Now What?
Reflections on John 17.20-26
RCL Easter 7C
8 May 2016
Saint Faith's Anglican Church
Vancouver BC
Click here to listen to the Sermon as preached at the 10.00 Eucharist on Sunday the 8th.
Click here to listen to the Sermon as preached at the 10.00 Eucharist on Sunday the 8th.
During
my first year in seminary I made the acquaintance of a final-year student from
Montana. Because his bishop planned to
send him to a congregation in a small town far from any other congregation in
the diocese, the bishop ordained him to the transitional diaconate during the
Christmas break of 1978. That way my
acquaintance could be ordained to the priesthood immediately following his
graduation from seminary.
So
the transitional deacon from Montana graduated from seminary at the end of May
1979 and was ordained to the priesthood one week later at the cathedral in
Helena.
Ordination,
in my experience, especially in diocese that are far-flung, are wonderful
celebrations. Around the bishop the
clergy and the laity of the diocese, who have had few opportunities to be
together, gather. Choral and
congregational singing fills the cathedral.
Often a guest preacher will be invited who offers insights that are new
to the community.
In
the space of a week my seminar acquaintance went from the joy and satisfaction
of his graduation from seminary to the mystery and wonder of his ordination to
the priesthood. The bishop had invited
him to preach at the cathedral on the Sunday following his ordination. Then, his car filled with his belongings and
with a set of keys given to him by one of the wardens after the ordination, he
drove for several hours to his new congregation.
On
Monday morning he went to the parish for the first time. Since the secretary did not come in on
Mondays, he had the whole place to himself.
He found the kitchen and made himself a cup of coffee. From there, cup in hand, he went into his
office and sat down at his desk. 'Now
what,' he said to himself.
The
highs of graduation and ordination now brought him to the reality of his new
role as the ordained leader of the pastoral, liturgical and educational
ministry of this congregation. His
nearest colleague was an hour and a half away by car. The bishop was three hours away and his
seminary professors were two days' drive away.
Now came the hard part: bearing
witness to Christ in this new place.
My
acquaintance shared the experience of the disciples. In John's gospel some of the last chapters
are devoted to Jesus' final words to the community his ministry had
created. He speaks to his friends and
prepares them for the challenges they will soon face --- his departure and
their empowerment for ministry. Forty
days after his resurrection we are told that Jesus ascended into heaven,
leaving his disciples behind to become witnesses to what they had seen and what
they had heard.
I
imagine that they felt a bit bewildered and not a little bit afraid. Like my seminary classmate, the highs of the
preceding weeks gave way to the reality of their current situation. They were friends of a man accused of
blasphemy by the Jewish authorities and executed for sedition by the Roman
governor. They had an unbelievable story
to tell of his resurrection and continuing presence among them. But Jesus had said his good-byes and
entrusted them with an on-going ministry of justice, of compassion and of
service to the world God created for which Jesus lived and died.
Jesus
had called them friends and now gave them a new task. They were to witness to what Jesus had done
while he was among them and what he continued to do through them now that he
had ascended. They were to share the
words he had spoken to them and which he continued to speak through them to
Jews and Gentiles, men and women, rich and poor. Jesus expected them to continue to live in
relationship to God through him and, more importantly, bring others into this
life-giving, life-affirming relationship in the here and now.
You
and I are the product of their witness and the witness of the many generations
who followed the first disciples. In our
own here and now we are called to move from the joy of Easter into the hard
work of 'ordinary' time. God believes
in us and God trusts us to do this.
Let
me say this again. God believes in us
and God trusts us to be faithful witnesses.
Jesus' final words to his disciples are not 'I know you're going to make
a mess of this!' His last message is one
of encouragement and friendship. 'You
are my friends,' he says, 'and I know you will continue to be my friends and
make more friends for God.'
Back
to my seminary friend for a moment. That
first Monday he decided to get up from his desk and walk downtown --- not too
far given the size of the town. He met
the mayor in the coffee shop and several of his parishioners in the
supermarket. He checked in at the police
and fire stations. He made an initial
visit to the hospital. He even met the
only funeral director in town and had a good conversation about funeral
expectations --- both those of the town and his own as an Anglican priest. By the time he went home on Monday evening he
had three invitations for lunch, two for dinner and an offer of free breakfasts
at the coffee shop on Sunday mornings.
My
friend chose to be a witness to the good news of God in Christ rather than
remain behind the desk in his office hoping that someone would come to
him. By the end of his first day the
word began to spread throughout the town that the newly-ordained leader of the
Anglican community was making sure he knew the townspeople and that they knew
him.
Today
you and I have an opportunity to offer our witness to the people among whom we
live and work. We can share what God has
done for us and through us. We can speak
the words that God has spoken to us, whether through Scripture, through other
Christians or through other voices in the world. We can invite others to share the life that
we have found in this place with the people who are sitting to our right and to
our left, in front of us and behind us.
God
believes in us and trusts us to be witnesses.
And today God asks us, ‘Now what?’
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