Whenever the Gospel is proclaimed in the Church, Jesus becomes really present in the words of the ordained person speaking those words. We are so blessed today in Deacon Daphne’s presence among us. Through your presence and proclamation, Jesus comes among us. Long have we experienced your gentle and gracious presence and now you bring Jesus among us through your ordained ministry. We are indeed blessed. The church indeed is blessed.
You were challenged, Deacon Daphne, with the twists and turns of the passage from the Gospel according to John. So you deserve some extra points for managing that difficult passage!
You heard some of Jesus’ final words at the Last Supper. Jesus is praying to the Father, asking the Father to glorify him with the glory Jesus experienced with God before the world began. Some of you may think that Jesus is referring to a feast we celebrated on Thursday, the Ascension of our Lord. The Ascension raises mixed feelings for Jesus and for us.
When you think of the Ascension as an event between Jesus and God, don’t you feel happy that Jesus, who has come from the Father, is now returning home to the Father. You all know that longing you feel whenever you take a trip or a vacation. Yes, you enjoy the excitement, the new scenes, the different food, the wonderful entertainment. Yes, you also enjoy the return home to the comfort of your own bed, the familiarity of home cooked meals, and, for those of you living in Linden and Rahway, the never ending noise of planes taking off and landing from Newark’s airport.
Ascension also comes as an event between Jesus and the disciples. You can well imagine the anxiety which the disciples felt as they are listening to this prayer of Jesus. As Jesus tells them that he is returning to his Father, they are wondering what will happen with them after he is gone. What will life be like for them without the familiar presence of Jesus? Perhaps they remember those words of Jesus which we heard some weeks ago: Do not let your hearts be troubled. Have trust in God. Have trust in me. But they anticipate that empty feeling, the sense of abandonment, that loss of the comfort of Jesus’ presence.
Many of you can identify with the disciples in their anxiety.
Over the past two weeks, you have learned that people whom you have known at church will be leaving. Next week will be Mike Shubeck’s last Sunday as organist. At the end of September, Carl and I shall retire. Such moments of transition create considerable anxiety. Most of you expect that the church will bring you stability and security in the midst of a changing and challenging world. When you hear that people whom you expect to see at church will no longer be around, perhaps you feel off kilter and your stability and security are rocked.
Transitions challenge all of us. The uncertainty of unfamiliar persons replacing familiar ones makes our stomachs turn and churn.
Yet transitions also bring great opportunities. Most of the transitions in your life have brought greater opportunities, broader connections, new ways of being in the world.
The next few months will offer you similar possibilities. Jesus prays for you as you enter into this unsettling situation. He prays: Holy Father, protect them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one, as we are one. Jesus reminds you that as you enter a time of transition, you should come together as a community, come together to show that unity Jesus has created among you.
You may be tempted to find comfort in the familiar, in things you did in the past, in patterns you already know. Now is the time to engage in new things, to develop relationships with new people, to discover a new path God is opening up for you. Yes, you will feel resistance to the new possibilities. Yes, you will be blessed beyond your imaging with what God is planning for you.
Just look at how blessed we were with Deacon Daphne. When I asked for a deacon, I planned to begin a latino ministry. But things did not work out with people from the diocese and the national church. God had another plan for Daphne with us. She provided a gentle pastoral presence, brought us on line worship, showed us her skill as a teacher.
You have seen that wonderful things come from unanticipated beginnings. Let’s continue to trust God to work miracles among us. Let’s trust one another and work together to help that miracle begin.