The book of Acts is a story
that records what the disciples did next.
Jesus had walked alongside them and taught them. He had been captured, tortured, put to death
and then risen from the grave. What happens next? What happens to Jesus? And, what will the disciples do?
The story that Luke tells is
full of stories of miracles and mission and even martyrdom. But here at the beginning of this book of the
Acts of the Apostles Luke opens with the story of Jesus ascending into heaven. Jesus disappears into the crowd and the
disciples are left staring into the heavens… rubbernecking.
Now if you don’t know what
rubber necking means turning one’s neck to stare at something in a foolish
manner. For me it implies being stuck in
a moment or maybe trying to get a glimpse of something that is not our
business. The most common way I hear it
used is in reference with traffic accidents when people cause a traffic jam but
slowing down and rubbernecking as they drive past.
The disciples are
rubbernecking. Jesus has just gone up
into heaven and the disciples are standing possibly with mouths agape, amazed
and astonished – not really knowing what to do next. Maybe they were craning their necks to see
where Jesus had gone. Maybe wondering if
he is about to return straight away. And
it is only a moment of divine intervention that snaps the disciples out of the
moment.
An angel turns up and asks
them what might be seen as an obvious or even silly question. “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up
toward heaven?” If the disciples thoughts
had been articulated at that point I can imagine them saying something like, “Well
because that’s where Jesus just disappeared.”
Or “We just saw something amazing.” or “We don’t know what to do next.” There are a multitude of thoughts and emotions
the disciples were trying to process.
As strange as the angel’s
question might have been it does indicate that the disciples were stuck and
they needed to be moved along. It
reminds me of films in which the police after an incident occurs wander around
saying to people, “Move along, there is nothing to see here anymore.”
The disciples were also reassured
by the angels of Jesus’ return and so they discover that they are now living in
the unusual time between Jesus ascension into his heavenly ministry and the promise
of his return. It is already and not yet
of the new creation saved and redeemed by God’s love. This is the time in which the disciples found
themselves and that we also live. We live
between the time of Jesus ascension and the promise of the time of Jesus return
when the kingdom of God will come in all its fullness.
As an aside Jesus ascension
does not leave us without his presence.
We remember that Jesus sent the Holy Spirit so that we might know his
presence is still with us. We remember that
Jesus promised that when two or three gathered in his name he would be present. So we have gathered here in faith and hope
that the miracle of Jesus’ transforming presence comes to us now. That as we say our prayers, as we sing our
songs, as we listen to the scriptures read and the preaching the living presence
of the eternal Word of God will come to us: a wondrous miracle in this moment
when God can and does transform us and transform our lives.
So the disciples are
rubbernecking and the disciples are told to move long, to go to their
homes. The disciples travel back to
Jerusalem form My Olivet and they gather together in a room. Luke names the disciples and I never
underestimate the significance of the naming of people because in being named
our identity is known and affirmed. And
then Luke tells us that disciples devoted themselves to prayer.
The rest of the book of Acts
is going to be all about what the disciples do next but at this moment, at the
beginning of this task of living between Jesus’ ascension and his return, the disciples
engage in prayer. They seek to connect
with God. Their response is prayer. They give time over to God and open themselves
to the possibility that God might show them what to do next, to give them the insight
and courage that they might need.
As a I was reflecting about
this moment in Acts both Jesus ascension and the disciples’ decision for prayer
in response to all that they had seen and heard two things stood out for me as
we contemplate our own faith.
The first is that just as the
disciples lived in that in between time so too do we. We live between the time that Jesus lived,
died, rose again and ascended and the time of Jesus’ return, the promise of the
coming of the kingdom, or the reign of God, in all its glory. Now in John’s gospel today we were reminded
that eternal life is knowing Jesus and the one who sent him and Jesus declared
again and again that the kingdom of God had come close. We can glimpse God’s kingdom now, in this
life. We can encounter the divine and transcendent
in our existence. But its full glory is
still beyond us.
We know the fullness of God’s
glory is not yet with us because we know that as we look at history and we look
within our own experiences there is still suffering and pain and dislocation
and desolation that we experience and encounter. Despite all our faith and prayers these
things occur for us and others who hold our faith. Thinking back to the disciples we know that
they encountered rejection and suffering and ultimately martyrdom for their
faith. There are saints and martyrs in
every age including our own.
So we should now be naïve about
our taking time to pray, of taking time with the disciples in that upper room. It does not mean that we will be immune to
suffering or that it will be kept from our lives. Rather, that time with God gives us strength
and courage to face life to live as Jesus and the disciples lived sharing the
good news of God’s love, even when it is not received well and even when we are
encountering suffering.
