JOHN 17:1-11
THE SEVENTH SUNDAY OF
EASTER IS SORT OF AN IN BETWEEN TIME. IT RECALLS THOSE NINE DAYS
BETWEEN THE ASCENSION OF JESUS INTO HEAVEN, AND THE COMING OF THE
HOLY SPIRIT. IT'S INTERESTING THAT OUR FIRST READING TODAY DESCRIBES
THE EARLY CHURCH, MADE UP OF THE APOSTLES, SOME WOMEN, MARY THE
MOTHER OF JESUS, AND HIS BROTHERS. I WONDER WHAT THAT WAS LIKE?
PETER, WHO HAD BETRAYED JESUS, AND MARY, WHO STOOD AT THE FOOT OF THE
CROSS WHILE HE DIED. I WONDER IF PETER COULD LOOK MARY IN THE EYE?
I SUSPECT MARY HAD LONG SINCE FORGIVEN HIM. AND SO THE SMALL BAND OF
JESUS' FOLLOWERS ARE GATHERED IN PRAYER, WAITING.
BEING A CHRISTIAN IS
ALWAYS ABOUT WAITING. I DON'T LIKE TO WAIT, AND I SUSPECT NO ONE
REALLY DOES. IN SITUATIONS WHERE I KNOW I AM GOING TO HAVE TO WAIT,
I ALWAYS BRING SOMETHING TO OCCUPY MY TIME – MY COMPUTER, A BOOK,
MY CELL PHONE. TO SIMPLY WAIT SEEMS TO BE BEYOND MY ABILITIES.
BUT THE EARLY CHURCH
BEGINS IN A WAITING STATE. JESUS HAS LEFT THEM, GONE TO HIS FATHER;
AND THE HOLY SPIRIT, THE ADVOCATE HE PROMISED, HAS NOT YET COME.
WE ARE TURNED LOOSE INTO
THE WORLD AS CHRISTIANS WITH OUR BAPTISM. I JUST FINISHED
PARTICIPATING IN THE RCIA PROGRAM. THE PEOPLE WHO CAME INTO THE
CHURCH HAD SPENT AN HOUR OR SO EVERY SUNDAY THINKING ABOUT THE FAITH;
THEY HAD ATTENDED THE 9:30 MASS AND BEEN SURROUNDED BY THE REST OF
US. ON HOLY SATURDAY THEY BRIEFLY MOVED TO THE CENTER OF ATTENTION,
WHEN BAPTISM AND CONFIRMATION AND FIRST EUCHARIST TOOK PLACE. AND
NOW THEY HAVE JOINED US IN WAITING.
WHAT IS IT WE ARE WAITING
FOR? WHEN THE HOLY SPIRIT CAME UPON THE EARLY CHRISTIANS, IT MIGHT
SEEM THAT THEIR WAIT WAS OVER. BUT IT WASN'T; WE ALL KNOW THAT THEY
EXPECTED JESUS TO COME AGAIN SOON. IF WE GO BY WAY OF THE HISTORY OF
THE SCRIPTURES, THE EARLIEST CHRISTIANS EXPECTED JESUS TO RETURN VERY
SOON; LATER, AS THEY BEGAN TO DIE OF OLD AGE, SICKNESS, PERSECUTION
AND ACCIDENTS, ST PAUL HAD TO REASSURE HIS FOLLOWERS THAT WHEN JESUS
CAME AGAIN, NOT ONLY WOULD THOSE OF US WHO ARE ALIVE BE TAKEN UP, BUT
SO WOULD THOSE WHO HAD FALLEN ASLEEP. EVEN LATER, THE CHURCH SEEMS
TO HAVE SETTLED DOWN TO CHRONIC WAITING; JESUS WOULD COME AGAIN, BUT
IT SEEMED MORE AND MORE LIKELY THAT IT WOULDN'T HAPPEN WHILE ANY OF
US ARE ALIVE. THE LAST BOOK OF THE BIBLE, THE BOOK OF REVELATION,
PUTS THE END OF TIME OFF IN THE DISTANT FUTURE SOMEWHERE.
DID YOU EVER HEAR THE
LEGEND OF PRESTER JOHN? JESUS HAD SAID TO PETER, IN REFERENCE TO THE
“BELOVED DISCIPLE”, SOMETHING TO THE EFFECT “WHAT IS IT TO YOU
IF HE REMAINS UNTIL I COME AGAIN?” SO SOME PEOPLE TOOK THAT TO MEAN
THAT JOHN, WHO MANY BELIEVED WAS THE BELOVED DISCIPLE, WOULD WANDER
THE EARTH UNTIL THE SECOND COMING OF JESUS. PRESTER JOHN WAS THAT
PERSON, KIND OF LIKE THE ANCIENT MARINER, CONDEMNED TO WALK THE EARTH
UNTIL THE SECOND COMING. I DON'T THINK JESUS WOULD DO THAT TO ONE OF
HIS APOSTLES, DO YOU?
ANYWAY, WE ARE WAITING.
THERE IS A BRANCH OF THEOLOGY CALLED “ESCHATOLOGY”. WE STUDY
WHAT THE SCRIPTURES TELL US ABOUT THE END OF TIME, ABOUT THE SECOND
COMING. WE READ ABOUT THE NEW JERUSALEM, WHICH WILL REPLACE ALL
HUMAN HABITATIONS. WE READ ABOUT HOW THE KINGDOM WILL BE AT THE END
OF TIME WHERE THE POWERFUL WILL BE PULLED DOWN AND THE POOR ELEVATED,
WHERE THE RICH WILL BE HUNGRY AND THE LOWLY WILL BE SATISFIED.
