(St. Mark's and St. James')
When we get stressed and feel tense, our breathing becomes quick and shallow. One of the easiest ways to de-stress is to slow down and breathe. Inhale slowly, deeply, steadily, paying attention to the breath, feeling your abdomen, rib cage and chest expand. Then exhale slowly, completely.
I feel better already. ;-)
Focusing on our God-given breath is also a very basic way to meditate. We can sit quietly, focusing on our breath that comes from the One in whom we live and move and have our being. Short prayers can be added to the inhale and exhale, like little mantras. Often when I wake up in the middle of the night focusing on breath prayer helps me get back to sleep—otherwise sometimes my mind starts going off in all directions. So I’ll inwardly say “You are my breath,” on the inhale, and “you are my rest” on the exhale.
People who use the Jesus Prayer contemplatively also tie it into the breathing cycle. For me, it’s “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God” on the inhale and “Have mercy on me, a sinner,” on the exhale. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, Have mercy on me a sinner.
Have you ever heard the phrase “Caesar’s Breath?” It’s kind of a scientific term, a teaching tool. It’s the idea that when Augustus Caesar was murdered by Brutus, he released an enormous number of molecules in his last breath, mostly nitrogen and carbon dioxide. Someone with perhaps a lot of time on his hand calculated that the number of molecules is .05 X 6 X 10 to the 23rd. 10 to the 23rd alone is a ridiculous number, a 10 with 22 zeros following it.
So what happened to all of these molecules? Some would have been absorbed by plants, and some by animals, and some by water, and the rest would float around the earth so that, with every breath we take, we inhale at least one or two molecules that came from Caesar’s last breath.
As we gather here today, you and I are exchanging molecules as we breathe.
Now think of our Gospel. “Jesus breathed on them and said, ‘receive the Holy Spirit.’” Jesus breathed on them. While we may be taking in Caesar’s breath, it’s just as likely that we are inhaling molecules from Jesus’ breath. And by his breath, we share in his life.
Because In the scriptures, breath is life. Think about Genesis chapter 2:
The LORD God formed a man's body from the dust of the ground and breathed into it the breath of life. And the man became a living person (v.7).
God breathed into it the breath of life.
And how about that strange story in Ezekiel—well much of Ezekiel is strange, but the story about the dry bones in the desert.
So I prophesied as I had been commanded; and as I prophesied, suddenly there was a noise, a rattling, and the bones came together, bone to its bone. I looked, and there were sinews on them, and flesh had come upon them, and skin had covered them; but there was no breath in them. Then he said to me, "Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, mortal, and say to the breath: Thus says the Lord GOD: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live." I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived . . . (37:7-10).
Breath is life. And Jesus breathes on the disciples and they receive his life in the form of the Holy Spirit. Christ’s breath, the breath he breathed on the disciples that day, is still circulating, still with us. And it is certainly greater, more powerful, more life-giving by far than Caesar’s breath. It was the very breath of God incarnate.
So just how does this event compare with the coming of the Holy Spirit in the 2nd chapter of Acts, our first lesson today? After all, our Gospel reading takes place on the night of the Resurrection, when the disciples are locked up in fear and Jesus comes among them. It’s the story of when Thomas wasn’t there, and a week later Thomas saw Jesus, his scars, his side, his hands, his feet, and said, “My lord and my God.” Surely it was the Spirit who enabled him to say that, even though he hadn’t been present that first night. But with Christ’s breath, the power of the Spirit was unleashed, perhaps like the act of conception, and the Birth, the ultimate gift, was given 50 days later, after Jesus had ascended to the Father.
In both cases, in the quiet breath of Jesus, and the powerful theophany of the Spirit in Acts, his disciples were entrusted with a mission. They are sent to do God’s work in the world, to be Christ in the world.
And as we have received the Holy Spirit at our baptisms, we too are sent to do God’s work in the world, to be Christ in the world. We have received the power of the Holy Spirit. The same power that transformed fearful, doubting, ordinary men into fearless, confident, extraordinary apostles and missionaries is available to us. The power to transform the world. The life-giving Spirit, the very breath of God is our breath.
Discipleship is not just about believing in Jesus, though that of course must be part of it. It’s also about the indwelling of Jesus the Son, through the Holy Spirit. By the power of the Holy Spirit, Jesus lives in us, and we in him. “To receive Christ is to obtain the Sprit; to be filled by the Holy Spirit is to experience the living presence of Jesus Christ within. Christian transformation is Christ at work within us, bringing about his glory in our Spirit-led renewal” (Burge, Gary M. The NIV Application Commentary: John, Zondervan, p. 575).
