Are We There Yet?
Sermon
Sermons On The First Readings
Series II, Cycle A
Object:
On long family car trips, one of the favorite questions asked by children from the backseat is, "Are we there yet?" It is a question that drives certain parents to distraction, and one that kids love to ask. Even though the family has only been in the car fifteen minutes, the question comes. Even though the car is hurling down the freeway with no indication of slowing down, the question comes. And even though the kids are assured over and over again that they need to relax because it's going to be a long journey, the question comes. "Are we there yet?" They get obsessed with the destination, and miss the incredible scenery passing by the window. They focus on that point when the car will pull into Grandpa's driveway and they can spill out of the car for hugs and hoorays as vacation begins. In fact, they focus on this so much that they lose out on the opportunity to sing songs, play games, and engage in storytelling with the rest of the family as the journey continues.
The disciples, of course, are not much better than this brood of kids crowded into the backseat of the family sedan on the way to Grandpa's house. They ask pretty much the same question. "Are we there yet?" "Is this the time you're going to restore the kingdom?" Is it now? Is it now? One can almost conjure up the image of overeager ten-year-olds bouncing up and down as they fire off the question. In his answer, Jesus was preparing his followers for a long journey. "It is not for you to know the time," says Jesus. "You just need to get busy and be my witnesses."
The "time" that the disciples were referring to had to do with their expectation that Jesus would kick the Romans out and hand Israel back to its rightful rulers. For many in the early church, as well as in today's church, "the time" referred to the return of Christ and the ushering in of a new age. It is hard for contemporary Christians to grasp the enormity of the idea of the second coming in the early church. The idea of Christ's return, the belief in Jesus' imminent return, was total. The idea that everything would soon be over and a new age begun tainted everything.
Jesus wasn't just coming someday. He was going to walk in the door any second. The return of Jesus was not something about which theologians argued or about which contemporary authors conjured up fictional stories. The return of Jesus, for these folks, was now. The power of this immediacy drove the early Christian community in its witness, in its discipleship, and in its faithfulness. Any second now, Jesus would return, so time was precious, opportunities for faithfulness were few. For these people, the voices from the backseat would not have sounded irritating or trite. "Are we there yet?" was a valid query.
Today, more than two millennia down the road, few people ask any more about the destination. Few people can conjure up a sense of immediacy after more than 2,000 years. Even those who find the second coming as a deep piece of their faith have to contend with the fact "any day now," has stretched into something over 730,000 days. Yes, of course, it is not ours to know the time. And yes, we hear the voices saying that he will return the way he came, but candidly, it's been a long time now, hasn't it?
I may be going out on a limb here, but I want to make a suggestion. Could it be that 2,000 years down the road, it might be appropriate to revisit the notion of Jesus' return? While I embrace the idea of the return of Jesus as an article of my faith, I have been moved to explore the possibility that we might have misunderstood the concept. It's certainly worth exploring, don't you think?
Think with me now. What is one of the key biblical phrases we use to refer to the church? It comes from Saint Paul, and the phrase is "body of Christ." We often refer to ourselves as the body of Christ. From our liturgy of holy communion to our church, references to the body of Christ abound. A recent search on an internet search engine produced nearly five million references to the body of Christ!
Paul writes in Romans:
For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of yourself more highly than you ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. For as in one body we have many members, and not all the members have the same function, so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually we are members one of another. We have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us: prophecy, in proportion to faith; ministry, in ministering; the teacher, in teaching; the exhorter, in exhortation; the giver, in generosity; the leader, in diligence; the compassionate, in cheerfulness.
-- Romans 12:3-8
Consider the power of this text. "We who are many, are one body in Christ." Each of us, with our different gifts, skills, and talents, are part of the body of Christ. As members of this body, we need to ask ourselves how well we are performing our various functions. Are those who have the gift of prophecy actually prophesying? Looking around, I would have to say that there is a shortage of good prophets, good truth-tellers today. The gift of ministry? Whether it is lay ministry or ordained, we do not suffer from a surplus of gifted ministries. Teachers? Preachers? Donors? Leaders?
We can, I think, look to Paul's writings and make some sense of things.
Could it be, when we, who are Christ's body, come together in unity, faithfulness, and fullness, that this is when Christ returns? Could it be that the time that we do not know is that moment of our own collective faithfulness in Jesus Christ? Could it be, sisters and brothers, that the return of Jesus and the inauguration of the kingdom of God is bound up in us becoming the incarnate Word of God here in this time and place?
It is certainly something worth considering, don't you think? When we stop arguing about silly doctrinal concerns and come together in faith to do God's work, Jesus lives! When we stop treating the church like a club where we get to set the agenda and give our hearts and our lives to the ministry of hope and love, Jesus lives!
Once again, we go to the beginning of Jesus' ministry. Once again, we go with him to the scroll of Isaiah. And once again we stand next to Jesus in the temple (Luke 4:16 ff) and announce with him that now is the time! This is the year of God's favor! This is the moment when we receive the power of God because "The Spirit of the Lord is upon us! God has anointed us to bring good news to the poor! God has sent us to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, proclaim the year of the Lord's favor" (paraphrase of Luke 4:18-19).
Christ returns, my friends, when we become the incarnation of his love! Christ lives among us when we dare to place our whole lives in service, witness, and fellowship according to his teachings.
And hear me now!
When we are able to become this body together -- when we are willing to hear one another, to love one another, to risk and sacrifice for one another -- a new age will indeed dawn upon this earth. There will be a time when the lame will walk and the blind will see, because we have cared enough to offer them health care. There will be a time when prisoners will go free, because we chose to spend more money on schools and employment than on jails and prisons! There will be a time when the oppressed will indeed be liberated, because nations will care more about the quality of life for human beings than about the profits of a global economy!
