Trust and see !

On Thursday we celebrated Ascension Day, the day when Jesus physically left the earth. There are however quite a lot of Churches that celebrate Ascension Day today, the Sunday after the actual day. In a sense marking the occasion is useful on whatever day it is, but it seems to me that by moving ascension day to today we are missing out an important and very useful part of our Christian calendar, and that is the ability to stop, wait and reflect.

As Jesus left his followers on that first ascension day he told them to wait until they were clothed with power from on high. They were to wait until they were given the gift of the Holy Spirit. So today, between Ascension Day and Pentecost next Sunday, is perhaps a good day for us to reflect, and there are lots of things to do with our faith and our Church that we could choose to reflect on, but today I will try and limit things to a reasonable sermon length !!

And what better place could there be for us to start than with the Church and its mission… A Vicar is walking down the street one day when he notices a very small boy trying to press a doorbell on a house on the other side of the road. However, the boy is very small and the doorbell is too high for him to reach.

After watching the boy’s efforts for some time, the Vicar moves closer to the boy. He steps across the street, walks up behind the boy and, placing his hand kindly on the child's shoulder leans over and gives the doorbell a solid ring.

Crouching down to the child's level, the Vicar smiles benevolently and asks, "And now what, my little man?" To which the boy replies, "Now we run!"

Sometimes all is not what it seems ! When we think of the Church we think of a family, a worldwide organisation of brothers and sisters united together under Jesus, and an organisation committed to outreach, and committed to offering a better world for everyone, both through our words and through everything that we do.

However, this week I was reading a book and it talked about the Church and its existence through the centuries – it suggested that a huge majority of what we do centres on 2 things, and they have nothing at all to do with the picture of a family living out the life of Jesus.

Those 2 things are firstly a desire and a need to pay the bills – expenses to pay for staff and simply to run buildings, and secondly a desire to keep the current congregation happy. If this is true then these things are very definitely worthy of our reflection, because if it is then we are missing out on the largest and the most important part of the Christian message, and that is to share a message of hope and peace to all people.

Last week we thought about the great commission to go into the world and preach the gospel to all nations, and of how we do that in so many different ways, whether knowingly or not. It was St Francis of Assisi who said ‘we should preach the gospel everywhere using words when necessary’… Sharing the gospel message, or failing to share the gospel message, is something that involves every part of our lives, and every thought, word and action.

On Ascension Day we were reminded of the awesome power and majesty of Jesus as he left us with the promise of the help of the Holy Spirit, and it is in his power that we must seek the confidence and inspiration to live out our lives for him.

If we, as Churches, are merely paying the bills and keeping the congregations happy, then we are simply preserving an elite club which fails to look outside at the wider world – a world so often in need of hope, of peace, of good news. There’s a prayer by the French author, Michel Quoist, which sums up the way that we should be looking at the world,

If only we knew how to look at life as God sees it, we would realise that nothing is secular in this world, but that everything contributes to the building of the kingdom of God. To have faith is not only to raise one’s eyes to God to contemplate him; it is also to look at this world – but with Christ’s eyes.

If we had allowed Christ to penetrate our whole being, the world would no longer be an obstacle, but it would be a perpetual incentive to work for God in order that his kingdom might come on earth as it is in heaven.’

The teachings of Jesus were nothing to do with creating a Church with structures and big bills to pay, although that is not in any way trying to undermine the importance of the Church today, but instead he taught things such as :-

Don’t worry about money, food, clothing or tomorrow.

Don’t judge others.

God loves us all.

Each person has an immense value to God

Treat others as you want to be treated.

Don’t follow the ways of the world.

Beware of false prophets and ideologies.

Be obedient to God’s teachings.

God forgives if you only ask (and mean it).

Ask and seek and God will answer.

And of course, Love the Lord God with you heart and mind, and your neighbour as yourself.

In this period between the ascension of Jesus and the giving of the gift of the Holy Spirit, the early followers of Jesus spent their time in fellowship, in prayer and contemplation – they were no doubt filled with joy and excitement and perhaps a little fear of what lay ahead, but they were ready and confident, trusting in God to satisfy every need.

Today as we try to reflect the joy and excitement of those early followers in every part of our lives, may we also have the confidence and faith to reflect on what’s really important, both in our lives and in our Churches. And may we have the faith and trust to know that God will provide everything to satisfy our needs, and, with that knowledge, may we commit our lives to faithful service. AMEN