DON T TALK ABOUT IT FEAST OF THE ASCENSION MAY 28, 2017 BECKY ROBBINS-PENNIMAN CHURCH OF THE GOOD SHEPHERD, DUNEDIN, FL COLLECT OF THE DAY Let us pray... Almighty God, your only Son was taken into the heavens and in your presence intercedes for us. Receive us and our prayers for all the world, and in the end bring everything into your glory, through Jesus Christ, our Sovereign and Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. 2 KINGS 2:1 12 Now the Lord was going to take Elijah up to heaven in a windstorm, and Elijah and Elisha were leaving Gilgal. Elijah said to Elisha, Stay here, because the Lord has sent me to Bethel. But Elisha said, As the Lord lives and as you live, I won t leave you. So they went down to Bethel. The group of prophets from Bethel came out to Elisha. These prophets said to Elisha, Do you know that the Lord is going to take your master away from you? Elisha said, Yes, I know. Don t talk about it! Elijah said, Elisha, stay here, because the Lord has sent me to Jericho. But Elisha said, As the Lord lives and as you live, I won t leave you. So they went to Jericho. The group of prophets from Jericho approached Elisha and said to him, Do you know that the Lord is going to take your master away from you today? He said, Yes, I know. Don t talk about it! Elijah said to Elisha, Stay here, because the Lord has sent me to the Jordan. But Elisha said, As the Lord lives and as you live, I won t leave you. So both of them went on together. Fifty members from the group of prophets also went along, but they stood at a distance. Both Elijah and Elisha stood beside the Jordan River. Elijah then took his coat, rolled it up, and hit the water. Then the water was divided in two! Both of them crossed over on dry ground. When they had crossed, Elijah said to Elisha, What do you want me to do for you before I m taken away from you? Elisha said, Let me have twice your spirit. Elijah said, You ve made a difficult request. If you can see me when I m taken from you, then it will be yours. If you don t see me, it won t happen. They were walking along, talking, when suddenly a fiery chariot and fiery horses appeared and separated the two of them. Then Elijah went to heaven in a windstorm. Elisha was watching, and he cried out, Oh, my father, my father! Israel s chariots and its riders! When he could no longer see him, Elisha took hold of his clothes and ripped them in two. PSALM 47 Clap your hands, all you peoples; shout to God with a cry of joy. For the Lord Most High is to be feared; he is the great King over all the earth. He subdues the peoples under us, and the nations under our feet. He chooses our inheritance for us, the pride of Jacob whom he loves. God has gone up with a shout, the Lord with the sound of the ram s-horn. Sing praises to God, sing praises; sing praises to our King, sing praises. For God is King of all the earth; sing praises with all your skill. God reigns over the nations; God sits upon his holy throne. The nobles of the peoples have gathered together with the people of the God of Abraham. The rulers of the earth belong to God, and he is highly exalted. Copyright notices: The Scripture text (except for the Psalm) is from the Common English Bible, CEB, Copyright 2010, 2011 by Common English Bible. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Unless otherwise noted, all other content is original and copyrighted by Becky Robbins-Penniman, 2017. All rights reserved.
2 EPHESIANS 1:15 23 Since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all God s people, this is the reason that I don t stop giving thanks to God for you when I remember you in my prayers. I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, will give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation that makes God known to you. I pray that the eyes of your heart will have enough light to see what is the hope of God s call, what is the richness of God s glorious inheritance among believers, and what is the overwhelming greatness of God s power that is working among us believers. This power is conferred by the energy of God s powerful strength. God s power was at work in Christ when God raised him from the dead and sat him at God s right side in the heavens, far above every ruler and authority and power and angelic power, any power that might be named not only now but in the future. God put everything under Christ s feet and made him head of everything in the church, which is his body. His body, the church, is the fullness of Christ, who fills everything in every way. LUKE 24:44 53 Jesus said to them, These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you that everything written about me in the Law from Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms must be fulfilled. Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures. He said to them, This is what is written: the Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and a change of heart and life for the forgiveness of sins must be preached in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. Look, I m sending to you what my Father promised, but you are to stay in the city until you have been furnished with heavenly power. He led them out as far as Bethany, where he lifted his hands and blessed them. As he blessed them, he left them and was taken up to heaven. They worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem overwhelmed with joy. And they were continuously in the temple praising God. Song of the Day: Rejoice, the Lord of Life Ascends ************************************************************************** DON T TALK ABOUT IT. We re funny creatures, we humans. When we don t like something, when we don t want it to be true, we say I don t want to talk about it, as if our avoidance will make it not happen. Elisha didn t want to talk about Elijah s imminent death. It s abundantly clear that Elisha was attached to Elijah, and was very anxious about what was happening. Last week I talked about loneliness, and this week I m going to focus on anxiety, which is a form of fear. Anxiety is a particular kind of fear that is based not so much on what IS but on what WILL BE; anxiety is all bound up in what might go wrong. I m not saying it s wrong or even unreasonable to look at the future and be realistic about what s possible - just the opposite! We should talk about it, figure out the options, and maybe even ASK FOR HELP, as Gus just did in the Stewardship Moment. But looking with the eyes of fear will make the world a dark place. Let s go back to our story about Elisha and Elijah. Elijah is the one whose life on this planet is about to end. He doesn t fret about that, he goes on a farewell tour and ends up at the Jordan River near Jericho to do what needs to be done. Elisha, his apprentice, doesn t want to talk about Elijah s leaving, but won t let it go, either. So he goes with Elijah.
