Sermon for May 27

The reading 

Exodus 19:1-6, 20:1-17

19:1 On the third new moon after the Israelites had gone out of the land of Egypt, on that very day, they came into the wilderness of Sinai. 2 They had journeyed from Rephidim, entered the wilderness of Sinai, and camped in the wilderness; Israel camped there in front of the mountain. 3 Then Moses went up to God; the Lord called to him from the mountain, saying, "Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob, and tell the Israelites: 4 You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles' wings and brought you to myself. 5 Now therefore, if you obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession out of all the peoples. Indeed, the whole earth is mine, 6 but you shall be for me a priestly kingdom and a holy nation. These are the words that you shall speak to the Israelites."

20:1 Then God spoke all these words: 2 I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery; 3 you shall have no other gods before me. 4 You shall not make for yourself an idol, whether in the form of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. 5 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, punishing children for the iniquity of parents, to the third and the fourth generation of those who reject me, 6 but showing steadfast love to the thousandth generation of those who love me and keep my commandments. 7 You shall not make wrongful use of the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not acquit anyone who misuses his name. 8 Remember the sabbath day, and keep it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work. 10 But the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God; you shall not do any work—you, your son or your daughter, your male or female slave, your livestock, or the alien resident in your towns. 11 For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but rested the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day and consecrated it. 12 Honor your father and your mother, so that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you. 13 You shall not murder. 14 You shall not commit adultery. 15 You shall not steal. 16 You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. 17 You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or male or female slave, or ox, or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.

The message

We are starting a 4 week series on the 10 commandments.  Our readings were originally organized to focus on a few of the commandments each week.   I plan to do something a little different,  I want to look at the 10 commandments in their original context, our time and the future.  If you are interested in looking deeper at what each one means, I invite you to look at Luther’s Small or Large Catechism, where each one is explained in depth,  Here Luther expands what it means to follow each one, making it for all practical purposes  impossible for a Christian to follow them by their own will or goodness.  (Here, the law exposes sin and human sinfulness then drives us to God’s saving grace as the source of our salvation, shown to us through the apostles creed and Lord’s prayer, the next parts of the Catechisms).    

There are also 1000’s of different commentaries from the Jewish tradition on these 10 commands that explore what it means to follow each one.  In Jesus own debates and confrontations with the religious authorities, we see these discussions as well (for example, after Jesus heals a paralyzed man on the Sabbath, he is accused of breaking the law, doing work on the Sabbath and disobeying the 4^th commandment). Even the authorities disagree, some seeing that if Jesus was breaking the law, he would have no power to do the things he was doing.  There is a tremendous amount of writing on what it means to work and what specifically counts as work (how far can you walk on the Sabbath, emergency workers, etc).                    

This week, we start with what the 10 commandments in their time.  They are given to Moses and then to the people about 3 months (3 new moons is about 89 days) after the exodus, the escape from slavery in Egypt.  This is one of the central events in the history of Israel. The Israelites end up in Egypt about 500 years before.  They come invited by Joseph, one of Jacob’s sons who is betrayed by his brothers and left for dead.  Joseph survives and becomes a powerful official in the Egyptian government.  At a time of famine, Joseph brings his family to Egypt so they can eat and live.   After a few generations pass, the people of Egypt start complaining to the pharaoh that the Israelites are too powerful, not assimilating, not becoming Egyptians, not practicing the Egyptian religion, are using too many resources and multiplying too quickly  (now this should sound familiar to us, since we hear the same things today about different immigrant groups).  The pharaoh decides to solve the problem by enslaving the Israelites. 

During all this time, the only thing the people have to keep faithful is God’s promise or covenant with Abraham, that they will be God’s people  Hundreds of years later, In Exodus 3, God calls out to Moses and sends him to tell the phaorah “let my people go”.  This is a scary task, this is confronting one of history’s strongest empires. At first, Moses refuses, offering all kinds of reasonable excuses, I have other things to do, I’m not the right person for this, they won’t listen to me,  I have a speech impediment (apparently Moses stuttered).  To address these things, God sends Aaron, Moses’s brother with him.  They go the pharaoh with the request “the Lord says, let my people go”.  They are armed with a series of plagues that they unleash on Egypt, ultimately ending with the death of the first born of Egypt, from animals to the Pharoah’s own son (an event marked at Passover).  This breaks Egypt’s will to keep fighting and the Israelites are freed.

