A Sermon for Ascension Sunday
by Pastor Laura Gentry
Luke 24:44-53
Grace and peace to you from God our Father and from Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior.
“Mission: Impossible” was a popular television show of the sixties that turned into a movie franchise in the nineties. The series focused on the dangerous world of espionage and spies—chronicling the missions of a secret team of American government agents known as the Impossible Missions Force.
The format of the TV and movie series was rather predictable. Each episode would begin with the main character being given a secret tape. It would always start with the words “your mission, should you choose to accept it...” then continue on to describe the ridiculously impossible sounding mission. At the end—to add to the secretive nature of the mission—the tape would say: “This message will self-destruct in five seconds.”
Now, I’m sorry to disappoint you, but I do not have a secret tape for you today and there will be no self-destruction of it. Nevertheless, you and I have been offered a mission that is every bit as exciting as a Mission: Impossible episode. And we must choose whether or not to accept it because, frankly, Jesus wants to know our answer.
What is this mission all about? Well let’s begin with the event that happened last week on Thursday: Ascension Day. Forty days after Easter is when Christians commemorate Jesus' ascension into heaven. Christian traditions around Ascension very from country to country. In Germany, for example (where it is called Christi Himmelfahrt--"Christ's journey into heaven"), it is an official school holiday. In North American culture, even though many more of us Christians go to church, the day passes relatively unnoticed, especially among Protestants.
There is a tradition in Clayton County, however, of having an Ascension Day worship service at the Pioneer Rock Church at Ceres, on Highway 52 between Guttenberg and Garnavillo. The church has been closed since 1927 but the beautiful limestone building is maintained by its historical society and Ascension is now the only worship service held each year. It is led by the Lutheran pastors of the area. My ancestors worshiped at the Ceres church and I attended that service a few years ago with my parents. It really gave me a sense of the great heritage of faith my ancestors laid for me.
In the New Testament, the story of Jesus' ascension is found in the Gospel of Luke and the Book of Acts, both written by the same author. The classic text is Acts 1:9-11. After the risen Christ had spoken his final words to his followers, we are told: "As they were watching, Jesus was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight." That’s more exciting than a self-destructing tape anyway. The text then refers to the disciples "gazing up toward heaven while he was going."
The interesting thing about the Pioneer Rock church is that the pulpit is extremely high despite the fact that it is a tiny sanctuary. So as we listened to the sermon, I felt like I, too was “gazing up toward heaven” and I got a real sense of what the disciples must have felt as Jesus ascended.
In the Acts version of this story, it really shows how confused the disciples were. I once saw a young man who was wearing a T-shirt with a big letter K on it. I asked him what the K was for and he said it’s because I’m confused. “Confused,” I said, “starts with the letter C, not K.” He replid, “You have no idea how confused I am.”
The disciples, too, are looking upward, dazed and confused and probably afraid. In all consideration, they shouldn’t be confused because Jesus has already told them what they need to know. In Luke’s gospel today we hear him explaining, once again, what he has done—how the scriptures foretold that the messiah would come and suffer death and would rise again. Jesus’ name means “he shall save his people” and that is exactly the mission he accomplished. He lived among us and taught us and healed us and then he was crucified, but he rose victorious on Easter morning. He triumphantly accomplished the seemingly impossible mission for which he was sent into the world.
But as with a lot of stories—that’s not the end of the story. There is much more mission yet to be accomplished. Jesus tells them that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. This is their mission. Mission Impossible? It probably seems like it to them.
He puts the future of his ministry in their hands, then takes them out to Bethany and ascends. Now, the mission is theirs—and ours—to continue so that all can hear the good news. That is a mighty big mission. How does Jesus ever expect we can accomplish it?”
