May 23, 2004
The Seventh Sunday of Easter
The Reverend Vernon L. Suter

Acts 1:1-11
Luke 24:44-53

Each Sunday, our readings have been leading us to the point where Jesus ascends to be with the Father, and today's readings talk of his actual ascension. However, along the way, as well as today, some of the important passages in our readings could be kind of vague. They were not always understood by Jesus' disciples, and I'm sure it's no different for us. We heard a couple of these phrases today in our reading from Acts. One is, "He ordered them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait there for the promise of the Father." Another one: - - Jesus said, "This, is what you have heard from me; for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now."

It's immediately obvious that his apostles didn't understand what he was saying when they asked him, "Lord, is this the time when you will restore the kingdom to Israel?" Of course, this didn't tie into what Jesus said at all. Jesus wasn't talking about restoring the kingdom to Israel. He was talking about his sending the Holy Spirit as a way in which he would continue to be in them and with them. We see this when he said ". . . 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." - - - - Jesus was asking them to stay in Jerusalem until this happened, and then go out to witness and do God's work. As to restoring the kingdom to Israel, Jesus merely told them it wasn't up to them to decide such things. That's up to the Father. Immediately after saying all these things, Jesus ascended to be with the Father.

To clearly understand the implications of what Jesus was telling his disciples, we only need to take a look at the part in John's Gospel in which Jesus tells his followers that he would be leaving them. They weren't too happy about it and were loaded with questions as to where he was going. They were also very strong about wanting him to stay with them, or to let them go with him. He responded by saying he wouldn't leave them alone. He said he would send another Advocate, the Holy Spirit. He further indicated that the Holy spirit would abide with them and be in them. He said very directly, "I will not leave you orphaned; . . ." When Jesus said that The Holy Spirit will be in them and among them, the key point is that God will be in all of them, which further implies that he will be in each one of us. Thus the verse from Matthew in which we hear ". . . where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them."

Now, to bring us back to a statement from Jesus that I've already mentioned; when he says that we are filled with the Holy Spirit, he doesn't mean that we are to sit around and enjoy our spiritual wealth. As you recall, he said, ". . . you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." - - - - - - If we were to bring this to the present and to this room, we are admonished to witness our faith, not only in Palm Springs, but anywhere and everywhere we go, - - - - all over the world.

So, actually, the statements of Jesus, before ascending to the Father, are quite clear and simple. The twelve step programs that we are all familiar with put it very simply and make it easy to understand. In these programs they say, "God works through people." Unfortunately, many people understand God as residing someplace in heaven. Up there someplace! The idea that often goes along with this thinking is that God has very little to do with mundane earthly matters. It's this kind of understanding that denies the earthly presence of God. God, the Holy Spirit, dwells in each of us. Therefore, the love of God dwells in each of us. As love spreads in the form of help given and received, we see God working through people. Because of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, we touch God every time we touch one another. Of course, we must do this touching with love and kindness. We hear God every time we speak to one another, as long as the words spoken are out of love.

I was talking to a man one day about God working through people, and he asked me a very important question. He said, "If God works through people, why is there so much evil in the world?" A complete answer to this question is too lengthy for one sermon, but a brief answer is that evil is a human choice, available to us in the free will God gave us; the free will that he gave no other species in the animal kingdom. God's choice is love. Whenever love is present, God is present. God is never present in evil. Unfortunately, evil is present and available, if we choose to exercise that choice.

God's love is abundant, but it does have a price. The price of God's love is humility. We need to be humble enough to recognize God's love as it exists around us. We need to be humble enough to receive it once we recognize it, and finally, we need to be humble enough to share it with others once we recognize it. - - - -

What is it that prevents so many of us from knowing God's love? The answer, once again, is pretty simple but evasive. If the price of God's love is humility, then it follows that the barrier to God's love is pride. Pride drives us to attempt to be totally self-sufficient. It's that kind of pride that prohibits honest interaction with our fellow human beings. As long as we think we have to be so self-sufficient, we will not know God as He works through others.

Why is that?

The answer is that the proud person can only trust in self. There is no hope outside of the proud person's own abilities. On the other hand, the humble person is quick to realize his or her helplessness, and it is only in our helplessness that we can bring ourselves to rely on anyone else. Only the humble person can have hope of really seeing God's love as it is manifested through people. - - - -

Now I have mentioned the need for us to recognize the work of God through others, but we also need to look at our role as God works through us. The very awareness of the Holy Spirit in others leads us to concern ourselves with our behavior toward others. Answers to our prayers are within the context of this world, always involving our fellow human being. Therefore, we need to make ourselves available to God as an instrument through whom others may see the answers to their prayers.

Unfortunately, in our effort to understand the work of God through us, pride raises its ugly head. Pride gets squarely in the way of our sharing God's love. It is pride that insists that we are always right. It is this need to be right that brings about our criticism of others. It is our criticism of others that keeps us from loving. When we begin criticizing others with an attitude of self-righteousness, we are no longer posturing ourselves in the image of God. Rather, we are behaving as though we are God. There is a fine line between recognizing that we are the messenger and image of God, and at the same time remembering that we are not God. Jesus has sent us the Holy Spirit, to be in us and among us. With that gift, he has admonished us to witness to our faith, not only in Palm Springs, but anywhere and everywhere we go, - - - - all over the world. With God at the core of our very being, it is important that we remember what we heard in today's Gospel; that "repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem." - - - - or from Palm Springs, if you will.

Amen