During all this time, the only thing the people have to keep faithful is God’s promise or covenant with Abraham, that they will be God’s people. Now, free in the wilderness, this promise “you will be my people”, isn’t quite doing it. The people are in the wilderness and materially, they have nothing except what they looted from Egypt.  They quickly realize they have nothing. They complain about the lack of food, shelter, organization, leadership, water and military.  After all, during the centuries of slavery in Egypt, the people had places to live, food to eat, water to drink, rules and codes to live by, protection from people who wished them harm (other than the Egyptians themselves).  Now, they had nothing, just God’s promise or covenant with Abraham, that they will be God’s people (and you can’t eat that).  

Each issues is addressed,  God appears as a cloud of fire and wind to show they are under God’s protection, in a barren place, there is manna and quail to eat and water from a rock to drink.  Different types of leadership structures are formed by trial and error.  In the midst of all this, Moses goes to Mt Sinai and receives the 10 commandments.  The 10 commandments can be separated into ones that govern our relationship with God (you shall have no other gods. keep the Sabbath holy, a reminder of God’s power and grace, do not make idols) and ones that govern our relationship with each other (honor your parents, you shall not lie, bear false witness, murder, covet or be jealous).   Over time, there are about 600 other laws regulating diet, care for the poor, social and legal interactions, debt relief, worship and all other aspects of life. Again all of these laws are concerned with our relationships with God and with each other.  A code to live by but more importantly a reminder of God’s Grace.  (keep in mind 19 comes before 20,  God calls out to Abraham and Moses, set the people free from Egypt,  God bore you on eagles' wings and brought you to himself, that all happens before the law.  God’s favor is not a reward for obedience, it is a gift. (more on that next week as we look at what Luther does with the 10 commandments)

 In many ways religion and government were the same. Kings pray and prophets anoint or remove them.  Priests make decisions on war. Decisions in all aspects of society and life are made based on God’s word.  God is the ultimate power in the world.  The law serves secular and religious purposes. It organizes society, establishes crimes and consequences, gives people trust in what is happening, sets God’s people apart from all others, can be kept in all times and places (after all, its origins are in the chaos and confusion of a barren wilderness).  Now the people have that promise that they will be God’s people and they have the law. We should not imagine that the 10 commandments fixed all that anxiety and fear.  

Having the rules and following them are 2 very different things (When we started this year at the homeless Shelther, I consulted a few teachers who all stressed having rules, which we did, awesome rules, getting the kids to follow them was a different story) As Moses is receiving them, the people think he is gone for good. They talk Aaron into making and then worship a golden calf, claiming that is what set them free from slavery in Egypt. (a very human attempt to make the divine visible, controllable). There is a constant cycle of people failing to keep faithful to God and to the law, the people being punished (the golden calf incident is met with harsh consequences, a lot of killing), people repenting, being forgiven, restored and then failing again.  God would do something else to call people to faith and relationship (think Jesus)

Sermon for Pentecost (May 20)

The readings

Acts 2:1-21

1 When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. 2 And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. 3 Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. 4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability. 5 Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven living in Jerusalem. 6 And at this sound the crowd gathered and was bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in the native language of each. 7 Amazed and astonished, they asked, "Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? 8 And how is it that we hear, each of us, in our own native language? 9 Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, 10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, 11 Cretans and Arabs -- in our own languages we hear them speaking about God's deeds of power." 12 All were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, "What does this mean?" 13 But others sneered and said, "They are filled with new wine." 14 But Peter, standing with the eleven, raised his voice and addressed them, "Men of Judea and all who live in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and listen to what I say. 15 Indeed, these are not drunk, as you suppose, for it is only nine o'clock in the morning. 16 No, this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel: 17 "In the last days it will be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams. 18 Even upon my slaves, both men and women, in those days I will pour out my Spirit; and they shall prophesy. 19 And I will show portents in the heaven above and signs on the earth below, blood, and fire, and smoky mist. 20 The sun shall be turned to darkness and the moon to blood, before the coming of the Lord's great and glorious day. 21 Then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.'

Philippians 4:4-7

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. 5 Let your gentleness be known to everyone. The Lord is near. 6 Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

^{The message} 

Merry Pentecost to you and your loved ones. I expect that you are not planning to do something to celebrate, after all this day does not have the same traditions or appeal outside of our Christian faith. There is no Pentecost Tree, beloved Pentecost carols or a Pentecost bunny.  There are no bumper stickers or car magnets that read “keep Christ in Pentecost”.   Pentecost is an ancient holiday, it literally means the 50^th day and is celebrated 7 Sundays after Easter (I know that’s 49 days, we cheat a little).  In the centuries before Jesus death and resurrection, the day of Pentecost was already significant in the Jewish calendar. It was a festival called Shavuot or the Festival of weeks that was set aside to celebrate the harvest and receiving of the law.

