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Sermon May 24, 2020
The Rev. Rebecca S. Myers,
The Church of the Nativity and St. Stephen’s
Seventh Sunday of Easter, Year A
http://www.lectionarypage.net/YearA_RCL/Easter/AEaster7_RCL.html
So when they had come together, they asked him, ‘Lord, is this the time when you will restore the kingdom to Israel?’ He replied, ‘It is not for you to know the times or periods that the Father has set by his own authority. 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 1:6-8
When I was growing up, my parents were friends with a woman who had a home in Grantham, near Messiah College. But she didn’t live there all of the time. She also had a home in Washington, DC. I always thought that was so great – a city house and a country house. It seemed like the best of both worlds to me.
I never set out to make that kind of living a reality, even though I love cities and I love the country. Then my first call in ministry involved two parttime positions in the Diocese of Lexington in Kentucky. I was the Priest-in-Charge in the rural area of Corbin and I was the Executive Director of a hospitality ministry in the city of Lexington. I had a house, that was the rectory, in Corbin and I lived in a room in the facility in Lexington. I had my country house and my city house, but it wasn’t exactly like I had ever thought it would be.
I’ve had plenty of experiences where I am in conversation with God about things in my life and what I’d like to see, but they rarely turn out the way I imagine. How about you?
Our reading from Acts today is at the ascension of Jesus into heaven. Ascension Day was this past Thursday, 40 days after Easter and 10 days before Pentecost. Jesus’ followers are still around, amazed at what they’ve seen and lived through.
They left the lives they knew – vocation and families – to follow Jesus. They saw him perform miracles. They witnessed how he loved the outcast and how he challenged the status quo to encourage greater justice for all people. Time and again he surprised them.
They saw his horrible execution and then his incredible resurrection. For 40 days, he’s been appearing to them, whether it’s on the banks of the lake, preparing a meal for them or walking to Emmaus and breaking bread or coming to them in their closed upper room.
These disciples have so much, don’t they? They traveled with Jesus. He personally taught them. They saw wonderful and astounding miracles. Following Jesus, while chaotic and dangerous, was also deeply peaceful and just made sense to their souls. Otherwise, why would they so radically change their lives?
Yet, even after all of this, they still don’t “get” Jesus, do they? After all of this, they focus on when Jesus will restore the kingdom of Israel! After all of this, they are still focused on their tiny circle of life. As my grandmother used to say, “their heads (minds) were tiny.” All they could imagine was what they thought was important and what they thought would bring them peace and satisfy their souls.
Once again, Jesus must enlarge their view. He must correct their myopic, self-centered focus. He must try to get them to see the path he’s been talking about all along. He must once again get them to live and breathe the truth of his incarnation.
Jesus’ love, teachings and way of life are not just to restore the kingdom of Israel. Jesus’ love, teachings and way of life are to restore the whole world! There aren’t these separate kingdoms in some sort of hierarchy. There aren’t people in some sort of hierarchy. All of the world is created by God. All of the world is included in Jesus love, teachings and way of life. The whole world.
I know, I know, we do set up ways to live in community together, which often means forming governments and having borders; however, while we live in what might be called the “Emperor’s – Give to Caesar what is due Caesar” world, in particular the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the United States of America, we also live in the kingdom of God, which knows no borders, knows no hierarchy, knows no races or classes or gender orientations or any of the other things we humans devise to keep us apart from each other and from the world.
Our altar has Jerusalem crosses on it – you know the large cross in the center and the four small crosses surrounding the large one. This cross easily symbolizes Jesus’ words to the disciples and to us – from Jerusalem – the large cross – to Judea, Samaria and to the ends of the Earth – to the four corners of the earth.
We receive the Holy Spirit and are called to be Jesus’ witnesses to the world. It’s not only about our little corner of the world, although that’s where our witnessing occurs. It’s about the worldview of Jesus Christ, who saw the whole world as one. How do our laws and rules measure up with Jesus’ teachings? Are they loving of neighbor and self, for instance?
We are living in a time when we dramatically see so much of what Jesus tried to teach. This novel Coronavirus has shown us how much we are all connected, hasn’t it? The virus doesn’t know about boundaries or any of the human-made differences we’ve decided to create to separate ourselves from each other. The virus only knows how to find a great host and keep living.
And we have the opportunity to look out for each other in ways that feel radical and new to us. Do we decide to wear a mask, because that protects you from me, if I happen to be asymptomatic, but still able to spread the virus? Do we decide to maintain physical distance from each other, even as difficult and painful as that is, because it is the loving thing to do for our neighbors and for ourselves?
How are we in this time witnesses for Jesus and for our love of God, love of neighbor and love of each other? Watch out, because it may look much different than we imagine. May we be open to the power of the spirit and be witnesses to Jesus right where we live and in the whole world!
Amen