Jesus says we do not know the time.
I want to suggest that we do not know the time because the time was, is, and always will be now!
Now is the time of our faithfulness! Now is the time of our hope! Now is the time for the body of Christ to live free and full! Now is the year -- the day -- the moment of God's favor. Now is the time of Christ's return. Amen.
The disciples, of course, are not much better than this brood of kids crowded into the backseat of the family sedan on the way to Grandpa's house. They ask pretty much the same question. "Are we there yet?" "Is this the time you're going to restore the kingdom?" Is it now? Is it now? One can almost conjure up the image of overeager ten-year-olds bouncing up and down as they fire off the question. In his answer, Jesus was preparing his followers for a long journey. "It is not for you to know the time," says Jesus. "You just need to get busy and be my witnesses."
The "time" that the disciples were referring to had to do with their expectation that Jesus would kick the Romans out and hand Israel back to its rightful rulers. For many in the early church, as well as in today's church, "the time" referred to the return of Christ and the ushering in of a new age. It is hard for contemporary Christians to grasp the enormity of the idea of the second coming in the early church. The idea of Christ's return, the belief in Jesus' imminent return, was total. The idea that everything would soon be over and a new age begun tainted everything.
Jesus wasn't just coming someday. He was going to walk in the door any second. The return of Jesus was not something about which theologians argued or about which contemporary authors conjured up fictional stories. The return of Jesus, for these folks, was now. The power of this immediacy drove the early Christian community in its witness, in its discipleship, and in its faithfulness. Any second now, Jesus would return, so time was precious, opportunities for faithfulness were few. For these people, the voices from the backseat would not have sounded irritating or trite. "Are we there yet?" was a valid query.
Today, more than two millennia down the road, few people ask any more about the destination. Few people can conjure up a sense of immediacy after more than 2,000 years. Even those who find the second coming as a deep piece of their faith have to contend with the fact "any day now," has stretched into something over 730,000 days. Yes, of course, it is not ours to know the time. And yes, we hear the voices saying that he will return the way he came, but candidly, it's been a long time now, hasn't it?
I may be going out on a limb here, but I want to make a suggestion. Could it be that 2,000 years down the road, it might be appropriate to revisit the notion of Jesus' return? While I embrace the idea of the return of Jesus as an article of my faith, I have been moved to explore the possibility that we might have misunderstood the concept. It's certainly worth exploring, don't you think?
Think with me now. What is one of the key biblical phrases we use to refer to the church? It comes from Saint Paul, and the phrase is "body of Christ." We often refer to ourselves as the body of Christ. From our liturgy of holy communion to our church, references to the body of Christ abound. A recent search on an internet search engine produced nearly five million references to the body of Christ!
Paul writes in Romans:
For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of yourself more highly than you ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. For as in one body we have many members, and not all the members have the same function, so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually we are members one of another. We have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us: prophecy, in proportion to faith; ministry, in ministering; the teacher, in teaching; the exhorter, in exhortation; the giver, in generosity; the leader, in diligence; the compassionate, in cheerfulness.
-- Romans 12:3-8
Consider the power of this text. "We who are many, are one body in Christ." Each of us, with our different gifts, skills, and talents, are part of the body of Christ. As members of this body, we need to ask ourselves how well we are performing our various functions. Are those who have the gift of prophecy actually prophesying? Looking around, I would have to say that there is a shortage of good prophets, good truth-tellers today. The gift of ministry? Whether it is lay ministry or ordained, we do not suffer from a surplus of gifted ministries. Teachers? Preachers? Donors? Leaders?
We can, I think, look to Paul's writings and make some sense of things.
Could it be, when we, who are Christ's body, come together in unity, faithfulness, and fullness, that this is when Christ returns? Could it be that the time that we do not know is that moment of our own collective faithfulness in Jesus Christ? Could it be, sisters and brothers, that the return of Jesus and the inauguration of the kingdom of God is bound up in us becoming the incarnate Word of God here in this time and place?
It is certainly something worth considering, don't you think? When we stop arguing about silly doctrinal concerns and come together in faith to do God's work, Jesus lives! When we stop treating the church like a club where we get to set the agenda and give our hearts and our lives to the ministry of hope and love, Jesus lives!
Once again, we go to the beginning of Jesus' ministry. Once again, we go with him to the scroll of Isaiah. And once again we stand next to Jesus in the temple (Luke 4:16 ff) and announce with him that now is the time! This is the year of God's favor! This is the moment when we receive the power of God because "The Spirit of the Lord is upon us! God has anointed us to bring good news to the poor! God has sent us to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, proclaim the year of the Lord's favor" (paraphrase of Luke 4:18-19).
Christ returns, my friends, when we become the incarnation of his love! Christ lives among us when we dare to place our whole lives in service, witness, and fellowship according to his teachings.
And hear me now!
When we are able to become this body together -- when we are willing to hear one another, to love one another, to risk and sacrifice for one another -- a new age will indeed dawn upon this earth. There will be a time when the lame will walk and the blind will see, because we have cared enough to offer them health care. There will be a time when prisoners will go free, because we chose to spend more money on schools and employment than on jails and prisons! There will be a time when the oppressed will indeed be liberated, because nations will care more about the quality of life for human beings than about the profits of a global economy!
Jesus says we do not know the time.
I want to suggest that we do not know the time because the time was, is, and always will be now!
Now is the time of our faithfulness! Now is the time of our hope! Now is the time for the body of Christ to live free and full! Now is the year -- the day -- the moment of God's favor. Now is the time of Christ's return. Amen.