For us, it is the day when the promised Holy Spirit comes to the disciples. At the Ascension, 10 days ago, Jesus, our crucified, died and risen Lord, is taken up into heaven.  As he departs the earth, Jesus blesses his followers and tells them to wait for “power from on high”, the coming of the Holy Spirit before doing anything.  This timing reminds us that we are a Holy Spirit Church, that we are God’s Church.   

Our reading from Acts today is disruptive to the order of our carefully planned out church year. Disruptive is a word I’m going to use a lot this morning so I want to clarify what I mean: a change in the ordinary, expected or comfortable. 

Today’s reading takes us back in time (it’s one of the very few times in our list of readings that we leave the time based order).  Over the past few weeks we have looked at the conversion of Saul the persecutor to Paul the saint and missionary, we have looked at the work of the Peter, James and other disciples and the letter Paul writes to the woman led, thriving and faithful church in Philippi. Today, although, we have already heard some of the things that happened in the early church, we sit with a reading that I consider to be the birthday of the church and its first acts in faith.

The Holy Spirit is disruptive; it came like a violent wind.  Parts of our region just experienced a violent wind on Tuesday nights storm, 4 people lost their lives, trees fell, trains were shut down,  roofs blown off, flooding was anticipated, power was lost.  The disciples gathered to celebrate Pentecost and like we do on most holidays, hoped for a quiet day, no interruptions, disputes, unannounced visitors,  Instead, they find themselves being hit by tongues of fire, speaking other languages, drawing huge crowds of people from all over the world and then presiding over the first Christian worship service.

This is when public preaching begins in earnest.  The message of the first Christian sermon, delivered by an unprepared Peter, is clear: Jesus fulfills scripture, the great prophesies and visions that brought anxious people hope and strength centuries ago, have come through. Peter goes on to talk about people killing Jesus and God raising him from the dead, the resurrection of Jesus for the forgiveness of sins and defeat of death.  

If we skip ahead a few verses, we see that “When the people heard this, they were changed, disrupted, cut to the heart. They said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?  Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.  The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.  After this 1000’s of people are baptized.  The entire city of Jerusalem is disrupted and all of those towns, cities and countries the newly baptized return to will also be disrupted.

Our familiar reading today is paired with the end of Paul’s letter to the Phillipains,  he insists, he exhorts, he demands this good and faithful community  “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice”.  It feels odd to say demand, insist and exhort that people rejoice, I mean who needs to be told to be happy, to rejoice.  Then again, we can think about all the people who spend their vacation on the phone, just taking care of one more thing, people who sit at the beach worried about the office, go to church and worry about budgets, home and business or sit in the pews worried about who is not there instead of welcoming and caring for who is.  When people feel responsible for everything, like they are working alone, it’s hard to ever rejoice. 

The very act of rejoicing is disruptive, we know something greater than wealth or resources, fame and fortune, we can sing how great thou art at funerals and memorial services.  That’s why Paul’s demand that people rejoice is tied to our Pentecost reading. The gift of Pentecost, the visible, experienced sign that God is in the world reminds us that this God’s church and God’s world,  That simple idea, it is not all about us, its not only about this place,  is what allows us to not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God, the assurance that the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

The first thing Peter does with the gift of the Holy Spirit is speak God’s word. Peter recognizes that the Holy Spirit is not some limited commodity to be hoarded and distributed based on worth or deserving. It is free and for all and then gives it away.  The work of the church is beyond us.  From the first day, the first public acts, the church is the work of a community, the crowd goes up to Peter and the others, this work of teaching, baptizing and welcoming is shared.  The very act of working together as a community is disruptive. 

