Sermon | Year B - The Year of Mark

May 24, 2009 | Easter 7

Acts 1:15-17, 21-26; Psalm 1; 1 John 5:9-13; John 17:6-19

For several years, I have observed the 7th Sunday of Easter as Ascension Sunday. This year, I thought I would go with the texts set specifically for the 7th Sunday of Easter. This is not because I think the Ascension is unimportant. Nor have I simply given up observing it, I chose to use the lessons for today because I frankly have never cared for the 7th Sunday of Easter.

  I find the 7th Sunday of Easter a kind of odd place of limbo. By this Sunday, Jesus has already ascended into heaven, Pentecost is next Sunday, and so what is this Sunday actually about?

  I was reading a kind of parable about how when something irritates an oyster, a pearl is made. The point of the story was that we should seek out things that irritate us because over time, they will create a pearl in our lives. I do not think we are going to get a pearl this Sunday, but I plan to keep looking at texts I may not look at I do not dismiss the good that may come from them.

  Today's Gospel is called Jesus' priestly prayer. Jesus offered it on the night of the Last Supper, which was the night of his betrayal.

The prayer is typical of John's Gospel. The lines flow in a kind of poetic manner, but are hard to follow. I often feel confused when I have finished a passage such as this in John's Gospel. Poetic writing by its nature is indirect. Therefore, it is hard to follow a clear line through the text.

  Jesus is saying in these lines that he is soon going to the Father, and his disciples will be on their own. However, the Father will be with them. They belong to the Father, and so he will watch over them as his own. The disciples do not belong to the world, but to the Father. The Father is to be their first loyalty. It is from the Father they have life. It is through the Father that they will be able to carry on as apostles.

Jesus prays for the disciples in this text. That is significant because it means that the disciples are passive in these lines.

  In this prayer, Jesus is saying "good bye," and he is preparing the disciples for what is ahead. The tendency for humans is to want to do things. After all, our faith does call upon us to do things. We end communion by saying, "Go in peace. Serve the Lord!" Just last Sunday, we were told that we are to live the resurrection rather than only believe in it. However, in this Gospel, Jesus is not really telling the disciples to go do something. Again, Jesus is praying for them. They are passive at this point.

Jesus is telling them to wait. They are to prepare. He will protect them. Jesus wants the Father to keep them as one. In these verses, Jesus and the Father are the actors. They are the ones initiating all the action, and that is as it should be.

  In the end, we are saved not by what we do, but by what Jesus did. We pray for God's will to be done, and not ours. We are to be the vehicles by which God works in this world. However, sometimes it is important that we stand back and listen. When we stand back, for a while, we stop listening to ourselves, and listen to what it is that God is doing.

When I read this Gospel, I look at the disciples, and in many ways, I see them as one would as children. They are unaware of what is happening or is going to happen. No wonder Jesus had such compassion on them and prayed for them in this way on the night of his betrayal.

In this time between Ascension and Pentecost, the disciples, like the 7^th Sunday in Easter are in a state somewhat like limbo. During this in between time, the disciples wait and wonder. They are waiting for God to act upon them. This time is not “Go in peace. Serve the Lord,” but wait and see what the Lord has done.

Uncertainty, passivity, and waiting are not things we like. Frankly, they irritate us. However, it is out of irritation that pearls are made.

Waiting is one of the dominate themes of the Old Testament. Abraham and Sarah wait for a son. Jacob waits to marry Rachel. Joseph waits in prison before becoming the governor of Egypt, the Israelites wait in the wilderness, and the people of Israel wait for the coming of the Messiah.

Sometimes we need to wait and listen for that is when God is at work. Sometimes pearls are made through waiting.

We like to think we are sophisticated and worldly. However, Jesus sees who we are. We are often blind to what is before us. We often cannot see what is in front of us. We, like children, need someone to watch over us.

This is what Jesus promised in this priestly prayer. The Father watches over us. He is with us. Christ is saving us. We are called to serve. We are called to follow. We are called to go forth and live the resurrection. We are also called at times to wait and to listen to our hearts, to the Spirit, and to our Lord who will lead us in his way, and his truth, and his life. Amen.