Acts 1:6-14 The Message
When they were together for the last time they asked, “Master, are you going to restore the kingdom to Israel now? Is this the time?”
He told them, “You don’t get to know the time. Timing is the Father’s business. What you’ll get is the Holy Spirit. And when the Holy Spirit comes on you, you will be able to be my witnesses in Jerusalem, all over Judea and Samaria, even to the ends of the world.”
These were his last words. As they watched, he was taken up and disappeared in a cloud. They stood there, staring into the empty sky. Suddenly two men appeared—in white robes! They said, “You Galileans!—why do you just stand here looking up at an empty sky? This very Jesus who was taken up from among you to heaven will come as certainly—and mysteriously—as he left.”
So they left the mountain called Olives and returned to Jerusalem. It was a little over half a mile. They went to the upper room they had been using as a meeting place:
Peter,
John,
James,
Andrew,
Philip,
Thomas,
Bartholomew,
Matthew,
James, son of Alphaeus,
Simon the Zealot,
Judas, son of James.
They agreed they were in this for good, completely together in prayer, the women included. Also Jesus’ mother, Mary, and his brothers.
1 Peter 4:12-14; 5:6-11 (CEB)
Dear friends, don’t be surprised about the fiery trials that have come among you to test you. These are not strange happenings. Instead, rejoice as you share Christ’s suffering. You share his suffering now so that you may also have overwhelming joy when his glory is revealed. If you are mocked because of Christ’s name, you are blessed, for the Spirit of glory—indeed, the Spirit of God—rests on you.
Therefore, humble yourselves under God’s power so that he may raise you up in the last day. Throw all your anxiety onto him, because he cares about you. Be clearheaded. Keep alert. Your accuser, the devil, is on the prowl like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith. Do so in the knowledge that your fellow believers are enduring the same suffering throughout the world. After you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, the one who called you into his eternal glory in Christ Jesus, will himself restore, empower, strengthen, and establish you. To him be power forever and always. Amen.
Outside of the life, death and resurrection of Jesus --- the two most important events in shaping what becomes Christianity were, in my opinion:
• The Hellenization of the world by Alexander the Great -- 323 BCE
It brought Greek culture and ideas --- which changed Judaism and Christianity forever
• Constantine and the Edict of Milan 313 CE
Which set the stage for the transition of Christianity from being a persecuted sect of Judaism into the dominant religion of the Roman Empire.
Since Nero in 64 CE, Christianity had been persecuted by Rome
Peter & Paul were both executed by Rome --- as was Jesus
For 250 years, members of the Christian sect suffered from persecution
The worst was by Dioclectian 303 - 311 CE
The emperor ordered Christian buildings and their homes torn down and their sacred books destroyed.
Christians were arrested, tortured, mutilated, burned, starved, and condemned to gladiatorial contests.
With the rise of Constantine, in 313 CE, he became the patron of Christianity --- eventually converting on his deathbed
Constantine supported the Church financially,
Building basilicas
Granted special privileges to the clergy
Promoted Christians to high-ranking offices
Returning the property confiscated during the Diocletian's persecutions
And bestowing on the church land and other wealth.
Constantine even built a new capitol for the Roman Empire in Constantinople
But even more important --- Constantine called together the first ecumenical council of the church in 325
At this "Council of Nicaea" the original Nicene Creed was created which was the document which began unifying Christian doctrine
It resolved disagreements over the nature of Jesus and the Christ
It also designated when Easter was to be celebrated
But maybe even more significant --- it was the beginning of the intermingling of the Church with the secular state.
After 3 centuries of "being homeless in the world" Christians began to find themselves in favor --- in power, rather than persecuted.
Christians had previously seen themselves as "aliens and strangers in the world" --- now they suddenly were in power and privileged
The result was confusion and bewilderment for some
Christians were now "at home in the world"
Persons who had previously persecuted them now sat in the same pew
And, significantly, the church began to use the power of the state to persecute those who did not follow their decrees
The result of this marriage of state and church made some very uncomfortable --- so instead of trying to change the relationship --- or the church
People began to flee to the desert
Some argue that Antony was the first to go to the desert --- and he went because of the call of Jesus in Matthew 19:21
‘If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me’.
Antony no longer saw the church as proclaiming that value --- so he gave his possessions away and placed his sister with a group of "Christian virgins".
The Northumbria Community in the UK poses this question:
"Was this Christian withdrawal into the desert purely a negative move? Was it a retreat from all the complications and compromise in those attempting to Christianise society? Was it a judgmental act, motivated to shame those Christians who had decided to stay and work out their salvation in the city? Which group of Christians made the right response to this new and ‘favourable’ situation, those who stayed in the ‘city’ or those who withdrew to the desert? In the mystery of God the answer has to be – BOTH."
Thomas Merton wrote
“It should seem to us much stranger than it does, that this paradoxical flight from the world attained its greatest dimensions (I almost said frenzy) when the ‘world’ officially became Christian.”
As the Church gained influence and power --- more and more men and women began to flee and find a new way of life
The bigger question to me is --- what is the legacy of the flight of the desert fathers and mothers --- and what are the implications for us today?
