7th Sunday of Easter

Our readings for the 7th Sunday of Easter/Ascension are:

1. Acts 7: 55-60
2. Psalm 97: 1-2, 6-7, 9
3. Revelations 22: 12-14, 16-17, 20
4. John 17: 20-26

1. Knowing when to speak up
• Our actions never just impact us.  Acts of courage on our part require courage from those around us who will share in the repercussions of what we do.
• So then, is bravery an individual matter or a communal one?
• Do we need other's permission to be courageous?
• In the end, who is responsible for the response that we reap from being prophetic?
2. The glory of justice
• The glory and strength of God lies in His mercy and justice.
• What are we to say of institutions/individuals/communities which seem to be great and powerful, but are based on fear, hatred and greed?
• Have you ever been a witting, or unwitting part of such an institution?
• What can we do about that?
• How can we have a clean conscience?
3. Going out to Meet Him
• In the cultures at home in ancient Palestine, the local leaders would go out of the city to meet noteworthy travelors coming into the city, invite them to partake of the hospitality that the city could offer.
• The rapture is likely a matter of us leaving the earth to meet Jesus as He arrives from heaven to judge all of us, and then He, and His followers will go back to earth to begin the reign of God here on earth.
• What does that tell you about our role as stewards of this planet?
• What does that tell you about our role in the care of the New Jerusalem after Jesus' coming?
4. Glory
• Jesus is inviting us into the Trinity, that we may enjoy the same intimacy with each other that He and the Father have.
• How can we understand each other better?
• How can we understand ourselves better?
• Do you think that the dawning awareness of how God sees us and those around us will come over us all at once at judgment, or will it rather be a process?
• How can we better prepare for that process?

Preparation for Reconciliation:

1. Am I supportive of others who feel burdened to speak a prophetic word?
2. Is the Lord above all other gods in my life?
3. What am I doing to be more ready for Jesus to return?
4. When was the last time that I had the time to really listen to someone close to me?

One is

The thread that connects one breath to the next
The tie that unites the light, the breeze, the pregnant anticipation
Of a new dawn, with the night that it is replacing.

One is the host of dappled creatures woven through the earth
Each connected to the next, all connected to the whole
The whole, waiting, breathless, for each of us -

Each of us to step into who we were born to be,
To step into the inheritance that has been kept for us all these long years
That we might finally take up our eternal citizenship

And see beyond ourselves, to the vastness and intimacy of Eternity,
And awaken to the one through whom we live and move and have our being
The one who gazes upon us through ten thousand eyes not his own.

Shalom!