On the Way to Wonder

We are finishing the Easter season for the church when we looked at proof that Jesus not only rose after the crucifixion but is alive and active today.  We pondered the testimonies of the people who saw him on that Easter Sunday.  He did not just appear in the Temple to proclaim he conquered death.  He personally encountered his followers to heal their fear, resolve their doubts, and remove their guilt.  We looked at his claim that he was the Good Shepherd and saw how that is still true today.  He also claimed to be the vine and we are the branches.  We receive strength, life and so much more from him.  This last week we waited in Jerusalem with the followers as they were instructed at Jesus’ Ascension.  Tomorrow we will celebrate Pentecost and the experience of the Holy Spirit.  This week we talked about waiting and the importance of community, of prayer, and of traditions.  I found this worship song that sings about waiting based on Isaiah.  Eric Liddell preached on it before he won the Olympics in the 400 meter race.  It’s new to me and I hope you enjoy it.

I Will Wait Upon the Lord

“And they stayed continually at the temple, praising God.”       Luke 24:53

We have come to the end of the Easter season.  Sunday we will celebrate Pentecost.  Between Jesus’ ascension and Pentecost the disciples returned to Jerusalem, stayed together and pondered what the future would look like, prayed, and they chose Matthais to replace Judas who had betrayed Jesus and then hung himself.   They did one more thing.  They praised.   It is so easy in in-between times to allow worry and fear about the future to fill our thinking. The followers clung to Jesus’ yet to be fulfilled promise of the coming of the Holy Spirit, though, and praised.

In those uncertain times, what do you focus on?  What keeps you going?  Fear of the future drives some to immerse themselves in videos with happy endings, crimes solved, bad guys defeated.  Others hide in alcohol, drugs or sex. Busyness so that we live in exhaustion is common.  We have many ways that we can avoid the anxiety of waiting for yet unseen promises.  I’m sure the followers had no real idea what the promise of the coming of the Holy Spirit meant.  We debate today if that means speaking in tongues or some other esthetic experience and search our lives looking for signs of which gift of the Spirit we have been blessed with.

Waiting is hard. The followers waited in the Temple worshiping the God they already knew and praising.  Praise focuses our attention from the anxiety and problem to the character of the God who will help us walk through the in-between times into the future that awaits us.  I suspect they might have focused on Isaiah 9:6,7, 

“For a child has been born for us,
    a son given to us;
authority rests upon his shoulders;
    and he is named
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
    Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
7 His authority shall grow continually,
    and there shall be endless peace
for the throne of David and his kingdom.
    He will establish and uphold it
with justice and with righteousness
    from this time onward and forevermore.
The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.

Choose one of the titles describing Jesus that brings you comfort during anxious times.  Counselor? God? Father? Prince of Peace?  Each is powerful and comforting.  Spend a few minutes focusing and praising God for all he has meant to you.  This God cares about you!  Thank you, Lord.

15 In those days Peter stood up among the believers (together the crowd numbered about one hundred and twenty people) and said, 16 ‘Friends, the scripture had to be fulfilled… Acts 1:15-16

 As the followers of Jesus, men and women, tried to get their minds around what the future would look like.  They gathered in community and they prayed.  Peter took the lead.  He suggested that since there had originally been 12 disciples but Judas had hung himself after his betrayal that the next step was to choose someone to take his place from among the people who had followed Jesus from the beginning.  Mathias was chosen.  Staying with familiar patterns while we wait for the next phase provides stability and predictability.

One morning as my oldest son was leaving for school while we were in the States, he asked, “Why don’t you cook any more, Mom?”  I was surprised for I fixed three meals a day.  His response was that I no longer made the coffee cake I always made on Sunday morning when the children were home on school breaks.  We have certain “traditions” that provide rhythm to our family.  We say a family prayer we know at meals.  We do evening devotions and “pray around the world”, or at least around the room on Sunday evenings.  A simple “thank you” for one thing during the week was sufficient.  There are traditional foods for holidays, perhaps a personal stocking for Christmas, and also certain songs I associate with singing the kids to sleep as infants.  Traditions provide a backbone during times of change.  Now that my children are grown, singing those old songs and doing the familiar traditions brings calmness in chaos.

