[Mcgregorpage] McGregorPage #607, Easter 7, 5/4/08

[rmcgregoralbq at aol.com]

Easter 7 – May 4, 2008

Acts 1:6-14
Psalm 68:1-10, 32-35
1 Peter 4:12-14; 5:6-11
John 17:1-11


The Maypole Dance

If there were a golden thread from your heart to the heart of Christ, then as Christ ascends, you would be drawn close to all the other hearts thus tethered, something like a Maypole Dance.  The ascension brought the disciples together in one place side by side looking up, remembering his last words, "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."  (Acts 1:8)  The vision, then, is that the ascension will draw together hearts in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and from the ends of the earth -- who knows, perhaps finally the whole human race.  Peter encourages each heart now bound to Christ to endure what it takes to persevere in this legacy.  The Psalmist visualizes God high enough that there is a direct line of sight between God and everyone -- flat earth, remember.  And Jesus prays that these hearts bound to him will be one, will be side by side, because he is returning to the Father, he and the Father being one.

"Like a roaring lion your adversary the devil prowls around, looking for someone to devour."  (1 Peter 5:8)  It is this unity created by the golden cords to the ascended Christ that most threatens the existence of that roaring lion.  Have you seen the way lions snare a water buffalo?  They don't dash into the herd.  They look for an individual separated from the herd.  The herd is superior in strength to the lion and will trample her under foot.  It is the unity for which Jesus prays that keeps us safe from the grand predator.  It is our unity not our doctrinal purity that protects us.  It is our gathering for worship not our placid thoughts in a fishing boat that manifests our safety from the chaos threatening the world.  (Too long, we have thought that the scattered sheep were as safe as the gathered sheep.)  It is the unity that God gives us in answer to Jesus' prayer that is the hope of the human race. 

Why has the human race proven superior to all the threats of nature?  Our jaws are not stronger than those of the tiger.  We can't run like the deer.  We aren't agile like monkeys.  We aren't able to adapt by mutation like bacteria.  Why are we so dominant?  We are able to pull together to meet both opportunities or threats.  It is our unity that is our strength, our unity and our ability to transcend the circumstances.  This God-given strength is extended by our unity in Christ to withstand evil, our most corrosive threat.

Instinctively, the human community pulls back into the handiest tribe when confronted with the predator --  Suni, Sheite, Jocks, Freaks, Gays, Straights, Dallas Cowboy Fans, what have you -- everyone seeking the safety of unity, but needing a truly saving unity, the one for which Jesus prayed, the one for which the church endures, the glorification of God in Christ, a completed Maypole close-binding all human kind. 


May these thoughts strengthen you. 
 
An Open Letter to Fellow Pastors 
>From Roland McGregor, United Methodist Pastor 
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