Dear friends in Christ at Peace and Grue,
I don’t often focus on more than one passage at a time. But from time to time, the passages and/or context seem to just fit, and this is one of those times. The passages are assigned for the seventh week of Easter (John 17:1-11 and Acts 1:6-14) and the context is Memorial Day weekend (the unofficial beginning of the summer season). Here are my thoughts:
Both passages describe an interlude – a period of waiting and transition. In John, it’s the waiting between all Jesus has done up to now and what he is about to do as the supreme actor in all events leading to his glorification by crucifixion. It is an interlude that is both intense and important, spanning nearly 25% of John’s Gospel as Jesus prepares his disciples for their lives after his ascension (in John’s terms, Jesus’ return to the Father), and the adventure ahead of them as cross the threshold from being Jesus’ students to being Jesus’ emissaries to the world.
Now to Acts and the funny little story that launches Luke’s story of the spread of the early church. It’s funny because the disciples are just standing there, looking up at Jesus’ disappearing form, mesmerized – or is it paralyzed – by what they’ve just seen. Until two messengers in white clothes show up and ask them what in the world they’re staring at, which kick-starts them on their way back down the mountain to Jerusalem where they will live and eat and pray and worship together until Pentecost and the gift of the Holy Spirit. This, as it turns out, is also an important interlude, as they are being prepared for life after Jesus’ ascension and their changed role from disciples to apostles.
These passages together remind me that in the Bible, people don’t just get a “break” or a “vacation” or “time off” for its own sake, but rather these interludes are always times of preparation and refreshment and renewal before they start a new adventure in what is often unfamiliar territory. All of which got me thinking about Memorial Day, which was officially declared a national holiday in 1971, but in practice dated back to shortly after the Civil War as a time to remember and honor those who have died in service to their country. Memorial Day is not be merely a break, a time to get to the lake, or a long weekend. It is an interlude, a time to renew our sense of gratitude for those who have served their country and for the freedoms we enjoy because of that service, even as we dedicate ourselves to peace and the hope that someday others will not have to make that sacrifice.
This being said, it occurred to me that times of rest and relaxation are not simply good in themselves but times when God is preparing us for what comes next. I have no idea what the future will bring. I suspect there will be accomplishments and setbacks, victories and defeats, joys and sorrows, triumphs and tragedies on a personal, communal, national, and global scale. And in all these things, God will be with us, comforting, celebrating, strengthening, and accompanying us in and amid whatever may come. Through it all God is preparing us to be God’s emissaries of good news, preparing us to comfort others, preparing us to work for peace, preparing us to live with less fear and more generosity. Interludes, for people of faith, are always times when God prepares us for the next adventure. Blessings on your life and your interludes this summer as God prepares you to share his grace.
Yours in Christ,
Pastor Dan