 A basketball team with only four players just isn’t right so if one is out, a sub is sent in.  The followers chose a man to take the place of Judas.  I love Tevy’s comment at the beginning of Fiddler on the Roof.  “What keeps the fiddler from falling off the roof? he asks.  Traditions.  Traditions tell us who we are and what God expects of us!

What traditions give structure to your life?  When our five children, twins at the end, were young, I was overwhelmed and had no time for spiritual disciplines like reading the Bible.  Just keeping up with diapers and meals in the “bush” was full time work.  We started the habit of my husband reading a passage of scripture to me while I nursed the twins.  As the kids grew up, I would doing needle work as my husband read.  My husband passed last year andI miss this tradition.  Spiritual disciples are those habits that provide a predictable rhythm to our lives and provide a foundation for our souls.  I would suggest you take a moment to reflect on the disciplines you have.  Perhaps there are ones that you may have become sloppy about, or ask yourself if there is a discipline you would like to add.  Life just was not right for the disciples without that twelfth person.  Traditions help us keep a steady course into the future God is about to reveal.  Blessings!

“They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers. “

Acts 1: 14  

Between Ascension and PEntecost, the followers returned to Jerusalem.  They did not separate to their separate homes but stayed together in community to digest all that they had been through.  “They”, the men and  the women turned to prayer in that in-between time.  We all experience in-between times when God feels so distant and we can’t see him or touch him and are not sure what to do next.  I often joke and say, “I wish God would send a fax!  It would be so much easier and clearer.”  But that is not how God works.  Often there is a lull, “a calm before the storm.”  During those times we imagine and wonder what life is going to be like after….  We lean on community.  But we also have the gift of prayer.

Prayer can be like writing a list for Santa Clause but as we grow, prayer becomes a form of communication.  Have you ever found that as you are trying to explain something to someone, that if they are quiet, and your tendency is to keep talking and explaining as if just talking helps you to understand what’s going on inside.  Sometimes we call that the gift of presence.  Just sitting with someone as they sort through their thoughts and feelings and quietly listen, without judging.  It is a great gift.  As my husband declined, just sitting with him to watch TV or be present or to read was a gift to him… and to me too.  A woman where I live was an official “listener.”  She was allowed into the prisons here to be an official listener.  She sits with women and gives them the gift of listening and letting them tell their story.  I sometimes fear that in our hurry, scurry world today that we do not have time to just sit with friends.  God has time and the disciples needed to spend time in prayer, sorting through their experiences in community and in prayer, conversation with God.

I took a class on meditation as a young adult.  20 minutes a day of just sitting calmly and meditating on a “mantra” or on Scripture, and slowing your breathing, lowers the blood pressure and adds health to your life.  Some people like to form a picture in their mind that helps them focus on a truth about God.  Perhaps it is of the Good Shepherd.  Perhaps it is of Jesus welcoming the children.  I love the picture of Jesus standing with a youth at the helm of his boat on a stormy sea and Jesus has his hand on the person’s shoulder directing.  Prayer helps us focus on eternal truth.  Our lives are in the hands of God and he is present with us and he cares.

Prayer can help me stop focusing on my problems as I think about all the other people I would like to talk to God about.  We call that intercession, when we pray for the world and for others we are concerned about.  As my thinking broadens to others, my problems shrink from their enlarged size and become more manageable.

I don’t know what you are facing and what in-between zone you are in right now, but I do know that as you think about what the future will be like, as you join together in community, and as you pray, God will be present and listening. As you allow him help you carry your load, hope begins to bubble up in your soul.  A brief story.  A driver picked up a hitch hiker who had a large backpack.  The driver told the person to put his pack on the floor but the person felt he had to carry it.  The rider insisted on carrying a load that the car would have carried so the rider could rest.  Prayer is allowing God to help us carry our load.  Blessings as you journey.

