Easter 7 C + One + 5.29.22

 

M. Campbell-Langdell

All Santos, Oxnard

(Acts 16:16-34; Psalm 97; Revelation 22:12-14,16-17,20-21; John 17:20-26)

 

Jesus’ enduring message today is about unity:

“The glory that you have given me I have given them, so that they may be one, as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become completely one, so that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.”

What does unity look like?
Unity looks like prayer during your darkest moment so you know you are not alone.

Unity looks like stopping a person who is in a moment of crisis from an act of violence and letting them know that God has shown them another way.

Unity is showing love and solidarity when the world brings you terror.

Earlier this week we heard about another shooting. The unimaginable deaths of small children and teachers, people in yet another space that should feel safe in our country. Yet another space that felt invaded by evil. And yet even in the midst of that moment, there was a story of hope. Our parish administrator Mabel shared with me that she heard a story on the television, of a young girl who was so connected to God that on their walks to school her mother and she would pray. And her mother, terrified, reunited with her girl after the shooting. Her daughter said, mother, I told them to pray, and we all prayed. When I went looking online for this story, I didn’t find this exact one, but I did find the story of another second-grader whose teacher told him to pray. And somehow, the image of those children and teachers praying the midst of their terror made me think of unity. And it reminded me of the passages in the scriptures when the apostles prayed in prison and sang. Their faith brought them through.

What a divine moment to see that today’s scripture reading from the Book of Acts holds one such prison scene. Paul, annoyed by a slave girl who was outing them as followers of Jesus, cast the spirit out of her and ended up arrested. They are praying and singing. And suddenly an earthquake creates the situation for a prison break. This is interesting. Why don’t they get out of there? Perhaps they learned something from their rashness with the girl. That we need to wait on the Lord, and not rush into things. Of course, their jailer doesn’t know yet that they are still there, he just sees the doors open and thinks he’s done for. And they tell him not to be afraid, that they are all there. And amazingly, he is saved and they are freed! His family is baptized. A story of tragedy becomes a cause for rejoicing.

This makes me wonder, who is the jailer in our lives? Who is looking around and seeing only destruction and about to enact violence upon themselves or others? Sadly, we have an illness spreading in our country. An illness of despair. And we as Christians can do like the little girl who prayed, and like Paul and Silas, and say, “Wait! God always shows us another way.”

That invitation to Come! As we so eloquently hear it in the book of Revelation today is always there. We are never without hope. God is with us. Perhaps that is something we as Christians can share with the world at the moment.

One of the terms for today, as you can see hinted at in the reading today, is Ascension Sunday. Today historically we have not only marked the Seventh Sunday of Easter, but we also commemorate when Jesus ascended from the Father, a feast the church actually celebrated on Thursday. As we talked in our Evening Prayer and Bible Study this week about the Ascension, someone pointed out that it is very sad. Because the disciples are saying goodbye to Jesus again. And they don’t know when they will see him again. We, too, are very sad this week, but for different reasons. But the divine mystery here is that Jesus had to ascend, in order as one collect says, to fill all things. His body needed to ascend so that his Spirit could fill all of us, a special event we will celebrate next week on Pentecost Sunday. We too may feel lost and alone at this time, but we as Christians are called to remember our hope and remember that God’s Spirit will never leave us comfortless. When hope seems to sap out of us, let us pray. Let us draw together. Let us be one. So that the world would know that God has shown us another way.

I believe part of finding another way also involves asking some hard questions of our country. How is a young man who can’t even legally drink yet able to purchase a weapon, the only logical use of which is in armed combat? We must learn to value human life more than we value the ability to access any kind of weapon regardless of the use it was made for originally.

I am reading a book recommended by a parishioner called Rain of Gold by Victor Villaseñor (1991). It is an epic tale of his family’s life in Mexico as they migrate to the United States of America. It is a very long book, so I am just at the beginning, and it is striking to me that two of the mother figures in the book always gather their children at the beginning of each day and at the day’s end and give thanks for God’s bringing them to a new day, and for surviving a new day. Even when they go through terrible things, they give thanks for life.

But in one moment, a character named Juan begins to lose hope. In this moment, he asks his mother:

“’Mama? … you know… it’s like I am not able to remember our wild orchids anymore.’ His old mother smiled sadly sitting in the shade. ‘I know what you mean, mi’jito,’ she said. ‘At times like this, it truly tries my patience with God.’ ‘Then you’re losing hope, too Mama?’ He asked. ‘Hope? Oh, no mi’jito. Not hope, or faith. But patience? Yes (Villaseñor, Rain, Audible, Ch. 9).’

So even in these moments when we lose patience with our other humans and even with God, let us not lose hope.

We mourn the ones that did not make it through this week. And at the same time, let us give thanks for the blessings that God has given us. And let us have hearts and eyes to see the desperate people in our midst that might need to know that God has given us another way. Let us tell our leaders and neighbors and friends that there is another way. Love will have the last word.
Ultimately, we will all be one. We belong to Jesus. He hates the violence of this world, but loves us so deeply. Let us be united in prayer. Prayer for a change and in gratitude that in the storms of life, God remains. God is faithful. Amen.