A mother eagle, taking charge of her little ones, serves as a beautiful example of how it is that Jesus prepared his disciples, and how he prepares us for our ministries. You see, what a mother eagle does, once her young have developed their tiny wings, is to place them on her large, outspread wings, soaring into the air currents with them. The air currents then push the little ones off mama eagle’s wings, forcing them to try their own wings. After wildly flapping those tiny wings as they careen towards the earth, mother eagle eventually flies under them, allowing them to crash upon her soft wings, there to catch their breath, to rest and recuperate. Then, once again she will take them into the air currents, continuing this procedure off and on for days until the tiny muscles of her offspring are strengthened enough for the little ones to fly on their own. Her goal is not only to nurture them, but to enable them to fly.
Jesus, too, gives us the opportunity to try our own wings. We love to come up with excuses about how we are not equipped to evangelize. “I am not one to talk about my faith, I don’t really know the bible, I am just so busy...” the excuses go on an on. But we don’t have to be biblical scholars or great public speakers or have any other spectacular qualifications. We just need to love God and be willing to do God’s work.
And we’re allowed to make mistakes. Like the mother eagle, Jesus sends us his Spirit to rescue us and help us out again and again until our own “wings” become strong. And because of this, our mission is not so impossible as we might think. We can accomplish it if we only welcome the Spirit’s help. For as the angel said to Mary, “with God, all things are possible.”
We might be afraid of this mission handed down to us by Jesus, through all those faithful who have gone before us that we remember today. We might worry about living the life of discipleship, but this is the path to joy and freedom. The freedom and forgiveness from your sins awaits, the ability to share and live the gospel awaits. The ascension assures us that Jesus is Lord, that his mission is accomplished but that there is still a mission for us to accomplish. And yes, with God that mission is infinitely possible.
Let me close with the prayer Paul prayed for the Ephesians, which we heard in our second lesson for today:
I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation as you come to know him, so that, with the eyes of your heart enlightened, you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance among the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power for us who believe, according to the working of his great power. Amen.
Showing posts with label mission. Show all posts
Showing posts with label mission. Show all posts
Sunday, May 24, 2009
Sunday, May 13, 2007
LIVING SHALOM
A Sermon for the Sixth Sunday of Easter
May 13, 2007
by Pastor Laura Gentry
John 14:23-29
Jesus answered him, "Those who love me will keep my word, and my Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. Whoever does not love me does not keep my words; and the word that you hear is not mine, but is from the Father who sent me. "I have said these things to you while I am still with you. But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything, and remind you of all that I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid. You heard me say to you, 'I am going away, and I am coming to you.' If you loved me, you would rejoice that I am going to the Father, because the Father is greater than I. And now I have told you this before it occurs, so that when it does occur, you may believe. (NRSV)
Grace and peace to you from God our Father and from Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. Amen.
In the comic strip Calvin and Hobbes, there is a wonderful scene where One day Calvin and Hobbes come marching into the living room early one morning. Calvin’s mother is seated there in her favorite chair, sipping her morning coffee. She looks up at Calvin—amused and amazed at how he is dressed. Calvin’s head is encased in a large space helmet. A cape is draped around his neck, across his shoulders, down his back and is dragging on the floor. One hand is holding a flashlight and the other a baseball bat. “What’s up today?” asks Mom.
“Nothing, so far,” answers Calvin.
“So far?” she questions.
“Well, you never know,” Calvin says, “Something could happen today.” Then Calvin marches off, “And if anything does, by golly, I’m going to be ready for it!”
Calvin’s mom looks out at the reading audience and she says, “I need a suit like that!”
Some days feel like that, don’t they? Life can be so difficult and chaotic that we need a suit like Calvin’s in order to be ready for it. In our stressful world, where violence, prejudice, anger, poverty, hatred and war pervade, we need something to be ready for it. And Jesus knew this. That’s why he gave the disciples a very special gift before he left them to ascend to the Father.
In this morning’s gospel, we hear part of Jesus’ farewell address to his followers. He knows that he will soon leave them and he needs to get them ready for his departure. Jesus explains that he will ask the Father to send them the gift of the Holy Spirit to lead them and remind them of all Jesus taught them. Then, he said to them, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid.”
What an amazing gift he gives to the disciples and to all of us—peace! In Greek, the word is Shalom, which means peace beyond anything we could desire or imagine. It is a peace that encompasses justice and peace among all people. It demands respect for the dignity of every human being. Shalom, God’s peace, means becoming a people who seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving our neighbors as ourselves.