  “Then the apostles returned to Jerusalem from the hill called the Mount of Olives, a Sabbath day’s walk from the city.  When they arrived, they went upstairs to the room where they were staying.”  Acts 1:12

The followers of Jesus stayed together in community between the ascension and Pentecost.   Isolation, quarantine is the modern day solution to “viruses” that we do not understand and that seem to threaten our health. They chose to stay together to process all they had been through. While working in East Africa, I often visited hospitals and visited the sick and usually there were four to a hospital bed with the relatives who brought food sleeping under the bed on the floor.  Grief and illness were handled in community.  We see that with the apostles as they attempt to sort out how life was changing for them.  Community is one way to handle those in-between times we talked about yesterday.

As the person deals with the emotions of the transition which might be during the death of a loved one or the birth of a new life or even the challenge of going to secondary school, the community joined together to do the work of the transition like preparing and feeding the guests and well-wishers or collecting money for school fees or weddings.  We say many hands make light work. We might have a house warming or a shower.

Similarly, I find as an “idea” person, I function best when I have “detail” people helping me as I tend to not think about important details.  I’m sure there was “group think” as they sat around and shared what each noticed and as they put their heads together to understand.  Every witness at an accident will remember it slightly differently and will remember details slightly differently.  Sharing helps to see the big picture.

Community confirms the report from our senses.  Perhaps you have seen the classroom experiment where volunteers are blind folded and then given food.  The volunteer may have difficulty telling an apple from a potato because the texture is the same and without the eyes to see, it can be confusing.  Community expands the perception of the experience but it also confirms the experience.

Have you heard the saying, “Count to ten before you respond”?  Withdrawing into community provides a buffer time for healing from grief,  sorting out experiences, and affirmation before the next task is undertaken.

So perhaps the question to reflect on today is to ask, “Where is my community?”  Who has my back?  Who helps me sort through life when I am confused?  Church worship functions in some ways like this, like community.  Church is a place where we can retreat on Sunday and recenter our thinking, be challenged with the pastor’s perspective on a scripture that reminds us of a bigger picture involving a God who loves us and a Savior who travels with us. There is often a coffee hour and fellowship.  Community is important and valuable.  The apostles withdrew to community.  We still need community today.  Blessings as you sit with friends today.

“After the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, he was taken up into heaven and he sat at the right hand of God.  

Mark 16:19

 Last Thursday was Ascension Day.  The Book of Acts, believed to have been written by Luke continues the report.  The followers saw Jesus disappear.  Two men in white stood there and told them, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand here looking into the sky?  This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you  have seen him go into heaven.”  The followers returned to Jerusalem as instructed.  Next Sunday we will pick up the account on Pentecost Sunday when we celebrate the appearance of the Holy Spirit.  Right now we are between Ascension and Pentecost.

In-between times are some of the most dynamic times.  In-between the proposal and the wedding lots of planning and dreaming occurs.  Colors for the wedding, dresses, invitations are all chosen.  In-between conception and birth lots of growth and dreaming takes place.  Names are talked about, cribs organized, and friends informed.  In-between graduation and a job, lots of worry and dreaming takes place.  Resumes are sent out and job applications filled out.  Even we live between the resurrection, ascension and the expected return of Christ.  There are many theories on how history or “End Times” will play out but no one knows exactly for sure.  We know Jesus will return.

We have the advantage of two centuries but these first followers were still sorting out what was going on.  They had questions. Between times are not voids but opportunities for creative thinking and planning.  One of the first questions the followers asked was, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel? (Acts 1:6)” That seems to me to be the question, “What is life going to look like now?”  Moving from one country to another involves learning a whole new lifestyle.  In the same way moving from Jew to Christian was a transition.  Choosing to believe in the risen Christ often involves a change in lifestyle even today.  Perhaps our question is not about restoring Israel but we do need to reorient ourselves from the kingdom of “me” to living in the kingdom of “God.”  The rules are different.  We learn to love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, and strength and learn to love our neighbor as ourselves.  We learn to pray.  We learn new music.  For some it means breaking old bad habits and addictions to what we eat and do now.

