What Do We Learn from Those Who Go Before Us?

Granny taught me to love reading.

The Rev. Kathi Johnson

The Ascension of Our Lord – 8 May 2016

Texts: Acts 2:1-11 and Luke 24:44-53

Our Redeemer Lutheran Church, Grand Prairie, Texas

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Today, we remember the Ascension of Jesus. On our church calendar, Ascension actually falls on Thursday every year – forty days after Easter. Today we remember that Jesus not only lived among us, and was killed and raised to life again, but that he ascended into heaven, as our creeds remind us each time we say them.

The story of the Ascension of Jesus comes from three places in Scripture, and we heard two of them today: Acts 1 and Luke 24. The Gospel of Luke and the book of Acts were probably written by the same person, Acts being a sequel of sorts to Luke’s gospel. If we think of Acts as a sequel to Luke, then it makes sense that Acts picks up where Luke leaves off. The Gospel of Luke tells us about Jesus – his life and his work - and the book of Acts tells us what Jesus’ followers did after Jesus ascended into heaven. The hinge between the two is the Ascension of Jesus.

Right before the Ascension, Jesus is with the disciples, eating with them and teaching them. Luke tells us that Jesus opens their minds to understand the Scriptures, so that they can begin to see him as the One who has come in the name of the Lord, the One foretold by the prophets, the Messiah who is to die and be raised to life, who brings repentance and forgiveness of sins to all the world. And then Jesus commissions them: “You are witnesses of these things,” he says, and then he tells them that they will be clothed with power from on high.

They go out toward Bethany, and Jesus blesses them, and while he is blessing them, he is carried up into heaven. Eventually, the clouds hide him from their sight, and so, there they are, standing around, looking up at the clouds. Eventually, they make their way back to Jerusalem, as Jesus has instructed, his words of commissioning and blessing still ringing in their ears.

Last week, I said that the word of Jesus is love, and the disciples have received that word, but now have also been told to wait for power from on high. And so, they wait.

One question that I have heard around the Ascension of Jesus is why did Jesus have to ascend at all? Or, why did he leave earth, instead of staying here, continuing to live among us?

Maybe he could have. I’m not sure how that would’ve worked or what that would’ve looked like. I do know that Jesus’ kingdom is not of this world – it’s like the old Advent hymn, “Prepare the Royal Highway” says: “His is no earthly kingdom; it comes from heav’n above. His rule is peace and freedom and justice, truth, and love.” Jesus trusted in the coming of the Holy Spirit to carry on the work he had begun – and, as he said, to remind his followers of what he had taught them.

From very early on in our lives, we are taught by those who are around us. Every so often, I will hear a piece of piano music and it hits me in such an early place in my memories, that I know it must be a piece that my mom or dad was practicing on the piano when I was an infant. We begin to learn very early on, and those memories stay with us.

As we grow older, and begin to gain vocabulary, those people around us as children begin to teach us words. And then we begin to learn phrases and sentences, and eventually concepts emerge. And all of this shapes us deeply, and it becomes a deep place of formation for us throughout our lives.

As I began to reflect again upon the story of Jesus’ Ascension, I began to reflect on this question: What have I learned from those who’ve gone before me?

My Granny Inglis taught me the song, “Que sera, sera - Whatever will be, will be.” From very early in my childhood, I remember my vivacious Granny Inglis belting out the words to this Doris Day song. She taught it to me, and we’d drive around town, running errands, singing together. Beyond the fun of singing with my Granny at the top of my lungs, the message of the song began to stick with me: “Whatever will be, will be.”

My mom taught me the phrase, “Trust the process.” I’m not sure when I began hearing this from my mom, but I think it was in high school, as I began to have deeper questions about all kinds of things in life. “Trust the process,” my mom would say, helping me to learn that sometimes the greatest growth comes not from resolution, but from whatever processes we go through before we reach resolution. (And sometimes, that resolution never comes at all.)

What has the Church learned from those who have gone before us? Those first disciples learned directly from Jesus that word of love – that we are to love God and to love our neighbors as ourselves. From very early on in the Church’s life, that word of love shaped and formed how we gather, and with whom we gather, how we serve others, and whom we serve. The first Christians met with Christ-followers of different socio-economic backgrounds, different nationalities, different walks of life, slave, free, male, female, Jew, Gentile - and they were unified by the love of Christ.

What has the Church learned from those who have gone before us? We look to the example of Jesus, and to the example of centuries of saints who’ve loved God and loved neighbor. Jesus’ word of love carries through the centuries to us, from the way he healed and taught throughout his life, to his death, his resurrection, and his ascension.

