“Now What?”
Preached Sunday, May 29, 2022
Have you ever said to yourself “Now what???”
There are times in our lives we all ask this question. Graduation is a big one - whether it’s high school or college or whatever. The future can seem wide open and we may be filled with excitement and anticipation. I still recall this feeling post high school and college…but I also remember the stress and anxiety of it all too. Where am I going to live? Am I going to have a job? What’s next? The future was supposed to be exciting but it also stressed me out!
And there are other times we ask ourselves “Now what?” I know many of you asked that of yourselves when you retired or even now as you approach retirement. It’s a huge life change and I bet it is also a mix of anticipation and excitement and maybe a little bit of loss and anxiety too. Just all wrapped up together. When your life as you know changes.
There are the “now what’s” Of divorce. Of a diagnosis. Of the death of a loved one. Of tragedies. Of violence - like that at a Supermarket in Buffalo. And an elementary school in Ulveda.
These now what’s - especially after death and tragedy - these now what’s are painful and agonizing. They are not asked because the future is wide open - they are asked because you can’t see a way forward, you can’t see a future, you don’t know how life is supposed to continue after this.
My heart is broken and keeps on breaking open for all those parents and families who are currently asking “now what?” after the senseless murder of their children.
My voice keeps on echoing theirs: Now what? How long, O Lord, how long…
We’ll come back to this.
The disciples asked “Now what?” after Jesus ascended. The Ascension is what we call that event that we read about in Acts today. When, 40 days after his resurrection, Jesus ascended into Heaven. After dying, rising again, and making many appearances among his disciples, it was time for Jesus to pass the baton. To give the gift of the Holy Spirit. And to ascend to his eternal throne. The book of Acts starts with the Ascension. You may have noticed that in the bulletin or when I said our Scripture out loud today. Chapter 1, Verse 1. Because the rest of the book of Acts is the disciples trying to figure out what’s next for them as followers of Jesus. “Now what?” they asked. What do followers do when the one they are following is no longer here? When Jesus was arrested and put on the cross the answer was run away, scatter, deny, hide. But this time was different. Jesus was not here anymore but he was not dead - he was alive - they had seen him with their own eyes, touched him with their own hands - everything had changed. They no longer believed that death had the final say and that changed everything for them. So the “Now what?” could not be to give up and go home. It could not be to continue business as usual. It had to be something new. The followers of Jesus now became leaders of a whole movement. Leaders of the church. They were now the only hands and feet and mouths that Jesus had on this Earth.
The disciples were followers when Jesus was alive, almost more observers than anything.
When Jesus died, they went on the defensive, scared and afraid.
And now, after their Lord’s resurrection, after his ascension, it was finally time to go on the offensive. To do something. And to do it right and to do it big.
And what was that what?
Jesus told them what “the what” was.
Acts 1:8: “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.” These are Jesus’s final instructions, his parting words to his disciples. A variation of these parting words, what we know as The Great Commission, is in 3 out of the 4 Gospels too.
Matthew 28:19-20: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
Mark 16:15: “Go into all the world and proclaim the good news to the whole creation.”
Luke 24:46-48: “Thus it is written, that the Messiah is to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day and that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things.”
Every Gospel writer was writing to a slightly different audience - a slightly different “now” but their what’s are all basically the same. So to summarize these 4 Scriptures I am going to morph them together. Our WHAT is: With the help of the Holy Spirit, we are to be witnesses of the Good News of Jesus Christ: of his call to repentance, his forgiveness of sins, his teachings of love, his conquering of death. We are witnesses TO ALL through our proclamations, our actions, all we say and do.
THIS was the disciples' WHAT.
And THIS is our WHAT.
The United Methodist church sums up this “what” in our mission: to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.
Grace United Methodist Church sums it up with our mission: to invite all into a joyous and caring Christian community.
They are different turns of phrases that respond to different contexts, different “nows,” but they are all part of The Great Commission that Jesus gave to his disciples at his ascension and has been handed down to us today.
Our Bishop Tracy Smith Malone always says “keep the main thing, the main thing.” THIS is the main thing: to be witnesses for Jesus.
The disciples lived in a unique period in history. That shaped how they lived out the “what” - and we can read all about it in the rest of the book of Acts.
And we too live in a unique time in history - for better and for worse. And I know that a lot of us today are asking, “Now what?”
Now what - for our lives. Whatever stage of life and whatever situation you find yourself in.
Now what - for the Church. Maybe it’s the ongoing separation of some churches in the United Methodist Church. For the record, Grace isn’t going anywhere. Or maybe it’s just the decline of churches and religiosity in this country that’s worrying you.
Now what - for our world. Especially in light of the war in Ukraine. Or possibly how to deal with the ongoing Covid pandemic.
And I know today, a deep and heavy “now what” for our country. And this country's children as we all reel from the senseless violence that was the murder of elementary school students at the hands of a man, barely a man, 18 years old, and filled with hate and rage - almost still a kid himself - armed with AR-style rifles.
Now what?
The “what” hasn’t changed.
The “now” has.
And we need to adapt and live out the “what” according to our “now.” Now more than ever.