In the book of Acts the giving of the Spirit seems to be about power and the outward manifestations of he Spirit’s presence, but in the Gospel that’s not the main point. In John the emphasis is on relationships, and especially the relationship Jesus wants to have with his disciples, both then and now. This relationship has its foundations in the work of the Holy Spirit. “Christian discipleship is a union with Jesus Christ that empowers and transforms, that is mystical, that exceeds our rational abilities to understand and quantify. To make it less is to miss the work that Jesus tried to accomplish with his followers on the first Easter” (ibid, 576).
One of my favorite personal prayers, especially when settling down to pray, will probably have new meaning now, remembering that with my breath I am breathing in elements of Jesus’ breath. It goes like this: “Lord, you are closer to me than my own breath. May each breath that I take deepen my awareness of your presence.”
The Holy Spirit is Christ’s presence within us, empowering us, and especially enabling us to have a relationship with both the Father and the Son.
I also love some of our hymns that focus on the work of the Spirit, and especially this one:
1. Breathe on me, Breath of God,
fill me with life anew,
that I may love what thou dost love,
and do what thou wouldst do.
2. Breathe on me, Breath of God,
until my heart is pure,
until with thee I will one will,
to do and to endure.
3. Breathe on me, Breath of God,
till I am wholly thine,
till all this earthly part of me
glows with thy fire divine.
Saturday, June 6, 2009
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
7 Easter (Sunday after Ascension)
(St. Stephen's)
I don’t know if it’s just me, but it seems like the older I get, the faster time goes. Anybody else feel the same way? It certainly seems like this year is simply flying!! It’s hard to believe that it’s Memorial Weekend—though it is a bit early, isn’t it? And can you believe that it’s been 6 weeks since Easter!! And that in another week it will be June? And schools will be out for the lazy hazy days of summer . . . and I’m sure for many of us the summer will fly by also.
So today I’d like to slow things down, turn back the calendar, go back in time to last Thursday. The Feast of the Ascension. This is one of the most forgotten, most overlooked major feast day in the Episcopal Calendar. Along with Christmas and Easter, major feast days include Epiphany, Pentecost, and All Saints Day. And of course Ascension Day. With apologies to those of you who celebrated Ascension last Wednesday with Fr. Swan and Fr. Tim, I’d like to take a closer look at the Ascension. After all, today is both the 7th Sunday after Easter—and the Sunday After Ascension Day.
The Ascension is the only Major feast that is never, ever celebrated on a Sunday—because it’s always 40 days after Easter, 10 days before Pentecost. It’s always on a Thursday. And while most of us can draw on special memories associated with many of the other feast days, maybe even besides Christmas and Easter, most of us probably don’t have great memories or experiences related to the Ascension of our Lord.
So I’ll share mine with you. Ascension Day is the day in 2003 that my father died. He hadn’t been sick really, and he was only 67, planning on a nice retirement. He and my step mom had just sold their house in California and were building one in Colorado for their retirement—lower cost of living. But on the day before Ascension Day, early in the morning, my step mom called me at work—I worked in the purchasing office of a big factory in Centralia. She said my dad had had emergency surgery the day before due to a ruptured colon. Asked her if I needed to come, and she said, “I can’t tell you that.” She was on her way to the hospital, and I asked her to call me when she got an update on his condition. She said, “I hope he knows me.” Well, he didn’t. He was basically comatose, the peritonitis had spread too far. And I caught the next plane I could manage out of St. Louis. She told Dad I was coming—and to this day I believe he waited for me. I later found out that his doctor tried to call me to tell me that Dad wouldn’t last that long. And if Dad’s heart failed they wouldn’t resuscitate him. As it was, he was on a respirator. But I got to California, rented a car, and drove to Santa Rosa. I got to his room about midnight, and at first it seemed his pulse improved when I got there . . . like I said, I know he waited for me. But within a couple hours his heart beat became more irregular, and finally fluttered it’s last. Like a butterfly fluttering off. Doris, my stepmom, got there a little bit later, and we spent some final time with Dad before going to their home.
By the time we got there I had been up for over 24 hours, and of course needed to sleep a little in order to face what was ahead. When I got up, Doris had read the Forward Day by Day devotional—and pointed out that it was Ascension Day. And that seemed so right, so comforting. Dad’s spirit had also ascended—and I know without a shadow of a doubt that I will see him again. I miss him so much . . . but I know we will have more days together in the future than we did in the past. And I always link the anniversary of my dad’s death more with Ascension than with the actual date—May 29th.