For it is because of his Ascension that we are gifted with the power from on high – the gift of the Holy Spirit. Next week is Pentecost, and on that day, we will celebrate the coming of the Holy Spirit to those first Christ-followers.

But each day of our lives, we ought to remember and celebrate that because Jesus ascended, we have the promised Holy Spirit with us. The work of Jesus is love, the word of Jesus is love, and the Holy Spirit carries on the work and word of Jesus – in us, now. Amen.

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A Roll of the Dice

And they cast lots for them, and the lot fell on Matthias; and he was added to the eleven apostles.
Acts 1:26

Easter 7 in Year B – 17 May 2015

Marks of Discipleship: Prayer

Our Redeemer Lutheran Church, Grand Prairie, Texas

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As we continue to focus on the Marks of Discipleship, I’m using the lesson from Acts as my sermon text to talk about prayer today because this lesson gives us insight into how the very first followers of Jesus discerned God’s will – using prayer and a roll of the dice.

This story from Acts is all about the very first organizational meeting of the Church. These followers of Jesus – the apostles – have just watched Jesus ascend into heaven. They return to Jerusalem, and they devote themselves to prayer, waiting for whatever it is that God has next for them.

Out of this prayer time, they discern a need. Jesus had lots of followers, but he had twelve disciples with whom he had a special relationship. These twelve were with Jesus constantly during his earthly ministry, and yet one of those twelve betrayed Jesus, and was no longer part of their group. So this first group of Jesus followers discerns a need to fill that place that has been vacated – to find someone to round out the number to twelve yet again.

Why twelve? That number represents the twelve tribes of Israel. To this community of mostly Jewish men and women, it’s a number of completeness – to have only eleven would feel incomplete to them. Twelve is the number that means that all is right with the world.

So we hear about the first church election: Two names are put forth – two people we don’t read about by name in the stories of Jesus: Justus and Matthias. Even though we don’t know them, they are obviously well known to this community, and they are known as people who have been with Jesus throughout his ministry.

The election process is quite simple: “…they prayed and said, ‘Lord, you know everyone’s heart. Show us which one of these two you have chosen to take the place in this ministry...’ And they cast lots for them, and the lot fell on Matthias; and he was added to the eleven apostles.”[1]

They cast lots, which means they rolled the dice - or at least something similar to dice – to make this decision. Casting lots is an ancient method for making decisions. It sounds a bit crazy to us – would you call a pastor by flipping a coin?

And yet, the important part of the story is not that they cast the lots to make this decision. The important part of the story comes before they cast the lots: “…they prayed and said, ‘Lord, you know everyone’s heart. Show us which one of these two you have chosen…” Their prayer is for God to reveal God’s will to them – to find out which one God has chosen.

Their prayer is not for their own wills to be done – or for their favorite to win the election. Their prayer is for God’s will to be done – which means setting aside their own hopes and fears for what lies ahead.

Discerning God’s will is one of the biggest questions that we humans have. If you go to any Christian bookstore or poke around the Christian living section on Amazon, you’ll find all kinds of books that claim to be able to help you find God’s perfect will for your life. These authors have hit a goldmine because they know that so many of us struggle with the simple question: What is God’s will?

We may ask God again and again for an answer to this question. We may feel like we never receive a clear answer, or we may know that we’ve heard clearly what God’s will is. But setting aside our own hopes and fears is an essential step in prayer. Can we see ourselves, like those first disciples, rolling the dice or casting those lots, leaving our questions and the answers in God’s loving hands?

Martin Luther wrote about prayer extensively. In his Small Catechism, when writing about the Third

Petition of the Lord’s Prayer – the part that says, “Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven” 

Luther said that “God’s good and gracious will comes about without our prayer, but we ask…that it 

may also come about in and among us.”

Prayer changes us. Prayer helps us to see that our will and God’s will may not be the same. Prayer helps us see that God’s vision may be so much bigger (or smaller) than what our vision is. Prayer helps us see how great is the love the Father has given to us, that we may be called the children of God – for that is what we are.[2]

There was a saying that was popular among Christians when I was in high school and college: “Let go and let God.” It’s a short, easy-to-remember phrase that is a helpful reminder to us that not all things are in our control. But if we think about God’s will being formed in and among us whenever we pray, then this phrase takes on a different meaning.

When we pray, we let go of our bad attitudes. When we pray, we let go of our harmful prejudices. When we pray, we let go of overwhelming fear and doubt. When we pray, we let God shape his will within and among us.

