Sermon for the Sunday after Ascension – 12th May 2024

Fr Terry Hemming – St Paul’s Athens

 

What’s your greatest argument with Christ? Do you tell him No, that cannot be right? Or does that sound blasphemous to you. I cannot argue with him he is God. Well do you agree with him. Or do just dismiss his thoughts? Where do you by your actions or inaction say to Jesus, “You have got it wrong?”

Here in this high priestly prayer we hear his high view of your fellow Christians. Here before his trial and death his great concern is not for himself but for his disciples.

I know this is obvious but is also amazing and sometimes hard to believe

Jesus loves his followers

Seen in his incarnation

Seen in his ministry

Seen in his death

Jesus has protected his followers

eg Stilling of the storm,, Luke 8. 22-25.

His prayers when he withdraw to the desert places. He seeks for their rest and refreshment.Mark 6.30-32

His patient teaching of them. He didn’t dismiss them when they failed to grasp what he was teaching.Mark6.52, 9.32.  When they denied his way., Matthew 16.32, Mark 8.33.And as we shall see with Peter even when he denied him,, Luke 22.61.

Jesus prays for their/our continuing protection.

Not to be rescued from our troubles but to be protected in our troubles. v 15 not to be taken out of the world but protected from the evil one.

Jesus prayers for their protection that they might be one v 11. Jesus prays for their/our protection that they/we might experience unity, that they might be one because that is what Jesus experienced with the Father.

Jesus prays for their unity that they might experience his joy.v13 This is part of that eternal life.

This leads us to the reading from Acts. It is linked for Jesus’s prayer is about the future of the disciples, the future of the church, the future of the ministry of the church.

So there is logic here they are gathered together and concerned for how their ministry will develop. But why do they have to replace Judas? He has gone, let’s forget about him and continue. Obviously there were a number who had been followers since the time of the baptism of John so that they could choose 2 candidates from them. Of course it was to make up the number 12 because of the twelve tribes of Israel and the new community, the church, was to be the new Israel, the community of God. It needed to be complete and united. If you fast forward to the book of the Revelation you see this picture again. We are shown the new Jerusalem and therefore new Israel worshipping as the united people of God from every tribe, every tongue, every nation.

What do we learn from this.

We are in the world and it is where we should be.

We are in the world but are not abandoned

We are in the world to be one, to be the new community

We are in the world to witness to that new life in Christ ie to share the Gospel, the good news.

What a wonderful community the church is. What a great honour it is to be part of it. What a high view of this community there is in  the writings of the Holy Scriptures, in the mind of Christ, in the plans of God.

Now the question we started with. Do you agree with Christ? Or do you despise your fellow Christians? Do you love your neighbouring disciples or do you hate and despise them as the world does? Do you love them and cover their sins with your forgiveness or do you accuse them as Satan does continually?

Let us rejoice that in his last hours on earth Jesus was so concerned for us his disciples and for our future here on earth. Let us take strength from his prayer and go out to fulfil his mission. As we celebrate his ascension can we remind ourselves of Catherine of Sienna’s statement, Christ has no body but yours, no hands, no feet on earth but yours, yours are the eyes with which he looks with compassion on this world, yours are the feet with which he walks to do good, yours are the hands with which he blesses 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 with compassion on this world. Christ has no body but yours.

Be the body, value your fellow members of the body. Agree with Jesus his people are precious.