Vertical to Horizontal

The Rev. Dr. Skip Ferguson

Manassas Presbyterian Church

Manassas, Virginia

May 28, 2017

Vertical to Horizontal

Acts 1:6-14

So when they had come together, they asked him,

“Lord, is this the time when you will restore

the kingdom to Israel?”

He replied,

“It is not for you to know the times or periods

that the Father has set by his own authority.

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.”

When he had said this, as they were watching,

he was lifted up,

and a cloud took him out of their sight.

While he was going

and they were gazing up toward heaven,

suddenly two men in white robes stood by them.

They said, “Men of Galilee,

why do you stand looking up toward 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.”

Then they returned to Jerusalem

from the mount called Olivet,

which is near Jerusalem,

a sabbath day’s journey away.

When they had entered the city,

they went to the room upstairs

where they were staying,

Peter, and John,

and James, and Andrew,

Philip and Thomas,

Bartholomew and Matthew,

James son of Alphaeus,

and Simon the Zealot,

and Judas son of James.

All these were constantly

devoting themselves to prayer,

together with certain women,

including Mary the mother of Jesus,

as well as his brothers.

*****************************************************

It is a remarkable scene Luke gives us

in the opening pages of Acts:

Jesus, our Lord, risen from the grave,

having spent 40 days with his followers,

is lifted up,

taken up into the heavens,

as though he’d stepped into a invisible elevator,

as though gravity had lost its hold

on our Lord’s body.

His apostles are struck speechless by the sight,

transfixed,

their eyes glued to him,

their heads slowly tilting back,

all in perfect unison,

like the crowds that would fill the beaches

of Cape Canaveral two millennia later,

watching a Space Shuttle lift off the launchpad.

Luke opens the scene so prosaically, though,

the apostles questioning Jesus:

“Lord, is this the time when you will restore

the kingdom to Israel?”

We cannot claim to know the mind of our Lord,

but surely he must have thought to himself,

“All this time and they still don’t get it.”

His reply came in stern words,

“It is not for you to know

the times or periods

that the Father has set by his own authority.”

But then our Lord,

always graceful, always grace-filled,

ever patient,

softened his tone,

“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.”

Do you hear what Jesus was saying to them?

We need to listen and understand

because Jesus is talking to us as well,

here and now:

It isn’t for us to know the mind of God,

to know God’s plans, God’s schedule.

What we are to know,

what Jesus wanted his apostles to know,

and what Jesus wants us to know,

is that we have work to do,

we followers of Christ:

the work of taking the gospel of Jesus Christ

out into the world,

to the very ends of the earth.

This is the work Jesus calls us to,

work we are empowered to do,

enabled by God’s Holy Spirit.

So we should not find it

the least bit surprising, then,

to hear in our lesson,

the words of the white-robed men,

presumably angels of the Lord God:

“Men of Galilee,

why do you stand looking up toward heaven?”

In other words:

“Why are you standing around gawking at the sky?

You have work to do.”

The apostles hustled back to Jerusalem

back to that city where only a few weeks before

they’d been frozen with fear,

frozen to inaction.

But the fear was gone now,

melted by their time with the Risen Christ.

And so they gathered

to ready themselves through prayer

as they waited —

the apostles,

along with “certain women”,

and, as Luke tells us, Jesus’ brothers.

Yes, Jesus very likely had real brothers,

and sisters as well,

sons and daughters born to Joseph and Mary

after Mary gave birth to Jesus.

They prayed as they waited –

prayed as they waited

for the Spirit to come upon them;

which, of course,

the Spirit did in such dramatic fashion

on that first Pentecost.

But Pentecost is next week,

so we’re getting ahead of ourselves.

Our focus with this text

should be on the vertical and the horizontal,

to use terms Diana Butler Bass gave us

two months ago when she was here.

The vertical is God’s power

coming down through the Holy Spirit;

God’s grace and love,

coming down through Jesus Christ;

and then God’s power of grace and love

going out horizontally through us,

you and me,

through all of Jesus’ followers,

to the very ends of the earth.

The apostles clearly didn’t get this

as they spent their last day with Jesus.

Their question to him makes that clear:

“Lord, is this the time when you will restore

the kingdom to Israel?”

Were they looking to rout the Romans?

Chase away the Greeks and other Gentiles?

Turn Israel back to a good Jewish nation,

pure and undefiled?

Is that what they really thought lay ahead for them?

Is that what they thought Jesus wanted?

It seems all too likely

that the apostles were still – still –

looking for King David,

still looking for the warrior messiah

astride his mighty white steed,

sword in hand!

“You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem,

in all Judea and Samaria,

and to the ends of the earth.”

Those were our Lord’s words to the apostles.

And they are our Lord’s words to us.

We are called to witness,

called to take the Word out into the world

…to the ends of the earth.

“Blessed are the merciful,

for they will receive mercy.”