I am not the best at learning or speaking foreign languages This does not stop me from trying to communicate in other places, to varying degrees of embarrassment or failure.  Whenever I am at events with the church of grace to the fujianse or Indonesain Baptist, I am often invited to share a prayer at some point in the service or event.   Before going up, I will always ask the person next to me “how to say Merry Christmas in Fujianese” or “Happy Annivesary in Indonesian”.   Each time, I will forget what they said before getting to the stage or altar.   It does not matter, with no idea what I am saying, the people know I showed up, I am praying with them, for them, for the day, Thankfully, Pentecost is not about learning language, It is about having the resources needed for clear communication of the Gospel and it is about trusting the Spirit that came to the disciples and soon after, the crowd, is still here with us, still speaking, still correcting, still calling.  It is about disrupting things, asking for help, rejoicing when others would worry, rejoicing when others would cry, rejoicing when others would fear. 

Today’s church service was disruptive, awkward and confusing (for those reading at home, we changed the order of our service, putting each part of our normal Sunday service in another place, starting with communion at the beginning, prayers and sermon at the end, groups of hymns together) I would think it was uncomfortable. I am not eager to ask people what they thought of church today.  It was disruptive.  It is an experience as well.  A reminder that we are asked to disrupt other things, cycles of poverty, generations of exclusion and a society dedicated to making meaningless things profitable.

Once again, Happy Pentecost to you and your loved ones 

   

Sermon for May 13

The reading

Philippians 2:1-13

1 If then there is any encouragement in Christ, any consolation from love, any sharing in the Spirit, any compassion and sympathy, 2 make my joy complete: be of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. 3 Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves. 4 Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others. 5 Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, 7 but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And being found in human form, 8 he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death -- even death on a cross. 9 Therefore God also highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. 12 Therefore, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed me, not only in my presence, but much more now in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; 13 for it is God who is at work in you, enabling you both to will and to work for his good pleasure.

The message

A few weeks ago, I did an interview for one of the parents at Rainbow. He had to interview 3 or4 church leaders from different denominations (he’s part of the Presbyterian Church).  He was working on a paper for his seminary course on the relationship between churches, a class focused on how we are doing with Paul’s request, made almost 2000 years ago,  “make my joy complete be of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind”.  We talked for 45 minutes or so, about ourselves and our work in the religious and culturally diversity communities of Queens.  After the paper was done, I had a chance to read it and see what I said as well as what the other pastors interviewed said. It was all similar, Yes churches working together is good, Yes, we do some things together, Yes, we know or have a relationship with our neighbors  Yes, it’s really important to know and understand our neighbors in faith. Yes, we look forward to a time when there is less division and less separation between Christian groups, Yes, different churches have a lot of things in common. 

Then, we get to the nos.  The things that separate Christians from each other that we are not willing to overlook. It seems like every person of faith has some limit, some core beliefs we cannot put aside for the sake of making the community or world a little better.  This is nothing new. Paul faced the same challenges as each new Christian prayer group, community and then church that he founded started to absorb other beliefs, incorporate other ideas or listen to other preachers. Paul’s letters to the Corinthians is highly critical of the church there and their habit of believing anything, pleading and praying for them to remain faithful to Jesus’s teachings. There are reports that religious meetings like the Council of Nicea in 325, that the nicean creed come out of, were not sweet and peaceful, even erupting in physical fights between bishops as they debated different beliefs. There were many fringes of the church that were dismissed as heresies and holy books that were rejected because they did not agree with the others. 

Our church comes out of a dispute with the Roman Catholic Church over their teachings.  Starting in 1517, the divisions became wider, more frequent and even violent. (even the reformers, risking everything for change, quickly start disagreeing with each other)  The 500^th anniversary commemorations of the Reformation were filled with leaders from different churches saying, were not that different, while lots of people listening said, yes we are. 

As a person who grew up in the Roman Catholic Church who decided to join another church for some serious reasons, I found myself divided here. I found myself struggling with this issue during an English service with the Fujianese Church as well.  One of the girls in the HS group asked me “Are Catholics saved”?  (I assume someone else had taught them no, our salvation is though Christ alone, faith alone and the Catholic church added things).       

I think of a joke, voted as the funniest religious joke ever (by an internet site that asks those kind of questions i guess) .  It written about 20 years ago by a stand up comic named Emo Phillips (who I never actually heard of until I happened to come across this on a friend’s social media post).  I wanted to make sure I gave him credit for this, since a recent article he wrote complains about churches and pastors always using or changing it without giving him credit.   