So as Jesus gives us this Shalom, this peace, he makes us stewards of it. We are responsible to share this Shalom with the world. Next week we will celebrate Ascension Sunday—reminding us that Jesus has returned to the Father in heaven and so it is up to us, with the Spirit’s power, to carry on his vision of Shalom for all people.
This vision runs all the way through to the very end of the Bible in the Revelation of John of Patmos: There will be a New Jerusalem whose gates are open and never closed to anyone or anything. It is a vision of opening our doors to peoples and nations beyond ourselves. And through it all runs the river of the water of Life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb.
Beside this river is a tree with all kinds of fruit. And the leaves of this tree are for the healing of nations: for the healing of nations—no HMOs; no co-pay policies; no troop deployments; no suicide bombers; no coercion by violence, no threats of domination. Just pluck the leaves of the tree and be healed. It is a new kind of healing. It is a new kind of reconciliation. It is a new kind of health care delivery system. It is a new kind of Peace. It is God’s own Shalom. What a marvelous vision!
When Jesus says, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you,” he is commissioning us to be those who bring this vision of God’s Shalom to all people and to all the nations. In giving us this parting gift, Jesus invites us to bathe in this river that flows through the New Jerusalem.
Do we come here today to bathe in this river bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb?
Lydia does. She who sells purple cloth, expensive, royal, purple cloth, sold only to those who can afford it. Our lesson from Acts this morning tells us about Lydia who is a successful merchant. Lydia and the women of Philippi are down by the river at a “place of prayer” outside the gates of the city.
God opens Lydia’s heart, just as we pray for God to open our hearts. Yes, Lydia’s heart is opened, and Paul helps God to pour in this love. Lydia and the women welcome this foreign missionary who interrupts their prayers and shares with them the Gospel of Jesus Christ. They are baptized in the river. Lydia and her entire household are baptized.
This is significant because Lydia is the first European to be baptized. Lydia’s may be the first gentile house, that is non-Jewish, that Paul has ever entered. Paul had read the Bible and had been taught to avoid any contact with people like Lydia. Paul had been instructed and believed he should bar the gates and shut off the flow of the water of life to any and all gentiles. Paul had been taught not to be seen in public with women, let alone gentile women.
So Paul is making a leap of faith. Paul is entering into a life of Shalom, God’s peace that passes all understanding. Contrary to custom, Paul is welcomed into Lydia’s household. Thus, Lydia makes a leap of faith in offering this Jewish missionary the hospitality of her home.
All distinctions of clean and unclean, acceptable and unacceptable are passing away. Healing is indeed taking place, down by the river. God is doing new things through Paul and Lydia. This healing and these new things exceed all that we can desire or even imagine!
All of this comes about because Paul has a dream, a vision. He imagines he can go to Macedonia. He goes expecting to find a man there, but surprise: he finds Lydia. And as a result, the world is changed down by the River of the Water of Life.
Down by the river of the water of life, all things are possible. It is even possible that we, too, can be changed. We, too. can lay aside long held assumptions, preconceptions and prejudices. Like Paul, we too can lay aside old understandings of the Bible that limit God’s love and power. Like Paul we too can have the vision to go to people beyond the four walls of our church, beyond the boundaries of our community, beyond state lines, beyond the United States of America, and let God’s ways be known upon the earth, God’s saving health among all nations.
We may notice the location of all this activity: Jerusalem and Macedonia, two pieces of God’s real estate still under dispute and heated contention. We are invited to imagine God’s Shalom, God’s peace, even in such violent places as Jerusalem and Macedonia.
We are those people who can imagine all of this and more because we have these stories. Paul and Lydia had to be frightened to death to be breaking with all convention. Lydia is baptized only because she and Paul were able to suspend their understanding of what their cultures and the Bible had taught them. They were willing to suspend all the rules, regulations, and customs that governed their world in order that God’s greater Shalom might rule.