3 While walking and talking, Elisha evidently stopped fretting about the future and starting planning for it by trusting his very life to God. When Elijah asks him what he wants, Elisha makes a brave request: I want a double portion of your spirit. Now, this does not mean that he wanted to be twice as spirit-filled as Elijah. The Holy Spirit is indivisible, and doesn t come in bits and pieces. I ve got 12 pieces of the Holy Spirit. How much do YOU have? Nope, either we get the gift of the Spirit, or we don t. The Double portion isn t a literal term; it s a legal one. It means Elisha wanted the birthright, to be Elijah s designated heir and successor, the one to continue his work when Elijah was gone. This double portion is from the ancient inheritance laws. The eldest son received twice as much as the younger sons. If a father had 20 acres and four sons, the land got divided by five. Three sons got 4 acres; the one with the birthright got twice that: 8 It wasn t like the eldest hit the lottery, though; he was then responsible for the dead man s estate, including all the dependents who lived in the house. 1 As Elijah s heir, if Elisha were made the next prophet of Israel, he would be responsible for the house of Israel as their prophet. That was a very risky business to get into, as much then as now. Elijah basically said Elisha was crazy to ask to be in the prophet business it would be a hard life, and to do it he would need to give 100% of his attention to what God was doing in the world. That s what prophets DO: tell folks what GOD is up to, whether they like it or not, and a lot of times those in power and not so crazy about God s plans versus theirs. Even so, when we pay attention to what God is up to, and can do it without our agenda getting in the way, we just might see amazing things. Elisha paid attention, and saw the whirlwind, saw God s chariot and horses. Whoa. He then got the double portion, and became God s prophet. And, Elijah was right; Elisha had just as hard a time getting Israel s kings to listen to God as Elijah did. Anyone who spends time reading scripture will quickly learn that terrible things happen, not only to God s prophets, but to all kinds of faithful people, including God s own son. Faith in God doesn t put us in bubble wrap, faith in God makes us fully alive, aware of God s presence in life, with a far greater capacity to face the worst, to trust that, however awful things might get for us, in the end, love wins. Or, as we put it around here, ZIP-A-DEE-DOO-DAH! The psalm today is exultant in the proclamation in the God of love, the King of all kings of the world. This is was the language they had to say: people come and people go; armies come and armies go; nations come and nations go; but our good God endures and, in the end, love wins. I m not preaching that everything s really hunky dory. That s a lie. It wasn t all hunky dory for ancient Israel, for Jesus, or for Paul. I am preaching that we get more of whatever it is that we pay the most attention to. 1 K.W. Leslie, Elisha s Double Portion, http://www.christalmighty.net/search?q=double+portion and http://www.christalmighty.net/2016/05/double.html#more.