Once I saw this guy on a bridge about to jump. I said, "Don't do it!" He said, "Nobody loves me." I said, "God loves you. Do you believe in God?"  He said, "Yes." I said, "Are you a Christian or a Jew?" He said, "A Christian." I said, "Me, too! Protestant or Catholic?" He said, "Protestant." I said, "Me, too! What franchise?" He said, "Baptist." I said, "Me, too! Northern Baptist or Southern Baptist?" He said, "Northern Baptist." I said, "Me, too! Northern Conservative Baptist or Northern Liberal Baptist?" He said, "Northern Conservative Baptist." I said, "Me, too! Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region, or Northern Conservative Baptist Eastern Region?" He said, "Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region." I said, "Me, too!" Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region Council of 1879, or Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region Council of 1912?" He said, "Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region Council of 1912." I said, "Die, heretic!" And I pushed him over

My first thought was I wonder what the difference between those 2 councils were, why the division. I actually had a hard time finding out what the great lakes region council was and what happened between 1879 and 1912 (the joke comes up hundreds of times but I couldn’t  figure out if this was even a real division between Baptists).  We could easily replace “Baptist” with “Lutheran”, agreeing with someone 10 or 15 times and then asking how do you understand a particular passage in the bible or interpret a few sentences in Luther’s writing and then politely end the conversation (no bridge pushing). 

I think this issue has been around so long because its more about us that about God, or church or what we believe. It is about being right and knowing it all.  God is more merciful, more complex and more welcoming than we can understand or express.  Paul offers a plea for unity (hint, its humility)  and then some practical advice on how to get there: be humble before God, remembering this is not about us. To treat one another with active love, bow to God, confess Jesus Christ is Lord, look at God’s gift of faith and salvation with awe and reverence. He points them to bible, prayer and songs of praise (this section of Phillipians is thought to be the earliest hymn, confession of faith)   

So in case you didn’t notice, I no longer have a beard.  The morning after I shaved, I had the children’s church service at Rainbow in the 3 year old room.  I had the beard since I meet most of the children in September so it was hard for them to recognize me. One of the teachers noticed that without the story bible I use each week, the children would not have recognized me.  They adjusted after a while, as we went through the opening song, prayer and bible story.  I was recognized because of the bible, prayer and songs of praise.   That’s a good start to letting the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus.

Sermon for Ascension Day (May 10)

The readings

Acts 1:1-11

1:1 In the first book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus did and taught from the beginning until the day when he was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. After his suffering he presented himself alive to them by many convincing proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God. While staying with them, he ordered them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait there for the promise of the Father. "This," he said, "is what you have heard from me;  for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now."  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."  When he had said this, as they were watching, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. While he was going and they were gazing up toward heaven, suddenly two men in white robes stood by them.  They said, "Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up toward heaven? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven."

Psalm 47

47:1 Clap your hands, all you peoples; shout to God with loud songs of joy.

For the LORD, the Most High, is awesome, a great king over all the earth.

 He subdued peoples under us, and nations under our feet.

 He chose our heritage for us, the pride of Jacob whom he loves. Selah

 God has gone up with a shout, the LORD with the sound of a trumpet.

 Sing praises to God, sing praises; sing praises to our King, sing praises.

 For God is the king of all the earth; sing praises with a psalm.

 God is king over the nations; God sits on his holy throne.

The princes of the peoples gather as the people of the God of Abraham. For the shields of the earth belong to God; he is highly exalted.

  

Ephesians 1:15-23

I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, and for this reason I do not cease to give thanks for you as I remember you in my prayers.  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. God put this power to work in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the age to come. And he has put all things under his feet and has made him the head over all things for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.

Luke 24:44-53

Then he said to them, "These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you--that everything written about me in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms must be fulfilled." Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures, and he said to them, "Thus it is written, that the Messiah is to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day,  and that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things  And see, I am sending upon you what my Father promised; so stay here in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high."  Then he led them out as far as Bethany, and, lifting up his hands, he blessed them. While he was blessing them, he withdrew from them and was carried up into heaven. And they worshiped him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy;  and they were continually in the temple blessing God.

Sermon for Ascension Day

Today, exactly 40 days after Easter, we celebrate the Ascension. To help us understand what is so special about this moment in our faith, I will compare it to events 43 days ago, the hours between Good Friday and Easter morning.  After Jesus death, we see Jesus followers locked away in secret, hiding in fear and doubting everything.  After the Ascension, we see Jesus followers worship him, return to Jerusalem with great joy and publically, continually blessing God in the temple.  They are now doing all those things they were afraid to a few weeks before, the open acts of witness and sharing of faith they wouldn’t even consider in the hours after Jesus death.  The only thing that changes is after Good Friday, Jesus disciples have no idea what is going on but after the Ascension, they know Christ is Risen and that makes all the difference. 

