7th Sunday of Easter Year C

7th Sunday of Easter—Year C May 12, 2013 Today is a strange Sunday in the life of the church. And, no, I’m not talking about Mother’s Day…! I’m talking about the 7th Sunday of Easter, when all our alleluias have grown maybe a little shabby or a little tired, and even more importantly, the Sunday just after the major feast day of the Ascension, the day we celebrate Jesus’s leave-taking of us, and his instructions to his disciples to stay together and to wait for the gift of the Holy Spirit, the Comfortor, who we will see coming next Sunday at Pentecost. So it’s kind of strange….Jesus has left, but not really. The Holy Spirit isn’t here yet, but actually she is. And our readings for this day in Year C, don’t give any acknowledgement that the Ascension has already happened for us. Strange, right? It’s almost as if, in the midst of absence, and loss, in the midst of waiting and not really knowing what to do, our tradition reminds us first that we still are called to celebrate the resurrection and it reminds us second that life goes on. So it’s no surprise that on this Sunday after the Ascension and the Sunday before Pentecost, our readings today show us business as usual, life going on. Jesus continues, in what is known as John’s farewell discourse, to say goodbye to his disciples. And in today’s reading, he offers prayers to God on their and our behalf. So even though Jesus is not with us, he’s praying for us. The words from the reading from Revelation call to us from across the ages, as words of hope, promise, and invitation: “The Spirit and the Bride say, ‘Come.’ And 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….” And then there’s that strange story from the Acts of the Apostles, where Paul and Silas are in Macedonia, having been summoned there by a man in a vision. And they are going around, minding their own business, when a slave girl, with a spirit of divination, starts following them and crying out “These men are slaves of the Most High God, who proclaim to you a way of salvation.” The story tells us that after days of this, Paul gets irritated and casts out the spirit, which gets him into trouble with her owners, who had made quite a profit off this woman. So Paul and Silas are accused of disturbing the peace and advocating customs that are not lawful for Romans to adopt, and they get flogged and thrown into prison. While they are in prison, they pray and sing hymns of praise to God, and suddenly there is an earthquake which shakes the foundations of the jail, and all the prisoners are freed. The jailer comes running and prepares to take his own life because he believes all of his captives has escaped, but Paul stops him. And the jailer asks Paul and Silas, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” And they answer, “Believe on the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household. And so the jailer takes them in, and cares for them; he and his household are baptized, and they all celebrate together. In this strange story, during this strange in-between time, there are multiple images of slavery or captivity and freedom. The slave girl is captive, but then she is suddenly free of her spirit of divination when Paul acts in a moment of irritation. Paul and Silas are said to be slaves of the Most High God, and they are physically captive in prison. The other prisoners who are in jail with Paul and Silas are captive, and they are also suddenly free after the earthquake. The jailer is captive by his fear of his own failure and what will happen to him, but then he is freed when Paul intervenes and invites him to become a follower of Jesus. There are many different ways to be captive and to be free in this story. There are also many ways for us to be captive and to be freed in our lives. And so I ask you today, what is holding you captive? I want to share with you a vignette about the things that hold us captive by the writer Federich Buechner’s (pronounced Beekner) (from Whistling in the Dark ). HELP: As they're used psychologically, words ike repression, denial, sublimation, defense, all refer to one form or another of the way human beings erect walls to hide behind both from each other and from themselves. You repress the memory that is too painful to deal with, say. You deny your weight problem. You sublimate some of your sexual energy by channeling it into other forms of activity more socially acceptable. You conceal your sense of inadequacy behind a defensive bravado. And so on and so forth. The inner state you end up with is a castle-like affair of keep, inner wall, outer wall, moat, which you erect originally to be a fortress to keep the enemy out but which turns into a prison where you become the jailer and thus your own enemy. It is a wretched and lonely place. You can't be what you want to be there or do what you want to do. People can't see through all that masonry to who you truly are, and half the time you're not sure you can see who you truly are yourself, you've been walled up so long. Fortunately there are two words that offer a way out, and they're simply these: Help me. It's not always easy to say them--you have your pride after all, and you're not sure there's anybody you trust enough to say them to--but they're always worth saying. To another human being--a friend, a stranger? To God? Maybe it comes to the same thing. Help me. They open a door through the walls, that's all. At least hope is possible again. At least you're no longer alone. What is holding you captive? Is it a situation in your life? Is it someone else’s unhappiness or bad decisions? Is it your work or lack thereof? Is it an addiction? Is it your own infirmity or illness? Are you being held captive by your busy-ness? Is it money? Is it your pride? Is it your pessimism, that things just can’t be any better? Is it laziness? Is it regret or the past? Is it frustrated hope or expectations? Is it failed relationships? What is holding you captive? And what would it take for you to ask for help? What would it take for you to say to God or someone else—Help Me!—or to say along with the jailer, “What must I do to be saved?” And to hear the invitation from across the ages, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.” “The Spirit and the Bride say, ‘Come.’ And 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….”