They had to let go and sing the new song God was calling them to sing. And they had to open their hearts and minds to see everything in a new light. That light is the light of the Lamb. John of Patmos in the book of Revelation imagines a day when “the nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring it glory.”
Don’t be fooled, though, Paul and Lydia were not extraordinary people. They were just like us. Can we imagine all of this and more? Can we see ourselves opening our hearts and minds to strangers? Can we imagine old hurts and old wounds being healed by the banks of the river of the city of God? Can we open our hearts to let the Light of Christ shine into all its dark corners and drive all fear and anxiety from our midst? Can we allow ourselves to be drawn closer and deeper into the world of God’s Shalom?
Jesus wants to give us all of this. Jesus wants to give us all of this and more than we can either desire or imagine. Listen as he calls us: My own Shalom I give to you; I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid. Peace I leave with you. It is yours to have and to give to the rest of the world. Amen.
And now, may the peace which passes all understanding keep our hearts and our minds in Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.
© Laura E. Gentry 2007
May 13, 2007
by Pastor Laura Gentry
John 14:23-29
Jesus answered him, "Those who love me will keep my word, and my Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. Whoever does not love me does not keep my words; and the word that you hear is not mine, but is from the Father who sent me. "I have said these things to you while I am still with you. But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything, and remind you of all that I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid. You heard me say to you, 'I am going away, and I am coming to you.' If you loved me, you would rejoice that I am going to the Father, because the Father is greater than I. And now I have told you this before it occurs, so that when it does occur, you may believe. (NRSV)
Grace and peace to you from God our Father and from Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. Amen.
In the comic strip Calvin and Hobbes, there is a wonderful scene where One day Calvin and Hobbes come marching into the living room early one morning. Calvin’s mother is seated there in her favorite chair, sipping her morning coffee. She looks up at Calvin—amused and amazed at how he is dressed. Calvin’s head is encased in a large space helmet. A cape is draped around his neck, across his shoulders, down his back and is dragging on the floor. One hand is holding a flashlight and the other a baseball bat. “What’s up today?” asks Mom.
“Nothing, so far,” answers Calvin.
“So far?” she questions.
“Well, you never know,” Calvin says, “Something could happen today.” Then Calvin marches off, “And if anything does, by golly, I’m going to be ready for it!”
Calvin’s mom looks out at the reading audience and she says, “I need a suit like that!”
Some days feel like that, don’t they? Life can be so difficult and chaotic that we need a suit like Calvin’s in order to be ready for it. In our stressful world, where violence, prejudice, anger, poverty, hatred and war pervade, we need something to be ready for it. And Jesus knew this. That’s why he gave the disciples a very special gift before he left them to ascend to the Father.
In this morning’s gospel, we hear part of Jesus’ farewell address to his followers. He knows that he will soon leave them and he needs to get them ready for his departure. Jesus explains that he will ask the Father to send them the gift of the Holy Spirit to lead them and remind them of all Jesus taught them. Then, he said to them, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid.”
What an amazing gift he gives to the disciples and to all of us—peace! In Greek, the word is Shalom, which means peace beyond anything we could desire or imagine. It is a peace that encompasses justice and peace among all people. It demands respect for the dignity of every human being. Shalom, God’s peace, means becoming a people who seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving our neighbors as ourselves.
So as Jesus gives us this Shalom, this peace, he makes us stewards of it. We are responsible to share this Shalom with the world. Next week we will celebrate Ascension Sunday—reminding us that Jesus has returned to the Father in heaven and so it is up to us, with the Spirit’s power, to carry on his vision of Shalom for all people.
This vision runs all the way through to the very end of the Bible in the Revelation of John of Patmos: There will be a New Jerusalem whose gates are open and never closed to anyone or anything. It is a vision of opening our doors to peoples and nations beyond ourselves. And through it all runs the river of the water of Life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb.
Beside this river is a tree with all kinds of fruit. And the leaves of this tree are for the healing of nations: for the healing of nations—no HMOs; no co-pay policies; no troop deployments; no suicide bombers; no coercion by violence, no threats of domination. Just pluck the leaves of the tree and be healed. It is a new kind of healing. It is a new kind of reconciliation. It is a new kind of health care delivery system. It is a new kind of Peace. It is God’s own Shalom. What a marvelous vision!