4 So, if we re looking through the eyes of fear to find what is awful, we will find what is awful, become even more afraid, take the next step of worrying about what we re afraid MIGHT happen, and soon the world is a dark and terrifying place. Paul knew all about what can go wrong for people of faith; he was imprisoned and beaten for his faith in Jesus many times. Paul wrote this letter to the Ephesians while he was in prison in Rome and he would be dead within a year or two. If anyone had an excuse to use the eyes of fear it was Paul. but look at what he writes about to those Ephesians, praying that the eyes of your heart will have enough light to see what is the hope of God s call, what is the richness of God s glorious inheritance among believers, and what is the overwhelming greatness of God s power that is working among us believers. This power is conferred by the energy of God s powerful strength. Paul prays that we look at the world with the eyes of their hearts, not eyes full of fear, but full of hope, faith, hope, love, thanksgiving, light, God s power and glory, and, like the psalmist, trust that, through Christ, God is still acting, God is healing creation, and love wins. Paul tells Christians that, like Elisha, we need to ask for our inheritance, which is God s power, the power that ALREADY has overcome humanity s greatest fear: death. When we look through the eyes of our hearts using God s light, actively looking for what God is doing in the world, we will find what we are paying attention to, as Elisha did, as Paul did. Then what? What s to be our response? Paul tells us: it is to give thanks. Eucharist. Something we pay a lot of attention to doing EVERY SUNDAY. Paul had two of the most precious gifts of the Spirit we can ask for, the ability to be optimistic about the future, and an attitude of gratitude. It has been a while since I said that the there are two spiritual practices to deal with our fear and anxiety that are ALMOST silver bullets. The first is to stop looking at stuff over which you have no control that makes you anxious. For most of us, this means turning off the TV. I m not advocating avoidance or ignorance; we need to be informed of and talk about the issues of the day. But we don t need to pump propaganda and opinion into our minds. The second is to give thanks for at least 10 things every day; unless we re having a really bad day, and then we need to give thanks for at least 100 things. I was reminded of this practice when I came across something written by one of my oldest friends, a guy I knew in high school named Dave Carr. I ve visited him and his wife in Asheville a couple of times. God has filled the eyes of Dave s heart with light. Dave actively seeks ways to be the Body of Christ in the world, to put his faith into action. He does that in many ways, but the one I see most often is his blog, called Carrpe Diem, seize the day. He, Dave Carr, spells Carrpe with 2 Rs. Har har. His love of puns has not changed a lick since 1970.
5 In his blog last week, Dave asked, What Makes You Happy? He writes a lot of great things, but this is what I want to highlight today. 2 Being happy, free of anxiety, ready for whatever the future brings, means practicing gratitude; then he starts a list of things for which he s grateful. Dave is grateful for ordinary, everyday miracles such as running water coming out of a kitchen faucet, duct tape, pocket knives and dryer sheets. He is grateful for the ability to take his dog, Jackson, on a walk. Just a few of the other things from his list: Wrapping both hands around that first mug of delicious coffee, smelling its aroma, and taking that first sip. Seeing people smile after he has smiled at them. Seeing a V formation in the sky. This reminds him of his father. Watching a butterfly move from flower to flower. This reminds him of his mother. Holding hands with his wife, Terri, in a movie or watching television. Eating pan-fried okra. (OK, I m NOT putting that one on my list.) Breaking bread with family Sailing. Hearing his children end a phone call with, "I love you, Dad." Looking at photo albums and remembering the good times. Meeting a friend for coffee. Giving money to a panhandler. (How wonderful we have something to give, a way to help others.) I don t know about you, but reading HIS gratitudes gives ME hope, even though my list is very different. Especially the okra. I want to mention just things from my list now. I am grateful to serve a church of amazing people, truly the Body of Christ, who look for ways to serve God and God s people, who say YES a lot. I m especially grateful for a Vestry, both the folks serving now and in the years since I got here, who are not afraid to talk about tough challenges and find ways through to a better tomorrow. I am grateful for my dad and all veterans who put their lives on the line, and especially those who actually gave their lives for our freedom. And, today especially, I am grateful for Robert Charles Shone and his faithful, excellent ministry with us for the past 9 years. We will be celebrating this ministry more fully after the service. Most of all, I am grateful to love and serve a God that has connected heaven and earth, through prophets and saints, but most of all through the ascended Christ, who, as the Collect of the Day reminds us, is interceding for us. We are never alone. Through his life, death, resurrection and ascension, my mind has been opened and my heart has been given eyes and to see the overwhelming greatness of God s power that is working among us believers. I see you all are AWESOME, and I am overwhelmed with joy. 2 http://carrpediem.blogspot.com/2017/05/what-makes-you-happy.html