I would like to read an excerpt from a letter written by Bishop Bickerson, the President of the Council of Bishops, on behalf of The United Methodist Council of Bishops. The excerpt is a little long, a small part of his words to us. And I believe they are important for us to hear today:
“My outrage and anger demand a statement, but my love of people demands action.
I spend my life thinking about people. I am a person of prayer. But this cycle of violence has reached a point where there are no words good enough, no statement that meets the need, no thought that will salve the wound and heal the hurt.
I believe that we must, with conviction, determine how we are going to move from words to actions. We have to find a way to keep these stories on the front page of our consciousness and let nothing detract from our commitment to curb violence, fight for justice, end systemic racism, elect politicians with courage, deeply listen to those who have been harmed, and genuinely seek the power of the Holy Spirit to lift us from this posture of paralysis into a mode of action that does not deny the need for thoughts and prayers but realizes that there is a need for more, so much more.
We have to come to terms with how we are going to fix this. We absolutely have done nothing different and, as a result, the cycle of violence and the denial of human life just continues. We are paralyzed into a posture of inactivity that only allows the same story and the same response to happen over and over again. And as a result, we live our lives on the defense, always reacting to something that has already taken place around us.
My “statement” today is quite simple: Let’s go on the offense. If you are a pastor, weave our theology of a lived-out faith into sermons that challenge people to convert their fears, angers, racist tendencies, and complicit behaviors into a mobilized witness of the power of God to do far more than we could ever dream of or imagine. If you are a lay person, determine today how you will take the faith you nurture each week in a pew to the streets, the places where you work, and the homes where you live. If you are a church body, don’t settle for just active shooter training.
Determine that you will actively work to transform lives from violence to peace, elect officials that will not settle for inaction, and inject communities with the grace and love of Christ that will alter the course of our current behaviors.
Let’s go on the offense today and play whatever role we can to change the cycle of violence, end racism and other behaviors that treat people less than they were created to be, and create a narrative that will compel people to live a life with a heart of peace…
…The call today is for every United Methodist Christian to go on the offense, stating what we believe the power of God can do in our midst, opening ourselves to [the] power of God at work within us, and doing whatever we can to alter the current course of behavior once and for all.”
End quote.
The disciples after Jesus’s ascension were compelled to ACT. They moved from defense, reacting to what was happening, to offense - being leaders in a movement - living out the WHAT of the Great Commission, being witnesses to the Good News of Jesus Christ. They were the ones who, with the help of the Holy Spirit, were witnesses of the Good News of Jesus Christ: of his call to repentance, his forgiveness of sins, his teachings of love, his conquering of death. They were witnesses TO ALL through their proclamations, their actions, all that they said and did. And look at what they said and did. We are here today because of them. The world has been changed because of them.
And today we need to do the same. We need to stop thinking that someone else is going to make this world a better place. That someone else will be moved to act. That someone else is going to make it all right. Friends, WE are the ones who have been called to be witnesses to the Good News. WE are the ones who have received the gift of the Holy Spirit. WE are the ones who are the hands and feet of Christ in this world. WE need to move to the offense: to be witnesses of the Good News, of Jesus - of a radical way of life and peace and repentance and forgiveness - something the likes of which our world has never seen before in our NOW.
Our time is NOW.
Our “what” is to radically be witnesses of the transforming love and life of Jesus in this world - until that day when the “now” is God’s realm of peace - when children will fear bullets no more. When weapons will be beaten into plowshares. When the lion lies down with the lamb. And all the world will be in the Kingdom of the Prince of Peace, whose reign shall have no end.
…The call today is for every United Methodist Christian to go on the offense, stating what we believe the power of God can do in our midst, opening ourselves to [the] power of God at work within us, and doing whatever we can to alter the current course of behavior once and for all.”
End quote.
The disciples after Jesus’s ascension were compelled to ACT. They moved from defense, reacting to what was happening, to offense - being leaders in a movement - living out the WHAT of the Great Commission, being witnesses to the Good News of Jesus Christ. They were the ones who, with the help of the Holy Spirit, were witnesses of the Good News of Jesus Christ: of his call to repentance, his forgiveness of sins, his teachings of love, his conquering of death. They were witnesses TO ALL through their proclamations, their actions, all that they said and did. And look at what they said and did. We are here today because of them. The world has been changed because of them.
And today we need to do the same. We need to stop thinking that someone else is going to make this world a better place. That someone else will be moved to act. That someone else is going to make it all right. Friends, WE are the ones who have been called to be witnesses to the Good News. WE are the ones who have received the gift of the Holy Spirit. WE are the ones who are the hands and feet of Christ in this world. WE need to move to the offense: to be witnesses of the Good News, of Jesus - of a radical way of life and peace and repentance and forgiveness - something the likes of which our world has never seen before in our NOW.
Our time is NOW.
Our “what” is to radically be witnesses of the transforming love and life of Jesus in this world - until that day when the “now” is God’s realm of peace - when children will fear bullets no more. When weapons will be beaten into plowshares. When the lion lies down with the lamb. And all the world will be in the Kingdom of the Prince of Peace, whose reign shall have no end.
Amen.
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