Reassurance and Warning, Reflection on John 16:12-15

Jesus tells his followers that he is going and the Advocate is coming. This Spirit will guide the followers into all truth, will declare to them the things that are to come. We read this message as comfort--to them and to us, the continuation of the church.

I'm grateful to Fred Craddock for pointing out the implicit concern contained within this warning:

This text has been used to bless every fad and notion, but the fear of the new and different must not cause the church to abandon the promise.
When the church becomes protective and defensive, ... preachers become curators. The Spirit continually presses the question, What is the meaning of Jesus Christ today?
....
The apostolic and biblical witness remains as a canon for testing the spirits, for the Holy Spirit does not speak apart from or contrary to the historical Jesus....

If you want to read more, see Preaching through the Christian Year B.

Testimony of the Spirit, a Reflection on John 15:26-27; 16:4b-11

Before his death, Jesus prepared his disciples. "I'm going away," he told them, "but, I am sending you the Advocate."

"This helper will testify to the world and to you."

In Preaching through the Christian Year B, the always-excellent Fred Craddock says:

The Spirit will bear witness to Jesus just as the apostles who shared his earthly life bear witness.... The church is not left with only the promptings of the Spirit, opening wide the door to ... all sorts of nonverifiable claims by inspired speakers. Neither is it the case that the church is left with just the reports of men of antiquity. Rather, the church has both the Spirit and the tradition, and the gospel is located where these two intersect.

The Spirit came to the original disciples and continues to come to disciples. We are left with this reassurance and the implied problem of discerning which spirits come from Christ.

Believing is Knowing, a Reflection on 1 John 5:9-13

We don't have to wait until after we die for eternal life to begin. Eternal life promises more than by-and-by. Eternal life begins now. Here. 

The first witnesses saw this promise fulfilled in the Son.

We are asked to share this eternal life. We are asked to know that we share this eternal life.

Succession, a Reflection on Acts 1:15-17, 21-26

Succession, a Reflection on Acts 1:15-17, 21-26

Some of the readings I have listed for this week are preparing us for the Ascension of the Lord; others, including today's, are in the lectionary for the seventh Sunday of Easter. 

During Eastertide, the seven weeks after Easter, we have been focusing on the early church during the period after the first Easter. The readings from Acts have told of unlimited sharing of resources among the believers (4:32-35), a call for repentance (3:12-19), a pushback against religious leaders (4:5-12), acceptance of an outsider (8:26-40), and acceptance of a lot more outsiders (Acts 10:44-48).

This week's reading from Acts goes back to the first chapter soon after Jesus had told the disciples that they would receive power when the Holy Spirit came upon them. And he was lifted up. Heavenly messengers told them that he was to return.

In order for the church (yes, I realize that it wasn't called that yet) to continue, they are going to have to tell what Jesus had done and they're going to have to do the work he was doing.

Witnesses are essential to knowing what has happened and then telling about it. In that the church continues to live, continues to do the work that it was created to do. The question that the Ethiopian convert asked Peter remains a good question, "How can I understand what the scripture says unless someone is willing to explain it." I would add, "or live by its teachings right in front of me."

Matthias is chosen to replace Judas. The team is complete, again.

Yet, I am troubled that we never hear any more about Matthias. We're left to wonder whether he did a good job preaching and healing and teaching or not. Or, maybe, I should be reassured by the omission of Matthias success or lack of it. After all, the job did get done even if we don't know all the details of who did what work or how well.

Big and Little Trees, a Reflection on Psalm 1

I'm living now in a place with lots of rain, thus, lots of trees, big trees. It's quite a contrast from where I grew up, a place without much rain, not many trees, and the trees we had, even those decades old, were short and sparse.

Driving down the highway, you could easily tell where the creeks were because you would see that curving line of trees.

I'm thinking about those trees and the trees I see now when I read how Psalm 1 describes the benefit of God's instruction. "They are like trees planted by streams of water, which yield their fruit in its season, and their leaves do not wither. In all that they do, they prosper."

Like water for trees, God's law protects and enriches us.

Jesus Prays for the Church, a Reflection on John 17:1-11

Those of us who may limit the meaning of "eternal life" to heaven can get a richer meaning from this prayer. Jesus defines eternal life as a life shaped by knowing God and knowing Jesus Christ who has been sent by God.