ESCHATOLOGY LOOKS FOR SIGNS OF THIS GLORIOUS FUTURE IN OUR PRESENT.
AND OUR CHURCH, THAT IS, YOU AND I, ARE SUPPOSED TO BE THE EMBODIMENT
OF ESCHATOLOGY, THE EVIDENCE OF THE PRESENCE OF THE KINGDOM EVEN NOW.
JESUS SAID THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN IS WITHIN YOU .. AND YET IT ISN'T
REALLY, IT ISN'T COMPLETE.
THAT'S THE POINT OF
CHRISTIAN WAITING. BETWEEN BAPTISM AND DEATH, WE WAIT; WE WAIT FOR
JESUS TO RETURN; WE WAIT FOR THE KINGDOM TO BE REALIZED IN OUR MIDST;
WE WAIT FOR THE PEACE HE PROMISED, THE HOUSE WITH MANY MANSIONS THAT
HE WENT TO PREPARE FOR US. BUT WE ALSO TURN INWARD BECAUSE HE HAS
PROMISED THAT WHAT WE WAIT FOR IS ALREADY IN US. AND WE CERTAINLY
HAVE THE EXAMPLE OF THE SAINTS WHO DISCOVERED THIS IN THEMSELVES, AND
BEGAN TO BRING ABOUT THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN IN THE WORK THEY DID.
SOME DID GREAT WORKS OF CHARITY; SOME FOUNDED RELIGIOUS MOVEMENTS TO
MAKE REAL WHAT THEY SAW IN THEMSELVES; SOME LIVED AS HUSBANDS AND
WIVES, TOGETHER CREATING THE KINGDOM IN THEIR FAMILIES, TRULY A
SUBLIME ACT OF LOVE, TO RAISE YOUR CHILDREN IN THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN.
AND THERE WERE THE MARTYRS, WHO WENT TO THEIR DEATHS WITH SONGS ON
THEIR LIPS – THEIR WAITING WAS OVER! THEY TRUSTED IN THE LORD WHO
HAD HEARD THE DYING THIEF ON THE CROSS GIVE WITNESS TO HIM, AND
PROMISED THAT THAT DAY HE WOULD BE IN PARADISE WITH HIM.
OUR WAITING SHOULD NOT BE
FILLED WITH DISTRACTIONS. IT'S SO EASY TO FORGET THAT WE ARE
WAITING; THERE'S TELEVISION, SPORTS, WORK, HOBBIES, ALL THE DAY TO
DAY THINGS THAT MAKE US FORGET WE ARE WAITING. AT THE SAME TIME,
WAITING SHOULD NOT BE EMPTY; WE CAN'T JUST SIT AROUND TWIDDLING OUR
THUMBS. WAITING, TO BE PRODUCTIVE, SHOULD BE OCCUPIED WITH BRINGING
THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN INTO BEING AT LEAST FOR OURSELVES AND OUR LOVED
ONES.
THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN,OR
THE KINGDOM OF GOD IS MENTIONED ABOUT 100 TIMES IN THE NEW TESTAMENT.
IT SEEMS COMPLICATED; BUT IT ISN'T. IT'S LEARNING TO LOVE
UNCONDITIONALLY; IT'S LEARNING TO COMMIT TO MAKING DISCIPLES OF ALL
NATIONS; IT'S LEARNING TO DIE TO SELF AND LIVE FOR OTHERS. IT ISN'T
COMPLICATED, BUT IT'S NOT EASY, EITHER. IT IS BASICALLY THE PROCESS
OF BECOMING ANOTHER CHRIST.
JESUS TALKS A LOT ABOUT
GLORY IN TODAY'S GOSPEL. WHAT IS GLORY? THE HEBREW WORD, KABOD,
MEANS HEAVINESS, WEIGHT; THE GREEK WORD, DOXO, MEANS BRILLIANT LIGHT.
WHEN WE HEAR JESUS SPEAK ABOUT GLORY, WE MIGHT DEFINE IT AS MAKING
SOMEONE'S PRESENCE FELT. HEAVINESS CONVEYS SOMETHING SUBSTANTIAL,
ENDURING; AND BRILLIANT LIGHT FOCUSES US TO TAKE NOTICE. IF WE
GLORIFY JESUS IN OUR LIVES, WE MAKE HIS PRESENCE FELT BY US AND BY
THOSE AROUND US. JESUS GLORIFIED THE FATHER, AND THE RESULT WAS THAT
THE FATHER WAS MADE KNOWN TO THE DISCIPLES AND THEIR FOLLOWERS, YOU
AND I. AND THE WAY FOR EACH OF US TO SPEND OUR WAITING TIME IS TO
GLORIFY JESUS BY BRINGING ABOUT HIS KINGDOM. HE HAS PROMISED THAT
WHERE TWO OR THREE ARE GATHERED, HE WILL BE THERE. LET US RESOLVE
DURING THIS TIME OF WAITING TO MAKE HIS PRESENCE FELT, TO GLORIFY
HIM.
