Seventh Sunday of Easter
Acts 1:6-14
Psalm 68:1-10,32-35
1 Peter 4:12-14, 5:6-11
John 17:1-11
Alleluia Christ is Risen
Christ is Risen Indeed Alleluia!
Yes, it’s still Easter,
though it is the last Sunday in Easter,
next Sunday is Pentecost.
Growing up in Oregon,
my parents would take my brother and I
on family hikes.
Sometimes we would go to the Columbia River Gorge,
other times we would go to the coast,
or to Mt. Hood.
Often these were hikes to waterfalls
and involved lots of switchbacks.
Switchbacks for those of you who don’t know,
are a way of constructing hiking trails
in places where it is too steep
to take a direct path to the top of the mountain or foothill.
The trail will slope gradually up to a point and then
will double back on itself with a steep turn
leading further up the mountain in the opposite direction,
sometimes you can see the trail you just traveled below
as you continue hiking until it’s time to make another turn
and switch back the other way to climb higher.
And while this makes it possible for hikers to gain elevation
without needing to become mountain climbers
it does make for a lot of turns
and it makes it a little bit more difficult
to tell exactly how far you’ve come, at least with forward progress.
One such hike goes down in family legend.
I think we were actually on the way back from another hike
but we passed the trailhead for a hike to a waterfall
that my dad wanted to see,
so he stopped the car and urged us on to this trail
insisting that it wasn’t very far to this waterfall,
well that trail seemed to go on and on and on,
and each time we asked him how much longer
he’d say “it’s just around the next corner”
and invariably it would not be just around the next corner.
Many next corners later we did get to the waterfall,
Which was nice enough
But we would never again trust Dad
when he said something was ‘just around the next corner.’
Now if we’d been hiking just to hike
with the benefit of a waterfall at the top
it wouldn’t have been so bad,
I’m sure it was a lovely trail,
but since our focus was just on getting to the waterfall
all the next corners
simply served to frustrate us even more.
Where our focus was placed
affected our experience of the journey.
The disciples are having a similar experience today
when we join them in Acts.
We’ve gone all the way back to the beginning of the book,
Jesus has been resurrected from the dead
appeared to the disciples
and they have reached a point
where they believe that it really is Jesus, alive and with them.
So they’re wondering,
what’s next?
but in a very specific way,
they ask Jesus: “Lord, is this the time when you will restore the kingdom to Israel?”
and it seem like after all their time spent with Jesus,
they still don’t get it
they’ve seen him heal,
heard him teach,
especially the lessons about how the kingdom of God
is like a small mustard seed that grows into a bush,
or a little yeast that leavens a whole batch of dough.
They have even seen him arrested an crucified by the very
Enemy that they are suggesting he now over throw.
None of Jesus’ actions have indicated
that he is about to lead the military action
and political maneuvering
that the disciples are thinking about
when they ask about restoring the kingdom to Israel.
But for generations, that’s been the focus,
the end goal, the reason for the messiah
and there have been a lot of switchbacks on their journey to this point,
and if Jesus is the messiah then isn’t that what he’s supposed to do?
And Jesus tells them,
it’s not about what I’m going to do next,
it’s what you’re going to do next,
you will receive the power of the Holy Spirit
and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem,
in all Judea and Samaria,
and to the ends of the earth,
oh and don’t worry about God’s timing,
you don’t get to know that,
just focus on being my witnesses
and God will take care of everything
And having said all this Jesus ascends into heaven.
And the disciples are standing there mouths agape
when two men in white, two angels,
come up to them and say “why do you stand looking up toward heaven? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.”
In essence the angels are telling the disciples
to return their focus to earth,
this parallels the angels in the tomb
asking the women “why do you look for the living among the dead?”
It seems like the disciples and us humans along with them
are always focusing on the wrong thing
and it is the job of the angels to point them in the right direction,
to life here and now
because life here and now has always been Jesus’ focus.
We heard Jesus in our gospel for today,
it’s the wrap up of his farewell to his disciples
and Jesus ends with praying for his disciples and us,
and what does he pray?
“Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son so that the Son may glorify you, since you have given him authority over all people, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. And this is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.”
What is eternal life according to Jesus?
That people know God,
right now,
not later,
not after death,
here and now.
Jesus’ mission statement in John is in chapter 10:10
when he says “I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.”
eternal life in Jesus’ understanding
starts here and now
and is experienced in relationships,
relationship with God,
and one another,
it’s why Jesus’ new commandment to the disciples,
his new law,
is to love one another,
and it’s by love that people will know his followers,
for Jesus the important time is right now,
it’s right now we should be concerned with,
God will take care of God’s own projects on God’s time.
“Why do you stand looking up toward heaven?”
the messengers ask the disciples and us,
Somewhat ironically
Jesus’ ascension to heaven today
brings us back to earth.
Reminding us that
Life isn’t about some end goal,
whether it’s heaven or a waterfall,
it’s about the path along the way and the people along the way
and sure that path will probably include some switchbacks,
some times where it feels like we just came this way
where it doesn’t feel like we’re moving forward even if we are moving up
and God will be with us protecting and keeping us
coaxing us around the next corner,
pointing out the beautiful things along the way
the eternal abundant life
given to us by God the Father, Jesus the Son, and the Holy Spirit the advocate. Amen