Is life after the risen Christ going to be about restoring a political kingdom, a social kingdom, or a physical kingdom that we will all become citizens of?  Jesus says that is not for us to know.  And so we have people today focused on social justice for all and we have people focused on piety.  How do we spend the time between faith and heaven?  It is not an either or question but a both-and.  How might I improve my faith walk this week as I wait and live my life.  And how may I improve the life of those I encounter?  Both require faith and love and an awareness of Jesus who promises to walk with us.

Reading: Acts 1:15-17, 21-26

15In those days Peter stood up among the believers (together the crowd numbered about one hundred twenty persons) and said, 16“Friends, the scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit through David foretold concerning Judas, who became a guide for those who arrested Jesus—17for he was numbered among us and was allotted his share in this ministry.” 21So one of the men who have accompanied us during all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, 22beginning from the baptism of John until the day when he was taken up from us—one of these must become a witness with us to his resurrection.” 23So they proposed two, Joseph called Barsabbas, who was also known as Justus, and Matthias. 24Then they prayed and said, “Lord, you know everyone’s heart. Show us which one of these two you have chosen 25to take the place in this ministry and apostleship from which Judas turned aside to go to his own place.” 26And they cast lots for them, and the lot fell on Matthias; and he was added to the eleven apostles.

Psalm: Psalm 1

The Lord knows the way of the righteous. (Ps. 1:6)

 1Happy are they who have not walked in the counsel of the wicked,

  nor lingered in the way of sinners, nor sat in the seats of the scornful!

 2Their delight is in the law of the Lord,

  and they meditate on God’s teaching day and night. 

 3They are like trees planted by streams of water, bearing fruit in due season, with leaves that do not wither;

  everything they do shall prosper.

 4It is not so with the wicked;

  they are like chaff which the wind blows away.

 5Therefore the wicked shall not stand upright when judgment comes,

  nor the sinner in the council of the righteous.

 6For the Lord knows the way of the righteous,

  but the way of the wicked shall be destroyed. 

Second Reading: 1 John 5:9-13

9If we receive human testimony, the testimony of God is greater; for this is the testimony of God that he has testified to his Son. 10Those who believe in the Son of God have the testimony in their hearts. Those who do not believe in God have made him a liar by not believing in the testimony that God has given concerning his Son. 11And this is the testimony: God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 12Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.

 13I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life.

Gospel: John 17:6-19

[Jesus prayed:] 6“I have made your name known to those whom you gave me from the world. They were yours, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. 7Now they know that everything you have given me is from you; 8for the words that you gave to me I have given to them, and they have received them and know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me. 9I am asking on their behalf; I am not asking on behalf of the world, but on behalf of those whom you gave me, because they are yours. 10All mine are yours, and yours are mine; and I have been glorified in them. 11And now I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one, as we are one. 12While I was with them, I protected them in your name that you have given me. I guarded them, and not one of them was lost except the one destined to be lost, so that the scripture might be fulfilled. 13But now I am coming to you, and I speak these things in the world so that they may have my joy made complete in themselves. 14I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world. 15I am not asking you to take them out of the world, but I ask you to protect them from the evil one. 16They do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world. 17Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. 18As you have sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. 19And for their sakes I sanctify myself, so that they also may be sanctified in truth.”

2021

CHILDREN’S SERMON

One of the favorite prayers we teach young children is:

“Now I lay me down to sleep,

I pray the Lord my soul to keep.

If I should die before I wake,

I pray the Lord my soul to take.

If I should live for other days,

I pray the Lord to guide my ways.”

George Wheler in1698 may have written one of the first versions of this prayer.

Here I lay me down to sleep.
To thee, O Lord, I give my Soul to keep,
Wake I ever, Or, Wake I never;
To thee O Lord, I give my Soul to keep for ever.

A few questions:

To whom is the child learning to pray to?  (Lord)

What is the prayer request?  (Keep my soul)

Let us pray: Lord, may the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in your sight, my Rock and Redeemer.

