On this Sunday, you have a choice of either preaching the texts for the seventh Sunday of Easter, which would afford an opportunity to wrap up your Eastertide Sermon Series if you've been preaching one, OR preaching on the lectionary readings for the Day of Ascension. If you choose the latter and have been preaching these texts as a series, be sure to weave in some sort of closure to the themes associated with the series you have been preaching. A third alternative would be to wrap up the series on Pentecost Sunday.
This is also the Sunday in which we celebrate Mother's Day/Festival of the Christian home. One way we might work this dimension into our preaching is to seek out the stories of women in our congregations, who-- by their words and actions -- have shown forth the face of Christ for others. As you prepare by talking with your worship team or Bible study group, you could focus this week in particular on the witnesses borne by the women of your congregation.
Seventh Sunday of Easter
Ascension Sunday
There are two stories here. The first story concerns Paul, who -- by the power of Jesus Christ-- exorcises the demon from the slave girl, which her owners witness. As a result of this first act, Paul and Silas are brought before the authorities where they are accused of disturbing the city. A crowd attacks them and beats them; then they are thrown in prison. While in prison, Paul and Silas begin praying and singing; and the other prisoners and the jailer listen to them. Then there is an earthquake, and everyone in jail is set loose. Paul and Silas don’t run, but instead stay to minister to the jailer. Upon seeing the faith of the imprisoned disciples of Jesus Christ and then experiencing grace through Paul and Silas as they stuck around even when they could have run off, the guard at the jail was so moved by what he saw and experienced that not only did he not kill himself, but he converted to be a follower of Jesus. He and his entire household were baptized into the faith.
This story, like the other readings for this day, points to the importance of witness in bringing others to know the saving power of Jesus Christ. And clearly these stories show that the most powerful witness we can give is not by our words, but by our example. We can witness to the power of Christ to bring healing by responding to people even when we are initially annoyed by them, as shown in the first example. Paul is annoyed by the slave girl because she had been following them around for many days and publicly jeering them about their activities. But instead of responding to her with anger, Paul invoked the power of Christ to heal her.
What is the sign and wonder here? Perhaps it is tempting to focus on the miraculous power of Christ to exorcise a demon or bring about conversion in a non-believer. But I want to suggest another perspective on this. In a time when it is becoming increasingly popular for people to enthusiastically proclaim their atheism while at the same time jeering Christians for our perceived ignorance for believing in God, let alone Christ, it could be very tempting to give in to our feelings of annoyance or even anger. But how much more powerful would it be if we could follow the example of Paul, and instead of entering into an angry debate, simply invoke the power of Christ to bring healing to our broken world. We don’t have to tell folks that we are doing this; we can quietly witness to our faith by our example, by continuing to do what we have always done as Christians: by holding on to our faith and by praying and singing hymns to God.
As the words to the hymn proclaim, “they’ll know we are Christians by our love” more than they will know we are Christians by our failing to trust in ourselves more than we trust in God to sort out the problems in this world. I don’t know about you, but I’m tired of the constant pressure to defend my faith to folks who don’t want to hear it. It doesn’t do any good. What does do some good, I think, is to share about my own experience of feeling the power of Christ at work among the people I know, or to simply let my friends who are not Christians know that I love them as they are. It isn’t up to us to convince others of the power of Christ; that is God’s work. All I need to do is bear faithful witness to how I see God working in my own life and try to love God’s people with faith and hope and genuine Christian caring.
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These words from the writer of Revelation bring the New Testament to a close. What final words did those who gathered and ordered the canon choose for a closing? These beautiful lines that emphasize the promise that Christ is with us, from the beginning of time to the end, and that invite all who hear, all who hunger and thirst for righteousness, to drink from the water of life that God has given to us in Christ.
