Theological Truth: The Reign of God is both here and coming; already and not yet; trustworthy and true.
Alleluia! Christ is risen! The Lord is risen indeed! Alleluia!
Have you ever been asked whether a glass is half-full or half-empty? Or questioned if a photo of the sun hovering over the horizon, is of a sunrise or a sunset? What about the windows over the altar? Is Jesus ascending or descending? Is it the Ascension of Christ or his triumphant return?
This is a Sunday of endings, conclusions, and finales…but most importantly…it is a reminder of eternal beginnings. Jesus is the alpha and the omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end, the root and descendant of David and the bright morning star. Top to bottom. In all things and beyond all things. Past, present and future. Now, always and forever. The God made known in Jesus Christ, who transcends time and makes all things new, also and always turns endings into beginnings, emptiness to fullness, sunsets into sunrises.
Understanding time as circular rather than linear shouldn’t surprise us. Examples of endings rounding into beginnings are all around us. Think about events on the calendar for instance. The end of summer indicates the start of fall. The conclusion of a school year means the beginning of summer. Even the end of Trinity’s program year leads to the start of new things: Mass on the Grass and Sunday “office hours” for your Clergy. The end of childhood (parents hope!) opens to adulthood. The end of a career begins the phase of retirement. Even death, in its many forms, leads to life.
As you may have heard, The Rev. Chris Roussell, Rector of St. John’s, Lynchburg, a faithful priest, devoted husband and father, and dependable colleague, died last week. The shock of his untimely death has reminded me of how difficult and painful it is for us to live under the constraints of time. It has also renewed my awareness that in the life, death, resurrection, ascension, and coming again of Jesus, the power of Divine love is both in and beyond all limits of time. There’s no denying that the sun sets. Glasses get emptied. The green leaves of summer disappear into the austerity of winter. Friends die. And yet, that is not the end of the story. The sun rises. Glasses are refilled. Spring returns. Life is changed, not ended.
In the sermon for Fr. Chris’ funeral, Bishop Mark reminded us of this important and timely spiritual insight from Meister Eckhart: “God is at home. We are in the far country.” We usually think just the opposite. We tend to mistake this world of limited time and definitive endings as our home. We imagine that God is the one in a faraway country. That makes sense. This is the world we know and the reality we experience. Which is why it’s critical to be reminded that we are the ones wandering far afield. God is at home, a place that is timeless and eternal. On this side of eternity, we count time in days, hours, and minutes. But God in Christ enters and transcends time, transforms death to life, calls us all home, welcomes us to our true resting place with God and one another. This home is timeless and eternal. Alpha and Omega, our beginning and our end. Our eternal home.
There are two things to remember as we journey from this far country back home. First, we haven’t been left to wander without a guide. Jesus’ words from John’s gospel remind us that Jesus has already been praying for us—and not in an abstract or general sense, but concretely and specifically. The reading for today is the end of what is referred to as Jesus’ “high priestly prayer,” which is also the end of what’s called the “farewell discourse”—the long section of John’s gospel between the last supper and his arrest and crucifixion. In this final section of the high priestly prayer, notice who Jesus is praying for: “Not only on behalf of these [the gathered disciples], but also on behalf of those who will believe in me through their word.” (Jn. 17:20a). That’s us: those who have believed through their words.
Jesus prays for us, and Jesus is still praying for those who will believe through our words. Jesus is in this homecoming journey with us, always and forever, guiding us into the very life of God. Did you hear what Jesus prays for? “That they may all be one. As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us.” This isn’t a geographical place, this is a relational space, a way of being. Jesus prays for us all to enter into the life of God’s eternal loving presence, nothing short of the inner life of the Trinity. This is our ultimate spiritual home, exemplified in the garden of Genesis, prepared before the dawn of time.… and beyond all time. Jesus not only abides there, he prays and guides us there by showing us the Way, the Truth, the Life that leads us home.
The second cause for hope as we make our way home is that an enthusiastic Divine welcome awaits! Jesus says, “I desire that those also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am.” Isn’t that astonishing, Jesus desires our presence, our communion, even and before we desire his. Hear again these last words of Revelation, the conclusion of the canon of scripture: “Let everyone who hears say, ‘Come.’ And let everyone who is thirsty come. Let anyone who wishes, take the water of life as a gift.” It is all gift…given for all. All are welcome to come home!
Today we hover in the time between Ascension and Pentecost. We make our way in this far country heading towards our spiritual home. Like those early disciples, we are painfully aware that life is short. We know all too well that there is never enough time to be with those we love. But we also trust the power of the Resurrection. We seek the presence of the Holy Spirit. We are swift to love and we make haste to be kind, because the best way to get home is to practice the ways of home. We are in a far country, but God is calling us home. Constantly turning what seems like endings into new beginnings.
