Notes from a Sojourn
May 25, 2020
Waiting Is Hard
Waiting is hard. I say this as an only child who always struggled with “delayed gratification”. Looking back, it seems like I always managed to luck out and not have to do the hard work of waiting. When I first wanted to get my ear pierced as a kid my parents said that I could, but I had to save up the money myself. Later that day I found $5 lying in the ditch. Same story, same ditch later in the year when I wanted to buy a new book. I had to save up the money. Yet this miraculous money producing ditch saved the day. I’ve rarely had to wait. Because of this, I’m not really good at it.
This is precisely why I sympathize with the men in the story of the Ascension. Jesus gives them a parting message at tells them to wait for, what we now know to be, the sending of the Holy Spirit. Then he magically floats up into the sky and the people are understandably shocked. They stare up into the sky just as any of us might. Add in images of Elijah going off in the chariot, and a three-tiered universe understanding of the world and suddenly there is a lot going on in this story.
Yet, two men in white robes randomly appear and basically say, “Whadda ya doin’ standing around here?” Not the most pastorally sensitive of guys. The apostles have just seen a reasonably strange event. Maybe just give them a moment or two.
However, as potentially insensitive as the response is, the two robed figures have a point. Waiting isn’t about standing around gawking. The apostles are told to go back to Jerusalem and get ready for the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Waiting is about making sure things are in order, your ducks are in a row, and making sure you get the right sign to show the time has arrived.
While, on this side of the Jesus event, we know how this story goes. The faithful prepare in Jerusalem, and then the day of Pentecost arrives, and everything goes fantastically haywire in the best of ways. However, in the story we follow, all of that comes next week. We don’t get to randomly find a discarded $5 bill in our faith journey! We have to wait. And we have to reflect on what it means to wait faithfully.
I think it’s a great time to ponder the ideas of waiting, delayed gratification, getting ready, and all of those ideas that come up at Ascension time. In our own world we are stuck in this strange time. We’ve been shut in for about 10 weeks and things are now starting to slowly open back up. At the same time, we can be pretty certain that there will be some form of 2nd wave COVID-19 impact. It will all depend on how we choose to act during this time. Some of us are desperate to get back to work. Some are desperate to just get out and see some other people Others are terrified to step outside of their door.
Waiting is hard, and how we choose to wait matters. Notice that the apostles aren’t allowed to stand around doing nothing with their mouths hanging open. Yup, an amazing thing just happened. That doesn’t mean you get to stand around gawking. Get back to Jerusalem. Get ready. Because God is going to do some amazing things.
In our lives it behoves us to follow this lesson. Now is the time to get things in order. The world will change because of COVID-19 whether we like it or not. Society will change. We can’t just gawk, or avoid it. Now is the time to prepare for the coming of the Holy Spirit in this new time. Jesus’ earthly ministry has ended. It’s a new time. It’s time for us to be the hands and feet of the risen Christ in our world, empowered by the Spirit.
In this time, we are called to make sure we don’t stand around doing nothing, yet at the same time make sure we don’t rush. If all we do is rush to action, then we never really get the job done well. This Ascensiontide, let us learn to wait well, with faith. Let’s get ourselves in order. Let’s get our homes in order. Let’s get ready to see what God is going to do, because Pentecost is on the way, and investing in patience so that God can do God’s thing is a way better investment than a $5 bill covered in ditch water can ever be.
Jon Martin+
Parish of South Dundas
