Grace and Peace to you on this 7th Sunday of Easter from the risen and ascended Lord, Jesus Christ!
Jesus’ disciples are told to “wait here,” wait for the Holy Spirit. Wait for the next phase of resurrection life, wait for the new age of the church to begin, wait for the next big thing Jesus is about to do. I think that we are right there with them in a lot of ways. Now, next week is Pentecost, and I think it’s helpful to keep the whole story in perspective as we approach the end of the Easter season and look toward the summer, and the next church season after Pentecost. Especially since this is where we all left off when the pandemic started, just getting ready to mark the end of Lent, and Jesus’ journey to the cross. In many ways we are still stuck right there after more than a year. Let’s Remember what had just happened in this story: Jesus and his followers came into Jerusalem just before the biggest festival of the year—the week-long celebration of Passover. At his entrance, Jesus was greeted by all those others who were gathering from all around for the same festival. He rode in on a donkey, like a king from the Scripture. The people laid branches and cloaks down on the road as he approached. The shouted blessings to him “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” They shouted for salvation “Hosanna in the highest heaven!” By the end of the week, in the middle of the night, when Jesus took his disciples to the garden to pray, Jesus was captured. Arrested by the high priest’s armed police, after Judas’ signal, Jesus was given a one sided trial by the cover of night. In the mess of the armed guard coming to arrest him, Jesus’ followers fled and scattered. Scared, isolated, the disciples hid, knowing that a real threat loomed outside. On Friday Jesus was crucified, by evening he was buried, sealed in a tomb. Then Sunday. The first day of the week. The women are the ones to discover that the Lord has risen. The men are reluctant to believe what the women say. So, Jesus, himself, shows up! The disciples are still in hiding. And Jesus shows up. They don’t even recognize him at first, but he helps them realize that it is, in fact and in flesh, himself. That is the season we are in, the season of Easter. Jesus stays with them until just about the next festival, Shavuot, Pentecost. Our story today picks up there, at about 40 days after Jesus’ resurrection and one week before that festival. Now, they are told, to wait. Jesus blesses them and is taken up into heaven! And they are told…to stay and wait. In a lot of ways, I’m feeling that same sense of waiting. There is a lot of excitement, for me and I hope for you, too, at being freshly called here to Halfway Creek as your pastor. There is so much to dream about doing, so many relationships to start building, people to meet. And I’ve been hearing this sense of “we’ve finally got a pastor, let’s get going!” On top of that there is this sense of wanting the pandemic to be over. We’ve had what seems like several decades now, though it’s only been a bit more than a year, of dealing with sickness and loss of friends, loved ones, or friends of friends. We’ve been in this difficult time, a period that has fused into the back of our minds the question of safety for ourselves and our loved ones, in a way far more real than usual (and) on a universal scale. To suppress that trauma, or hide from it, it’s tempting to reject the whole thing and convince ourselves that everything is normal. We long for normalcy. To go to the store again with confidence (though having them put the groceries right in my car is a commodity I think I’d be happy to keep), to eat at restaurants, and yes: to worship in our treasured buildings of prayer, with singing and fellowship, and oh so very much coffee (at least for me). And yet we are still waiting. Waiting for vaccines to roll out to the youngest populations. Waiting for the masses to take advantage of them. Waiting for warmer weather when it’s easier to gather out-of-doors. Waiting for fear and threat to subside before we can enter the next…phase of ministry, and life, together. Waiting for house closings and school years ending and moving (thank you for that, by-the-way). And as eager as we are to start ministry, my first objective as pastor is going to be to listen, preach the gospel to you, and get to know you—for quite some time—before we get too carried away on moving forward. The disciples, as Jesus ascends into heaven… they are waiting. Waiting for something to happen. They are waiting, as Jesus said, for what they expect Jesus to do next: to do what the Messiah is supposed to do when he comes back: begin the revolution, restore the kingdom to God’s people, make everything right in the world. We’re all waiting for something similar. We ourselves have been locked up, waiting for dangers to subside. Waiting to get back to normal, or even better. And just like the disciples, Jesus has been walking with us, still teaching us, yet has kept us contained to our own corners for the time being. Beloveds, even while waiting, God is with us and working on us, preparing us for the next thing. During this time, God’s been teaching us the important things we need to remember for when we do enter fully into next phase of church: ONE, to remember that the church, locked sanctuary doors or not, has never been closed. The fire of the holy spirit is out among you--in the neighborhoods, residing on those witnesses of Jesus, on YOU, out there in all the world. Second, Jesus ascended into heaven (and next week as we read of the apostles receiving the Holy Spirit), means that he has entrusted US, now, with his message. “you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” You are the witnesses to Jesus’ presence: in the places you live, and work, and play; Wherever we meet, whether physically, or virtually: You are Jesus’ presence in those places. We will continue to be that presence, not neglecting the new avenues of communication, new ways of being together, that we’ve learned this past year. In some ways, the doors of the church have, actually, been opened wider by being closed. As we wait: for the next exciting phase of being church together, for new life from the ashes of the pandemic, Keep our focus on Jesus’ promise of new and abundant life. Know that there is time and adaptation yet to happen. Know even more that the love of God will see us through and will do amazing things even in the waiting. Comments are closed.
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AuthorRev. Chris Sesvold is currently the pastor at Halfway Creek Lutheran Church (ELCA) in Holmen, WI. Archives
October 2021
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