Now and Not Yet
Call to Worship
Psalm 68:1 Let God rise up, let his enemies be scattered; let those who hate him flee before him.
3 But let the righteous be joyful; let them exult before God; let them be jubilant with joy.
4 Sing to God, sing praises to his name; lift up a song to him who rides upon the clouds -- his name is the LORD-- be exultant before him
Song: Ye servants of God
Prayers
Loving God, within and around us, we worship you.
We seek to live life as you would want us to do:
with love and respect for all people
and all things in the universe.
May we find each day sufficient for our needs.
And find forgiveness when we do wrong,
just as we forgive those who do wrong to us.
In times of trouble, may we centre our lives in you.
For your being is love, which comes with strength and with beauty.
Throughout eternity.
African prayers of confession: (21st Century Africana worship)
God, we confess that we rarely recognize the Holy Spirit at work, even when it smacks us in the face. Worse yet, even when we do recognize this work of the Spirit, we don't acknowledge that it is you at work in our lives and in the world.
This week you sent angels to watch over us. We barely uttered our thanks; then hurried on our way. Forgive us our inattentiveness and reluctance to credit you loudly and joyously. Teach us to tell our children and our children's children of your goodness. Teach us to tell our parents of your goodness. Teach us to tell even the supermarket clerk of your goodness!
We long to hear the good news of the resurrecting love of Christ Jesus. Still our hearts long enough for us to hear that you are with us. Amen.
Assurance and Pardon
Jesus said, "If we confess our sins, God is faithful and just, and will forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (1 John 1:9).
The Lords prayer
Notices and Offering
Setting the Scene: A helium-filled balloon
I love balloons. There are so many things you can do with balloons. Some people can make balloons into various shapes. That is fun to watch! There are also a lot of different games you can play with balloons. You can tie them around your ankle and play "Stomp the Balloon" or you can fill them with water and have a water balloon fight.
One of the most enjoyable things one can do with a balloon is to fill it with helium. I am sure you know that when filled with helium, a balloon floats in the air. If you don't want it to get away from you, it is a good idea to hold on tight or tie it around your wrist. But it is also quite enjoyable when it does float away from you. It is fun to stand and watch as the balloon floats higher and higher into the heavens until it totally disappears. The only way to experience that is to be willing to let it go.
When Jesus was ready to return to heaven, he took his disciples aside to make sure that they understood everything that had happened to him. He explained why it was important for him to be crucified and to be raised from the dead to fulfil what the Scriptures had said about him. He also told them that he was going to return to his Father in heaven, and that the Holy Spirit would come to be with them.
At first, the disciples were sad that Jesus would be leaving them, but then the Bible tells us that Jesus opened their minds so they would understand. Then, an amazing thing happened. Jesus lifted his hands and blessed his disciples. While he was blessing them, he left them and was taken up into heaven. (Release your balloon and watch it float to the ceiling.)
I don't know how all of this looked, but in my imagination I can see the disciples standing and watching as Jesus ascended higher and higher until he disappeared into the clouds. Were the disciples sad? No way! When Jesus had ascended into heaven, the disciples worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy. There they stayed continually in the temple, praising God.
We are here today for the very same purpose. We have come into the temple to worship him with great joy!
Dear Father, we thank you for sending Jesus, your only Son, to die for our sin. We know that he has risen from the dead and has returned to heaven. Bless us today as we worship him with great joy! Amen.
Song: Lord I lift your name on high
(Children leave)
Bible Readings:
Acts 1: 6-14; Norman G
1 Peter 5: 6-11
Hymn: Christ whose glory fills the skies
Talk:
(Pic of waiting)
Have you noticed that Powerless people do a lot of waiting? One of the ways that powerful people demonstrate power over others is to make them wait. This is a tactic that works to remind the powerless of who is at the Top, who is in Charge, who sets the agendas!
Even those with only a little power learn how to do this, watch children and the way they act with each other. If a child wants to assert power over another child, they learn to keep each other waiting, hoping, longing - will she, won't she? Will he be my friend, will she call tonight? When we go to an important appointment for anything whatsoever, we will likely be told to take a number and take a seat. Mr Dreadfully Important Person or Doctor Terribly Busy will see you when they are ready, and not when you are ready!
This all begs the question: How often have we misuse power in this way?
