Seventh Sunday of Easter May 4, 2008.

Acts 1:6-14

Psalm 68:1-10, 32-35

1 Peter 4:12-14, 5:6-11

John 17:1-11

First Reading

The Acts reading presents a continuation/overlap from the reading for Ascension Day. The disciples have gone a Sabbath day's journey, a short distance of less than a mile, from Mount Olivet back to the place where they had been staying. While waiting, they also go to the temple, blessing God (Luke 24) and constantly devoting themselves to prayer. Luke's concern for the wider band of followers of Jesus comes through again in this passage. Luke is careful to include the women and Jesus' brothers who had by now become followers.

Psalm 68 is a song of praise to a powerful and mighty God who causes the wicked to perish but cares for the orphans and widows, calling to mind the care God gave when God went out in front of the pilgrims from Egypt. The psalm ends with an ascription of praise to God for God's power and majesty not only over Israel but over all creation.

The reading from 1 Peter contains the theme we have seen nearly every week, of encouragement and exhortation to a church suffering persecution. The first section is directed very explicitly at those who are undergoing persecution. The second is a string of exhortations using the image of the Evil One as a prowling lion, ready to pounce on the unsuspecting follower of Jesus. Beware and be constantly on guard! the writer warns. Contained in this paragraph are the familiar and beloved words of comfort and strength, especially for those being persecuted, that all anxieties and cares can be cast on the God who has cared for God's people all the way to the cross.

John 17 is commonly called Jesus' High Priestly prayer, a deeply personal prayer to the Father before his arrest. Every year in the RCL, a section from this chapter is read. This year in series A, logically, we read the first section. Portrayed is the last scene of Jesus' farewell meal with his disciples. While Jesus speaks to his disciples before his crucifixion, he speaks as if the ascension has already taken place. "I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world" (v. 11). One sees further connection to the ascension; John describes Jesus as looking up into heaven as he speaks to his disciples, just as he did at the ascension. Only here, Jesus is addressing not his disciples but the Father. The disciples will see what we have already seen, that the Father's glorification of the Son took the cruel form of a cross. In Christ's own emptying of himself, he accomplished salvation for all. On the cross God's true character was revealed, for there we could see the depth of God's love. Another key aspect of this glorification will be the unity of those who follow Jesus. Jesus' prayer for unity is mentioned not only here in verse 11 but also in verses 21, 22, and 23.

Pastoral Reflection

As I think about the Acts reading and preaching for this Sunday, I am particularly intrigued by the disciples' response to Jesus' instruction, reproof, and promise. They gather to pray. Jesus also, in the few moments before the most critical events of his ministry, pauses during his farewell dinner to pray.

This church is different from the one I live in. In the church that I live in and lead, the response to these kinds of challenges from Jesus would be to do something, even if the doing only involved putting together a task force to study the issue. We will eventually get down to action, but before the action we've got to plan. It's all about getting something done.

What is demanded of the disciples here involves no busyness, no programs, no strenuous, stress-inducing effort. They are told simply to pray. In the end, the true work of the kingdom would not require their planning or effort. It would come by the Spirit's working through the church.

How do we view the delicate dance between our own effort and the work of the Spirit? What would it look like for the church of our day to gather to wait and pray? What an onerous burden that would be for a church that lives in an instant society where nothing happens without action and where successful people are required to worship at the altar of action. We pay homage to waiting once a year, in Advent; by the Easter season we have left waiting behind and are pedal to the metal with programs, trying to get everything in before the summer lull begins and people hurry off on vacations and to their summer cabins so they can cram in a few weekends of relaxation between the frenzied weeks of work.

What would it look like for congregations to wait and pray? What would it look like for individual Christians in congregations to practice waiting and praying in their own lives of faith? What would happen, for instance, if for every decision that the church council is required to make, they delayed that decision for a month so that they could wait and pray? What would happen if we had two congregational meetings a year, one three months prior to the "real one" where the decisions are made, and the time between the two was designated as a time to wait and pray?

Would anything change? Maybe no decision would change, but I have a hunch that we would change. Why wait? Waiting forces us to realize that there are things that we are called to do that are beyond our ability to accomplish. Waiting and praying may also be the way to actualize the prescription from the second reading; in the waiting and praying, we are on guard against the lures of the Evil One. The waiting and praying may be the way to actualize the prescription to cast cares upon the God who cares for us. JKH