SERMON

Today we come to the end of the Easter season. Six weeks ago on Easter Sunday we heard the news, “The Lord is risen!” And we responded, ‘The Lord is risen indeed!”  This Thursday was Ascension Day.  The followers stood on the mountain in Gallilee and Luke reports in Acts 1 that Jesus ”was taken up before their very eyes”. Many think he floated up on the heavenly elevator, in a cloud, to return to heaven to sit at the right hand of God.  I like the explanation that he “ascended,” or resumed, to his full identity as Son of God, part of the Trinity.  Jesus was God incarnate and now assumes his full powers.  Next week we will experience God, not just as Creator, not additionally as Incarnate Savior, but now as ever present Spirit as we celebrate Pentecost.  Today, though, we return one more time to the Garden of Gethsemane and listen to Jesus’ prayer as he talks with the Father before his trial, crucifixion, and resurrection.  It is called his “High Priestly Prayer.”  Let us look at the prayer through those “W” questions we were taught to ask in high school English: Who, What, When, Where, and Why?

WHO:  6“I have made your name known to those whom you gave me from the world.

Last week I had you pretend to kneel in your seats and lifted my imaginary sword and dubbed you “Friend,” no longer “servant.”  Jesus is coming to God about us, the priesthood of believers, his ambassadors, and his representatives.  He is praying for those given to him by the God of the universe.  He is praying about us.

Jesus has this relationship thing going on in this prayer.  He’s praying for those God loves, for those who love Jesus, for those who form a faith friendship group.  He is not praying about evangelization.  This is not a “help them know or believe” prayer.  It is not a prayer asking for healing or “travel mercies.”   This is a prayer based on “knowing,” not “knowing about.”  We might say he is not praying, “I pray the Lord my souls to keep,”. But is praying, “I pray MY Lord, my soul to keep.”

God does not know us by reading our profile or by reading our autobiography or our report card.  His knowing is embedded in the context of our life story that sees character and tendencies.  He walks our narrative with us.  We know our children and perhaps can predict their weaknesses and guess what choices they will make but that does not mean we manipulate their movements.  God is not a “helicopter deity,” but it implies a knowing that comes from walking with someone and caring about them daily. 

I note it also implies the knowledge that comes from a mentoring relationship.  The Father’s words were given to the Son who gave them to the followers.  Relationship is not just observation of a God in heaven who knows everything but it is a communication of thoughts and words.  It is two way content and communication.

God knows us, communicates with us, and is personal.  I mean by this that God does not just communicate with everyone like posting thoughts on the Internet that anyone can read.  He doesn’t blog with us.  Jesus is not praying for the whole world but for his followers.  Prayer is not an email nor is it the generalized awareness that comes from enjoying nature or an impersonal “force” that permeates reality.  This is a personal relationship that involves communication and intimacy.  We are known and valued by the God of the universe.  WOW!  This is a prayer for us, today, and a prayer we can pray for our beloved people.  We can say, “I pray MY Lord, MY soul to keep.”

So who has God given you?  Who are the people God places in your path daily and who are heavy on your heart?  It may be a spouse, a grandchild, a neighbor, a friend or someone you work with.  This is a prayer for people to whom Jesus is making God known.  Jesus shares that they are people who are seeking God – not necessarily just people from Bethany and not necessarily even just from our denomination or our country.  I think Jesus is praying for all people who come to him with open hearts, seeking to know the truth.

WHAT: Holy Father, protect them in your name 

Jesus is walking to the Garden of Gethsemane, to the crucifixion and to resurrection.  Leaving these flakey followers that he knows are fragile, that he knows will flee, and that he knows will be tried to the point of death, must have been heavy on his heart.  Jesus’ followers will face the forces of Evil without his physical presence.  Jesus prays for protection. “I pray my soul to keep.”  Let us be clear.  Jesus does not pray for productive, healthy, materialistic lives for us. He is concerned with our souls.  He prays we will be protected and not be lost, that we will stay united, and that we will be filled with joy.  

