“Patient Faith in God’s Promise”
Acts 1: 6-14 & Psalm 68 ~ Northwood UC ~ May 21, 2023
The daffodils and tulips have bloomed; the temperatures have teased us with the promise of summer as they moved
into the high 20’s over the past few weeks. Summer has been tempting us with its coming arrival. You remember
summer don’t you? Summer, whose arrival brings rest, summer that brings camping trips, explorations and
reunions, summer that provides time for leisure activities.
Yet, as we anticipate summer this year, our anticipation is unlike any other. We have been noticing more and more
people travelling, getting out, and life returning to a bit more ‘normal’. And we know that this return has been a
Loooong time in coming! We have yearned for the loving embrace of others ~ the embrace that was not possible
over the telephone or internet connection. We yearned for the warmth of hugs and kisses and handshakes that only
‘being together’ can allow. We have yearned for the return to ‘normal’. Looking at the calendar, just about one month
away from the June 20 th commencement of summer. And this summer will bring with it a ‘return to normal’ that so
many have been yearning for. For the many who have been asking the question “how long Lord…how long?” For
many, as they move further ahead…the long season of waiting is almost over.
Waiting and yearning for what the future ‘should’ be like is not easy, is it? If you have dealt with a challenging
situation in your life: perhaps a loss…you know what I mean. The loss of a loved one. The loss of a home. The loss
of a career. The loss of good health. Losses present themselves in so many different forms. And we find ourselves
asking the same question: “How long Lord…how long?” Truthfully, many parts of our lives are ones which catch us
in the ‘in between’ ~ where we are, and where we want to be. And the lament, the collective cry for people of faith
has (and continues to be): “how long Lord…how long?”
As we turn to this morning’s text in the book of Acts that Pat read, we notice that the language Paul uses ~ is an
inquiry into God’s timing. In the Acts section, the apostle ask the question “Lord is this the time when you will restore
the Kingdom of Israel?” Is this the time? Is it time yet? Is this the time for the promised renewal? Is this the time that
we will see you in all your glory and power? Is this the time?
As we engage in this text, let’s look back a bit historically. Long before our times of waiting, our ancestors had been
waiting and waiting ~ waiting for freedom: waiting in Egyptian chains, waiting as slaves in Babylon, Assyria, waiting
under the oppressive Roman rule. They had waited…received glimmers of hope…and waited…and waited….and
waited. They were acquainted with waiting very well. Read all the many Psalms of lament in the book of Psalms.
Hear it again in the Acts reading: “When will you restore the Kingdom of Israel?” When we will be free ~ free to
worship, free to love, free to be?
Does this sound familiar to any of you? It does to me. This is the language that we have been hearing (and perhaps
using) ~ the language of our deep fear; the language of sincere prayer; the language of desire for release: Looking
back, the pandemic brought with it an element of imprisonment. We found ourselves staying home, we had an
experience of lockdown ~ separated and isolated. We felt the yearning for freedoms lost, for connection and the
restoration of all that was normal. We collectively sung of our yearning, of our hope, for restoration: “how long O
Lord, how long?’ We shout with the disciples: when…when…when? When will the Kingdom of Israel be restored?
When will our lives be restored?
So what do we do during the waiting time? It seems that there are a number of strategies we have been employing.
I will offer what I observed (and sometimes use myself). I’ll offer these strategies without any judgement, and
encourage us to remember these as expressions of our full humanity. Firstly, some of us through the waiting might
employ saintly patience during this time. This person employs an ‘all will be well’ stance as they adopt what we
might call a ‘patience of Job’ outlook. These patient saints have become adept at placing their faith in our leaders,
never complaining or fearing over how this things are unfolding or when it will end. The cry in the text “how long, O
Lord” is replaced by a saintly patience “all will be well.” Is that you? When your heart is crying “how long will it last, O Lord?” are you able to hold that cry in tension with a saintly patience that “all will be well?”
Apart from a saintly patience, there is an attitude of distraction. In a long car ride, with children asking “are we there
yet?”, veteran parents distract these impatient car riders with games and songs and snacks. In some of our
situations, some distractions allow us to pass the time and make this period one we can deal with. Some
distractions can be harmless or even healthy. For example, during the pandemic, some folks received it as a ‘gift of
time’ to tidy up, to bake, to garden, to read, to…do the things that one never seems to have the time to do.