So, for me, the promise of the resurrection is one of the main promises of the Ascension. In fact, the early church linked the Resurrection and Ascension of Jesus so closely together that it seems that they should be hyphenated. “The resurrection-and-ascension.” When it comes to Jesus, you can’t have one without the other. The Nicene Creed states, “On the third day he rose again in accordance with the Scriptures. He ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of the Father.” And the Apostles Creed is similar: “On the third day he rose again. He ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of the Father.” In our creeds, all that separate the resurrection and the ascension is a dot, a period. No forty days, no resurrection appearances, just a dot.
Paul talks about the resurrection-ascension in many places. In Romans chapter 6 he says 4 Therefore we have been buried with him by baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.
5 For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his.
And in 1 Corinthians 15: 20 But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruit of those who have died. 21 For since death came through a human being, the resurrection of the dead has also come through a human being; 22 for as all die in Adam, so all will be made alive in Christ. 23 But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ.
The resurrection of Jesus is the guarantee, the down payment, the deposit on our future resurrections. We will be united with Christ and with our loved ones who have died “in Christ,” and with all the saints and angels and archangels!!
There are a couple other promises that come with the Ascension of our Lord. After his ascension he was and is now seated at the right hand of the Father to reign and to rule over all the earth—we don’t see it clearly now but we will, we will. He is King of kings, Lord of lords, and he reigns over all creation. Our Psalm this morning spoke to this: The Lord Most High is to be feared, he is the great King over all the earth . . . God has gone up with a shout, sing praises to God, sing praises. For God is King of all the earth, he reigns over the nations and sits upon his holy throne. All the rulers of the earth belong to God, and he is highly exalted.
And Jesus is at the Right Hand of the Father, the place of power and prominence, interceding on our behalf. Romans 8:34 says “… It is Christ Jesus, who died, yes, who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who indeed intercedes for us.” There’s nothing and no one who can separate us from the love of Christ, the one who died, who was raised, who is at the right had of God, who intercedes for us!
Finally, this look back at the Ascension contains a look ahead to next week. To the promise of Pentecost. The promise of the Holy Spirit. In John’s gospel, Jesus promises to send the Holy Spirit, the Advocate.
15:6 "When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who comes from the Father, he will testify on my behalf.
16:7 Nevertheless I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you.
And one of the lessons from Ascension is from Acts chapter 1:
3 After his suffering he presented himself alive to them by many convincing proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God. 4 While staying with them, he ordered them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait there for the promise of the Father. "This," he said, "is what you have heard from me; 5 for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now." 6 So when they had come together, they asked him, "Lord, is this the time when you will restore the kingdom to Israel?" 7 He replied, "It is not for you to know the times or periods that the Father has set by his own authority. 8 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." 9 When he had said this, as they were watching, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight.
The ascension of our Lord.
The Resurrection-and-Ascension of our Jesus includes at least three promises. Three that we’ve looked at today. The promise of our future resurrection. The promise of Christ’s reign and rule at God’s right hand where he intercedes on our behalf. The promise of the Holy Spirit. Check back next week and I expect that Fr. Tim will tell you more about this third promise, the promise of the power of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
I don’t know if it’s just me, but it seems like the older I get, the faster time goes. Anybody else feel the same way? It certainly seems like this year is simply flying!! It’s hard to believe that it’s Memorial Weekend—though it is a bit early, isn’t it? And can you believe that it’s been 6 weeks since Easter!! And that in another week it will be June? And schools will be out for the lazy hazy days of summer . . . and I’m sure for many of us the summer will fly by also.
So today I’d like to slow things down, turn back the calendar, go back in time to last Thursday. The Feast of the Ascension. This is one of the most forgotten, most overlooked major feast day in the Episcopal Calendar. Along with Christmas and Easter, major feast days include Epiphany, Pentecost, and All Saints Day. And of course Ascension Day. With apologies to those of you who celebrated Ascension last Wednesday with Fr. Swan and Fr. Tim, I’d like to take a closer look at the Ascension. After all, today is both the 7th Sunday after Easter—and the Sunday After Ascension Day.
The Ascension is the only Major feast that is never, ever celebrated on a Sunday—because it’s always 40 days after Easter, 10 days before Pentecost. It’s always on a Thursday. And while most of us can draw on special memories associated with many of the other feast days, maybe even besides Christmas and Easter, most of us probably don’t have great memories or experiences related to the Ascension of our Lord.
