Between Times

Seventh Sunday of Easter (Year B)

Acts 1.15-17, 21-26; John 17.6-19

The Rev. Michael K. Fincher

Live Streamed on Parish Facebook page (beginning at 21:35)

 

Alleluia! Christ is risen!

The Lord is risen indeed! Alleluia!

 

Liturgically speaking, right now we find ourselves in a “between time.” A time between one event signaling the end of an old way of being and an impending event demarcating the beginning of a new way of being. We celebrated the feast of the Ascension this past Thursday. This event—the resurrected Christ ascending into heaven—signaled the end of a way of being for the disciples. In the 40 days after Christ’s resurrection, they had enjoyed time with their beloved friend and teacher, almost like old times. All appeared to be right in the world after the horrors of Jesus’ crucifixion. But that all changed with his departure, with his ascension to heaven. Prior to his ascension, Jesus did give his disciples an indication of what is to come. In the account of the Ascension in Acts, Jesus tells them, “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” (Acts 1.8). They may not have been completely clear on what Jesus was talking about, but we know that he was referring to the impending Pentecost event. And while we know it was a mere ten days to Pentecost, the disciples had no idea how long they would have to wait for the coming of the Holy Spirit. If there was anything they had learned from Jesus, God operates on his own schedule.

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Abide in My Love

Sixth Sunday of Easter (Year B)

1 John 5.1-6; John 15.9-17

St. Gregory’s, Long Beach

Live Streamed on Parish Facebook page (beginning at 5:45)

 

Alleluia! Christ is risen!

The Lord is risen indeed! Alleluia!

 

One of the benefits of us now live streaming our Sunday worship services is that, even when I am not here, such as last Sunday, I can still keep tabs on what is going on in my absence. At least, at the 10:15 worship service. I particularly enjoy listening to the supply priest’s sermons. Most priest do not have the opportunity to hear their colleagues preach, so it is nice to hear different voices and sermon styles. Besides, I have to make sure Fr. Gary is not filling you all with heretical ideas.

 

In his sermon last week, Fr. Gary started off with a string of one-liners about love, primarily from the Epistle reading from the First Letter of John. He went on to talk about how such one-liners, along with other aspects of our church experience, such as our liturgy, are formational for our lives of faith. How, over time, these hopefully become ingrained in us, hopefully become part of our identity, and hopefully provide us with words to live by. That is, after all, why we do what we do in this place.

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