News from the Pews

THE 'WAITING' TIME

Hello my brothers and sisters in Christ. It seems like yesterday when we were preparing for Lent and looking forward to Holy week. Now, we are taking a rest from our Easter celebrations.

However, Easter is not just "Easter Day", it is the fifty days from Easter day until the Day of Pentecost. Easter, Ascension and Pentecost do not form three seasons. The Easter season celebrates the three dimensions of the Resurrection, Ascension, and the sending of the Holy Spirit.  

The 'waiting' time that we encounter with the first disciples - between loss and promise, between things we have lost and things that have not yet unfolded, between Ascension and Pentecost.

The time when the disciples feel like abandoned orphans and are at a loss to know what to do next. We too, sooner or later (if we have not already) will find ourselves in a situation similar to the disciples - the 'waiting' time between brokenness and healing in broken relationships, whether it's a divorce or the break-up of a close friendship, or in the loss of loved ones, or in the period of a serious illness.

This 'waiting' time, the time between loss and promise of a better time, is tough and testing but it can be a time of unimaginable grace if we will keep our faith in God and embrace the free loving grace of God and give it unrestricted access into our life.

The only thing we can do on such occasions is to pray. This is what the disciples did. Even though they didn't feel motivated, they prayed nonetheless. It is then that the grace can take hold of our brokenness and make the 'waiting' time become a moment of transition, so that the loss begins to move away and the promise becomes more real.

The letter to the Hebrews talks of Jesus as the "Pioneer of our Salvation". A pioneer leads the way through unknown territory. Jesus, who lives the life we ought to have lived and dies the death we ought to have died, shows us that there is a hope beyond pain and sorrow, beyond disappointments and betrayals and beyond the grave. In our Creed we speak of Christ ascending into Heaven, of Him coming again in glory, establishing a kingdom which shall have no end. This hope is given to us so that we might have the confidence to live with love and courage here and now.

As St Luke recounts the Ascension in Acts 1:11, the angels ask the disciples "Why do you stand looking up towards Heaven? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into Heaven, will come back in the same way as you saw him go into Heaven". This is a good reminder that the hope of an eternal future with God does not leave us gazing fondly into the heavens. Rather, God calls us to be inspired by that hope, and sends us the Holy Spirit, that Christ may be made present here and now.

With this hope of life in Jesus let us continue sowing Gospel seeds of grace, generosity, love, forgiveness, reconciliation, peace, compassion and service, with the hope that what we have sown is silently growing and bringing forth new life and a new Pentecost.

Over the next few weeks as we continue on our Easter journey, our lectionary readings will focus on the Revelation of Christ through His disciples and the working of the Holy Spirit as promised by Jesus to His disciples. We will also be reminded of Christ’s commandments, His love for us and the promise of everlasting life to those who trust in Him and obey His commands.

It is during this period that we will begin to have a true understanding of Jesus’ first miracle - the turning of water into wine which according to John was the beginning of many signs which Jesus did and which was also the key to all the other signs. As we get to know who Christ is, our human nature will be transformed through our relationship with him just as he revealed in his first miracle by turning water into wine.

Also, over this period we will read about the day of Pentecost when all those who believed in Christ received the gift of the Holy Spirit just as Jesus promised and gives us an understanding of the Trinity of God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit.

Throughout this period, we will be reminded about our vocation as Christ’ disciples in whatever shape or form we decide to respond to His calling and walk in the footsteps of Christ. Christ came to Earth to heal the wounds that hinder a deeper experience of God and help us to recognise his Spirit at work in our lives, restoring the image in which we are made.

The gift of life is God’s but we are invited to respond to it. We are not here simply to stand at the edge of the crowd and watch. We are part of the world and as much part of the pain as we are of the healing process.

“We are the body of Christ” Paul said. If we are the body of Christ, then there should be a body language which communicates our values and convictions to others - and there is! It is not the things we consciously do and say, but the attitudes we show without being aware of them that communicate our real message.

This is true of individuals and of groups. The attitudes can be felt. They say something. The words of love and acceptance we preach can be destroyed if our body language says something else. We can only overcome this by deepening our commitment to Christ and to love as he loves us. It is our duty to God to make the life of love and unity, of humility and service, to live and bring much fruit in each other and in the people we serve.

Over the coming weeks, let us uplift each other and through the good example of a life of prayer and union with God, encourage and help each other to remain faithful to our vocation.

God’s blessing and Grace always

Reverend Olasupo Ogunyinka.