Meditation for August 27, 2008

From The Rev. Peter A. Munson

John 7:1-13 (The Message)

 

1 Later Jesus was going about his business in Galilee.  He didn't want to travel to Judea because the Jews there were looking for a chance to kill him. 2 It was near the time of Tabernacles, a feast observed annually by the Jews.  3 His brothers said, "Why don't you leave here and go up to the Feast so your disciples can get a good look at the works you do?  4  No one who intends to be publicly known does everything behind the scenes.  If you're serious about what you are doing, come out in the open and show the world." 5 His brothers were pushing him like this because they didn't believe in him either.  6 Jesus came back at them, "Don't crowd me.  This isn't my time.  It's your time - it's always your time; you have nothing to lose.  7 The world has nothing against you, but it's up in arms against me.  It's against me because I expose the evil behind its pretensions.  8 You go ahead, go up to the Feast.  Don't wait for me.  I'm not ready.  It's not the right time for me."

 

9 He said this and stayed on in Galilee.  10  But later, after his family had gone to the Feast, he also went.  But he kept out of the way, careful not to draw attention to himself.  11 The Jews were already out looking for him, asking around, "Where is that man?"  12 There was a lot of contentious talk about him circulating through the crowds.  Some were saying, "He's a good man."  But others said, "Not so.  He's selling snake oil."  13 This kind of talk went on in guarded whispers because of the intimidating Jewish leaders.

 

Timing and Discernment

 

One of the biggest challenges for us as Christians is discernment.  To discern what God is calling us to do - whether that be as a community or as an indiividual - that is an ongoing challenge.  Discernment involves a lot of listening, it seems to me - a lot of prayerful listening.  One of the reasons why we need to be praying on a regular basis is to listen - to listen to what God might be saying to us, his people.  Part of that prayer involves listening to other people of faith.  In our conversations with each other, whether that be with friends, at worship, at a Vestry meeting, in choir rehearsal, at an Altar Guild or Sexton's Guild or in a committee meeting... in a small book group or in small group lectio or small group Bible study, we are listening together, and we are essentially asking, "What do you hear God saying?"  This is a very big part of why we need to be part of a faith community.  We don't have to listen for God's voice alone.  We don't have to discern alone.  And that is a very good thing, it seems to me.  Because sometimes I get distracted.  Sometimes I stop listening, for one reason or another.  And other times I am just hard of hearing - that is, I try to listen, but my preconceived notions, my running around and my tendency to hop from one project to the next, my natural urges to speak before I listen - all these get in the way, and I'm not able to discern God's voice very well.  I need some accountability.  I need some help.  I need some other people to help me discern what God might be saying - to me and to us.

 

You know from your reading of the New Testament that Jesus regularly took time to be alone with God, so that he could listen.  I think it's also true that - once he had picked the twelve disciples - he made the most of their counsel, too.  True, we mainly hear of him giving them counsel.  But when they would bring things up, he would have to respond.  They set some things in motion, in their questions and in their comments, that made Jesus think and pray a little harder - about what his mission was, and who he was called to serve, and when, and why.  "How are we going to feed all these people?"  "This man (or this woman) is pestering us!  What do we do, Jesus?"  "Are you really going back to Jerusalem?  The last time we were there they tried to kill you!"  When you think about it, the members of Jesus's family, the Pharisees, and the members of the crowd also asked questions and did things that kept Jesus on his toes, and kept him in what was more or less a constant state of discernment.

 

In this opening passage from John 7, it is his brothers who are pushing on Jesus.  It comes in the form of a challenge.  "Aren't you going to the Feast of Tabernacles?  You can't be a big shot if you just hang out in Galilee!  Everyone knows this is Podunk!  You need to show off your stuff in the big city, if you really think you're something."  We are told by John, the Gospel writer, that Jesus' brothers said this because they didn't think he was anything special.  (verse 5)  What we've got going on here is some friendly sibling rivalry (or maybe not-so-friendly, given what his brothers knew might happen to Jesus in Jerusalem).

