Fifth Sunday of Easter
May 10, 2020
(Service, Prayers and Lucia Lloyd’s sermon is located below)
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Lucia Lloyd’s Sermon: Happy Mother's Day and Quasimodo Sunday!
5th Sunday of Easter, Year A
May 10, 2020
John 14:15-21
Happy Ascension Day! Ascension Day is this Thursday, so I’m wishing you Happy Ascension Day in advance, the way people wish you Merry Christmas during the whole month of December, and not just on the 25th. Just as we celebrate Christmas on Christmas Eve, here at St. John’s when we have our Wednesday Evening Prayer we will celebrate Ascension Day on Ascension Eve. While the days feel like they blur together, this seems to have developed into a sermon series on what day it is. But there’s an even more important reason for wishing you a happy Ascension Day. Ascension Day always falls on a Thursday because it’s forty days after Easter, just as Lent begins forty days before Easter. The scriptures on Ascension Day are, as you would expect, about Christ’s ascension into heaven. But the reason for talking about it today is that the scripture readings on the Sunday before Ascension Day and the Sunday after Ascension Day are scriptures in which Jesus is preparing his disciples for life without him. So we are also continuing to explore the theme of loss. In these scriptures Jesus is also preparing his disciples for the coming of the Holy Spirit. We will look more closely at that in a minute.
Before we get there, I’d like to look first at our reading from Acts in which Paul is standing in front of the Areopagus speaking to the Athenians. If you are at all familiar with the Apostle Paul, you know that he does not mince words about something he disapproves of, and idolatry is definitely something he disapproves of. What fascinates me about this passage is the way he takes a very different approach, which is both highly uncharacteristic of him, and very characteristic of him. He begins with remarks that are both a compliment and an invitation especially to them, “Athenians, I see how extremely religious you are in every way. For as I went through the city and looked carefully at the objects of your worship, I found among them an altar with the inscription, ‘To an unknown god’. What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you.” Why does he do this? One reason is that Paul is a brilliant orator and evangelist, and he knows that it’s important to pay attention not only to what you want to say, but also to what your listeners are receptive to hearing. He notices the Athenians’ altar to an unknown god as an opening into the hearts and souls of this particular audience, and he is going to make the best use of it he possibly can. But I think there is more to it than that.
For the Athenians, like most societies who have multiple gods and goddesses, there is always the fear that you’ll get on the wrong side of one deity or another, especially since the gods and goddesses always seem to be getting jealous of each other. So in an attempt to be on the safe side, you can make an altar to an unknown god and make some sacrifices there, and that way, if you’ve accidentally left someone out, you’ve done what you could to hedge your bets. But it may go deeper than that. The idea of an altar to an unknown god also suggests an openness to the possibility that there is more to the divine than what we already know, that there is more to the divine than what we already expect. And I expect this is the element that Paul’s soul gravitates toward, because it is where his soul and the soul of the Athenians connect. You will remember that Paul before his conversion was absolutely certain that he knew who God was. He followed every letter of the law exactly, some might say compulsively; he devoted himself with great zeal to the God he knew; he even set himself to the task of persecuting those who were “wrong” about the God he was so certain he was right about. And then, on the road to Damascus, God knocked him to the ground and said “There’s more to God than you already know. There’s more to God than you expect.” It blew Paul’s mind open. Paul became able to see God in Christ.
So when he sees this altar to an unknown god that the Athenians have made, what he encourages in them is this capacity to be open to more of the divine than they already know, to be open to more of the divine than they already expect. The god they know is the objects of metal or stone, the idols they worship, and as we listen to Paul’s words we can hear the way he asks them to be open to seeing God way beyond that. He says, “I found an altar with the inscription, ‘To an unknown god.’ What, therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you. The God who made the world and everything in it, he who is Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in shrines made by human hands, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mortals life and breath and all things. From one ancestor he made all nations to inhabit the whole earth, and he allotted the times of their existence and the boundaries of the places where they would live, so that they would search for God and perhaps grope for him and find him, though indeed he is not far from each one of us. For ‘in him we live and move and have our being.’
If we limit God to what we know, we inevitably end up with a version of god who is smaller than we are.
So here’s where the gospel passage comes in. When Jesus talked to people, there were some people who were sure they already knew who God was. Those were the people most likely to reject Jesus, sometimes with great hostility. There were others who were open to seeing more of God than they already knew, and those were the people who were able to see God in Jesus. After the resurrection, Jesus’ followers were able to see God in Jesus. By then, seeing God in Jesus was part of what they already knew. But it’s not good for them to be stuck at that point either. So Jesus tells them ahead of time that the person they know will be leaving, and he tells them to be open to more of God than they know, because they will then see God in the Holy Spirit.
It is as if you had a creature that lives only in one dimension, and so this creature is sure that God is a line. An infinitely long line, but still a line. Then this creature gets an amazing revelation that a second dimension exists, and God is not just a line, but also extends on both sides of the line, and that God has not only length but also width that is also infinite. This is mind boggling for the creature. And then as soon as the creature gets used to that idea, here comes an even more amazing revelation that a third dimension exists, and God has height and depth that are also infinite! That’s what’s going on with the doctrine of the Trinity.
An openness to the sense that there is more to God than we already know is not just important because of the nature of God, it is important because of the nature of faith. A sense of certainty that there is nothing to God beyond what we already know is the exact opposite of faith; faith is openness to there being more to God than what we already know. The teachings of Jesus are about
looking above ourselves to the transcendent and being open to seeing God there,
and looking right in front of us at Jesus who loves both the Pharisees and the lepers unconditionally and completely and being open to seeing God there,
and looking within our own souls and being open to seeing God there.