When Jesus says, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you,” he is commissioning us to be those who bring this vision of God’s Shalom to all people and to all the nations. In giving us this parting gift, Jesus invites us to bathe in this river that flows through the New Jerusalem.
Do we come here today to bathe in this river bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb?
Lydia does. She who sells purple cloth, expensive, royal, purple cloth, sold only to those who can afford it. Our lesson from Acts this morning tells us about Lydia who is a successful merchant. Lydia and the women of Philippi are down by the river at a “place of prayer” outside the gates of the city.
God opens Lydia’s heart, just as we pray for God to open our hearts. Yes, Lydia’s heart is opened, and Paul helps God to pour in this love. Lydia and the women welcome this foreign missionary who interrupts their prayers and shares with them the Gospel of Jesus Christ. They are baptized in the river. Lydia and her entire household are baptized.
This is significant because Lydia is the first European to be baptized. Lydia’s may be the first gentile house, that is non-Jewish, that Paul has ever entered. Paul had read the Bible and had been taught to avoid any contact with people like Lydia. Paul had been instructed and believed he should bar the gates and shut off the flow of the water of life to any and all gentiles. Paul had been taught not to be seen in public with women, let alone gentile women.
So Paul is making a leap of faith. Paul is entering into a life of Shalom, God’s peace that passes all understanding. Contrary to custom, Paul is welcomed into Lydia’s household. Thus, Lydia makes a leap of faith in offering this Jewish missionary the hospitality of her home.
All distinctions of clean and unclean, acceptable and unacceptable are passing away. Healing is indeed taking place, down by the river. God is doing new things through Paul and Lydia. This healing and these new things exceed all that we can desire or even imagine!
All of this comes about because Paul has a dream, a vision. He imagines he can go to Macedonia. He goes expecting to find a man there, but surprise: he finds Lydia. And as a result, the world is changed down by the River of the Water of Life.
Down by the river of the water of life, all things are possible. It is even possible that we, too, can be changed. We, too. can lay aside long held assumptions, preconceptions and prejudices. Like Paul, we too can lay aside old understandings of the Bible that limit God’s love and power. Like Paul we too can have the vision to go to people beyond the four walls of our church, beyond the boundaries of our community, beyond state lines, beyond the United States of America, and let God’s ways be known upon the earth, God’s saving health among all nations.
We may notice the location of all this activity: Jerusalem and Macedonia, two pieces of God’s real estate still under dispute and heated contention. We are invited to imagine God’s Shalom, God’s peace, even in such violent places as Jerusalem and Macedonia.
We are those people who can imagine all of this and more because we have these stories. Paul and Lydia had to be frightened to death to be breaking with all convention. Lydia is baptized only because she and Paul were able to suspend their understanding of what their cultures and the Bible had taught them. They were willing to suspend all the rules, regulations, and customs that governed their world in order that God’s greater Shalom might rule.
They had to let go and sing the new song God was calling them to sing. And they had to open their hearts and minds to see everything in a new light. That light is the light of the Lamb. John of Patmos in the book of Revelation imagines a day when “the nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring it glory.”
Don’t be fooled, though, Paul and Lydia were not extraordinary people. They were just like us. Can we imagine all of this and more? Can we see ourselves opening our hearts and minds to strangers? Can we imagine old hurts and old wounds being healed by the banks of the river of the city of God? Can we open our hearts to let the Light of Christ shine into all its dark corners and drive all fear and anxiety from our midst? Can we allow ourselves to be drawn closer and deeper into the world of God’s Shalom?
Jesus wants to give us all of this. Jesus wants to give us all of this and more than we can either desire or imagine. Listen as he calls us: My own Shalom I give to you; I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid. Peace I leave with you. It is yours to have and to give to the rest of the world. Amen.
And now, may the peace which passes all understanding keep our hearts and our minds in Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.
© Laura E. Gentry 2007
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