(Matthew 5:7)

Take these words… to the ends of the earth.

“Do not judge,

so that you may not be judged.”

(Matthew 7:1)

Take these words… to the ends of the earth.

“Forgive

and you will be forgiven.”

(Luke 6:37)

Take these words… to the ends of the earth.

“Do to others as you would have them do to you.”

(Luke 6:31)

Take these words… to the ends of the earth.

“Let anyone among you who is without sin

be the first to throw a stone…”
(John 8: 7)

Take these words… to the ends of the earth.

“You have heard that it was said,

‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’

But I say to you, Love your enemies

and pray for those who persecute you.”

(Matthew 5:43)

Take these words… to the ends of the earth.

Why do we find this so hard?

Why do we turn so quickly from Jesus’ teachings,

or take his words apart

and then reassemble them

in ways that  better suit ourselves,

our comfort levels,

our lifestyles?

On this Memorial Day weekend,

we rightly honor those

who gave their lives in service,

those who, as we remember them,

bring to mind the words of our Lord,

“No one has greater love than this,

to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.”

(John 15:13)

Those who died

at Bull Run,

the Somme,

the Battle of the Bulge,

the Battle of Hue,

and countless other battles and wars.

But even as we remember,

even as we honor,

we should also remember our Lord’s call,

our Lord’s words:

“Blessed are the peacemakers,

for they will be called the children of God,”

our Lord teaching us yet again

God’s hope for all God’s children

that there will come a day when

 “they shall beat their swords into plowshares,

and their spears into pruning hooks;

nation shall not lift up sword against nation,

neither shall they learn war any more.”

(Isaiah 2:4)

Even as we remember,

even as we honor,

we should also remember and honor

our Lord’s call to take those words

out into the world

and work for peace,

work for reconciliation.

weaving even our Lord’s most difficult teachings

into our own lives

so we can carry those words more faithfully

out into the world.

It is hard work,

this discipleship business.

It can often be challenging,

thankless,

exhausting,

frustrating,

even Sisyphean –

that character from Greek mythology

who was condemned to spend all eternity

rolling an immense boulder up a hill

only to have it roll back down

each time he neared the crest,

forcing him to start all over.

But still, Jesus calls us, 

calls us,

and the Spirit empowers us,

gives us strength, 

courage, 

hope.

When the apostles asked Jesus

when the Kingdom of Israel

was to be restored,

they were looking for the day

when God would,

in the words of Sister Joan Chittister

re-assemble a union of types,

reassemble the tribes,

and set them apart.

What the apostles missed,

what we miss as we hope still

for the same thing,

is that through our Lord Jesus Christ,

it is not a union of types God wants for his children,

but a union of hearts.

for, as Scripture teaches us,

God is love.

“I give you a new commandment,”

Jesus says to us,

“that you love one another.

Just as I have loved you,

you also should love one another.

By this everyone will know that you are my disciples.”

Our Lord calls us to take these words,

witness these words,

in our lives,

in all we say,

in all we do,

here,

and even to the ends of the earth.

AMEN  

Never Alone

The Rev. Dr. Skip Ferguson

Manassas Presbyterian Church

Manassas, Virginia

May 21, 2017—Confirmation Sunday

Never Alone

Selected Texts

There she stands,

pensive,

almost frozen,

her head tilted slightly up

her mouth set firm.

It’s moment captured by countless artists;

a moment every one of us can picture.

Eve, at that fraught moment

as she stood beneath the branch of that tree,

that tree in the Garden,

that tree about which God had said,

“Do not touch”;

that tree about which the serpent had said,

“Go ahead. Help yourself.”

Eve looks up, the fruit within her reach,

the fruit within her grasp.

She ponders.

She raises her arm slowly,

higher, higher;

She stops, silent,

still looking up.

And then in one quick move,

one quick moment of firm resolve

she plucks;

she takes;

she eats.

Then Eve does something so ordinary,

so ordinary we don’t even think about it:

She stretches out her hand with the fruit,

the fruit she just plucked,

the fruit she just took,

stretches out her hand toward Adam,

and offers him the fruit.

Adam — Eve’s silent partner,

takes,

eats,

neither of them uttering a word,

even as God’s words surely echo in their minds:

“of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil

you shall not eat…”

The serpent’s competing words also echoing

 “…God knows that when you eat of it

your eyes will be opened,

and you will be like God,

knowing good and evil.”

How easy it is to overlook the fact that

once Eve took the fruit,

she shared it with Adam.

Why did she share?

why?

                                   

Why didn’t Eve take the fruit —

which was a delight to the eye,

which would make her wise,

which might even make her a god herself—

why didn’t she just keep it for herself?

Why didn’t she say to Adam,

“If you want fruit from this tree,

get it yourself.

I’m not sharing.

I plucked,

I took.

I made the effort;

you didn’t.

My effort, my reward.

You want fruit from this tree?

Get it yourself.”