I am guessing that most of us know those grey, horrible days when it is hard to put one foot in front of another.  We think we are holding on by our fingernails.  Most of us have not gone through the horrors of war or persecution but we know heart break and disease.  We may not have had to face financial ruin for our faith but we have had to pinch pennies. It is on those days the Evil One loves to whisper in our ear that we are unloved and that God has no power.  The temptation to despair is real.  Jesus prays that God will provide a way out at those times, perhaps a Bible verse pops in mind, just the right song comes on the radio, or the phone rings and a friend is calling.  We may be martyred as his followers were but Jesus prays that we will not be lost, not because we are strong to resist but because God is powerful to break through that despair and to reach us. God will not allow Evil to claim us for eternity.  His prayer is that we will not be tempted beyond our ability to endure.  During those dark times, the temptation is to look at the perceived horribleness of our situation but as people in relationship with God, we can turn our eyes and hearts to God.  “If I die before I wake, I pray the Lord my soul to take.  If I live for other days, I pray the Lord to guide my ways.”

Today we fear that we can be lost by forgetting our relationship with God if we develop Dementia or if we succumb to depression or experience severe brain trauma from stroke or accident. During those times when we do not have the strength to hold on, we know that God holds on to us.   

We need God’s protection to maintain unity in our churches.  We can also become confused because of fragmentation within our churches.  Maintaining unity in the church and not allowing gossip and jealousies destroy us is a genuine challenge.  Many churches fall apart from within as much as from any outward financial problems or persecution.  Unity is not a magic cloud that floats down from heaven to make us be nice to each other.  We must grow in our ability to forgive each other.  We need to grow in our ability to speak the truth in love so that differences can be resolved.  We are challenged to reach out to understand and be involved with people from different backgrounds, who eat different foods, and who may not speak English as we do.  Unity is work and Jesus prays that we will be united and not allow worldly differences to divide us.  We need protection from divisions.

Jesus asks for protection from becoming lost, from being divided, and that we will learn to experience full joy.  Jesus prays,” that they may have my joy made complete in themselves. “  I note that he prays that joy is made complete.  If happiness is a momentary emotion based on the outcome of current events, and joy is the emotions that comes from a long term focus on a situation then the fruit of Spirit that is joy implies my growth in learning to stay focused on Jesus and the bigger picture.  Yes, I may have cancer or dementia but the God of the universe walks with me, protecting me and leading me to eternity.  It does not mean I will not have hard days and pain but somehow there is an underlying peace and joy in the journey because I grow in my ability to stay focused on God.  I need protection from despair.

Jesus is praying that his joy be made complete in us, not necessarily that we will be dancing in joy all the time.  I was challenged as a young adult, struggling with life, to spend the first five minutes when I wake in the morning to thank God for my blessings.  Joy grows as we grow in Christ.  “I pray the Lord to guide my ways.”

WHEN AND WHERE: 11And now I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. 

Jesus is not so specific in his when and where of this prayer request.  Jesus realizes that without his physical presence, his followers in this world will be vulnerable wherever they are.  As God Incarnate, Jesus has taken the lead, teaching, healing and protecting his followers.  In a few hours he will repel the mob that comes to arrest him and cause them to fall down and then they will take only him away.  He knows that he will no longer be “in the world” to protect his followers and so he prays protection from Evil that sifts Peter’s soul, from confusion as the resurrection is announced, and protection from despair – that our joy may be complete.

WHY: “17Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.” 

In our prayer today Jesus is speaking to God about the future of his followers.  He asks for protection from the Evil One, for protection from confusion, and for protection from disunity so our joy will grow as we learn to trust him.  But then he uses a big word, “sanctify.“. Not only does he ask that we will be protected but he also asks that we will be growing in truth, the truth of his word.

Webster defines sanctification as “consecration,” as “purification,” and as growth in “holiness or piety”.  Jesus is praying that we be consecrated for God’s purpose, we be purified in our lives, and that we grow in our Christlikeness.

One of the temptations of aging is to look at those younger and wonder if we serve any purpose anymore or if we are just taking up space and becoming a bother.  I find the Evil One whispering those lies in my ear more often than I would like.  Jesus is praying here an affirmation that our lives are sacred to God and serving his purpose.  We are consecrated.  We may not feel that way but it is the truth.  Our ministries of prayer, of friendship, and our role of “elder” are important.  That we elect older people to leadership, older men to be Pope, experienced people to advise is not a surprise.  Jesus prays that this sanctification, this consecration, in our roles would be because we are grounded in the word of truth.  Sanctification implies we are growing in our understanding of God’s word and in our ability to live it properly.

