St. Paul’s On-the-Hill Episcopal Church

The Rev. Stephen C. Holton, Rector

May 4; The 7^th Sunday of Easter

Acts 1:15-17, 21-26

John 17:6-19

GOD’S PARTNERS

For our Peace and His Proclamation

        This is God’s world. It all belongs to him. It all began with him, the beauty of creation and the people. All are beloved by him.

        Some of them are called out to bless others. Some are called out to speak of God’s love to others.

        That’s us, or it includes us anyway, as Christians. We are God’s partners to proclaim his peace, his love, his support, his nourishment in good times and bad, especially bad – to all his other children. We tell his good news.

        There is a story of a couple of little fish, who were swimming in the sea. They were having a great time, swimming up and down and all around. At some point, an older fish swam up to them. “Nice water for swimming in boys,” he said.

        “Water? What’s water” – they said. It was all around them, so all-encompassing they did not even know it was present.

        God is all around us. He is so all-encompassing, all nurturing, all loving, that most of us don’t even know it, though he loves us every moment.

        Jesus came to talk about it. Jesus is the wise fish who told us about it, about the love of God who is all around us. Then Jesus called upon us, to talk about it, with him, to others. He told us we could lean on it – on God’s love – when we needed support; that we could complain to God when we were angry; turn to him when we were weak; rejoice in his constant presence when we were strong.

        “Jesus prayed: I have made your name known to those whom you gave me from the world. They were yours . . . and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word.”

        “They were yours . . .” he said, before God gave them to Jesus. “They were yours.” All the world was God’s. All people are God’s. “They were yours.”

        Why then were they given to Jesus? “As you have sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world.” We are here to go into the world to speak of this God and to act for this God who is all around, who is all loving, all nourishing, all providing, like the sea is to the fish.

        We are gathered together with Jesus as his partners in this great work. He came into the world to gather partners to speak of God’s great love. We happened to be listening.

        We turn to him first for ourselves, for rest when we need it, comfort when we need it, to be heard when we need to talk, for insights when we have none.

        Then we go with him to others, bringing his love or strength to them; or loving on his behalf, comforting on his behalf – as his partners, his allies, his agents in this world.

        If we were not always his partners, not always his allies, growing up unqualified to use this kind of strength, to fill this kind of office – perhaps we have been called now like Matthias.

        Peter spoke, because the number of disciples was down, and instead of charging off to do the job as best he could, by himself, he refilled the ranks, knowing that God would provide someone.

        Perhaps God has provided you. Perhaps you are the one with the qualifications to comfort others now, when they turn to you and you are standing there and would ordinarily tell them to turn to someone else more qualified. Perhaps it’s you.

        Perhaps you’re the Mathias of insight, the one who really can help think out the way ahead. Perhaps God has sent that person to you because he knows that. Or perhaps he sent you to them.

        Perhaps you are the one who can help a happy person rejoice, help a sad person mourn, or give comfort to a lonely person. Perhaps God has sent you to fill that role. Perhaps God needs you as his earthly partner to provide earthly comfort – comfort that someone who needs it can see and feel, insight that someone who needs it can hear, celebration that someone who needs it can dance to.

        Perhaps you are that Matthias.

        Perhaps you are that Peter – who knows the big job but knows he is not qualified alone; but he knows God has provided someone who can help him. He just has to find that person.

        This is not about delegating to do a job; it’s about partnering and befriending to do that job with someone else.

        You just have to find that person, that partner to help you on that Godly task, or turn to the group to produce that person.

        But remember, Christ is the first partner, the one to whom we turn first in pain or emptiness, the one to whom we turn first for comfort or insight or joy, the one who sends us other earthly partners – and comes himself – for his mission of comforting and teaching and challenging all and letting them know of God’s constant comfort, teaching and challenge.

        Today we think of Memorial Day, and all those who died in our nation’s wars, all those who died for people they did not know, all those who died for buddies they had not known until a few weeks or months before when they joined the same platoon, all those who died for certain inalienable rights for all people; all those who died with God within them though they may not have known him; all those who died with God next to them though they may not have felt him – like so much sea and so many unknowing fish.

        Jesus prayed for protection from evil. He did not pray for protection from suffering. He suffered and died. Peter suffered and died. Andrew suffered and died.

        They did not turn to evil. They did not turn to their own selfish ways. They did not become evil and act for themselves alone. They died for others, suffered for others.

        We do good when we act for others. We take a step toward evil when we act for ourselves alone, harming others for our own sake.

        We do good when we act in such a way and live in such a way and talk in such a way that it is clear that we live, act and talk for others too, and when it is clear that God lives and acts for all.

        Even if we disagree with war; if it is for others, it is, perhaps, not all bad. If it is for ourselves alone, it is, perhaps, not all good.

        This past week I learned about our partnership with others and our partnership with God. I was reminded by teachers and by experience of just how much we can depend on God and others for comfort, challenge, and training. I learned God is not interested just in our spiritual health, but our physical and vocational and financial health. So is the Church.

        We turn to friends when we need them. We find a new Matthias – or God does – when we need one. We turn to God’s creation when we need to be restored by its beauty or its plenty.

We tell of him to others who need him. Perhaps we are used when someone else needs a friend, a comfort, a challenge.

        When that happens, we don’t lean on ourselves, we lean on God who provides us with comfort, and we lean on those partners whom God sends.

        God has called us out and sent us out into the world to speak and show and live out his constant presence and love.

        God has called us into the Church to feel that love, and to find those other people to be God’s partners with.