 

Jesus responds to them, "I'm not ready.  It's not my time." (verse 8)

 

Another big challenge related to discernment - figuring out the timing of things!  I must say that in all my years as a Christian, there have been so many times when I thought I had a really good sense of when something should happen, and things have developed in such a way that I had to admit, "Well, God had a different timing in mind for all of that."  Perhaps you've encountered this in your personal life, or at St. Ambrose.  Perhaps you've experienced it with respect to the national Episcopal Church (Why is this happening in the Church so slowly?  Or, depending on your perspective:  Why is the Church moving ahead on this so quickly?), or with respect to an issue that we confront as a nation.  Timing, timing - timing can be such an issue.  As you have heard some people say, "Timing is everything!"

 

In the spiritual life, timing can be a big deal.  To give you one St. Ambrose example, we started talking about a Curate at St. Ambrose three or four years ago.  We had lots of discussions as a congregation, lots of different ideas (Half-time youth minister? Full-time Curate?  Can one person do both?  Is there such a person out there?), and we made some decisions, trying to make the best decisions we could - after praying together and listening to everyone's input.  Some of our decisions panned out better than others.  Now, three or four years later, we finally have Heather Payton with us - someone who is gifted, experienced, energetic - and can work with young children, youth, and adults, and who comes to us with lots of ideas on evangelism and church development.  I believe Heather is exactly what we need, at just the right time.  To be honest, part of me says, "Why weren't we ready to take this leap of faith and hire a Curate three years ago?"  I don't have the perfect answer to that question.  But I think it has something to do with things we needed to learn as a congregation, and things that I needed to learn as your rector.  And it also has to do with timing - God's timing.

 

Jesus knew it wasn't his time to go to Jerusalem - at least not in the way that his brothers envisioned it, with a lot of grand-standing and showmanship.  It was never just about becoming famous for Jesus.  It was about being faithful to God, bringing a message of how much God loved his people, and how people could find their way back to God.  He knew that he had a date with destiny in Jerusalem.  But he was careful to listen to God - and keep listening - so he could know exactly when "his hour" (John's language for when Jesus would go to the cross) would be, when the right time would be, to go to Jerusalem for the final time.  It had to be God's timing, and he knew that.

 

It is challenging work, this work of discernment.  But sometimes, when we get it right, and we are doing the things that God wants us to do, at just the right time, things fall into place.  And we discover that we have more energy than we've had in a long time, and - at the same time - it feels like God is carrying us along.  We are like folks in a raft, floating through the calm sections of a river, then maneuvering through the rapids with the help of our Wonderful Guide , and everything is working out.  This is partly why we keep praying, keep listening, keep discerning, keep gathering as a community - for those moments when we discover, "Man!  It feels like we are really doing God's work, doing good things for the kingdom right now!  And, man, how good it feels!  How sweet it is!  We are walking with the Lord.  This is awesome!"

 

Final thought:  as we live and work and pray and worship and learn together as a faith community, we must be careful to be respectful of each person's path, each person's process of discernment.  As it says in Ecclesiastes 3:1, "For everything there is a season, and time for every matter under heaven."  We must give each person in this community the benefit of the doubt, and assume that she or he is entering into this process of discernment as faithfully as she or he can.  When we invite others to join in a project or ministry or small group with us, we must give them space to discern if the timing is right.  If someone decides to pull out of a ministry that he or she has been doing for a while, we must assume that person has made that decision after much thought and prayer.  For that matter, if someone chooses to leave our community, we can certainly talk to him or her and ask why.  But I don't think we should ever assume that has been a decision made in haste.  As we learn how to be a community of love and hope and faith, we must learn to respect each person's decisions, and not pester or pressure them to do things that they may not be ready to do.  Part of being a community is learning how to honor each person's boundaries, to let his/her "yes" be "yes" and his/her "no" be "no".  Sometimes it is just not the right time for someone to do what we have invited them to do.  We can always ask again later, and see what they say.  Sometimes timing is everything.