Sanctification is also a purification process.  I don’t know about you but I find that as I get older, I am more aware of my imperfections, my failures, and my limitations.  The drive to conquer the world, or a piece of it, that characterized early adulthood has mellowed.  I am no longer packing my bags and headed to Kenya to translate the Bible for an unknown people group – with baby in arms!!  Some of that self-confidence has worn off and my awareness of dependency on God to fill in the cracks of my life has grown.  My plea for forgiveness grows as the Evil one reminds me of my shortcomings – and often my kids do too.  I pray we are growing in purity by learning to confess and seek forgiveness more readily, say sorry more quickly, and seek to heal broken relationships with God and people more hastily.  Sanctification is the purifying process as we dwell in God’s word and learn to apply it to our lives daily.

Sanctification produces holiness, not wealth, not beauty of body but beauty of soul, and not self-glorification but God glorification.  God is glorified more and more in our lives.  I suspect this is harder for us to see or appreciate as we do not have very good perspective and tend to focus on the present challenges.  But Jesus prays that we will grow in sanctification, in our ability to bring glory to God by our lives.  Again, we are thrown back to the role of the word of God in this process.  I think of the Christmas story and the role Simeon and Anna played in the Temple when Jesus was taken to be circumcised.  They knew the word of God and prophecy and so recognized it unfolding in front of their very eyes.  They could see and name God’s presence in their world.  Being able to recognize and name God’s presence for the young who like Samuel might hear God calling but not realize what is happening is very important.  Sharing those God stories with others God places in our lives is important.

Jesus prays that his followers will be sanctified in the word of truth for God’s word is truth.  He prays we will be consecrated for God’s use, purified as we grow, and ultimately bring glory to God.  This is certainly fuel for our prayers for those we love.

Let us pray that childhood prayer:  “Now I lay me down to sleep.  I pray the Lord my soul to keep.  If I should die before I wake, I pray the Lord my soul to take.  If I should live for other days, I pray the Lord to guide my ways.”

Thank you Lord that I am known by you, valued by you, and that you are always there to be transparent with me.  Thank you Lord for protection.  That I am not lost in you and that the words of the world do not define me in your eyes.  Thank you for the unity of the body of Christ that stands around me and brings joy to you.  And thank you Lord that I am being sanctified.  My life is consecrated for your purposes.  Your purify me from sin.  And Lord, our prayer today is that you will be glorified by all we say and do. 

Wake I ever, Or, Wake I never;
To thee O Lord, I give my Soul to keep for ever.

Let the people of God say, “Amen!”

  “I Need Thee Every Hour”

This week we have been pondering Jesus’ farewell speech given Thursday, Ascension Day, when he returned to the Godhead. He ended with the promise that he will be with us always, even to the close of the age.  He is with us always and we need him always.  I thought of this hymn written by  Annie Sherwood Hawks (1835-1918).  She was one of four women who wrote hymns prolifically in the 19th century.  It was a time when women were not given leadership in the church, when women often were home with children, and when women had little voice in the public arena.  Annie wrote over 400 hymns, encouraged by her pastor who recognized her talent.  This hymn was written at age 37 as she went about home tasks in Brooklyn, NY, and as she felt very strongly the presence of the Lord.  She wrote about the inspiration she felt in writing this hymn.

“One day as a young wife and mother of 37 years of age, I was busy with my regular household tasks during a bright June morning [in 1872]. Suddenly, I became so filled with the sense of nearness to the Master that, wondering how one could live without Him, either in joy or pain, these words were ushered into my mind, the thought at once taking full possession of me — ‘I Need Thee Every Hour. . . .'”  It was not until years later when she lost her husband that she realized how the hymn was such a comfort to so many.  Jesus promised to be with us always, in good times and in bad, even to the close of the age.  This hymn captures that sense of his presence that we can experience at all times, even today.