So I’ll share mine with you. Ascension Day is the day in 2003 that my father died. He hadn’t been sick really, and he was only 67, planning on a nice retirement. He and my step mom had just sold their house in California and were building one in Colorado for their retirement—lower cost of living. But on the day before Ascension Day, early in the morning, my step mom called me at work—I worked in the purchasing office of a big factory in Centralia. She said my dad had had emergency surgery the day before due to a ruptured colon. Asked her if I needed to come, and she said, “I can’t tell you that.” She was on her way to the hospital, and I asked her to call me when she got an update on his condition. She said, “I hope he knows me.” Well, he didn’t. He was basically comatose, the peritonitis had spread too far. And I caught the next plane I could manage out of St. Louis. She told Dad I was coming—and to this day I believe he waited for me. I later found out that his doctor tried to call me to tell me that Dad wouldn’t last that long. And if Dad’s heart failed they wouldn’t resuscitate him. As it was, he was on a respirator. But I got to California, rented a car, and drove to Santa Rosa. I got to his room about midnight, and at first it seemed his pulse improved when I got there . . . like I said, I know he waited for me. But within a couple hours his heart beat became more irregular, and finally fluttered it’s last. Like a butterfly fluttering off. Doris, my stepmom, got there a little bit later, and we spent some final time with Dad before going to their home.
By the time we got there I had been up for over 24 hours, and of course needed to sleep a little in order to face what was ahead. When I got up, Doris had read the Forward Day by Day devotional—and pointed out that it was Ascension Day. And that seemed so right, so comforting. Dad’s spirit had also ascended—and I know without a shadow of a doubt that I will see him again. I miss him so much . . . but I know we will have more days together in the future than we did in the past. And I always link the anniversary of my dad’s death more with Ascension than with the actual date—May 29th.
So, for me, the promise of the resurrection is one of the main promises of the Ascension. In fact, the early church linked the Resurrection and Ascension of Jesus so closely together that it seems that they should be hyphenated. “The resurrection-and-ascension.” When it comes to Jesus, you can’t have one without the other. The Nicene Creed states, “On the third day he rose again in accordance with the Scriptures. He ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of the Father.” And the Apostles Creed is similar: “On the third day he rose again. He ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of the Father.” In our creeds, all that separate the resurrection and the ascension is a dot, a period. No forty days, no resurrection appearances, just a dot.
Paul talks about the resurrection-ascension in many places. In Romans chapter 6 he says 4 Therefore we have been buried with him by baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.
5 For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his.
And in 1 Corinthians 15: 20 But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruit of those who have died. 21 For since death came through a human being, the resurrection of the dead has also come through a human being; 22 for as all die in Adam, so all will be made alive in Christ. 23 But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ.
The resurrection of Jesus is the guarantee, the down payment, the deposit on our future resurrections. We will be united with Christ and with our loved ones who have died “in Christ,” and with all the saints and angels and archangels!!
There are a couple other promises that come with the Ascension of our Lord. After his ascension he was and is now seated at the right hand of the Father to reign and to rule over all the earth—we don’t see it clearly now but we will, we will. He is King of kings, Lord of lords, and he reigns over all creation. Our Psalm this morning spoke to this: The Lord Most High is to be feared, he is the great King over all the earth . . . God has gone up with a shout, sing praises to God, sing praises. For God is King of all the earth, he reigns over the nations and sits upon his holy throne. All the rulers of the earth belong to God, and he is highly exalted.
And Jesus is at the Right Hand of the Father, the place of power and prominence, interceding on our behalf. Romans 8:34 says “… It is Christ Jesus, who died, yes, who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who indeed intercedes for us.” There’s nothing and no one who can separate us from the love of Christ, the one who died, who was raised, who is at the right had of God, who intercedes for us!
Finally, this look back at the Ascension contains a look ahead to next week. To the promise of Pentecost. The promise of the Holy Spirit. In John’s gospel, Jesus promises to send the Holy Spirit, the Advocate.
15:6 "When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who comes from the Father, he will testify on my behalf.
16:7 Nevertheless I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you.
And one of the lessons from Ascension is from Acts chapter 1:
3 After his suffering he presented himself alive to them by many convincing proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God. 4 While staying with them, he ordered them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait there for the promise of the Father. "This," he said, "is what you have heard from me; 5 for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now." 6 So when they had come together, they asked him, "Lord, is this the time when you will restore the kingdom to Israel?" 7 He replied, "It is not for you to know the times or periods that the Father has set by his own authority. 8 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." 9 When he had said this, as they were watching, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight.
The ascension of our Lord.
The Resurrection-and-Ascension of our Jesus includes at least three promises. Three that we’ve looked at today. The promise of our future resurrection. The promise of Christ’s reign and rule at God’s right hand where he intercedes on our behalf. The promise of the Holy Spirit. Check back next week and I expect that Fr. Tim will tell you more about this third promise, the promise of the power of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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