Every Friday during the school year, I do a children’s church services with the 3,4, 5 and 6 year olds at my church’s school. Each year, Easter is the longest of the services.  I tell the whole story of Jesus trial, death and resurrection from Palm Sunday through Easter Sunday.  Knowing a little about the ability of young children to understand things,   I summarize the horrific events of Holy Thursday and Good Friday, Jesus betrayal, beating, trial and death, simply by saying “some really bad things happened to Jesus, his friends did not think they would see him anymore, they were really sad and scared”.  

To help them understand the confusion and chaos of the time between Jesus death and resurrection, we move spaces 3 or 4 times, going from the gym to the playground to the hallways and then the church over the course of 20 minutes or so. After all, this is the time that the disciples have all left Jesus. Aside from a few women, everyone else is hiding in fear, locked away in a room and keeping very quiet.  The disciples were really sad and scared.  They thought they would not see Jesus anymore, that the things he talked about would never come to be, the signs of power he shared would be forgotten, the religious authorities that got him would come after them next, that they would not support each other.  I imagine someone suggesting a hymn or prayer and  someone else whispering “shhhhh”, someone saying “I’m hungry and am going to get a snack” and someone else  saying “no stay here and eat what’s in the cabinet, you might be spotted and followed back to us”.   I imagine them sitting in the dark, keeping the candles off, acting like no one is home.  

Jesus disciples are now living without the one who pulled them from work as fisherman and tax collectors, who healed with faith, taught with authority and brought hope.  This was sudden and unexpected, with a lot of loose ends, questions and what looked like incomplete work.  No one is in charge, no one wanted to be, no one is fighting to be on Jesus left and right side like James and John were just a few days before.  The women go to the tomb to anoint Jesus body.  They have no idea what to do about the large stone door to the tomb, they go anyway, no one escorts them or helps them carry the necessary items.  They come back with news of an empty tomb and the first whispers of good news.  

This morning, we hear the story of what happens when Jesus friends once again think they would  not see him anymore. This time they are not sad and they are not scared. They are joyful and they are loud. Why this change over 40 short days, barely more than a month. Easter makes all the difference.  To quote the sermon from John Chrysthrom that Pr Longan preaches at the Easter Vigil

 “Christ is Risen, and you, o death, are annihilated!  Christ is Risen, and the evil ones are cast down! Christ is Risen, and the angels rejoice! Christ is Risen, and life is liberated! Christ is Risen, and the tomb is emptied of its dead;  for Christ having risen from the dead,is become the first-fruits of those who have fallen asleep.  To Him be Glory and Power forever and ever. Amen!

Knowing these things, that evil is cast down, that we rejoice with the angels, that we have this life liberated from sin and death, that makes all the difference. 

The disciples now have a promise from Jesus that the Holy Spirit, the presence of God in the world, would soon come.  They have assurance, you will not do this faith work alone, from a person who even death could not stop, and that makes all the difference.  

The disciples now know what they are walking into. They know who walks with them and that makes all the difference.  In many ways, those bad things they feared and hid from do happen, the disciples end up rejected, martyred, imprisoned or killed for their faith.  They will speak God’s word to their last breath, they will die with joy knowing God’s promises are still good.   

Finally, I think of a joke I heard a while ago and never quite understood.  There was a farmer who bought a new field.  It was filled with rocks, bricks and old cement  He wanted to plant this field and everyone thought he was crazy.  He had to clear it first.  This work took months of hot, hard work. Every few days the town priest would walk by, say good morning and move on.   The farmer made walls, piles of stone, and kept working. Eventaully, he finished.  Now, as the once useless land was starting to shape up and food was growing, the priest walks and says “what an amazing thing you and the Lord have built here”  To this, the annoyed farmer says “well it wasn’t much when it was just the Lord working on it”

This morning we see the exact opposite, When the church is just the disciples, It wasn’t much. When 

the kingdom of God was just us working on it. We had little more than a scared bunch of people, too busy mourning to do anything, too disappointed to trust anything.  When it comes to down to salvation, obedience to God’s law, keeping the commandments, overcoming the wages of sin, defeating death, it wasn’t much when it was just us.  It won’t be much when it’s just us.  You have been blessed, you have been clothed with power from on high, you should leave here rejoicing. That is when the great joy comes, that is what changes, that is what makes all the difference.