In Or Of

Acts 1:6-11 and John 17:6-17

     “So when they met together, they asked him, "Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?"

     He said to them: "It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority.  But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."

     After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight.

      They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them.  "Men of Galilee," they said, "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.’“

     I bet that some of you here this morning are Adrenaline Junkies.  You know who you are!!  Are you one of those of people who lives their life in a state of constant activity and turmoil?  Needing the high that comes from the adrenaline that courses through your veins as you buzz about your life in a state of constant activity and stress and motion just to keep that adrenaline that you need to keep you going?  Whew!  I get exhausted just thinking about it!

     But what about those periods of time in our lives when nothing happens?  Those average ordinary times when there isn’t anything happening and we can’t scare up any action, no matter how hard we try.  No adrenaline to be had.  Times that seem boring and unimportant in the big picture of our lives.  Times that seem as if they don't count for much at all.  All of us find it difficult to face those times in our lives when not much happens and we just seem to be on hold, treading water and waiting for something, anything of importance to happen.

     Today's scripture reading from the Book of Acts is a good example of how the disciples found themselves in that same situation.  The drama of living with Jesus for three years.  The action and absolute fear for their very lives that resulted from his arrest and crucifixion.  The huge adrenaline rush of Jesus’ resurrection and appearances to them.  And now, with Jesus ascension to heaven found them having to face a possibly very long period of time in which they could only wait for Christ's promise to return to be fulfilled.

     To make matters even worse for these adrenaline junkies, on the day of his ascension into heaven when they were anxiously asking him when his kingdom would be established, he tells them that it is not for them to know the times or periods of God’s plans.  They had to settle for just going back to Jerusalem and wait patiently for the coming of the Holy Spirit.  Wait for the power they would need to witness to Jesus in Judea and all of Samaria, and then to all the world.

     For most of us waiting is a maddening thing because like it or not, waiting for something makes us feel like little kids waiting for Santa to come on Christmas morning.

     I have a hunch that this is not what Jesus intended for us to do or feel while we live our lives in the in between times, living out our Christian faith in between the times and the poles of Christ’s Ascension and his return.  For us though, these in between times aren’t meant to be spent just marking time…these “in between” times should be powerfully energizing for even the most hard core adrenaline junkies among us.

    As Jesus ascended into heaven to take his rightful place at the side of God, his disciples stood there dumbfounded.  Mouths hanging open and tongues flapping in the breeze.  Then an angel came by and brought them back to reality:

   "Men of Israel - why do you stand looking up toward heaven?  This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same manner as you saw him go into heaven."

     That angel was God’s wake up call…that snap out of it moment meant to refocus our energy and attention not on the next thing that we want to have happen in our lives but to refocus our attention on the present moment that God has given us and what it is God wants us to do in it.  The wake up call to live as Ascension people while we wait in hope for Christ to return. 

    That Ascension angel serves to remind us that we need to live in this moment, full of excitement or just average and ordinary as it may be and to live in this moment the way God intended us to live. 

     So back to Jerusalem the disciples went and devoted themselves to fellowship and prayer while they waited for the gift of the Holy Spirit to be showered on them and enable them to live in but not of the world as God’s faithful children.

     To really understand how we are called to live in these in-between times, to live as Ascension people, we need to go back to John’s Gospel, in chapter 17, when Jesus prays for his disciples…Hear the Word of the Lord from the Gospel of John… 

“"I have revealed you to those whom you gave me out of the world.  They were yours; you gave them to me and they have obeyed your word.  Now they know that everything you have given me comes from you.  For I gave them the words you gave me and they accepted them.  They knew with certainty that I came from you, and they believed that you sent me.  I pray for them.  I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, for they are yours.  All I have is yours, and all you have is mine.  And glory has come to me through them.  I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you.  Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name—the name you gave me—so that they may be one as we are one.   While I was with them, I protected them and kept them safe by that name you gave me.  None has been lost except the one doomed to destruction so that Scripture would be fulfilled.  "I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them.  I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world.  My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one.  They are not of the world, even as I am not of it.  Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth.  As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world.  For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified.”

