Joyful Anticipation

Charlotte Collins Reed
Christ Church Episcopal
May 16, 2021

7 Proper B 

          Last week, we entered yet another chapter in the ongoing waiting game aspect of Covid-19.  We have waited for the shut-down to end, for schools to reopen, for supplies of toilet paper and Clorox wipes to appear on the shelves.  We have waited to see our loved ones.  We have waited for a vaccine and for in-person worship.  We are still waiting to hug and to sing.  Now we enter yet another liminal waiting time as the CDC has lifted the mask mandate in most cases for people who have been vaccinated, and the governor has done likewise.  Because we are an Episcopal Church and under the authority of our bishop, we wait for his directives about how we will live and worship together as restrictions begin to be lifted.  But I think what most of us are really waiting for is for life to get back to normal.

          The disciples are also waiting this morning.  Last Thursday was the feast of the Ascension when the 11 remaining disciples watched as Jesus rose into heaven.  After ordering the disciples not to leave Jerusalem, one of the last things Jesus said to the disciples was “‘This is what you have heard from me; for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”  A few verses later, immediately before his ascension, Jesus said “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”  However much the disciples might have wanted their lives to get back to normal, this is a pretty big clue that “normal” is not going to happen.

          So, the disciples wait.  They do not know what they are waiting for, other than to be baptized with the Holy Spirit, but they don’t have a clue what that means or how their lives will be changed.  But the way they wait can teach us a lot about how to wait faithfully, even when we don’t know exactly what we are waiting for, or when whatever we are waiting for will happen, or what the new normal will look like. 

          First, the disciples watched to see where God was at work, even as they waited.  They looked for the way scripture was being fulfilled in their midst and how God was using even unfortunate circumstances, like the betrayal of Jesus by Judas, to do something new in their midst.  What is God doing in our midst as we wait for the days of Covid-19 to end?

          Secondly, the disciples did not wait passively.  There was no grass growing under their feet as they waited for whatever the ascended Jesus had in store for them.  They got to work choosing a disciple to replace Judas so the twelve could get about the work of witnessing to the resurrection.  The believers prayed and cast lots, choosing Matthias as the new disciple.  What work is God calling us to do while we wait?

          Thirdly, the disciples prayed.  In the case of this morning’s reading from Acts, they prayed about who to choose to replace Judas. They did not rely on their own judgement to make decisions while they waited.  They knew they could not see everything God had in store for them, what they would need going forward, or how they might be called to witness to the resurrection.  They prayed and sought God’s guidance.  For what do we need to pray during this time of waiting?

          The disciples are not the only ones who prayed in our readings this morning.  As Jesus approaches his crucifixion in the reading from John, Jesus prays for his disciples.  Jesus’ prayer is long and elegant, but what his words boil down to is this.  Jesus prays that the disciples will always know to whom they belong.  They belong to God.  They are sent into the world, as Jesus was sent, to show the world what belonging to God looks like.  The world will not always understand or appreciate their efforts.  But they belong to God. 

          The disciples came together to watch for what God was doing in their midst, to do the work God was calling them to do even while they waited, and they prayed.  They did all this together.  Jesus’ disciples were together when Jesus prayed for them.  They were not together waiting for life to get back to normal, however.  They were together waiting for the new life God had in store for them.  They could trust God with that unknown future because they knew they belonged to God, which meant they could wait, not anxiously, but with joyful anticipation. 

As we wait for whatever our new life will be like post-pandemic, what the new normal will be, God calls us to wait together, to watch together for what God is already doing in our midst, to witnesses together to the power of God’s love while we wait, and to pray as we discern what God is calling us to do and be as we move forward.  But most of all, God calls us to remember to whom we belong so that we wait with joyful anticipation for whatever the future holds.

                                                                             Amen.