As Jesus puts it, “you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you.
Jesus says about the Spirit of truth: You know him because he abides with you and he will be in you.
At first, it might seem that Ascension Day is about loss, the loss of Christ, and that doesn’t sound very happy. But if we look at it from the opposite perspective, we find that while the disciples can no longer see Christ in the finite human body they were used to, they now can see Christ all over the place, even in themselves. As Christ puts it, “In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live.” The openness to seeing more of God than we saw before is a happy thing, and a wonderful thing to celebrate. Happy Ascension Day!
Before we get there, I’d like to look first at our reading from Acts in which Paul is standing in front of the Areopagus speaking to the Athenians. If you are at all familiar with the Apostle Paul, you know that he does not mince words about something he disapproves of, and idolatry is definitely something he disapproves of. What fascinates me about this passage is the way he takes a very different approach, which is both highly uncharacteristic of him, and very characteristic of him. He begins with remarks that are both a compliment and an invitation especially to them, “Athenians, I see how extremely religious you are in every way. For as I went through the city and looked carefully at the objects of your worship, I found among them an altar with the inscription, ‘To an unknown god’. What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you.” Why does he do this? One reason is that Paul is a brilliant orator and evangelist, and he knows that it’s important to pay attention not only to what you want to say, but also to what your listeners are receptive to hearing. He notices the Athenians’ altar to an unknown god as an opening into the hearts and souls of this particular audience, and he is going to make the best use of it he possibly can. But I think there is more to it than that.
For the Athenians, like most societies who have multiple gods and goddesses, there is always the fear that you’ll get on the wrong side of one deity or another, especially since the gods and goddesses always seem to be getting jealous of each other. So in an attempt to be on the safe side, you can make an altar to an unknown god and make some sacrifices there, and that way, if you’ve accidentally left someone out, you’ve done what you could to hedge your bets. But it may go deeper than that. The idea of an altar to an unknown god also suggests an openness to the possibility that there is more to the divine than what we already know, that there is more to the divine than what we already expect. And I expect this is the element that Paul’s soul gravitates toward, because it is where his soul and the soul of the Athenians connect. You will remember that Paul before his conversion was absolutely certain that he knew who God was. He followed every letter of the law exactly, some might say compulsively; he devoted himself with great zeal to the God he knew; he even set himself to the task of persecuting those who were “wrong” about the God he was so certain he was right about. And then, on the road to Damascus, God knocked him to the ground and said “There’s more to God than you already know. There’s more to God than you expect.” It blew Paul’s mind open. Paul became able to see God in Christ.
So when he sees this altar to an unknown god that the Athenians have made, what he encourages in them is this capacity to be open to more of the divine than they already know, to be open to more of the divine than they already expect. The god they know is the objects of metal or stone, the idols they worship, and as we listen to Paul’s words we can hear the way he asks them to be open to seeing God way beyond that. He says, “I found an altar with the inscription, ‘To an unknown god.’ What, therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you. The God who made the world and everything in it, he who is Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in shrines made by human hands, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mortals life and breath and all things. From one ancestor he made all nations to inhabit the whole earth, and he allotted the times of their existence and the boundaries of the places where they would live, so that they would search for God and perhaps grope for him and find him, though indeed he is not far from each one of us. For ‘in him we live and move and have our being.’
If we limit God to what we know, we inevitably end up with a version of god who is smaller than we are.
So here’s where the gospel passage comes in. When Jesus talked to people, there were some people who were sure they already knew who God was. Those were the people most likely to reject Jesus, sometimes with great hostility. There were others who were open to seeing more of God than they already knew, and those were the people who were able to see God in Jesus. After the resurrection, Jesus’ followers were able to see God in Jesus. By then, seeing God in Jesus was part of what they already knew. But it’s not good for them to be stuck at that point either. So Jesus tells them ahead of time that the person they know will be leaving, and he tells them to be open to more of God than they know, because they will then see God in the Holy Spirit.
It is as if you had a creature that lives only in one dimension, and so this creature is sure that God is a line. An infinitely long line, but still a line. Then this creature gets an amazing revelation that a second dimension exists, and God is not just a line, but also extends on both sides of the line, and that God has not only length but also width that is also infinite. This is mind boggling for the creature. And then as soon as the creature gets used to that idea, here comes an even more amazing revelation that a third dimension exists, and God has height and depth that are also infinite! That’s what’s going on with the doctrine of the Trinity.
An openness to the sense that there is more to God than we already know is not just important because of the nature of God, it is important because of the nature of faith. A sense of certainty that there is nothing to God beyond what we already know is the exact opposite of faith; faith is openness to there being more to God than what we already know. The teachings of Jesus are about
looking above ourselves to the transcendent and being open to seeing God there,
and looking right in front of us at Jesus who loves both the Pharisees and the lepers unconditionally and completely and being open to seeing God there,
and looking within our own souls and being open to seeing God there.
As Jesus puts it, “you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you.
Jesus says about the Spirit of truth: You know him because he abides with you and he will be in you.
At first, it might seem that Ascension Day is about loss, the loss of Christ, and that doesn’t sound very happy. But if we look at it from the opposite perspective, we find that while the disciples can no longer see Christ in the finite human body they were used to, they now can see Christ all over the place, even in themselves. As Christ puts it, “In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live.” The openness to seeing more of God than we saw before is a happy thing, and a wonderful thing to celebrate. Happy Ascension Day!