A couple of things become clear when one looks at the flight to the desert
They sought this new life as a means of sanctification --- wanting to become perfect for God
Benedicta Ward in her The Desert Fathers: sayings of the early Christian monks shares:
A hermit said, ‘This is the life of a monk: work, obedience, meditation, not to judge others, not to speak evil, not to murmur. For it is written, “You who love God, hate the thing that is evil” (Ps 97.10). This is the monastic life: not to live with the wicked, not to see evil, not to be inquisitive, not to be curious, not to listen to gossip, not to use the hands for taking, but for giving; not to be proud in heart or bad in thought, not to fill the belly, in everything to judge wisely. That is the life of the monk’
They went into the desert to free themselves from the trappings of the world, selling what they had, turning inward and recognizing their own failing --- so that they might live in the light of the eternal
They laid the groundwork for what becomes the monastic orders
They learned a new way of prayer
What we today call contemplation or centering prayer
Henri Nouwen describes contemplative prayer this way:
The practice of contemplative prayer is the discipline by which we begin to “see” the living God dwelling in our own hearts. . . . we give ourselves over to this incredible Presence who takes possession of all our senses. . . . we are awakened and opened to God within, who enters into our heartbeat and our breathing, into our thoughts and emotions, our hearing, seeing, touching, and tasting. It is by being awake to this God within that we also find the Presence in the world around us.
Contemplation, therefore, is a participating in the divine self-recognition. The divine Spirit alive in us makes our world transparent for us and opens our eyes to the presence of the divine Spirit in all that surrounds us.
They learned how to deal with what would later become called The Dark Night of the Soul --- those moments when God seems far away
But they were by no means perfect --- nor was this life that they adopted perfect
They seemed to try and outdo each other --- and their asceticism became more extreme and bizarre
One of the problems was that the desert fathers and mothers became tourist attractions.
As St. Athanasius put it, “the desert had become a city" as pilgrims came to glean wisdom and gawk at these early monks.
When you’re constantly mobbed with pilgrims, how are you supposed to experience the solitude and be able to contemplate the wisdom that the people were coming for?
The solution?
It was found by a rather unique monk who eventually comes to be known as “St. Simeon Stylites the Elder”
A stylite, in case you are unfamiliar with that term --- is the Greek word for what we would call a pillar.
Simon is reported to have lived 37 years on the top of a pillar.
And of course a church was built surrounding his pillar after his death.
Ernest A. Wallis Budge in The Paradise of the Fathers wrote
“... Each recluse did what seemed right in his own eyes. Each man was entirely devoted to the saving of his own soul, and apparently cared for nothing and no one else."
It is easy to see how they could develop a sense of works righteousness
Budge again:
".. Each tried to lead a more austere life than that of his neighbour, believing that through the multitude of his fastings, vigils and prayers he could make himself acceptable to God.
The Christian . . . monks trusted very largely to the efficacy of their own works for salvation. Hence their prolonged fasts, their multitudinous prayers, the constant vigils, the excessive manual labour, and the ceaseless battle against the cravings and desires of the body. The greatest monk was he who could fast the longest, rest and sleep the least, pray the greatest number of prayers, keep vigil the longest, work the hardest, endure best the blazing heat of the day and the bitter cold of the night, and who could reduce his body to the most complete state of impassibility.”
But maybe most significantly --- they seemed to show little regard for issues of justice
They were more preoccupied with their own salvation, and so they often lost sight of the larger community
And yet, while they were far from perfect --- they leave us some powerful lessons.
1. The need for quite time with God --- solitude
Which we seem to have an abundance of right now
2. The power of contemplative prayer
3. True spirituality is found when we lose ourselves
I am terrible with contemplative prayer.
Last year when I was at the Richard Rohr conference on the Universal Christ, I experienced the power of centering prayer --- but I have not been successful in hanging on to it.
Here are some tips on how to practice it
• First, find a quiet space where you will not be disturbed
• Sit in a comfortable fashion
• For many it helps to close ones eyes
• Begin to focus your heart toward God
• As thoughts come into your mind, no matter what their nature --- let them go
• Focus on a "sacred word" or image
Use this to help you let go of your thoughts --- it is a reminder to remain open to the silence
this is not a mantra (which is repeated) but a reminder to remain open
• When you begin, do not worry about how long you are able to do it
Try to work up to about 20 minutes of solitude with God
• Be patient and persistent
This may be the biggest gift of our season on quarantine
My friends, we are in a time of profound change.
As much as the pundits keep tell us that we can get back to normal --- the old normal is gone --- and I am not sure that isn't a good thing.
We have been invited to create a new normal, a new normal whic can include a deepening relationship with Jesus.
Both of our passages today invite us into a deeper relationship --- and both understand that it will take new understands --- new ways of relating to each other and the world --- to achieve that deeper relationship
Eric Hoffer said:
In times of profound change, the learners inherit the earth, while the learned find themselves beautifully equipped to deal with a world that no longer exists.
Let us embrace learning -- letting go of ourselves and drawing closer to Jesus --- so that we can help create the new world that is yearning to be born
Instead of my usual prayer, I want to end this morning with a poem that I am not even sure where I found it.
Two years ago David Whyte published a poem called: "Just Beyond Yourself" and for me, it is an invitation to the contemplative life that the desert fathers and mothers teach us:
Just beyondyourself.It’s whereyou needto be.Half a stepintoself-forgettingand the restrestoredby whatyou’ll meet.There is a roadalways beckoning.When you seethe two sidesof itclosing togetherat that far horizonand deep inthe foundationsof your ownheartat exactlythe sametime,that’s howyou knowit’s the roadyouhaveto follow.That’s howyou knowit’s whereyouhaveto go.That’s howyou knowyou haveto go.That’show you know.Just beyondyourself,it’swhere youneed to be.
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