After all,

isn’t that how we often think,

our focus on ourselves:

my effort,

my work,

my reward.

Eve shares.

No hesitation.

Eve shares because,

that’s how God created us:

to share;

not to be selfish and self-centered,

but to share with others.

God created us for community.

God created us for one another.

God did not create us to be alone,

to be solitary,

focused only on ourselves.  

God says as much right in the

first chapter of Genesis:

“It is not good that the man should be alone;

(Genesis 2:18)

Or, as the writer of the book of

Ecclesiastes puts it,

“Two are better than one.”

(Eccelsiastes 4:9)

We are better together, you and I,

in community,

better together,

sharing all that life offers us,

sharing all that life throws at us.

Better together,

because that’s how God created us.

It’s a lesson we’ve heard many times:

that we are the body of Christ,

each of us a part of the body,

each of us necessary, vital, essential.

From my perspective,

it’s one of the most important lessons

we teach in the confirmation class.

It’s one of the most important lessons

we teach and reinforce in church.

Our confirmands have been been

part of our community

for as long as they and their families have been here.

But Confirmation shines a light on community,

the importance of community,

on how we are better as community

for receiving these young people,

formally acknowledging

our bond of community with them.

We ask them directly

“Will you be a faithful member of this congregation,

share in its worship and ministry,

through your prayers and your gifts,

your study and your service,

and so fulfill your calling

to be a disciple of Jesus Christ?”

We ask them,

just as we ask anyone who joins our church community,

will you be an active, faithful

part of this community?

In turn,

we welcome them into the community

make them part of the community

as brothers and sisters in faith.

If you are familiar with the books of Anne Lamott,

you know that she sings the praises

of her church community

out in Marin California,

just north of San Francisco.

She sings the praises of the community

that welcomed her,

not when she was the successful author she is now,

but when she was struggling with addiction,

addiction to drugs and alcohol;

struggling as well as a single mom…     

struggling.

Her church community embraced her,

made her part of community.

Her church community helped her find

“a path and a little light to see by.”

She saw the people of her “funky little church,”

as she calls it,

as men and women who “follow a brighter light

than the glimmer of their own candle.”

(Traveling Mercies)

“When I was at the end of my rope,” she writes,

“the people of St. Andrews

tied a knot in it for me

and helped me to hold on.

The church became my home.”

The church became Lamott’s community.

We can easily lose community,

lose a sense of community that binds us

in churches and in our society

when we fail to work at building community,

strengthening community;

when our focus turns, for example

to the types of things

that so dominate our conversations today:

things like winners and losers,

building walls,

keeping people away,

separating ourselves,

living in fear.

None of that is the stuff of Jesus, of course.

Jesus is all about community,

all about embracing,

welcoming,

reaching out, nurturing,

building up.

It is in community that we learn about Christ.

It is in community that we learn Christ,

learn what it means to follow Christ,

learn the ways of Christ,

learn compassion,

mercy, goodness,

kindness, patience.

It is in community we learn holiness.

It is in community we learn

we are called not to be served,

but to serve.

In my Wednesday morning Bible Study class

we’ve been learning about the Muslim community.

We’ve been learning how much we have in common.

We’ve been learning that Muslims and Christians,

along with our Jewish brothers and sisters,

are part of a community

that goes all the way back 4000 years

to Abraham and Sara.

We’ve been learning that the Quran

does not sound all that different

from the Scriptures that bind our community.

We read these words from the Quran,

words that speak beyond the Muslim community:

“God is our Lord and your Lord;

We have our works and you have your works;

there is no quarrel between us and you;

God shall gather us together,

and to Him is our homecoming.”

(Surah 42:15)

Two months ago we invited brothers and sisters

from the First Baptist Church to join us

in packing meals for Rise Against Hunger.

We expanded our community to feed the hungry,

and as a result, we packed twice as many meals

as we had the year before.

What if we expanded that community

yet again next March,

and invited the community of the Manassas Mosque

to join us as together we work to feed the hungry?

                          

“Anything that leaves you more fearful,

more isolated,

more disconnected from other people,

more full of judgment or hatred,

is not of God…”

writes Anne Lamott

(Hallelujah Anyway)

Anything that does not build community

is not of God.

Anything that does not build community

within, and without,

here in the church,

and in the larger world,

is not of Christ.

                                            

It is not good for us to be alone.

Two are better than one.

Scripture tells us again and again,

we are called to community:

“As God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved,

clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness,

humility, meekness, and patience.

Bear with one another and,

if anyone has a complaint against another,

forgive each other;

just as the Lord^* has forgiven you,

so you also must forgive.

Above all, clothe yourselves with love,

which binds everything together in perfect harmony.

And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts,

to which indeed you were called in the one body.”

(Colossians 3:12)

To which we indeed are called

in one body.

To which we indeed are called

in one community.

This is the Word of the Lord.

AMEN