The
Rev’d Stephen E. Stults
St. Barnabas Anglican Church
St. Barnabas Anglican Church
The
Third Sunday after Easter
April
21, 2013
“A
little while…”
John
16:16 “ A little while, and ye shall not see me: and
again, a little while, and ye shall see me, because I go to the Father.”
From one of the most beloved books of
the New Testament comes this interesting and puzzling statement. John the beloved disciple tells us that
Christ speaks to the apostles thus, both puzzling them and intriguing them at
the same time. In fact, in the verse
following this one, some of the disciples openly questioned this. They asked, “What is this that he saith unto
us, A little while, and ye shall not see me: and again, a little while, and ye
shall see me: and, Because I go to the Father?18 They said therefore,
What is this that he saith, A little while? we cannot tell what he saith.?”[1]
In short, they were baffled. As a boy, listening to this passage in
Trinity Episcopal Church in Monmouth, Illinois and again as a teenager at St.
Joseph of Arimathea Church in Hendersonville, Tennessee, I too was
puzzled. I remember one time walking out
of church shaking my head at it.
Evidently, our rector didn’t choose to elucidate that particular piece
of Scripture that day. Perhaps he should have.
What Christ says here is both simple
and profound, as always. As the second
member of the Holy Trinity, Christ always speaks to us in ways we can
understand, while also speaking of things beyond our natural understanding;
that is, absent the illumination of the Holy Spirit.
This is one of those sayings. On the surface, we understand, especially
with the aid of 2000 years of Christian tradition behind us. That is, we have the Word of God to inform us
that Christ did indeed die and was buried. Thus, “a little while and you will
not see me.” We also understand the part
where he says, “and again, a little while, and ye shall see me:”[2]
Obviously, this is in reference to His
post-resurrection appearances. First, he appeared to the disciples on the road
to Emmaus, then to the gathered disciples who were assembled, “for fear of the
Jews”, in a locked room[3],
and also to the disciples while fishing in John 21. Finally as St. Paul tells
us in 1st Corinthians 15:6, “After that, he was seen of above five
hundred brethren at once;”[4]
No doubt the disciples’ joy was immense.
Christ even compares it to the joy and relief a woman feels after the agony of
childbirth. The disciples’ joy was to be similar, so great and real that they
would forget the pain and grief they knew when Christ was parted from them. One
of them, John, felt this pain most acutely because he, Mary the mother of
Jesus, and Mary Magdeline witnessed his death at the foot of the Cross.
Thus far, we understand the meaning of
these words. Yet, in the next statement,
Christ throws his disciples into confusion when he says, “because I go to the
Father.” This is what really bothered
them. It stuck “in their craw”, so to
speak, to use a country colloquialism.
As well it might in ours, if we didn’t
have the historic Christian experience and calendar to guide us. In His last, most puzzling statement, Jesus
is telling about His last mighty act in this world. He is, in fact, foreshadowing the glorious
completion of the earthly ministry.
This final act is the completion of
Christ’s ministry as he ascends to the Father, returning back to the Glory from
whence He came, some thirty-three years before. The final act we will celebrate
on May 9th, better known as Ascension Day, which is one of those important, but
usually inconvenient and sparsely-attended mid-week services.
Ascension marks the final act of
Christ’s life in all its major scenes, including his Immaculate Conception, His
humble Nativity, His daily Ministry, His woeful Passion, His glorious
Resurrection, and finally, His Dazzling Ascension. The Ascension marked the
final chapter in the earthly saga of the Christ on Earth.
We will speak more on the importance of
Ascension later, when we celebrate the Day itself. Suffice it to say that its
importance is immense, as well as the immense amount of neglect it
receives. However, one point must be
mentioned, namely that without the Ascension, our exaltation into Heaven as the
family of Man would be impossible. Thus, Jesus, on His way to the ultimate
exaltation in Heaven, as He rejoins His Father in unspeakable splendor, came to
visit and reassure us. When He does come out of the grave in glorious
resurrection form, both showing Himself and enjoying fellowship with His
disciples, he tells them that ” your hearts will
rejoice, and no one will take your joy away from you.”[5]
This statement is most profound and
poignant, simultaneously. The reason for this profound sense of joy comes from
Christ’s earlier mention of the expediency of His going away in verse 7 of this
same chapter. Christ is going away, yes;
Christ is leaving His disciples in bodily form, yes, but Someone else is
coming. Following on the heels of Ascension is that great New Testament
celebration of the Holy Ghost, or as the Authorized Version calls him, the Comforter.
The Third Person of the Holy Trinity comes to us, to lead, guide, instruct,
comfort and strengthen us.
Thus, this is an amazing time of
year. Perhaps the historic church
calendar truly captures the fullness of the Christian faith as we celebrate
Ascension first, honoring the Son, then Whitsunday (Pentecost), where we
celebrate the coming of the Holy Spirit, then finally Trinity Sunday, where all
three members of the Holy Trinity are celebrated together. We sing and worship
the fullness of the Three Persons of God, one being in three Persons: Father,
Son and Holy Ghost.
Truly, if one is living one’s life in
accordance with the Church year, this is amazing and most fulfilling.
Returning to the one theme on which we
can seize for the day, it might very well be that of Joy. Jesus said that our joy...”no man taketh
from you.”[6] So
we hope it is for you. When one
considers the sheer enormity of what Christ accomplished for us, our joy should
be full. When one considers the durability of our forgiveness and the
permanence of our salvation, our joy should be full.
What does this mean? It means that when
Christ forgives us our sins, they are remembered no more. There is no sneaking,
half-remembrance of what we did in the past.
It is covered with the precious Blood of Christ in complete forgiveness.
Simply said, God remembers no sin for which one exhibits true repentance and
amendment of life. Surely this is an occasion for joy, as well as immense
thanksgiving.
Our joy, which no man can take from us,
must stem from another source as well.
While this may seem incredibly obvious, it stems from the fact that we
Christians even have a God like unto our God.
Unlike what the Existentialists once believed, we don’t stumble,
Godot-like, through our lives. We don’t
face the Universe alone and un-befriended. We don’t have to make those brave
existential decisions to prove that we are. With all due respect to Albert Camus
and Jeam-Paul Sartre, theirs was a unnecessarily lonely and erroneous position
as to the orientation of Man. We are not
alone. We are not lonely, in the recesses of our soul, unless we want to be, or
have allowed the deceptions of the Devil to convince us so. For the spirit-filled Christian, it is just
the reverse. Our position, the Christian position, is completely opposite the
sterile, sad and hopeless state of the atheist or existentialist. We are not filled with the sad darkness of
the deceived, we are full of light. We are not aching with loneliness in a dead
universe, vainly searching for meaning from a cold and passionless void. We are
filled with the fellowship of the Holy Ghost, who brings us into full
relationship with God the Father and God the Son. We are not sad and depressed
as we try to fill our emptiness with counterfeit or fabricated experiences. We
have the real experience of Christ in our hearts, our minds, and our souls as
we move forward to our eternal Home with Him.
We Christians can’t claim to have
cornered the market on joy. That would be absurd and even a bit egotistical,
perhaps. After all, many things in this life can give us joy. There is a difference, however, between true
Christian joy and that of the World.
Whereas joy from things in this life is fleeting and transient, only the
joy in Christ can withstand the test of time. There is a joy which no man can
take from you. It is the same joy that Christ promised to His disciples so long
ago. It is the same joy available to us
today.
John 16:22 22 And ye now therefore have
sorrow: but I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no
man taketh from you.”
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the
Holy Ghost. AMEN
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