Easter 7 Acts 16:16-34
28 May 2006 Rev. 22:12-14, 16-17,20-21
Psalm 1 John 17: 20-26
A couple of nights ago, I met with a group of guys from BLC who are planning the Spirit Ride Sunday. One of them had a copy of a book entitled Discovering Hope. This book was the centerpiece of a program that came to our synod a few years ago. As I looked at the book I was reminded of that program, also entitled DISCOVERING HOPE.
The program is designed to help churches, especially in those rural areas who are experiencing a decline in population, rediscover their sense of being, their purpose for being in ministry in their particular place and time, their hope for the future. I feel this program has much to offer, not only to our synod, but to the entire church and all rural areas, that I volunteered to be on a team planning another seminar within our synod for folks who believe there is hope in our place in this time. I see this hope business as an integral part of our faith life. I think we have scared ourselves into believing there is no hope left in the rural and have paralyzed ourselves and do nothing, because “WHAT’S THE USE?” And nothing could be further from the truth. For there is still much ministry for us to do in our corner of God’s creation. And, there is still hope to be found in our individual lives and our corporate lives as a church, as a parish, as a community, as a synod, as the ELCA and as the world-wide church of our Lord Jesus Christ.
One of the activities we engaged in at the seminar was to gather in small groups of 3-4 with folks you don’t know and hear stories of how God is working in our congregations. And the more we visited, the more we began to realize we were DISCOVERING HOPE!!
The Spirit of God was falling upon those who were gathered that day. And the mission statement of the SW MN Synod was coming alive:
GOD PLACES US IN CITIES, FARMS AND TOWNS TOGETHER UNDER ONE PRAIRIE SKY. THE RISEN CHRIST SURPRISES US WITH OPPORTUNITIES TO PLANT GOD’S WORD IN THE WORLD. WALKING TOGETHER IN CONFIDENCE, WE CULTIVATE LIFE-GIVING CONGREGATIONS, NURTURE PARTNER MINISTRIES, AND COOPERATE IN THE LIFE OF THE ELCA. BY GOD’S GRACE, TOGETHER WE HAVE WHAT WE NEED.
BY GOD’S GRACE….THAT IS WHERE THE HOPE COMES FROM!!!
And that is what we see and hear in the lessons for today. In the first lesson, in the first verse, notice where they were going….to a place of prayer. Then what happens? Paul performs a miracle in the name of Jesus. After he and Silas are thrown into jail, we are told that the two of them prayed and sang hymns to God. In the midst of trouble, they prayed to God.
A good example for us to remember.
In the gospel lesson for today, Jesus prays for his followers that they might keep on believing and witnessing to the fact that as Jesus prays to the Father that all may be one as he and the Father are one. God is source and supplier of all we need, including hope for the future.
The second lesson spells it out in simple language:
BLESSED ARE THOSE WHO WASH THEIR ROBES, SO THAT THEY WILL HAVE THE RIGHT TO THE TREE OF LIFE AND MAY ENTER THE CITY BY THE GATES
And right there is the hope that the church, you and I are called to witness to. All who believe in Jesus as God’s Son and Savior have eternal life. This is the message of the church. We as the church of Jesus Christ are the only ones in the world who have this message of life, and we are called and commanded by Jesus to share it.
The message we proclaim has at its center overcoming the final enemy. And you know, no one person, no one organization, no one country, no matter how advanced, can stand up to this final enemy, which is death. Only God is able to defeat death through our Lord Jesus Christ. And that my dear Christian friends, is where the real and true hope for us and for the world is to be found. Pray that God may open our eyes and ears so that we too may be about DISCOVERING HOPE here and now and that God would empower us to share the message of hope in Jesus Christ. AMEN