It seems that the poor people in our world do most of the waiting. Waiting for the giro cheque to arrive before they can do anything. Waiting for the lottery numbers to be announced on television. They wait for a letter from somewhere, or a phone call they've been told will come, and then they hear the news that their place of work will lay off 500 employees next month, will they be involved in this - they have to wait to find out. They wait for others to decide their futures. A feeling of real powerlessness to have no power over your own decisions over your own destiny!
People who wait become like the objects that other people act upon, not the subjects of their own lives. Powerlessness makes potential movers and shakers, into those who so often can't move and are shaken to the core of their being with frustration and anger.
Ascension
As Jesus goes to heaven he gathers his disciples around him and talks about issues of waiting and power. His disciples had become a people again, following their dispersion at the crucifixion - the whole resurrection appearances had made them feel ten feet tall, and eager for something big to happen next. After witnessing the resurrection - what could be next?
How about restoring the Kingdom of Israel - how about world peace and order, how about more signs and wonders that would really turn peoples heads. How about the end of the world - and Heaven and eternity - what next Lord? Is it time for the next big thing? Their experience had made them excited - they were now looking for the next big thing, right here, right now!
There are times in our lives when time is indeed the great healer. For time helps us to get things into proper prospective and allows us opportunity to reflect and consider the bigger picture. Maybe this is such a time for you? A time to ponder and reflect - when you would rather see action and yet you are experiencing frustration deep within.
Jesus replies to his fiends with those words (The Message): "You don't get to know the time. Timing is the Father's business."
Suddenly the disciples are people waiting - people who are promised power - yet have to wrestle with the powerless of the wait - Jesus had previously told them "Don't leave Jerusalem but "you must wait for what the Father promised: the promise you heard from me. John baptized in water; you will be baptized in the Holy Spirit."
But how long Lord? What will it be like? How will we know? Will you tell us when it will happen? But Jesus goes on to tell them that they would indeed be powerful witnesses, in their town, their region, their country - and throughout the whole world.
This powerlessness of waiting will result in the this promised power being freely given to them.
Then as Jesus spoke to them, before their eyes - he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight.
Now - they wait - the experience of the powerlessness of the wait is real - but suddenly is impounded by the fact that they are now alone!
Pic: Bright sky
And they stand - looking up. stunned and mesmerised, is this a joke - will Jesus come back any minute, like he had done before.
Then the two man in white robes appear out of the blue and (angels) challenged them "You Galileans!-why do you just stand here looking up at an empty sky? This very Jesus who was taken up from among you to heaven will come as certainly--and mysteriously--as he left."
Picture it - the disciples looking up into the skies.
The angels put a question to the disciples that would bring them down to earth again. “Why do you have your eyes in the skies?” Why do you have your eyes in the skies?”
I want to think about this question this morning, for I believe this question has something to say to us, this question has a challenge for each of us . For at times it appears that faith and religion can be so focused on another world that we fail to connect with the world around us.
Here, the disciples are challenged with this question as they come to terms with the fact that in their emptiness, powerlessness, in the waiting place, power was discovered in their weakness. Real life is to be wrestled with and there are indeed tough issues of living as Christ’s people on earth, and like the disciples we too have to remember that power is often found in our weakness also.
I feel this is a topic that we keep returning to. For here in this pre-Pentecost reading we connect again with a desperate place - with a people of faith who are wrestling with the tough times, with a challenge to hold on to God who will come and save us - in his time.
The disciples stood for a while and looked up, into the distance - into the clouds where Christ was last seen, and their focus was there. The men in white assured them that Jesus would return in the same way he was taken, but they offers them a challenge to get on with life.
The wrong focus:
On the eve of Pentecost, as we celebrate again the coming of the spirit, I believe that God challenges us about our spiritual focus. Where are we looking?
To receive power, the disciples had to stop looking into the ether, and focus on reality; stop day- dreaming about the past and speculating about the future, but grasp hold of the present and come together.
Friends, where is your focus? When you reflect on God and his promise of power to you, where do you find strength and reassurance?
The power of God is found as we engage with our everyday circumstances, as we wrestle with faith and life and make the connections between Sunday and Wednesday afternoons.
Disciples together
Worship and wonder is not reserved for the times when we have our heads in the clouds, but for the times when the day is dreary and our strength is small. When decisions are hard and perseverance is low.
God gave his people his power when they were in the waiting place, when they had done some work on themselves as individuals and as a group. When they were together, together - God came to them and brought about transformation and began a revolution, that we today have got involved with.
This didn't begin when the disciples would have liked it to happen - on that day when they wanted the Kingdom restored, things certainly did not go to plan, Christ left them. Christ left them with work to do, there were still hard lessons that had to be learnt- these men who were Christ's resurrection people - now had to learn something of weakness and emptiness - before them would be filled with power.