As I read these words and reflected upon them, I was reminded of an experience that took place some years ago. I visited a friend in Chiapas, Mexico, who was serving as a member of a Mennonite Mission group called the Christian Peacemakers Team. I hoped to learn about the oppression of the indigenous people of Mexico, especially the plight of coffee growers. When I went to Chiapas in 2001, I didn’t know anything of the history or the political situation in that part of the world. I went simply because my friend invited me to come and see firsthand what had occurred in Mexico over the seven years since the North American Free Trade Agreement had been signed into law by former President Bill Clinton.
During the trip, I saw firsthand the conditions in which the indigenous Indian people live. I saw the way the Native people were treated. I bore witness to the contempt with which non-Indians looked at Indians. I saw the ruins of the ancient cities and holy places. I saw the systematic destruction of their culture -- destruction that had begun many generations before, but had escalated as a result of NAFTA.
The story of Indians in Mexico is Israel’s story. If we are to claim this faith as part of our own, theirs is our story too. It is the story of how white America has treated -- and continues to treat --Native Americans, African Americans, Asian Americans, Hispanic Americans, and other Americans of color.
While I was in Chiapas, I visited a place called Palenque, an ancient Mayan city that is being excavated. The descendants of that huge, flourishing city are the same native peoples that are being oppressed today by the Mexican government. The city of Palenque dates back to about 600 A.D.—not too terribly many years after Jesus the Christ walked this earth. Not much of that ancient city has been excavated at this point, but you can still get a feel for the absolute grandeur that it must have exhibited. Its residents had a written language, a calendar, a religion, and sophisticated architecture and engineering that included aquaducts to transport water to all parts of the city.
At the end of my visit to Palenque, I hiked out of the primary site by way of a path that followed a stream down from the peak of the city, which was at the top of a mountain. The stream zigged and zagged around through the thick vegetation. Palenque is located in the jungle, in a tropical rain forest— real Tarzan country, complete with monkeys and swinging vines. About halfway down the path, I came upon a series of beautiful waterfalls flowing into pools that had been cut into the rocks by the ancient Mayans. The waterfalls were called the “Queens’ baths.” Archaeologists believe that the pools and the gentle waterfalls were created for the queen of the city and her attendants to bathe in. It was beautiful and serene and, well, HOLY, to be in that place; so I sat down, took off my hiking boots, rolled up my pants, and dipped my hot and tired feet into the flowing water.
As soon as I sat down, I was overcome with emotion. I thought about how that water had been flowing, day and night, year after year, in spite of all of the wars and the destruction that had gone on around it. The water was still flowing, day and night. I thought about how the story of destruction of the Mayans and the continuing oppression of Indians in Mexico is the same story that we in the northern part of the Americas must tell. As I sat there thinking about history and how it always seems to repeat itself, I began to cry. As I cried, words from the 137th Psalm began flowing through my mind like the water flowing around me. I thought about how the Israelites, after they had finally managed to break free from the Egyptians, after only a short time found themselves held captive once again -- this time by the Babylonians. In that time of captivity, they had offered a poem of lament: “By the waters of Babylon, there we sat down, and there we wept, when we remembered Zion. There our captors carried us away to captivity, and required of us a song. How can we sing our holy song in a strange land?”
In that moment, in the quiet of the jungle, with the water rushing by, I felt God’s grace wash over me, even as the cold water washed over my feet. It was a moment of sacrament; and in that moment, the waters spoke to me. They told me that we are all one in Christ our Lord, from the beginning of time to the end. Just as those waters had been flowing from the beginning of time to the moment in which they passed over my feet, so the grace of God in Jesus Christ had been flowing from the beginning of time until it passed over me, and would continue flowing until the end of time. This is our hope. This is our faith. This is our promise, and it is for anyone who hears. We dwell in God’s Kingdom. In this kingdom, the waters of life, the everflowing stream, the gift of grace from God in Jesus Christ, flows eternally. I sat there and remembered this gift that was given to me in my baptism, and I wept with gratitude for all that God has done and all that God is still doing in Christ our Lord, from the beginning of time to the end.
What are your stories? What moments can you share from your own life that bear witness to your faith that God in Christ is with us from the beginning of time to the end? What memories keep you going when the storms of life are raging and your hope is fleeting? Where have you seen evidence of God’s promise to be with us always?
