of the world.

At this point, standing on Mount Olivet with Jesus, they had no idea that this was going to happen. But somehow we can imagine that they realized that he was conferring upon them something very important. In fact, he was passing on his ministry to them. He was telling them that they would receive power from God so that they could go forth and share the good news about Jesus.

Abruptly, he is lifted into the heavens. They gaze up as he disappears into the clouds. Two men in white robes appear and ask the apostles why they are staring. Imagine how the apostles felt, Jesus, who has been with them for so long, day in and day out, eating meals with them, teaching them about the scriptures, giving them such a powerful example of healing and forgiving people. He has been their leader, their mentor, their friend, and suddenly he is gone.

The apostles go back to Jerusalem, back to the room where they have been gathering. And they focus on praying. Waiting and praying. Waiting for Jesus to come again. Waiting for the Spirit. Not a passive kind of waiting, but an active, alive, faithful kind of waiting, .Jesus had gone to the Father. There was an ending, But there was also a new beginning.

In our epistle for today, the theme of persecution and suffering is continued. They and we are actually called to rejoice in our suffering because, when we suffer, we are sharing our Lord’s suffering. We are called to cast all our anxiety on God because God cares for us so much. What a thought, to give all our fears and anxieties to God, knowing that God loves us so much and God will carry them for us. We are also called to discipline ourselves, to be alert, to resist evil, to hang on to our faith, and to remember that we are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses, our brothers and sisters in the faith all over the world, and their faith sustains us. God will “restore, support, strengthen, and establish us.” What a powerful promise.

Our gospel is from Jesus’ final prayer for his followers before he goes out and is arrested in the garden. Jesus says, “I have made your name known to those whom you gave me from the world.” Jesus has made God’s name known to us. Jesus has made God known to us. We can now call God Daddy or Papa or Dad or Mom or Mama. Jesus has allowed us to realize how much God loves us. Jesus calls us to abide in God’s love.

And then Jesus asks God to protect this little flock, his apostles, and us, so that we may be one as Jesus and God are one. Jesus asks God’s protection for us, Think of what that means. We do not need to be afraid, No matter what may happen, God is with us, Jesus is with us, and the Holy Spirit is with us.

After Jesus ascended into heaven, the apostles went back to the upper room where they had been gathering.  Mary and some of the other women were with them.  He had just left them but the two men told them that Jesus would return. He had left, but he had assured them that they would receive the power of the Spirit.

They knew what to do. They gathered and they prayed without ceasing. And they waited patiently with great discipline and focus until God would take the next action. And, as they prayed, I think Jesus, though physically absent, became more and more present to them. He was in their midst. They remembered things he had said and done. They felt his love, his faith, his grace. They were strengthened. So that, when Pentecost came, they were ready. In the power of the Spirit, they burst forth speaking the love and grace of Christ and touching people’s hearts.

This week, let us pray for the gifts of the Spirit. Let us think of our Lord and his love. Let us prepare ourselves for the outpouring of the Spirit at Pentecost. If you have something red, please wear it. Let us open our minds and hearts to the power of the Holy Spirit and the presence of our Lord. Amen.

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