Jesus’ final words before he ascended were, “And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age. (Matthew 28:20)” Yesterday, forty days after Easter, Jesus finished his farewell to his followers with these comforting words and he was taken up to heaven to sit at the right hand of the Father.  We call it Ascension Day and remember it with gratitude.  The promise of presence “always” was Jesus’ closing words.

The gift of presence is one of the most wonderful gifts we can give another.  I heard this bit of wisdom as I trained to be a chaplain but it was as I sat with my husband who could no long communicate with speech that I gradually began to understand more.  So often words are inadequate.  The pain of grief is too deep or the ecstasy of joy is beyond words. We try to capture a sunsets in paintings or sounds in music but somehow it always is a bit short and words are no better.  We cannot explain how this gift and awareness of God’s presence is possible.  But it is true.

Paul expresses this belief in Romans 8: 38, “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus or Lord.”  It does not depend on my feelings.  It does not depend on my ability to see or touch or hear or taste.  Likewise it is not conditional on my good behavior.  God does not reward  me for being good like Santa Clause.  Nor does he send me to my bedroom, into exile, if I’m bad.  God walks with us through the ups and downs and “through the valley of the shadow of death.”  He is with us always.

This promise is not place specific.  Many like to have designated “sacred spaces” where they focus all their attention on God and their spiritual ears open to listen.  That may be a church or a designated chair with a cup of coffee where we regularly meet with God.  Jesus does not name a place but promises to be wherever and whenever we want to meet with him.  Perhaps we are uncertain because of the silence but perhaps that is when he is listening the most intently. 

This presence is not age bound like social security.  We don’t have to qualify or wear a mask.  We do not even need an intermediary present.  God’s presence is with us “always.”  We are not alone.  We are not abandoned.  We are not forgotten.  We are not orphaned.  Jesus promises presence “always,” even to the end of the ages!  Thank you, Lord.

“Teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. (Matthew 28:20)” 

Yesterday we chatted about Jesus’ farewell when he tells his followers to go and make desciples and teach them.  Jesus does not stop there.  He says to teach others to obey everything Jesus commanded.  That is a mouthful.  Netflix has been featuring a movie “Megan Leavy” and I watched it yesterday.  A young adult woman, Megan, grieving the death of her good friend, living with stepparents,  and fed up with life, joins the Marines.  She fights authority but must submit and gets teamed up with a huge German Shepherd that is very aggressive that must learn to submit to her leadership.  They become a bomb sniffing team in Iraq and save lives.  The story, though, shows how a deep bond is formed between dog and woman as both learn what “teaching them to obey everything I have commanded” means.  They are hit by an IUD and she leaves the service but the dog must keep working though hurt and is finally retired and she is allowed to adopt it.  It’s a good tear jerker but true.

I suspect Jesus was not encouraging his followers to teach theology or to teach information about God in the same way we learn facts about the history of the United States to become citizens.  Jesus’ commandments are about relationships, not rules!  His commandments teach us how life works best.  The laws in the kingdom of heaven create a just and loving society because we love God with our whole heart and our neighbor as ourselves.

I think of Jesus’ commands like “come unto me all who are weary,” or “love your enemy and forgive those who persecute you,” or all the teachings in Matthew 5, the Sermon on the Mount.  We are told to teach others to follow the life of Christ who laid down his life for others.  Medical ministries, educational ministries, orphanages, and welfare have grown institutionally out of this.

So perhaps the point of reflection today is to turn the flashlight inward and ask ourselves how well we are obeying God’s commandments.  Is there anyone in my life that I need to take the first step to repair relationship with?  There may even be someone deceased who abused me terribly or disappointed me terribly that I no longer have direct access to but to whom I could write a letter that I will then destroy after I turn that hurt over to God.  Life is not fair and we are not perfect and often misunderstandings arise because we do not walk in the other’s shoes, but forgiveness is a choice we are always free to make.

Jesus tells us that his yoke is easy and his burden is light.  As we “go” and “make disciples” – impact others of all types, encouraging love and forgiveness, we can become new creations, baptized in the name of the triune God.  There is hope for the future no matter how dismal the present may seem.  And best of all, God walks with us and we are not alone.  Thank you, Lord.