So else this is the heart of
my message today, and I am paraphrasing a bit of T shirt trend here, “Keep Calm
and Keep Praying”. Keep calm and keep praying. Stop rubbernecking looking back at could have
been or looking at something that is no longer your business. Stop staring up into heaven and start
praying. This is what prepares us all for what will happen next.
As we live in the in between
times of our own existence – pray. Between
the time of Jesus ascension and his return – pray. In the moments when we find ourselves in
times of difficulty – pray.
This week I was struck about
the importance of this approach to devout prayer as a way of preparation as I
watched a video about two Coptic monks and their approach to prayer. I shared the video on Facebook. In this video the monks speak about the
importance of being silent before God and their use of the Jesus prayer. The
short version of the Jesus prayer goes like this, “Jesus Christ, son of God,
have mercy on me a sinner.”
As they spoke one of the
monks shared that he had to come to the monastery because his journey into
faith was a long one. He had been an atheist
so he felt he needed time to connect with God’s love. He did not think that he had the gift of unconditional
love, of agape, and so he need to sit at Jesus’ feet just as Mary had
done. This was his preparation for life
with God serving others and in community with others. It was a beautiful expression and example of
a person sitting between the time of the ascension and the coming of the
kingdom – the encounter of the transcendent in our life now.
Keep calm and keep on praying.
The video I watched and
shared was quite a number of years old and a couple of days after sharing the
video news came out of Egypt that 28 Christians were killed on their way to
visit a Coptic monastery in central Egypt.
This ancient community of faith has been a particular target for
terrorists in recent years and the article I read suggested it he trend continued
this expression of the Christian faith might disappear altogether.
It is hard to fathom how the
prayer of the monks may be helping them face the current persecution but the witness
of the disciples in the book of Acts is that their prayers prepared them to
maintain their faith in the face of rejection and even death. It is difficult for us to comprehend some of
the atrocities that we keep hearing about as we contemplate the challenges of
our own faith but the importance of prayer whatever struggles we are facing
cannot be understated.
Prayer is a discipline. It requires us to look at the business of our
lives and then set aside time for us to engage with God. To enter into that relationship. To speak, yes, but more so to listen. We enter into the prayer and we share in that
prayer knowing that whatever the outcomes might be we might have a sense of God
with us in life.
Keep calm and keep on praying.
We pray your kingdom come your
will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
We return to Jesus’ prayer that he taught his disciples. We seek the solitude of the inner room that
Jesus’ suggested to his disciples. And,
we gather as God’s people to join our prayers in unison to God. We pray as we live in the tension of the
already and not yet of salvation in hope that we will know and encounter God
with us.
The disciples prayed to prepared
themselves for what would come next and so we join their prayer. We pray that we might be prepared for what
comes next when we are not sure what it will be. We pray with the disciples, we pray with the
Copts in the Middle East, we pray for each other, we pray for our family and friends. We pray as people who live between ascension
and return but who believe that eternal life begins as we know Jesus and the
one who sent him.
It is this which gives us hope
to carry on in the life that we live in the world as we live between the time
of what is and what could be and what is promise dot be. A time that we are used to living in. It is a time filled with adversity and overshadowed
be our mistakes but it is a time in which we believe God accompanies us.
The time between our birth
and our death.
The time between a medical testing
and the diagnosis.
The time between the exam and
the results.
The time between making a
decision and it coming to reality.
Life is full of the time in
between and it is in those moments we pray because this is the long game of
God, this is the vision of life that transcends seconds and minutes and hours
and rolls on into generations and centuries and millennia. God’s grace and action transpire in moments,
yes, but in moments that span lifetimes.
Keep calm and keep on praying.
The disciples were
rubbernecking, looking for something that was no longer there, no longer any of
their business. They were told to move
on, to go home. And they did. And they prayed. They knew where to look for hope and help. They had been there when Jesus had looked to the
heavens and prayed. Their journey had
taken them into the depths of despair into the exultation of resurrection and
into the mystery of the in between time.
What did they do when they were not sure came next? They prayed.
The prayed just as Jesus prays for us now. The prayed and they sought God’s presence and
guidance.
This is my encouragement to
you this day. Jesus who came to forgive
our sins, to make us right with God and each other, who ascended into heaven and
lives to pray for us forever, invites and guides us by his Spirit into his risen,
ascended life of prayer.
Keep calm and keep on praying.
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