“Are We There Yet?”
Matthew 28:16-20, Acts 1:1-11
Rev. G. Scott Turnbrook; Northwood United Church; May 28, 2017
Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet? These four words will soon become very commonplace as summer traveling season arrives. As impatient children (and sometimes even impatient adults) long for the arrival of ‘longed-for’ destinations these words will serenade weary drivers from the back seat: Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet? As the journey feels too long to endure, these words will be offered. Are we there yet? As people begin to question if the driver’s GPS has led them astray, the frustrated words ‘Are we there yet?’ Are we there yet? Will repeated over and over and over.
As we begin to focus on the texts, these are the kind of sentiments, I think, that were lodged in the hearts and minds of the apostles. They don’t exactly say “are we there yet”, but you can feel it in tone of their words. In Acts 1:6 the apostles ask the question “Lord is this the time when you will restore the Kingdom of Israel?” Is this the time? Is it time yet? Is it time yet? When will the Kingdom of Israel be restored? Christ has died and risen…isn’t now the time for you to restore the Kingdom? Is it time yet? The reading reveals that Jesus had been with them for the past 40 days showing himself to be alive, giving convincing proofs and speaking about the Kingdom of God. Surely now must be the time that all things will be fulfilled. Theologian Karl Barth calls this theological time “the significant pause”. This is the time between Christ’s promise to restore the kingdom and the church’s waiting for this to come to fruition. We want justice to roll down like a mighty river; we want recovery of sight to the blind; we want the captive set free. We are waiting for the Kingdom to be ushered in. And we are more than ready for it. “Lord…is this the time? Is this the time? Lord is this the time?”
Here in modern times we share the same impatience. All our eyes were focused on the tragic events that occurred in Manchester earlier this week and as the lives of 22 of God’s children have been senselessly taken, we continue to wonder how long this ‘in between time’ will last. How long until the pain, the suffering, the horrors of this magnitude stop? Are we there yet? When will we get ‘there’? We lament as we think about where we are in the church year, we are also in somewhat of an ‘in between time’. This morning we come to the end of Easter ~ the season of Jesus’ resurrection / the time of our reflecting upon what it means to be a people of New Life and resurrection. Yet we have been waiting for Jesus’ ascension and his sending of the Holy Spirit. We are ‘in between’ and we don’t like the tension that is found here? Are we there yet? ~ says the frustrated child in the backseat. Are we there yet – says the modern day you and I. Lord, is it time yet? ~ says the frustrated apostles who have been waiting and waiting.
As we think back to our metaphorical road trip…To the questions that the driver receives from the impatient traveler, there are a variety of responses that may be offered to such impatience. Perhaps you might spot yours. One might patiently explain that there are still another two hours left until arrival ~ but let's be honest, there are very few saints like that among us. After countless ‘are we there yet?’ requests, many will ignore the impatient child; we turn up the radio; or initiate yet another game of ‘I spy’ in an attempt to distract everyone from the hopeless situation. Or we might just simply hunker down and drive. Jesus’ response to the disciples’ question is instructive for those of us who impatiently wait for the Kingdom. The text reports him saying “It is not for you to know the times or seasons that God has set”. But … in the meantime “you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you”. In Jesus’ response, there is a kind of movement away from the imminent return of Jesus to a focus upon a new reality that is forming. This was the call to the early church. The church is that faithful embodiment of hope and expectation for Jesus’ return. As it was waiting for the Kingdom to come, several decades prior to this writing in Acts, Paul writes to the Corinthians saying that the “form of this world is passing away (1 Cor 7) ~ not that we are expecting the world to end soon, but that the world view, as it had been, the methods and values for determining worth and significance in the world are ending. There is now a new reality. There is a new heaven and earth coming and forming and shaping this world – there is a new heaven and a new earth coming!
The question then, as I see it, centres around our ability to live into this new and unknown reality? Asking ‘are we there yet?’ is not the right question. The better question, I would suggest, for the apostles is ‘Can we live in the uncertainty?’ Can we live in Karl Barth’s ‘significant pause’? Can we be the church faithful? If we cannot ask these type of questions, we will we find ourselves impatiently asking the question: “Christ is risen…now what?” The challenge is not about ‘knowing’ / having knowledge all about Jesus Return. The challenge for the followers of Jesus is to receive the authorization and empowerment which enables the cloud of witnesses to do the work of Jesus.
And to their questions, Jesus instructs them to wait in Jerusalem (a significant place because that was understood as the origin of God’s great works) they were to wait in Jerusalem, where they would receive power. It is not enough to simply have knowledge of the facts. It is a spiritual coming of power that Jesus refers to. I think that it is instructive for us here to be reminded that the Greek word for power is ‘dynamis’, which is where we get the ‘dynamic’ from. The power that they wait for is a robust force at work that all will see and feel. It will inform their tasks, inspire their words, uphold their works, and move their leadership…to wait, to pray as they are prepared to be commissioned as God’s prophets.
And that is precisely the place for us – the church – to be. It is the calling of the Apostles - waiting and praying for power. And it is the reception of that power that does arrive! As we continue reading the first half of verse 8 says: “but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you”…But things do not conclude there! The second half calls them into action saying “you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth”. Jesus is saying: do not stand looking into heaven; there is work to be done. As you have received power, express that power; in the ‘now what’ time ~ live faithfully, witness, live my life. It is akin to that well known 16th century blessing from St. Teresa of Avilla who says:
Christ has no body but yours, No hands, no feet on earth but yours, Yours are the eyes with which he looks Compassion on this world, Yours are the feet with which he walks to do good, Yours are the hands, with which he blesses all the world. Yours are the hands, yours are the feet, Yours are the eyes, you are his body. Christ has no body now but yours, No hands, no feet on earth but yours, Yours are the eyes with which he looks compassion on this world. Christ has no body now on earth but yours.
“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”. So…in this time in between, when we are tempted to scream out ‘are we there yet’; when we are look at the resurrection and say ‘Christ is risen…now what?’, we are reassured that we are not alone in our journey. As we wait and pray, we are not alone. For the Holy Spirit’s power will come. And you will never be alone. You will never be alone.
“Alone” by Maya Angelou
Lying, thinking Last night How to find my soul a home Where water is not thirsty And bread loaf is not stone I came up with one thing And I don't believe I'm wrong That nobody, But nobody Can make it out here alone.
Alone, all alone Nobody, but nobody Can make it out here alone.
There are some millionaires With money they can't use Their wives run round like banshees Their children sing the blues They've got expensive doctors To cure their hearts of stone. But nobody No, nobody Can make it out here alone.
Alone, all alone Nobody, but nobody Can make it out here alone.
Now if you listen closely I'll tell you what I know Storm clouds are gathering The wind is gonna blow The race of man is suffering And I can hear the moan, 'Cause nobody, But nobody Can make it out here alone.
Alone, all alone Nobody, but nobody Can make it out here alone.
Amen.