All of us face challenges, or questions, or tough decisions from time to time. Maybe you are burdened with one (or more) of those this morning. Let us pray for those concerns now:

Lord, you know everyone’s heart. Shape your will in us and among us, and help us to hear your voice. Where we are lost, find us. Where we are confused, clear our minds. Where we cannot make a difficult decision, give us the strength we need to act. Remind us of your great love for us. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

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[1] Acts 1:24-26

[2] See 1 John 3:1.

The promise is for you, for your children, and for all who are far away...

Pentecost – June 8, 2014 - Year A

Texts: Acts 2:1-21

Our Redeemer Lutheran Church, Grand Prairie, Texas

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Grace and peace be with you, from God our Father, from his beloved Son, and from the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Have you ever been bewildered by the power of the wind? I have, many times – I’ll share one time with you. My mom and stepdad and I went camping together in the mountains of New Hampshire one summer. We had a beautiful campsite, right along a small brook, complete with babbling water. The campsite was surrounded by towering trees, which formed a sort of outdoor cathedral over our heads.

We set up our tent under the towering trees, next to the babbling brook, and, after we finished setting up the rest of our camp, we enjoyed a lovely dinner by the campfire. This was  before smart phones and Kindles – I don’t think I even had a book light – so, when the night reached a point of deep darkness, and the campfire had died down, we went to bed. The babbling brook sang us a lullaby as we drifted off to sleep.

And then…

We were awakened in the middle of the night by a storm, picking up steam. Our tent was rainproof, we discovered. But what struck us was the wind. The wind, blowing a gale (as my mother-in-law would say) – picking up items we’d left out and blowing them around. We wondered to ourselves if the tent might blow away. Our beautiful cathedral of towering trees was transformed into a seemingly living and breathing space – and all three of us were in the tent, wondering if the ceiling of the cathedral might come crashing down on top of us.

It didn’t. The next morning, as we left camp, Mom talked with the park ranger, who had asked how our night was. “Noisy,” she responded, and he agreed, telling us that the winds on the mountain that night had clocked in at 50mph with gusts even higher. No wonder we felt so bewildered by that wind.

I’m thinking that the disciples gathered for Pentecost must’ve felt somewhat the same – bewildered. There they are, gathered together, celebrating Pentecost – which was the Jewish feast during which they remembered God giving the Law to Moses and the Israelites so very long ago. These disciples who are gathered have been witnesses of Jesus – to Jesus’ life and death, to his resurrection and ascension.

And then…

“…suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.”

And this is how the promised Holy Spirit arrives into their lives – through the rush of wind and the glow of tongues of fire. Beyond that, the disciples are given the ability, through the Spirit, to speak in languages that are not their own so that they may proclaim God’s deeds of power in the life and death and resurrection and ascension of Jesus Christ in the languages of the gathered community.

And there are some there who are bewildered by it all, and others who think they’re all drunk, which gives Peter the perfect opportunity to stand up and bear witness to work of God in their very midst. We don’t hear the end of Peter’s sermon today, but when he finishes, the crowd is “cut to the heart” and they begin asking, “What should we do?”

And Peter simply responds: “’Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ so that your sins may be forgiven; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you, for your children, and for all who are far away, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to him.'”

We then hear that three thousand of them are baptized that day, and so the work of the Holy Spirit continues to expand. Out of that first group of Christians, God is birthing the Christian church, and empowering it with the Holy Spirit to get out there and spread the word that God freed Jesus from death and, in doing so, he frees us from the power of death, also.

“Repent and be baptized,” Peter says to those first Christians, “and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit” – and that is the promise that we still have from God to this day – that when we are baptized, we receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. That is the gift which Brooklyn will receive today – because the promise is for everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.

We are not called by God only for our own sakes. Similar to what I said last week – I wonder where on earth we’d all be if those first Christians who received the Holy Spirit had kept their mouths shut - if when they received the Spirit, they’d gone home, shut their doors, and gone to bed!

Thank God they didn’t. Thank God that the Spirit drove them into their homes and marketplaces, to the synagogues and the wells where they drew water – so that they could speak about God’s deeds of power to others, so that others would also be called by God to believe.

We are not called by God only for our own sakes. We don’t receive the gift of the Holy Spirit for it to be hidden away. We receive the gift of the Holy Spirit and we are empowered by that Spirit to proclaim the great love of God. It’s bewildering sometimes – God is calling me? Yes, my brothers and sisters – God is calling us. “For the promise is for you, for your children, and for all who are far away, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to him.”

Amen.

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