John 17: 20-26 and Acts 1:1-11

Preached at STPL
May 16, 2010

My dear sisters and brothers in Christ, grace and peace are yours in Christ Jesus, our Lord, Amen.

The Ascension of the Lord texts accomplish four major objectives. First, they provide an explanation of where the Risen Christ is now. Second, they provide an explanation of why the Risen Christ was seen by many followers of Jesus during the first few weeks after his crucifixion and resurrection but is being seen in the same way no longer. Third, they provide assurance that the Risen Christ is still with us spiritually and that the Risen Christ will return. Finally, they establish more clearly the responsibilities of the followers of Jesus to be witnesses of the Risen Christ throughout the world.

After the resurrection, Jesus visited his disciples on several occasions. He taught them, he encouraged them; he commissioned them to do a job. And then – on the day of his ascension into heaven, when they are anxiously asking him when his kingdom will be established, when the next installment of the divine plan will take place, He tells them that it is not for them to know the times or periods established by God.

This is a pivotal point in the lives of the first disciples--when they found themselves facing a period of time in which not much was happening, a period of time in which they needed to wait—to simply wait for Christ’s promise to them to come true.

Did the disciples accept this graciously? Well, we don’t know that for sure but I rather suspect that they groused about it just like you and I would be prone to do.

For many of us, waiting is a dreadful thing, a very difficult thing for us to be about—and we don’t always understand that there can be a purpose in waiting.

For those of us who thrive on activity, the time that exists between one activity and the next can seem like time that is lost; time that is unimportant, time that doesn’t count. Yet, Jesus told the disciples to wait --simply go back to Jerusalem and wait—

---wait for the coming of the Holy Spirit through whom they would receive the power they would need to do what He was calling them to do—witness to him in Jerusalem, in Judea and all of Samaria and ultimately, in all the world.

Now, back to us: As a congregation, we are living in a time between right now—we are living between the times of the closure of one ministry leadership team’s Call and the beginning of the Call of another ministry leadership team. This is not lost time, this is not a time when nothing is happening.

The words of Jesus to those first disciples are fresh and new and meant for us today. For we, too, must wait for the Holy Spirit to move, to give us the power to understand where God is leading us, to open the doors for the spiritual leader God is already making ready to come to this place to join with you in ministry. It is important that we remember that the ministry of St. Paul Lutheran is God’s ministry. We are His people and it is with our hands and feet, with the words of our mouths and with our actions that God’s will continues to be carried out as we live in this Time Between.

Let me say this another way: It is the Holy Spirit that enables and guides our own ministry as his followers, our own witness to Christ—indeed it is the Spirit, and only the Spirit, that allows us to be fruitful with our lives. And believe me; the Spirit is very active in this place, in each of our lives during this time between settled Pastors.

Having said all of this, my message to you this morning is simply this. If you are anxious about anything this morning, I urge you to remember what Jesus said and what the disciples did in response to what Jesus told them.

Jesus said, “It is not for you to know the times or periods established by God—wait for the coming of the Holy Spirit—wait for the power you will need to do what I am commissioning you to do in this world.”

So, what did those first disciples do? When the disciples returned to Jerusalem they stayed together. In fact they joined themselves with the rest of those who believed in Jesus: with Mary and Jesus’ brothers and many others and they sought to be one as Christ had prayed that they would be. They stayed together and they prayed.

And in so doing, they prepared themselves for the job Jesus had told them that they would do when the Holy Spirit came upon them as he had promised it would.

There are many ways to prepare for what we believe is coming next, but in the end, for those who are seeking to do God’s will and to see God’s promises come true in their midst, prayer is of central importance. This is one reason why we have begun to develop a prayer team ministry here.

This in-between time in which we, you and I; the people and pastor of St. Paul Lutheran Church are moving provides many opportunities for us to prepare ourselves for what is coming next. Just as those between jobs may go back to school, those between relationships may enter into counseling-- between bursts of activity we, too, need to sit down and actually relax and rest so that we have the strength to go on.

And now, I want to introduce you to the concept of a time of Jubilee, which, by the way, we will be observe during the coming two months of June and July. The word, “Jubilee” is found in the Old Testament book of Leviticus where it is used to denote a time of rest for the land, a time of release of the slaves. If anyone is interested in a fuller discussion of the background or the intent of such a time, see me and we can arrange for a time to ponder together what this means for us in the year 2010. For our purposes, this time will be a time of resting from our labors of the past nearly 9 months, in which we diligently explored the past of this congregation. During the announcements, I mentioned the historical timeline that depicts a large part of the journey of this congregation through the years. Look and see!

We will rest for 60 days and then we will turn our faces, our hearts, our hands, and our minds to the task of discerning and clarifying the nature of this congregation today. During this time of rest and release, we will cease all official church-related meetings unless absolutely necessary. We will claim every opportunity to just be God’s people together and to let the Spirit move amongst us as we prepare to continue the Interim Process commencing August 1st. At that time we will focus our attention on the coming academic year and next steps in developing the administrative structure that will support the ministry going forward.

So, how will we endeavor to live in this Time Between?

First, we need to remember, to focus on what is happening now, not on what is going to happen later.

The second important part of learning how to live in the times between – namely, to live as Christ has shown us how to live—is to be obedient and to stay in connection with Him and the Father. We need to follow the commands of God and keep connected with him through devoted prayer so that we are strengthened and prepared.

Third, we need to trust and have confidence that what has been promised to us by God will come to pass. This God whose promises can be trusted has said and is saying again to us in the words of Jeremiah 29:11 “Surely I know the plans I have for you, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope!”

We need the confidence, not because our confidence will change the outcome because what God promises to us will come to pass. We need this confidence because when we have it, we open ourselves up to the peace of God and the other blessings that God has for us—right now—now in this time between all those other promises--and the time of their fulfillment.

And so this morning I urge you, my sisters and brothers in Christ, to trust in the Lord not in your own understandings; live life fully today, this day, as our Lord asks us to live--connected to him and to his word by prayer and meditation with your sisters and brothers and in holy obedience whether alone or in a crowd. And you will know the peace which passes all understanding and we will be ready when in God’s time, a new and dynamic, humble, spirit-led, Christ-centered, shared ministry takes shape in this congregation through the leadership of a spirit-filled Pastor whom God is already preparing for you.

And now my prayer for each of you and for myself this last Sunday in the Lent and Easter season --in this in-between time, this time of waiting, is that we will be a people who will trust in the Lord to come through, that you will remember what he has done for you in the past, and that, together, we will wait for the next act—the next promise to come true. That we will wait with a firm hope, withholding nothing but in all things giving thanks to God from whom all blessings flow: This is my prayer for us this day. Amen. So let it be!