Letting us take the wheel
Easter 7A | Acts 1:6-14, John 17:1-11
Jesus gathers his disciples. They must be full of anticipation. Here’s the big moment. Let’s go.
Now. at the end of the gospel of Luke, Jesus opens all of the scripture to them. They are suddenly wise and ready for all that is ahead.
This moment, at the very beginning of Acts, places them together, awaiting … something. And it is clear that this something is not what Jesus has in mind.
They ask:
“Lord, is this the time when you will restore the kingdom to Israel?”
Or, in other words, are we about to bring the power back? Let’s get great!
No. The answer is no.
This question after the resurrection is a lot like the assumption they make before the Passion. When the disciples follow a dissident Jesus expecting him to rally a rebellion and win control of Jerusalem from Rome. They think the point is to control things.
This is, after all, what a Messiah is supposed to do. Be the wise general, chosen by God to lead an army into battle atop a warhorse to conquer and be named king.
Instead, he rode a donkey to be tried and crucified.
A little history
If we dig back a little further, we might remember the greatness the disciples want to restore.
About 70-80 years. That’s it. And it was a thousand years earlier. The greatness of Israel didn’t even last a century.
About a thousand years before Jesus, David was crowned king and pulled the warring nations of Judah and Israel together, moving the capital to Jerusalem. He reigned, then passed the monarchy on to Solomon.
And from there, it all begins to fall apart. The nations separate. By the early 8th Century BCE, Israel was conquered and scattered. By the mid 6th Century BCE, Judah was conquered by the Babylonians and half of the people were stolen and taken into Exile.
Under the Maccabees, Judah won some independence, in the second and first centuries BCE. But that, too, was short-lived.
So, 70-80 years of greatness a thousand years ago. Versus centuries of occupation and oppression.
This is the other reason the disciple’s question is so laughable. Restoring Israel to power is clearly not the point.
Mistaken Identity
Can you imagine, after all of this following of Jesus, this is their question? If Jesus were us today, we’d totally prank them.
You’re right, guys. Now is the time. You wait here. I’ll be right back.
Then he high-tails it out of there. See ya, suckers!
This doesn’t sound like people who know their Scripture. It sounds like people who want something so badly they don’t care what the Scripture says. About kings. Greatness. Or God’s dream for them.
They assume Jesus’s conquering death means controlling the world is next on the list. Even as Jesus has taught the opposite. Shared the opposite. And showed the opposite.
Making the Same Mistakes
Confusion is easily the number one trait of the disciples. Because they aren’t supposed to be perfect. They’re supposed to be normal. They are supposed to be like us.
They help us see our own shortcomings. How we keep looking for greatness rather than humility; power rather than generosity; control rather than participation.
Because we have the history. We’re literate and can read it. And many of us have been in church for far longer than these fishermen followed Jesus.
And yet here they still are. Following. Even if they’ve got the wrong idea. Or the right idea in the wrong way. They attend the farewell and say goodbye.
Letting Go
In a sense, this is the opposite of conquering: leaving. No control: voluntary.
This is clearly the necessary outcome. Jesus has to leave. But it is also the chosen outcome of the one who believes in us.
Jesus doesn’t look at Peter and say, you can’t handle this. Or look at James and John and go you’re too impulsive. He doesn’t even look at Thomas and say you don’t have enough faith.
He loves them. And gives the power to them.
Just like we knew he would.
Like he did in chapters 9 and 10. Giving them his power to heal and transform the world. Sending them out in pairs to be him in the world.
That wasn’t just a test run. It was them learning to do what they were always going to do. To be Jesus for the world.
And now, they get to do this on their own. Together.
About Us
This is the fundamental conundrum for people of faith. And it always has been. While we might want to focus on the details, the history, the metaphysics, we’re still left with this reality. Of our mission and work in the world as part of God’s dream for the cosmos.
The ancient Latin phrase for it is Missio Dei: the mission of God. Which was never about “doing the right thing” or “being nice” or “being a good person.” It was always about shaping the world through love, not power.
And it was always about us doing that. Not someone else doing that for us.
Should we, at this point, have any wonder left about why we’ve had four weeks of gospel stories of Jesus talking about leaving? Or that we’ve had seven weeks of gospel stories of people learning to see things as they really are?
Are we yet prepared to see this, then, as our work? Imperfect as we are and ill-prepared as we feel?
Learning to love.
Our final moment in the Farewell Discourse from John, when Jesus says goodbye to his disciples, is a prayer. A prayer for the disciples to see and hear. On their behalf. Of orientation for their prayers.
A prayer of love: of eternal life. Present and persistent. Now. Every time we hear that phrase, eternal life, remember, we replace it in our minds with “vibrant living.”
This is Jesus’s love for us: our love for each other. That our neighbors live vibrantly. Not dully with no hope. Vibrantly. Lives full of hope and grace and genuine love.
So what do we do? We bless each other. With hope and grace and love. Bless each other. This is your day! May it be full of God’s grace!
Or as Jesus taught them back in Luke 9 & 10. When you enter a new space, bless it. Say Peace be in this place. Say it when we walk through a door. Everywhere! Peace be in this place. Bless it and make love known. Whether it’s the Great Hall at coffee hour, a place you visit, or your own home! Peace be in this place.
Bless
This is what the disciples thought of when Jesus went away. They thought of joy and celebration. They thanked God for what they had been given: the time with Jesus. The love of Jesus. This work.
And then they went out into the world to share it. The love. Hope. Faith. The very grace of God.
We get to practice on each other. This is our learning lab. Our Temple. To praise God and practice blessing each other and this place. To ensure that each of us has a vibrant life, full of grace, hope, love. The very stuff of a life of faith.
This is why we say you are blessed to be a blessing. Because the grace of God is here. For you! And it is also for those around you. Here and not here. So take some with you and share it on the way home.