Easter VII A 2008

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Theme: We can pray together in spite of our differences

Let us pray.

Most holy, Lord God, your son taught us how to live together and yet we fail to stay together; give us the strength through prayer to be with each other and with you, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Isaac Asimov told a funny story about a Rabbi Feldman who was having trouble with his congregation; they couldn't agree on anything. The president of the congregation said, “Rabbi, this can’t continue. There has to be a conference, and we have to settle all areas of dispute once and for all.” The rabbi agreed.

At the appointed time the rabbi, the president, and ten elders met around a magnificent mahogany table in the conference room of the synagogue. One by one the issues were dealt with and on each issue, it became more and more apparent that the rabbi was a lonely voice in the wilderness. The president of the synagogue said, “Come, Rabbi, enough of this. Let’s vote and allow the majority to rule.” He passed out slips of paper and each man made his mark. The votes were collected and the president said, “You may examine them, Rabbi. It is eleven to one against you. We have the majority.”

Offended, the rabbi rose to his feet and said, “So, now you think because of the vote that you’re right and I’m wrong. Well, that’s not so. I stand here,” and he raised his arms impressively while looking heavenward, “and call upon the Holy One of Israel to give us a sign that I’m right and you're wrong.”

No sooner were the words out of his mouth when there was a deafening clap of thunder and a brilliant flash of lightning that struck the mahogany table and cracked it in two. The room was filled with smoke and fumes, and the president and the elders were hurled to the floor.  Surrounded by rubble, the rabbi stood erect and untouched, his eyes and smile flashing with triumph.

Slowly, the president lifted himself out of the rubble. His hair was singed, his glasses were hanging from one ear, and his clothing was in disarray. Finally he said, “All right, eleven to two. But we still have the majority.”

Right and wrong does not rest with the majority but with the Authority who is Christ. He is the One whom God has given authority over all people. But the question remains, how can we fully know the mind of Christ? We have the gospels, but they do not answer every question.

Our reading from Acts is the beginning of Luke’s second volume after his introductory sentences. So, the first act of the apostles is to accompany Jesus to his ascension into heaven. Church tradition indicates that Jesus hung around for 40 days after his resurrection. Forty days is a frequent euphemism for a time of preparation in the Bible. The apostles spent this time with Jesus preparing for what will come to them and to the church. They go a short distance from Jerusalem to the Mount of Olives.

After three years of companionship and 40 days of preparation they still don’t understand Jesus’ ministry and purpose after even being with the risen Christ! They ask Jesus if he is going to give Israel a king. This is after Pilate put on Jesus’ cross, “This is the King of the Jews.” I know this seems obvious to us. It is hard to put us in the apostle’s place 2,000 years ago. But really, how dense can they be? If after 40 days of preparation the apostles still lack understanding and with Jesus personally teaching them, how sure can we be of what we think we know and believe? It may be that we are incapable of fully understanding Jesus’ teachings.

Jesus puts off their question of a king by telling them, basically, that it is none of their business. Jesus continues to now answer the question they should have asked which would have been, “What are we to do next?” Jesus says that the Holy Spirit will come and give them power. With this power, the apostles will be able to tell Jesus’ story beginning at home and eventually spreading throughout the world. Those are their instructions. Jesus’ time on earth is over.

It seems that just as Jesus’ words were still a brief echo, a cloud appears and takes Jesus out of their sight. (And no, he was not carried to Salt Lake City.) Here’s the scene: Jesus is now gone, the apostles are staring in the sky. Hopefully, they are staring up with their mouths closed. Obviously, God understood that they still need a little help.

While they are still staring, two men in white robes show up. They ask why they are standing there gazing up into the sky. Jesus has gone to heaven and they will see him return the same way they saw him leave. Either prompted by the two men or a crick in their necks, they return to Jerusalem. They go back to the upper room. The apostles, Jesus’ mother Mary, the other women who accompanied Jesus, and other disciples stayed together and devoted themselves to prayer.

The mode of being for the disciples between the Ascension and Pentecost are two. The first is prayer. Luke mentions prayer over 50 times in Luke and Acts. When a key moment comes in Luke’s narrative, prayer happens. The model for Christian devotion is prayer. In other words, the disciples are following Jesus’ example. After Pentecost, the church continues in prayer.

In a scene from Shadowlands, a film based on the life of C.S. Lewis, Lewis has returned to Oxford from London, where he has just been married to Joy Gresham, an American woman, in a private Anglican ceremony performed at her hospital bedside. She is dying from cancer, and, through the struggle with her illness, she and Lewis have been discovering the depth of their love for each other.

As Lewis arrives at the college where he teaches, he is met by Harry Harrington, an Anglican priest, who asks what news there is. Lewis hesitates; then, deciding to speak of the marriage and not the cancer, he says, “Ah, good news, I think, Harry. Yes, good news.” Harrington, not aware of the marriage and thinking that Lewis is referring to Joy's medical situation, replies, “I know how hard you've been praying .... Now, God is answering your prayer.”

“That's not why I pray, Harry,” Lewis responds. “I pray because I can’t help myself. I pray because I’m helpless. I pray because the need flows out of me all the time, waking and sleeping. It doesn’t change God; it changes me.”

The second mode of being mentioned by Luke is hard to translate into English. It means something like: being together, being in one accord, or being of one mind. The word is only used outside of Acts one other time in the New Testament and that is at Romans 15:6. Luke uses it in Acts ten times. It describes a group acting in unison and harmony.

The ideal Christian community is one that lives in complete unity under apostolic guidance. All of us gathered together in this room do not agree on many issues, whether it is the war in Iraq, worship styles (especially music preference), sexual preference, where to put a homeless shelter, leaving the church, and many other issues. But we should be able to pray together. We may not all agree whether a war is just, but we should be able to come together and pray for peace. We may view God differently, but we should be able to speak God’s name together.

This is what really makes us Anglicans. We may disagree, but we pray together. That’s what counts. And that means we pray together here in this place that was designated for Anglican prayer for our communities almost 150 years ago. If we cannot fully understand Jesus’ teachings, then we should enter our discussions of difference with humility and not be so quick to judge.

We now pray: Gracious God and giver of all good gifts, we thank you for the example and gift of your son, may we never forget his teachings and give us the determination to love others, through him who loved us to the end, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Text: Acts 1:6-14 (NRSV)
6 So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, is this the time when you will restore the kingdom to Israel?” 7 He replied, “It is not for you to know the times or periods that the Father has set by his own authority. 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” 9 When he had said this, as they were watching, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. 10 While he was going and they were gazing up toward heaven, suddenly two men in white robes stood by them. 11 They said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up toward heaven? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.”

12 Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a sabbath day’s journey away. 13 When they had entered the city, they went to the room upstairs where they were staying, Peter, and John, and James, and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James son of Alphaeus, and Simon the Zealot, and Judas son ofc James. 14 All these were constantly devoting themselves to prayer, together with certain women, including Mary the mother of Jesus, as well as his brothers.[1]


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c  Or the brother of

[1]  The Holy Bible : New Revised Standard Version. 1989. Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers.

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