8th Sunday After Pentecost
God’s Promises in the Present Age
Imagine with me for a moment that you are a Christian in the early years after Jesus’s resurrection. Before Jesus ascended into heaven he commissioned his disciples and sent them out to share the gospel. They have been doing their job and now word has spread farther than ever before. You have heard stories about Jesus and all of the miracles he did, the things he said—you are told he even rose from the dead! You have also been told that Jesus will soon return—at any moment—to set the world right and reconcile all things once and for all. This is good news and you want to be ready, so as a believer in Christ you eagerly wait and watch for the second coming. But months pass, and then years, and Christ has not yet returned. Maybe you begin to wonder if Christ will return after all, and in the meantime, how should you live out your faith in the current time? A Christian life is a transformed life, but what does it look like to live transformed in a world where God’s promises are not yet complete? How do you live in the space of “now and not yet”?
These were real challenges and questions faced by early Christian communities. They were living their lives and making decisions as if Christ would be returning quickly, so when it didn’t happen as they imagined they had to figure out how to live their lives in the longterm. If Christ wasn’t coming back right away, what should a Christian do in the meantime? What should Christian community look like, and what about the differences between Jewish and Gentile believers? How should Christians worship, and what if some Christians worship differently? Could Christians marry and have families? How should Christians respond to those who don't share their beliefs, and did Jewish Law still apply to them? These were complicated questions that the early Christians were trying to figure out, and they had to hold fast to their faith and trust in God’s promises along the way.
Well, 2,000 or so years have passed and we are still waiting for Christ’s return, and we too are still trying to figure out how to live Christian lives in the present age. Like the early Christians, we are still figuring out the nuances of living together in Christian community, how to worship, do ministry and serve the neighbor. We are still learning how to live day by day in a complicated world—especially considering the global pandemic in recent years, climate change, global and cultural diversity, emerging technology, the increasing political divide, and so on. Like the early Christians we also sometimes wonder where God is at work in the world, and, especially in those moments, we too must cling to God’s promises.
And what are some of these promises to which we cling? There are dozens of promises found in scripture, and I can’t list them all here, but I can highlight a few. In our first reading today from Isaiah, we hear the promise that God will strengthen us and give us the endurance we need when we place our trust in God. I don’t know about you, but there are certainly times I need that extra dose of strength. Pulling myself up by my own bootstraps isn’t always enough—I need God’s help. Whether it is just one of those days where nothing seems to go right, or a difficult season in life, it is reassuring to know that Christ strengthens us when we need it.
Psalm 139 today reminds us that we are fearfully and wonderfully made, and we are also deeply known by our Creator. God knows what is on our hearts and in our minds. One day at VBS a couple of weeks ago, the kids and I were making greeting cards to give to people. A little boy finished his card and as he gave it to me he told me it was a very special card. He asked me to deliver it to heaven for him because he wanted God to give a message to his great grandma. I promised him that I would deliver his card, but I also told him that he can talk to God and to his great grandma in his heart. God already knows everything in our hearts—our joys and sorrows, our worries and dreams, the love we carry, and the people we miss too.
In our second lesson from Philippians, God promises to hear our prayers and offers us the invitation to pray always. I had a conversation recently with a woman who recalled feelings of shame when it came to prayer. She said, “When the God of the universe has much more pressing things to worry about—wars and climate change and poverty—Does God really have time to hear about my issues? The answer, I reassured her, is yes. Prayer is about relationship, and God does want to hear from us even about the little things. God promises to hear us, and when we pray, God promises God’s peace and presence to be with us.
And then, of course, our Gospel today gives us perhaps the most precious promise of all. Christ promises to be with us forever, no matter what, until the end of the age. Jesus already fulfilled that promise on the cross, making it possible for us to be reconciled with God, but Christ’s presence is still ongoing even now. There is nowhere we can go and nothing we can do to lose God’s presence in our lives. Good days and bad, when we are our best selves and when we are at our worst, Christ’s faithfulness remains.
But the fact of the matter is, we still live in a world in need of healing, reconciliation and hope. Like the early Christians we are still waiting for Christ to set all things right once and for all. So the question remains, holding onto God’s faithful promises, how do we live in the world? When Christ rose from the dead we entered into a new reality—the age of “here and not yet.” Christ is already here, in-breaking into our world and making all things new, but the process isn’t yet complete. Through Christ we have been transformed and made new, but we are each still a work in progress, living and growing one day at a time.
So as we continue to live in the present world with all of its joys and challenges, may we remember and rely upon God’s faithful promises. May we pray often about things big and small, trusting that God hears us and cares. May we remember that we were each made in the Image of God and we are deeply known and loved by our Creator. May we live boldly, knowing that we are valuable and have a part to play in creation, even when the world tries to tell us otherwise. May we know that we are never alone in the difficult moments, for Christ is with us and strengthens us for the road ahead. And above all, may we be reassured that Christ is still at work in the world bringing all things together for good. God has promised to be with us until the end of the age, so until that time we have reason to hope in the present world knowing that God will reconcile all things once and for all. Thanks be to God for God’s faithful promises in the present age. Amen.