Then they gathered around him and asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?” 7 He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. Acts 1
I grew up in a transitional, threshold time in history. The cogs of institutions were still humming away, but showing signs of needing reform after years of questioning and honest concerns about how racism, sexism, homophobia, and any other way of being outside the narrowly defined understanding of "normal". I grew up where desks in school were in neat rows and the teaching method was "sit and get". I grew up in a world where government was still an okay word. Volunteer organizations and churches thought they were just one membership drive away from a return to their glory days. In many ways the institutions were like my families Ford Pinto, in need of something entirely new, but so much time and energy had been invest we thought it better to tinker than to totally deconstruct. Not to mention, that when things were taken apart and put back together, it was like when I tried to do that with my bike and had a few "spare" parts left over and it never did work quite right after that. So for years now, we have been trying to paint the train of our communal life together while it is still chugging down the tracks. We keep on painting even as the engine is show signs of being sluggish and coughing. We keep on painting even when we realize that the track is also showing signs of wear. Whether we are talking about how to educate our kids; how to organize our communal, collective life (which is really what politics is suppose to be about); the role of the church; or how we as individuals interact with each other, it often seems like we have moved into a new space and place where we are not entirely sure how to act.
That is where the Book of Acts comes into play as ancient words that can be heard in helpful ways today. I find in particular these opening words to be helpful. Jesus tells the disciples two amazing truths before being whisked away in a cloud car to the sky. He tells them to wait. Not the kind of waiting in the doctor's office flipping through a decade old Reader's Digest kind of waiting. But a waiting that is active and engaging. I understand this waiting to need both patience and persistence. Patience that I am not as in charge or control as I sometimes like to think I am. Patience says that I don't have to leap into action or send out a tweet every time our twenty-four hour news cycle blares out an "Urgent Update". Patience says sometimes slowing down, gathering more information, breathing can actually be a good thing. Persistence says that I can't get stuck in analysis paralysis though. There is a time to step off the sideline. To keep patience and persistence in conversation and tension was good for the early church and is still a helpful invitation in such a time as this.
Second, I love the list of ministry settings the disciples are called to:
Jerusalem ~ the place that convicted, condemned, and hung Jesus on a cross. Go to the place where there is still lingering pain; amid people who you are not sure if they were in the crowd yelling, "Crucify him". Really?
Judea ~ southern countryside of Israel. Remember the disciples were from the north. Just as the division of North and South still lingers, hovers, and hangs in the air today...that is true in Scripture too. As northerners from Galilee (a podunk place) who were fishermen (who didn't have any official religious training) going to Judea meant facing people who might look down on them. Really?
Sameria ~ that is where those people lived who married foreigners during the Babylonian exile; didn't support the rebuilding capital campaign after the exile; and thought they had a mountain in that region even more holy than the one in Jerusalem. So go to to the people you look down on.
Just to get the list of locations right:
1. People who cause fear and uncertainty.
2. People who don't like you.
3. People you don't like.
If ever there was an ancient list that still speaks to our hearts for such a time as this...it is this one! Can we go to people who we are unclear which side they are on? People who post things to Facebook we don't agree with? People who we really struggle to love? Do we take to heart that Jesus wasn't just trying to have a good soundbite when he said, "Love your enemies." He really wanted us to do that?
In a world where my kids now sit around tables with a computer in the center; where government has approval ratings that should make the church feel good; and where people see church as just one more option of what to do...in short a world that feels distant and disconnected from the one of my youth, I love that this list still sings out a song I need to hear for today. In this list, I hear more than a trace of God's grace. And in this list, I need more than a trace of God's grace to try to embody and embrace this idea and those in my life who might fall into one or more of the above categories.
So may the grace, love, and peace of God cause us to act up and out; to be the church in these days that might patiently and persistent keep drawing the circle wide to include all people.
Amen.
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