A Significant Pause
In my sermon this morning on the Ascension of Christ, I mentioned that I’d spent some time in the church for the first time in over two months. I’ve gone up to the office a couple of times to pick up the materials I need for working at home but haven’t lingered very long. This past week, I went up to the building to write and record my sermon.
I commented on how surreal it was walking through the halls and into a couple of classrooms and noticing that everything had been left exactly as it was, ready for us to return on Sunday, March 15th. Of course, a couple of days before that, we made the decision to cease all church activities for the foreseeable future. I don’t think any of us knew that when we made that call on the 12th that we would be apart for this long. I admit that when Kathryn said, “I think this is the year we don’t have Easter in person,” I internally chuckled and said “that’s just so far away! Of course we will be back by then.”
Here we are, 73 days later. Has it really been that long? Part of me doesn’t understand how that much time as passed already, and part of me feels like we have been doing this for way longer. Time has come to mean something different to me in these days. While the individual days themselves seem to drag on, the weeks fly by.
I also mention in my sermon that the great theologian Karl Barth calls the time between Ascension Sunday and Pentecost Sunday “a significant pause.” This time when the disciples are stuck in the in-between; the in-between of finishing up one chapter where their role was to be followers and the starting of a new chapter where they are to be leaders and proclaimers. They had said goodbye to their friend who helped them create a new normal, and are waiting to see what the future holds with the arrival of the Holy Spirit.
We too find ourselves in the midst of a similar situation. We are in the in-between of two different time periods. And right now, things just…are. Many of us have experienced drastic changes in our schedules and routines and rhythms. Whether we are staying at home to work, or haven’t seen friends and family in weeks, or are caring for folx who are sick and alone in hospitals- I don’t know that any of us would say that are lives are exactly the same now as they were 73 days ago. And the reality is that they won’t be the same once this is all over.
So what do we do while we are in the in-between? How do we stay hopeful and safe and optimistic? How do we plan for a future when we don’t know what that future will look like?
I wish I had answers to the questions I am posing. I wish I could give a small snapshot of what the future will look like. But just like Jesus says to the disciples in our passage for today, “It is not for us to know…”
What we do know is that the message of God is still the same. “Do not be afraid.” “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, soul, and mind.” “For I know the plans I have for you. Plans to give you hope and a future.”
What verses do you find yourself turning to in this time? What are words that are bringing you peace and comfort? Where do you find hope as you are reading the word of God?
As we continue to live life in this “significant pause” and this in-between time, I hope you can find peace, hope, and joy in the every day. Time may be flying by or crawling by, but rest in the promise that God is with us in each minute, each day, each week. This will not last forever. But the love and presence of God endures through all things. Thanks be to God. Amen.
Kristen Koger, Pastor for Children and Families, First Baptist Decatur