Charlotte Collins Reed
Christ Church Episcopal
May 21, 2023
7 Easter A
One of my favorite stories about the ascension of Jesus, a
story some of you have heard before, comes from my days as a newly minted
priest when I was serving St. James Episcopal Church in Piqua, Ohio. St. James was a small congregation with maybe
50 on an average Sunday. But there were
several families with children and while we had Sunday School before church, we
had nothing for the children during church.
So each Sunday, the children were given paper and crayons and invited to
draw a picture of the sermon. This meant
that the children had to listen to the sermon and I had to preach in such a way
that I inspired creativity in the minds of 5 year olds. Each Sunday after church we would chose one
of the children’s pictures to be on the cover of the bulletin the next
week. The cover never matched the
readings for the day, but no one cared in the least about that.
I remember two of the bulletin covers quite clearly. One I have framed in my office all these years
later. The picture was drawn by a little
boy named Alex on my last Sunday at St. James.
It is a picture of our family-Don, Slocomb, Caldwell, and myself. The other is a picture a child drew of the
ascension of Jesus. Jesus’ head is up in
the clouds, so he has clearly left planet earth. There are some sad looking stick figure
disciples watching him leave. The child
had given serious thought to how Jesus managed to ascend as there were rocket
boosters on the bottoms of Jesus’ feet.
Honestly, that’s as good an explanation of how Jesus’ ascended as any I
have heard.
We can easily become consumed with the “how” and “where” of
Jesus’ ascension. How did Jesus ascend
and where did he go are natural questions. But they are questions I will leave to your
imagination this morning. Today I am
more curious about the two men in white robes who appear with the sad stick
figure disciples and say “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up to
heaven? This Jesus, who has been taken
up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into
heaven.” The two men seem to be saying
“Why are you just standing here? What are you waiting for?” Jesus had told the disciples before he
ascended that they would receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon them and
that they will be his witnesses in Jerusalem, in Judea and all Samaria, and to
the ends of the earth. But there is no
indication that the disciples had a clue what Jesus was talking about.
As
we have emerged from the pandemic, a process that is ongoing, not complete, we
have done a lot of waiting. We have
waited for things to get back to normal, whether the plexiglass shields to come
down at the check out lanes at the grocery store, or to feel completely at ease
in crowded spaces, or to no longer need masks at any time in any place. We have waited for our life together to get
back to normal, to do all the things we once did. We have waited for postponed vacations,
memorial services, family gatherings, and other events. We have waited and I do not think I am the
only one here who has little patience for waiting.
Together, we have waited to become the church we once were,
whatever your measuring stick for that might be, whether 2019, 2010, 2000, or
the days of the legendary rummage sale.
But we are not sad little stick figures gazing up into heaven as Jesus
departs with no clue what Jesus meant when he said “You will receive power when
the Holy Spirit comes upon you.” Next
Sunday, we will celebrate Pentecost, that day when the Holy Spirit came as
promised and landed on the disciples, turning them and us into a powerful
witness to the Gospel.
So, here is the magic formula for becoming the church we
are waiting to be. I can tell you story
after story about how this has worked at other churches and how this has worked
over the decades at Christ Church. Here is
the formula in three simple words: Be that church. Be the church we want to become. Just trust the Holy Spirit and be that
church.
Today is Celebration Sunday and we are celebrating our work
together to be the church we want to become.
We are celebrating a church that wants our children and youth to be
involved and in the past year we have seen our youth group flourish, added
youth lectors to our Sunday worship, and brought back Lego Church in-person
with dinner. We want to be a church with
a vibrant music program and through the generosity of several parishioners, we
were able to make Mario full time and expand the music program. We want to be a church that meets the needs
of others and we revived the outreach ministry team, started a peanut butter
and jelly ministry, made lunches for Open M, and had an outreach ministry fair. We have added adult education offerings and
many fellowship opportunities. We have
worked to become the church we want to be, full of life and joy, making a
difference for those in need, and nourishing the faith of our children.
The two men in white robes say to each of us as individuals
and to us as a congregation “What are you waiting for?” All that we have done this year has been
accomplished by people who have stopped waiting, stepped up, and made things
happen. To all of the people who stepped
up, the vestry, staff, and I offer you our heartfelt thanks. To those who, like the disciples, have been
waiting to see what happens, please look around and see and feel the joy and
the energy and stop waiting. For all
that we have accomplished this year, there is not one single ministry at Christ
Church that does not need more people involved so that we can continue to do
new things and lighten the load for those who do so much. From Vacation Bible School to coffee hour, to
Habitat for Humanity, to Sunday School, to peanut butter and jelly, to helping
with the building, to simply praying, showing up, or writing a thank you note, there
is no need to wait.
We are not sad stick figure disciples who wait for things
to happen. We are Pentecost people who
make things happen. Let us be the church we want to become.
Amen.
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