Distraction is not always a neutral approach. It can also be the fuelling source for one’s addition to substances as
they distract themselves and numb the pain to get through the challenges. I am sure that are also proud of our
church for offering space for people facing various addictions with the 12 step movement. Presently, we host
programs for people dealing with gambling and alcohol addiction.
Now, apart from saintly-patience and distraction (of various forms), there is that attitude of just ‘going with the flow’.
It is one of pushing through each day just getting lost in the flow. In an comedic and extreme example, this is seen in
the comedy movie, starring Bill Murray, “Groundhog Day”. You might recall this movie with the characters stuck in a
repeating vortex of the same day…over and over. It becomes an unending cycle which repeats day after day after
day after day. Such an approach for us is one of just proceeding through. What day is it today, we ask? With the
absence of any rhythm of the week to keep us on track, we lose ourselves ~ no designated workdays, schooldays,
church-days, volunteer-days, activity-days: we increasingly find ourselves lost in the vortex where each day flows
into the next.
If you are like me, you probably found that your cries of “How long Lord…how long?” have been countered by a
combination the three responses I shared. At times, we have exhibited saintly patience; at others we have employed
distraction; and at others, we found have ourselves lost in the repeating vortex of the challenges before us. If you
are in a difficult time and space right now; if you are asking: “Lord is it time?”, perhaps you see yourself among
these three responses right now?
Yet…there is another consideration for us. There is a fourth option that arises from the text in Acts. As the reading
continues, after the Apostle’s question to Jesus: “Lord, is this the time when you will restore the kingdom to Israel?”
comes Jesus’ response that has the potential to inform our faith these during uncertain times. Jesus replies to Paul’s
question: “It is not for you to know the times or periods that the Father has set by his own authority.” And following
after Jesus’ reply, there is a powerful assurance, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon
you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” The beauty
of this text is that it points us towards living into a receptive posture, ready to receive God’s Spirit. Jesus denotes
this time of yearning as the time to receive God’s growth; this is the time to go deep into your faith. When is the
time? Jesus replies…This is a time for a growth, perhaps, like never before in our very lives. Karl Barth, the great
Swiss theologian of the last century offers us a helpful theological concept that relates to our conversation: Barth
talked about the waiting as being the “significant pause.” The waiting / significant pause is a challenge for all the
faithful who wait upon the arrival of God. The waiting or “the significant pause” is very significant because it speaks
to how people of faith choose to live in the uncertainty. It is significant because it speaks to how people of faith live
in the unknown; how we live in the times of waiting. When we are active and faithful ~ waiting for the promised
arrival of God’s Kingdom ~ all of us sudden its arrival comes through our participation in it. Actively embracing times
of yearning and longing as a “significant pause” allows God to be alive, and at work, in you.
This Sunday brings us to the conclusion of the 50-day season of Eastertide. This Seventh Sunday of Easter, or
Ascension Sunday, lifts up the text’s reference of Jesus’ ascension to the heavens. Jesus’ ascension is an
assurance of our full connection with God through the eternal connection established in Jesus. Now, we certainly
don’t have the same understanding of a 3-tiered universe that was prevalent back in biblical times as we read of
Jesus ascending into the heavens. The biblical writers conceptualized God exclusively located in the heavens
above; the reality of our human existence here in our earthly plane, and the presence of a hell below. Yet, as we
consider the meaning of Jesus’ ascension today, this text can still speak to us in fresh ways. It reminds and assures
us of the connection Jesus establishes for us with the promised return of God. And it not only assures of our
connection with God in Jesus; it also does the reverse. The ascension challenges us of God’s connection through
us, and what that means. The text concludes: “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up toward heaven? This
Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go.” Think about
what this means, and how it calls us into faithful living! We are being called to live on the ready; we are ones who
need to live with hearts open to receive the coming Spirit. This is not just a void time of simply waiting. It is to be an
active and significant time. It becomes a “significant pause” time as we prepare for the birthing of the Kingdom to
come.
One of the most faithful articulations of how we might live in the yearning and waiting was offered by 16 th Century
Christian mystic Teresa of Avilla. In her blessing, she calls us to make this pause time significant by living in the
ready. And, so, I would like to close our conversation with her blessing: “Christ has no body but yours. No hands, no
feet on earth but yours. Yours are the eyes with which He looks compassion on this world. Yours are the feet with
which he walks to do good. Yours are the hands with which he blesses all the world. Yours are hands; yours are the
feet; yours are the eyes. You are his body. Christ has no body now but yours. No hands, no feet on earth but yours.”
Amen.