     As you read Jesus’ prayer, two main ideas emerge.  First, that Jesus is worried about his followers and beloved friends that he will soon be leaving behind.  Worried because Jesus knows how very quickly the cares and concerns and temptations of this world can get in the way of our commitment and begin to unravel our lives of faith.  Worried because the temptation of easy solutions and simple faith can so easily seduce us away from real, living, vital faith.

     Secondly is that Jesus is grateful to God that he has been given these followers and friends to love and to teach, and, yes, those followers include you and me.

     Jesus prays for his disciples - and for us - because he knows what difficulties we will face as we live in but not of the world.  He reminds us, that we have been called and consecrated, set apart for great acts of faith and service through the power of the Holy Spirit.  More specifically, we have been set apart, and made holy so that we can do God's work in this time and place. 

     To be set apart means that we are called to be agents of God in the world.  For us adrenaline junkies who have a hard time sitting still and waiting in these in-between times that should make us very happy.  Because to be consecrated means that we are called to be busy, very busy people.  That is quite a privilege that Jesus has entrusted us with.  

     We are called to work for justice and peace, to show forth God’s reconciling love in Jesus Christ to the world.  Jesus knows all to well the seduction of wealth, of power, of the latest political and social trends that are of the world.  Jesus knows the seduction of taking the easy way out when we are called to be thoughtful and prayerful people of action.

      The words of Jesus’ prayer reminds us that we have been given, through the Holy Spirit, a different vision, a different way of being and acting, a different way of experiencing and reacting to the world outside.  Jesus calls us to see things in another light, to evaluate ourselves and others not by the standards of the world, but by God’s standard of love.

     Or, to put it in the language of Jesus’ prayer, we are called to be in, but not of the world, just as he himself was in the world but not of the world.

Jesus sends us out, fully equipped, to go into the world and make a difference, and to do so as one who is not of this world, but as someone who is consecrated by God.  Consecrated to share God’s love with those who need that love.  Consecrated to bring the Good News to those who need to hear it.  Consecrated to show God’s love to those who need to feel it in their lives.

     I sure hope that by now you are really beginning to wonder what it means to be in but not of the world.  I would be a liar if I told you that I don’t wonder about that and struggle with it every day of my life, in every situation and nuance that challenges my faith when I have to question the wisdom of this world and weigh it against God’s wisdom.  I wonder every time my cherished social and political ideals run smack dab up against God’s claim on my life.  I wonder every time I am tempted to settle for the quick and easy way out…

     There was a barber, a very serious and devoted Christian, who, after much prayer decided that he should begin to share his faith with his customers.  Getting out of bed one morning, he said to himself, “Today I am going to witness to the first man who walks through my door.”

     Soon after he opened his store for business that morning, the first man came in and said, “I want a shave!” The barber excused himself and went in the backroom to offer up a quick, desperate prayer, saying, “God, the first customer came in and I’m going to witness to him.  Please give me the wisdom to know just the right thing to say to him and the conviction of my faith to be an effective witness for you. Amen.”
     Quickly rushing back into front of the store, before he lost his new-found courage, the barber came out brandishing his straight razor in one hand and his well-worn Bible in the other while shouting at the customer, “Good morning sir.  I have a question for you.... Are you ready to die?”

     To be in but not of the world, to be consecrated and called to be God’s witnesses to the world means that we need, more than ever, to rely on God’s power and strength and protection…prayerfully and totally, that God will use us as powerful instruments, powerful ambassadors of his love and peace.

     That is the challenge that lies before us, we who are called to be Ascension people.  We, who are called to live in but not of the world.  We, who are the heirs of Christ’s promise to return.  We, who have been consecrated to witness to God’s love in Jesus Christ to the very ends of the earth.

     Truthfully, that is a huge job.  A scary job.  An impossible job.  That is, unless we have the power of the Holy Spirit.  You see, it’s not enough to be just Ascension people.  We need to be Pentecost people as well.  Because without the power of Pentecost behind us, we are nothing.  But that is a story for another day.  Like next week, for example, when we celebrate Pentecost…God’s gift of the Holy Spirit for us.  Amen.