9 May
2012
St. Athanasius Lutheran Church
Easter 5
Midweek Greenspring
Village, Springfield, VA
“Living In-Between”
Text: John 16:16-22; Isaiah 40:25-31; 1 Peter 2:11-20
Alleluia!
Christ is risen! [He is risen
indeed! Alleluia!] Alleluia!
It’s not easy being in-between. For
example, when you’re
driving and the light turns yellow and you’re not sure you should keep going and go through it, but
you’re also
not sure you can stop in time - what do you do?
Being a
teenager is another in-between time - you want to be treated as an adult, but
too often you’re
treated like a child. You want to be independent, but you still need your
parents. It’s not
easy.
The
readings for today talk about being in-between.
The apostles are soon going to be stuck in-between Jesus’ death and resurrection, and it will be a difficult time for them.
Then they are going to be in-between Jesus ascension and
His coming again in glory. And again, it will be a difficult time for them.
But
though the in-between times are difficult, there is, in the end, for the
Christian, the promise of joy. A joy that no one will be able
to take away.
It is
like a woman giving birth, Jesus says. She is in-between - the child is coming
out, but is not yet here. There is much pain and anguish . . . but in the end,
only joy. The joy of her new baby. This
new life which makes all the waiting and pain and anguish worth it.
The apostles would experience that joy on Easter, when the
in-between time was over and Jesus came to them alive in His flesh and blood.
They would also experience that joy when they died, as
martyrs, and were taken to be with their Lord in His heavenly kingdom.
Watching
Jesus die, and suffering in their own deaths, wouldn’t be easy. But the joy makes it all
worth it. All the difficulties of the in-between times are forgotten in the joy
of being with the Lord.
But it
wasn’t just
the apostles. God’s people
in the Old Testament experienced many in-between times. When Isaiah talked
about mounting up with wings like eagles, the people would have
remembered one of those in-between times - the exodus. Moses spoke those same
words to the people of Israel at the foot of Mt. Sinai - that the Lord had brough them up out of Egypt on eagle’s wings. But they were not yet in the
Promised Land.
They
were in-between, and it would not be easy.
They
would have many ups and downs, struggles and doubts and fears, and be
disciplined by the Lord. But in the end, there would be joy. They would receive
a land and a home of their own, and enjoy a time of rest and peace.
And so
it is for you and me. We live in an in-between time.
We have
been given the gift of eternal life, but still we face death.
The
kingdom of heaven is ours, but we’re not there yet.
In Holy
Baptism God has made us His saints, and yet we’re still sinners.
And it’s not easy. We have many ups and
downs, struggles and doubts and fears.
But we
also have the promises of God to sustain us in this in-between time. As Isaiah said: God knows. God sees. And as He has done in
the past, protecting and preserving His people and bringing them through the
in-between time, so He will do now and in the future.
Just as He brought His people out of their slavery in Egypt
on eagle’s wings,
so He will bring us out of our slavery to sin.
And He did - as we continue to celebrate this Easter season
- through the death and resurrection of His Son.
He is
the one who grew faint and weary and died on the cross, but who then rose to
life again, so that we who grow faint and weary and
die in this in-between time, may rise to life again, too. With
Him.
To the joy of everlasting life. His are the wings we will mount up on, and go to our
heavenly home.
But not yet. Now, we’re still in-between. We are, as Peter
said in his epistle, sojourners and exiles. Like Israel. So live like it.
Live
knowing that there is joy awaiting in the end; that
you are not yet home. Resist the temptations and passions of this world and
life.
That’s hard, but they’re not our joy.
Be
subject to those placed over us, for whether you like them or not, God is using
them to help us through this in-between time. So honor them and give them the
respect due them.
And, he
says, do good to all. And if you suffer for it, so be
it.
You know
there is joy coming. The joy of our Lord’s
salvation.
A joy no
one will be able to take away.
Now,
some of that joy our Lord gives us here and now. It is not all in the
future. Just as He comes into our time and space with His presence, so He
brings us joy as well. The joy of faith.
The joy of receiving His forgiveness
when we’ve
messed up again and know we don’t deserve it.
The joy of His provision when He
supplies our needs and gives us friends and help and support in every time of
need.
The joy when He feeds us with His own body and blood,
giving us His very self, promising that He will be with us always, just as we
will be with Him forever.
And
sometimes that joy may come in surprising ways - but however it comes, it is
always but a small foretaste of the joy to come. The joy that will come when
this in-between time ends, and we receive all that God
has for us.
So do not lose heart, though you grow faint and weary.
Fight the good fight and struggle on.
Do not lose heart, though you suffer unjustly for doing good. Keep doing good, loving your enemies and praying for
those who persecute you.
Do not lose heart, though life get
difficult and sorrowful. Your sorrow will turn to joy and your hearts will
rejoice.
In-between never lasts forever. You too will mount up on wings like eagles, and see your Saviour, whom you now see by faith, with your own very resurrected eyes, and you will rejoice.
God is
faithful, and He will do it.
For
Christ is risen! [He is risen
indeed!] And so will you be. Alleluia!
In the Name of the Father and of the (+) Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.