In the days to come, these disciples will come together and scatter apart. The church still does. Jesus prayed that God would protect us so that we would be one. How unified are we? In what ways do we demonstrate that we know God? In what ways do we demonstrate that we are part of the world?

Power to the Church, a Reflection on Ephesians 1:15-23

"I pray that God will send you the Spirit," Paul writes to the Ephesians. 

Here's what the Spirit does for the church: enlightens the eyes of your heart--that is, helps you to catch on to what God intends for you to be doing and what God has already done for you.

To these early Christians as they began to form congregations and missions, he is emphasizing power and what power is to be used for.

To these Christians adjusting to their life after the crucifixion of Jesus, he writes of the power available to them through God. God put this power to work in Christ and has made him the head of the church. The church is the body of Christ, "the fullness of him who fills all in all."

As I regularly do, I have been reading Boring & Craddock's People's New Testament Commentary. And, as I regularly am, I am glad that I do. For example,here's their discussion of the phrase, "glorious inheritance":

The phrase refers to God's inheritance, not the believers'. In Old Testament theology, Israel as God's chosen people is often called God's inheritance (Deut 4:20; 9:26, 29; 2 Sam 21:3; 1 Kings 8:51, 53; Ps 28:9; 33:12; 68:9; 78:62, 71; 94:14; 106:5, 4-; Isa 19:25; 47:6; 63:17; Jer 10:16; 51:19). For the author of Ephesians, to be in the church is to be incorporated into the continuing people of God, Israel (2:11-12).

Over All the Earth Psalm 47

This week, we read Luke's accounts of the ascension. In Acts, the resurrected Jesus was lifted up and a cloud took him out of their sight. In the gospel, he was carried up into heaven.

In the accounts of the ascension, we can hear echoes to this psalm--God has gone up with a shout. ("Gone up" anyway, but I'm not so sure about the "shout").

Walter Breuggemann discusses this psalm in Texts for Preaching:

When we say of Jesus in the creed, "He ascended into heaven," in the first instance this is the language of ritual enthronement and coronation. What is claimed substantively, politically, theologically is first asserted dramatically and liturgically.

In the psalm, the congregation is called to sing praises to the King, and the King is identified as God, the great king over all the earth, God, the king over the nations. 

Clap your hands, all you peoples;
Shout to God with loud songs of joy (1).
Sing praises to God, sing praises;
Sing praises to our King, sing praises(6).
For God is king over the nations... (7).

Think about the "all the earth" and "king over the nations" assertions. People who have not formally entered into our community are being cared for by God. As we celebrate the Ascension of the Lord, we are recognizing that the care of Jesus extends far beyond the small circle of disciples at his death but, instead, is world-wide.

Departure, Acts 1:1-11

He was a man who taught and worked and died. He appeared to travelers and disciples. We don't experience him in the way that they did. Yet, we continue to experience him. In the Christian calendar, we mark the 40th day after Easter as the day of the Ascension of the Lord.

They had listened to his teaching. They had asked him when things would be the way they wanted them to be.

He told them that the Holy Spirit would visit them and bestow power upon them.

He vanished from their sight.

But not from their lives.

Don't Get Stuck, a Reflection on Luke 24:44-53

After the meal, he reminded them of words that he had spoken to them before--that he is the fulfillment of the promises of the law, the prophets, and the psalms. We Christians need to get both the before and after of this reminder. What we call the Old Testament, they thought of as Scripture. Old is still good. And Jews are still included in God's care. We haven't ousted them.

And not just Christians and Jews. Jesus reminds them, "The Scriptures foretold my death and resurrection. They tell that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed to all nations.

And then to this group of disciples who have been huddled together in fear and, even in the joy of recognition, have been disbelieving, he now commissions them, "You are witnesses that the Scriptures have been fulfilled."

Commission--I am sending upon you what my Father promised. Stay here in this city until that power comes.

While they are waiting, they gather in the temple.

I'm thinking that many of us Christians have gotten stuck in that period between Ascension and Pentecost. We have known the presence of Christ. We have heard and believed the promised made to us. We're expecting something great to come among us. We are gathered together in great joy to continue our worship of the Lord. We love church and we love the Lord and we love each other. But...