Bishop Brauer-Rieke's Sermon
I believe in God the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ, God’s only son, our Lord.
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
born of the Virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died and was buried.
he descended to the dead.
On the third day he rose again.
he ascended into heaven . . .
Now this is where our confession takes on a unique importance today. Yesterday was the Day of the Ascension. Jesus ascended into heaven 40 days after his resurrection, an event we observe in ‘real time’ if you will. Yesterday, May 21, was 40 days after Easter, which was April 12 this year. So today we’ve chosen to read the Ascension Day texts and I get to talk about the “absence of Jesus” in my sermon today. So . . .
I believe in Jesus Christ . . .
he ascended into heaven. (that’s past tense)
he is seated at the right hand of the Father. (that’s present tense)
and he will come to judge the living and the dead. (that’s future tense)
Jesus has ascended – a long time ago. That’s already happened. Jesus is seated at the right hand of God. That’s right now. And Jesus will come again. That is our hope for tomorrow. Today, though, Jesus isn’t in the house. Today we acknowledge the absence of Jesus.
Which is why, of course, we are eager to move one and confess that we also . . .
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the Church,
the communion of saints. . .
Jesus has ascended. The Spirit has been given. We are now the body of Christ. It is God’s work that is done through our hands. Amen? Amen!
I was reflecting this week on last Sunday’s Gospel Lesson, from John 15, where Jesus says “I do not call you servants any longer . . .but I have called you friends.” That is a status change. It is a transition from a hierarchical, obedience driven relationship to a relationship of love and equality. You are not my slave, says Jesus, but you are my friend. And why? We are friends because Jesus has let us in on God’s big secret. And God’s big secret is that we are to love one another. So Jesus is about the business of status change. You are not servants. We are family, you are friends of the Lord Jesus and we are friends of each other.
God has always been about the business of status change, actually. You might remember that love letter we call the Ten Commandments, given to a people whom God had set free from slavery in Egypt. “I am the Lord you God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage…”This is what I do. This is who I am, says God.
Or as God once said through the prophet Hosea “Where it was said to Israel, " You are not (God’s) people," it shall be said to them, "Children of the living God."
So God is about the business of healing and hoping in the Old Testament. The enslaved are set free. The war torn are healed. And Jesus is about the business of freeing and forgiving in the New Testament. The dead of raised. Those hungry fed. And we who are in the Church, in the power of the Spirit, in the absence of Jesus, we too are called to preach and reach those who believe they have no home with God. We are called to proclaim release as God did through the prophets of old. We are called to give life, forgiveness, healing and help as Jesus did in the dawn of this new age. And as Luther so clearly states in the Small Catechism, through us the Spirit calls, gathers and enlightens all people as we proclaim a new community of love and life. We proclaim a living Word to a dying world, that God in Christ Jesus might be all things for all people.
Now my fantasy is that if Jesus were present, rather than absent, life out be easier.
It seems like it would be simpler to just be able to ask Jesus directly about genetic engineering, or whether capital punishment should be allowed, or whether gay and lesbian believers in life long, monogamous, committed relationships should be allowed to serve in this church. I say that is my fantasy because it seems to me that most people didn’t listen to Jesus when he actually was around to talk to face to face. And not only that, but we do have the biblical record of Jesus’ words and witness which are full of teachings and tales of acceptance, love and respect of all people, but such things are still difficult questions. We don’t have Jesus to talk with directly, but what we do have is the communion of saints – our shared conversation, prayer and processes of discernment.
We use Robert’s Rules of Order to help discern weighty matters here in our assembly. I’m not sure how salutary that is. It works. The first major decision made by the newly Spirit driven community of Christ after Pentecost, that of selecting a replacement apostle to fill Judas’ spot, was made by drawing straws. That is certainly clear if also potentially somewhat unsatisfying. But in the absence of Jesus we have to do something or we just grind to a halt. So in worship we generally throw our coins into the offering plate and yell “Amen, come Lord Jesus!” and continue to do our best.
But such is the calling we have been given. And we remember that Jesus will come – future tense, maybe today, maybe tomorrow, maybe not for a long time, but someday – Jesus will come to judge us on our performance.
So here are my rules for living in the absence of Jesus:
- Remember that Jesus Christ, through his life, death and resurrection, has moved us from death into life – as a gift, without warrant or reason, certainly without my earning or deserving it. For this I always give thanks.
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Remembering that my life is secure in Christ I know everything else is secondary. That would include things like my financial security, my social status, my gender and sexual orientation, my marital status, the church budget and the behavior of my kids. I am free to discern and deal with life as the Spirit directs and I am able.
- And finally, knowing my life is secure in Christ and that everything else is secondary, I seek to serve. We are called to feed the hungry, house the homeless, proclaim liberty to the captive, welcome the outcast, honor the weak and despised, respect our elders and care for this planet. No small task this, but we do not do it alone. We do it together in the power and pleasure of the Spirit of Christ who makes us one.
So as we remember the ascension of our Lord this day we confess that Jesus has ascended. We confess that Jesus is seated at the right hand of the father and that Jesus will come again. Today, though, the privilege and the power of being the hands that do God’s work has been given to us. It is we, in the power of the Spirit, as the Body of Christ, who are responsibility to reconcile, redeem and renew all that God has given us. Thanks be to God!
Amen.