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“You are witnesses of these things. And see, I am sending upon YOU what my Father promised” (verse 48). Can we get a witness from our congregations? Can the folks we serve witness to how the story of Jesus has transformed their lives?
What acts of faith have the members of our congregations seen in other Christians that have so moved them that they came to be followers themselves? What powerful stories can we tell about the power that comes from seeing disciples of Jesus Christ act in ways that transform the world? How have we seen the saints in the places we serve promote justice, offer grace, and protect the dignity and lives of the least of these among us? For many, if not most people, the thing that initially drew them to Christ was seeing the Christlike attitudes and behaviors of other Christian people. It is hard to describe; but when we see it, we are compelled by it and drawn to Christ. We DO come to believe. I have my own list of people who have shown me the face of Christ; and I have my own stories to tell, as do you. But this witness need not be limited to you! Invite others to tell their own stories of how they have witnessed for themselves God’s people loving others as Jesus has taught, and in witnessing this have come to believe in him.
The church where I regularly attend worship has been going through a crisis in recent weeks. Toward the start of this crisis, a guest vocal group came to sing in morning worship. Between songs, one of the members of the group took a moment to offer his testimony and to acknowledge and comment upon the crisis the church was going through. He said, in essence, that while he didn’t know the reason that God had for bringing the crisis to the church, he was sure that God had a purpose in it. He said that what the church was going through was God’s plan.
While I know the comment was well-intended and from the heart, as a United Methodist and a non-predestinarian, I would respectfully disagree with this man’s assessment of the situation. I do not believe that God purposefully sent this crisis and the real human suffering that is involved in it for some divine purpose that we can’t see. Nor do I believe it is some part of God’s plan for the church. I believe that God has given us free will, and that God allows for evil and much suffering in the world. But through the power of the Holy Spirit, God is with us in our times of joy and in our times of suffering alike. It is our call to witness to God’s love and grace to the ends of the earth, not to try to come up with some kind of theological explanation for why an individual or a group or a nation must suffer.
Why do I bring this up on Ascension Sunday? Because I was reminded of this experience when I began to think about how this particular story speaks to a period of crisis and transition among the earliest followers of Jesus Christ. The first chapter of Acts begins with a summary of what has happened since the end of “the first book” (verse 1), Luke’s gospel, and the present moment. It has been forty days since the empty tomb was discovered on the first Easter morning. During those forty days, Jesus has “presented himself alive to them by many convincing proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God” (verse 3). Jesus then ordered the disciples to wait in Jerusalem “for the promise of the Father” (verse 4).
So the disciples had asked him if this, in fact, was the time when Israel would be restored to her former glory. And Jesus said, “It is not for you to know the times or periods that the Father has set by his own authority” (verse 7). After that, Jesus said the power of the Holy Spirit would come to them in Jerusalem and that they would be his witnesses to the ends of the earth. He was then lifted up into a cloud, and he disappeared.
I was reminded of this experience at my church as I read this first chapter in Acts because I don’t think that dealing with a crisis is as much about God’s plan or purpose as it is about the inevitability of cycles of loss and renewal, grief followed by hope for tomorrow, life and death, death and new life. That is the pattern of human life that God seems to have set into motion for us. In this story we find a perfect example: The disciples watched as Jesus suffered and died. Then, they searched for new understanding and caught a glimmer of what was to come over the forty days when the resurrected Lord kept appearing. Next, they watched in awe and confusion as their Lord ascended into the clouds and disappeared. And then they waited. They waited as he didn’t reappear this time around. They waited for what was to come next. As they waited, they must have wondered why this was happening to them. They must have come up with possible explanations. And they must have been dealing with the inevitable mixture of emotions that comes with periods of transition: grief over their loss, confusion and fear about what would come next, hope that came from hearing Jesus’ words and promises. Periods of transition are always difficult for human beings. We want answers, but sometimes there just aren’t any. Sometimes we just have to be still and wait.
