Loading...Sermon May 28, 2017
The Rev. Rebecca S. Myers, LSW
The Church of the Nativity and St. Stephen, Newport, PA
Easter 7 Year A: //lectionarypage.net/YearA_RCL/Easter/AEaster7_RCL.html
But 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. Acts 1:8
Who was the witness that told you about Jesus Christ? My first witnesses were my parents. An early memory of mine is seeing my father sing in the church choir. I must have been about 3 years old.
My mother took me to mass as a child and when I was about 5, she was so frustrated with me – you see I was crawling under the pews during the service, that she took me out of church, brought me home and I was sent to my room. I was so angry, I kicked the back of the door with my black patent leather shoes, creating marks on the door. My kicking also knocked the picture of Jesus hanging on the wall of my bedroom off the wall and broke part of the frame! YIKES! I knew I was in trouble then! Luckily, my parents did not give up on taking me to church.
And throughout my life, I’ve been blessed and continue to be blessed by many people who not only teach me about Jesus Christ, but also model Jesus Christ in their daily lives.
Today in our first reading and also in our Gospel, we hear accounts of Jesus’ Ascension into heaven. Jesus has been raised on Easter and in our account in Acts, he has been appearing to his followers for nearly six weeks. He has comforted them on the day of resurrection as they walked to Emmaus. He has eaten a meal with them as they fished on the Sea of Galilee. He has appeared to them in the upper room.
He has continued to teach them and to strengthen them, because, you see, he is finally leaving to go be with God. So what are the followers to do? What are we to do?
Jesus tells us that we will receive power from the Holy Spirit and we are to be his witnesses to the ends of the earth. Jesus does not ask them to restore the past when he was with them on earth. Jesus tells the disciples that through the power of the Holy Spirit they will transform the present by being his witnesses throughout the whole world.
So how are we to be witnesses? What does it mean to be a witness for Jesus Christ? Presiding Bishop Michael Curry, talks a lot about how we are the Episcopal branch of The Jesus Movement. He defines The Jesus Movement as:
“Following Jesus into loving, liberating, life-giving relationship with God, with each other, and with creation.” (Following the Way of Jesus, p. 23)
Yet, what is the nature of this love and how can we know when we are not manifesting this love? Presiding Bishop Curry encourages us to look at that well-know Bible passage from Paul’s letter to the Corinthians. The church in Corinth was having all kinds of human relations problems. Those problems were getting in the way of them being witnesses for Christ. I mean, who wants to walk into all of that drama about who is best of all or all of the gossiping or fighting that can occur whenever we human beings get together? Paul reminds them that love is not boastful or rude or jealous. That love does not insist it is right. In other words that love looks out for the other person.
Presiding Bishop Curry says that the opposite of love is not necessarily hate; rather it is selfishness. He says that selfishness is “…unenlightened self-centeredness that gives rise to hatred, bigotry, and violence – or, to say it in the way of Christian tradition, sin.” (Following the Way of Jesus, P. 14)
According to Presiding Bishop Curry, when we are witnesses for Jesus Christ, our lives are “characterized by this kind of non-self-centered, other-directed, sacrificial love.” He asks us to think about the people who have changed our lives for good and to remember how “they have loved us, even when it cost them or pained them,” until we became more than we would have been otherwise. That’s who taught us the way of love. (Following the Way of Jesus, p. 15) Those are the people who witnessed to us and models for how we need to witness to others.
Yes, living in this way will turn our world upside down. In the first verse of our reading today – Acts 1:6, Jesus’ followers ask if now is the time when the Kingdom of Israel will be restored. Even after following him for a number of years, they still only imagine going back to “the good old days.” Jesus tells them and us that we must live in the present in the way he taught us. Jesus tells us we are to go to the ends of the earth. Jesus tells us we must tell and live our story of abundant life together…of a new way to love God.
We are freed from sin into unselfish, sacrificial love. We are freed to work in unselfish, sacrificial love in our daily lives and in our institutions. That’s how we transform the present.
We have received power to be Jesus’ witnesses throughout the whole earth. Let’s claim our branch of the Jesus movement and follow Jesus into “loving, liberating, life-giving relationship with God, with each other, and with creation.”
Amen
