Easter 7 2005.
8th May.
Acts 1.6-14, Ps 68.1-10, 32-35, 1 Peter 5, John 17.1-11.Our first reading for this morning reminds us that we are stuck in the middle.
Now I know this sounds negative, but it isn’t. In fact, its exciting in a way. We are stuck in the time between Jesus departing us – the ascension, and Jesus returning to us – His second coming. We are reminded of this in what the two men in white robes say to the disciples – “This Jesus who has been taken up into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.” We are in, I guess, the intermission in this great stageshow of the salvation of the earth. Yet its not like a normal intermission – we don’t go out to the foyer to visit the conveniences and purchase some jaffas and a choc top. No, this intermission is just as much a part of the show itself. You only need to read again what the disciples were doing after Jesus ascended – devoting themselves to prayer.
So we are waiting. In the meantime, many people wonder when Jesus will come back? I mean, even the Apostles were asking Jesus about the divine timetable. Now I guess its one of my hobby horses, this idea that we can work out the mind of God through reading certain bits of the Bible and try to predict the divine timetable. Its wrong to do this, it is wrong to try to predict when Jesus will come back, or pretty much anything else that God will do, because when we think that we know the mind of God, we are putting ourselves on a level with God, or at the very least, putting God in a box, and assuming some sort of special knowledge that others allegedly don’t have. That way leads to mystery cults and secret societies. Besides, its not Biblical to second guess God. I see signs outside the Christadelphian halls saying things about the history of the world predicted in the Bible. Well, I have to say I think they’re wrong. The Bible isn’t written as an almanac. It’s not God’s yearly planner. As it says here in the reading from Acts, Jesus said in answer to the disciples questions “It is not for you to know the times or periods that the Father has set by his own authority”. It is not our place to predict. There are always signs of the times. There have been signs of the times ever since Jesus ascended. There are always wars and earthquakes and catastrophes, floods and famines, pestilence, all that. And what looking for these signs will do is take the emphasis off the present, and put all the energy into some short term future, which is not what God wants of us. And lets face it, there is just so much to do in the present. No time to be gazing up toward heaven. Its time to be firmly grounded here on earth. Cos gee theres lots to be done.
Im going to harp on about mission again. Yeah, I know, not again. But in the lead up to the planning day, we need to keep it in the forefront of our minds. All of the readings in the past weeks have been looking towards the mission of the church after Jesus went. Jesus did the mission work when he was with the disciples, but after he ascended, they had to take over. Jesus commissions them to be the witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria. In a court of Law, a witness tells what they think is true. Hopefully. As witnesses then, the fledgling church are charged with telling the truth. And when it comes to something like the resurrection and ascension, it is a difficult truth to tell. Perhaps that’s why many church goers today shy away from it all. I mean, the resurrection and the ascension just don’t make sense, let alone a virgin birth. Preposterous. Yet that is what we believe, I mean we say every Sunday morning that we believe it when we say the Nicene Creed. We have to keep in mind that Christianity is a supernatural religion. That’s not to say its all about ghosts, but its supernatural in the true sense of the word – its beyond the nature of creation as we know it. How many of us would openly admit to believing it if asked about it in the street?
Maybe that’s why the traditional churches are shrinking. Because we often don’t have the guts to say what we believe. Its not a matter of telling everyone what to believe, or specifically telling others they are wrong. Its just about being able to say “this is what I believe” without flinching or embarrassment. And to be able to know what it is you believe because you have thought it through.
Robyn Archer, the performer, director, musician and singer wrote this in the Advertiser weekend magazine:
There is a priest, a long-time supporter of the arts, who works in the suburbs of Melbourne. Having had to defend his faith vigorously during the heady 60’s, he is now appalled by young people who come to him saying “I don’t want to question or debate; just give me the dogma and I’ll obey”.
Is this the sort of society, the sort of church we are turning out these days? I mean, if we cannot wrestle with it, if we cannot, all of us, say what we believe and discuss it, then we are doomed to fail in the long run. How can a relationship with God be built on dogma? Built in to the strength of conviction to say what we believe is also the strength to listen to others tell us what they believe and to interact and discuss with that person in a way that is not disempowering or insulting. There is also implicit the obligation to develop your faith through interaction with God and with others. It is an active thing, it is something which must be exercised and lived in the now. A belief in the possibilities within God’s kingdom as it exists here on earth now, manifest in God’s church of every denomination.
So then. Do we have the strength of our convictions to be fair dinkum about being witnesses to the truth that we know? Can we risk the ridicule? Can we be ourselves, God’s people, without fear? I think we can. And this is what helps me to know this, the last verse from the second reading:
“And after you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, support, strengthen, and establish you.
He will indeed. How could we fail? How can we not take up this challenge? This parish has had a hard time. That’s over now. The little suffering is finished. Now is the time of restoration. If you let it happen, it will, on a personal level and in the church. Live in the present, witness to the present kingdom, the here and now Kingdom, and when the time comes for Jesus to return he will return. Accept the help of the Holy Spirit in the meantime, whose coming to the church we celebrate next week.
To God the Holy Trinity be the power forever and ever. Amen.