In many of our churches, this time of year is marked by grief and loss, transition and hope, excitement and anticipation for what is yet to come. Like the disciples, we sit somewhere between the mourning and the dancing. It is a time of year when folks are saying goodbye to one pastor and preparing to welcome a new pastor. It is a time when we as pastors have to sit in the middle of saying goodbye to people we have loved, perhaps have struggled with, and the uncertainty of what the next community we are appointed to serve will bring.
Whether we are facing a pastoral change or something else, transitions are part of the lives of everyone we serve. How can the disciples’ example and Jesus’ promise to them speak a word of hope to those in our own congregations who are going through a difficult time, be it a crisis or a shift in pastoral leadership or simply one of the normal transitions of life that we all must face? How can the Holy Spirit sustain us through difficult times? And how can we look forward with hope and joy to the new life that is surely to come during periods of uncertainty and waiting?
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I love Paul’s prayer for the church in Ephesus. I especially love verses 17–19: “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” (NRSV).
There is a sense in Paul’s letter that even though he knows the good people of Ephesus to be people of strong faith in the Lord Jesus (verse 15), there is still more for them to know about him. Paul implies that knowing Jesus is not something that happens in a singular moment, but rather it is something that comes over time -- over the course of a lifetime. Throughout our lives, the power of the Holy Spirit continually fills us with new wisdom and enables us to see and experience Christ's presence in new and different ways.
What new wisdom and revelation have you experienced over this season of Eastertide? What new wisdom and revelation have the people you serve experienced? Where have the people in your community seen the real, active presence of Christ at work in your midst? How have the eyes of your hearts been enlightened?
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According to Luke, who was an eyewitness to these events, everything that is recorded in Luke and in Acts is exactly what happened as he recalled it. He saw the risen Lord with his own eyes. He touched him with his own hands. He smelled the fish that the risen Lord ate before him. He listened to Jesus’ words with his own ears, and he watched personally as Jesus ascended into the heavens. He waited in Jerusalem with the other disciples, and he felt the Holy Spirit come like the rush of a mighty wind, and he saw the tongues of fire and heard all the different languages being spoken all at once.
His is an eyewitness account of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. And Luke says that Jesus told the disciples that they were to go out into the nations and share this witness with others, so that is exactly what he did. He went and he told the stories, and he even wrote them all down, so that now we can read them even today, over 2000 years later.
According to the instructions given by Jesus, the role of the disciples was to give witness. That is, they were to share with other people what they had seen, heard, touched, smelled, tasted, and experienced for themselves about Jesus. According to the legal definition, a witness is someone who has firsthand knowledge about a
crime or dramatic event through their
senses (e.g. seeing, hearing, smelling, touching) and can help certify important considerations to the crime or event. A witness who has seen the event firsthand is known as an
eye-witness. Witnesses are often called before a
court of law to testify in trials.
If a person is called to give a witness in a court of law, that person can speak only about what he or she has personally experienced. The person can’t talk about what someone else has told him or her, or tell what someone else said he saw. That is hearsay, and hearsay doesn’t hold up in a court of law. Why? Because as evidence, it just isn't reliable. Nor is hearsay as powerful as a direct witness account of something. What is true about the court system is also true about religious experience.
If we are to be effective witnesses, we need to tell what we have personally experienced. That means that we need to be telling our own stories as preachers, and we need to be inviting the people in our congregations to tell their stories.
You as a preacher can tell a story you read on a sermon illustrations website or in a book, or you can share what someone told you about an experience of Christ in their life. But retelling someone else’s story would not be nearly as convincing or powerful as it would be to hear a person from the congregation tell his or her own story. Perhaps this Sunday offers an opportunity, if you haven’t done this already during the Eastertide season, to invite someone from your congregation to give his or her witness to experiencing Christ in his or her life. Or perhaps at some point in the sermon, invite the congregation members to share a story with the person sitting next to them. On this day of all days, be sure to stress that by the power of the Holy Spirit received from on high, every follower of Jesus Christ is now a witness of these things, and as a witness is called to proclaim them to all the nations.