The upper room experience was much more than drawing lots and choosing Matthias - it was a hard wait, a steep learning curve, a coming together of a broken people, a time of prayer and devotion. It would have seemed a long way from the mountain top resurrection experiences they had previously encountered, yet in this waiting place God, through Christ, sends the Holy Spirit on his people.
The question I feel I want to put to you this morning is simply -where are you looking for God? When do you expect to receive God's power?
Is it here in worship, as we lift our hearts in praise together, as we pray together and listen to His word for our lives? Is it in this sanctuary, this holy place?
For the disciples, they had leave the mountain top experience and return to life as normal. They had to go back to Jerusalem (a place of fear and memories), and wait in that uncomfortable place for God to keep his word, and he did.
In 1 Peter 5: 10 which we heard earlier we read: after you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, support, strengthen, and establish you. To him be the power forever and ever. Amen.
Dove spirit
Friends, I do not know what you are suffering right now?
I do not know what you are waiting for and what lessons you are learning? I do not know your fears and anxieties - but God does, and Acts one teaches us about a God who comes to a waiting people, Power that comes to a powerless people, energy that comes to a tired people, Purpose that come to a broken people.
And so we look to next Sunday to Pentecost - and yet we remember that in the midst of the hard times, Christ comes again - through His spirit, to his people. Look out for him this week - we don't know the time and place where we will encounter God - for through The Holy Spirit time and space become the here and now. Amen
Hymn: Be still and know that I am God
Music: Jerusalem
Intercessions for VE Day:
Litany of thanksgiving
Let us offer our thanksgivings to Almighty God, who made us and all creation, who in Christ has triumphed over evil and death, and whose Spirit abides with us to guide and to inspire.
For the victory achieved on land, at sea, and in the air, and for the liberation of so many from the cruelty of occupation and oppression.
Thanks be to God.
For those who endured captivity, torture, or death that others might be free.
Thanks be to God.
For the heroism and courage of those who served in the armed services; who worked on the home front in civil defence, hospitals and relief agencies; in factories, shops and farms.
Thanks be to God.
For the patient suffering and dedication of those who kept alight the lamp of freedom and sustained hope and resistance in the hearts of others.
Thanks be to God.
For the steadfastness and endurance of the inhabitants of cities and countryside during the dark years of war.
Thanks be to God.
For the reconstruction of communities and for the reconciliation seen among peoples of different race and creed over the past 50 years.
Thanks be to God.
Litany of hope
Let us pray with hope for the future of the world and for the needs of all people.
For peace and justice in our world,
for an end to war and conflict,
for the leaders of all nations and peoples,
and for those who make peace and foster reconciliation.
Lord, in your mercy
hear our prayer.
For the unity of all Christian people,
for the Church of God in every land,
for all who seek God and the truth,
and for all who follow the way of conscience with integrity.
Lord, in your mercy
hear our prayer.
For the healing of memories,
for those who suffer as a result of war,
for communities where past wrongs and violence persist,
for all in pain or distress and those who care for them.
Lord, in your mercy
hear our prayer.
For friendship and trust amongst all,
for an appreciation of our interdependence,
for the new partnership between all the nations of Europe,
and for a world that is in harmony with itself.
Lord, in your mercy
hear our prayer.
Litany of reconciliation
Let us commit ourselves to work together for reconciliation and peace
throughout the world according to God's will.
God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself:
He has entrusted us with the message of reconciliation.
When anyone is united to Christ there is a new creation:
The old order has gone; a new order has already begun.
He has entrusted us with the message of reconciliation:
In Christ's name be reconciled to God.
Prayer after the General Election:
Lord Jesus Christ, You are the Light of the world and we pray that our newly elected government will be one of Your light and truth, people who govern with integrity working to bring wholeness and righteousness to our nation. Lord. As you were with out nation in the past - you are with us now, and we trust you for the future. Bless and anoint those who govern with great humility, wisdom, peace and discernment, may our nation bring honour to you. In Jesus Name, Amen.
Hymn: Beauty for brokenness
Go in peace;
- and may the Spirit of God fill you
and use you according to God's most Holy Will;
- may the Word of God direct you
and nourish your heart with joy and wisdom
- and may Christ our Lord so dwell within you
that all your actions and words witness to his grace and his
love and so bring eternal praises to God's name
both now and forevermore --
Amen