THIS PASSAGE FROM THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES HAS PRODDED ME INTO THINKING ABOUT THOSE TIMES THAT I CALL “IN-BETWEEN TIMES.” “IN-BETWEEN TIMES” CAN AROUSE VERY DIFFERENT RESPONSES IN ME. I THINK OF THE ANTICIPATION I HAVE ABOUT THOSE DAYS AFTER I HAVE FILED MY TAX RETURN BEFORE THE YELLOW ENVELOPE APPEARS IN MY MAIL BOX. “HURRY UP,” IS MY RESPONSE IN THAT TIME. OR THE TIME WHEN I AM IN CONNECTICUT FOR A FAMILY FIX. “SLOW DOWN,” IS MY FEELING THEN. TIME GOES BY SO QUICKLY. I GUESS WE LIVE A GOOD PART OF OUR LIVES IN “IN-BETWEEN TIMES,” BETWEEN SURGERY AND HEALTH, OR DIAGNOSIS AND DEATH, BETWEEN GETTING UP AND GOING BACK TO BED, AND OUR RESPONSES CAN VARY SO MUCH, FROM PATIENCE TO BEING FRANTIC, FROM JOY TO SORROW.

“LUKE IS TELLING US, IN THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES, ABOUT AN INTERESTING TIME IN THE LIFE OF THOSE DISCIPLES WHO HAVE BEEN FOLLOWING JESUS. THEY HAVE LIVED THROUGH THE HORRORS OF THE CRUCIFIXION, THE MYSTERY OF THE RESURRECTION. IN THE TIME FOLLOWING THEY HAVE MET HIM WALKING TO EMMAUS AND SITTING WITH THEM IN THE UPPER ROOM. IN THOSE POST RESURRECTION APPEARANCES HE HAS TALKED TO THEM ABOUT THE KINGDOM OF GOD, AND GIVEN THEM MANY SIGNS PROVING HIS AUTHENTICITY. HE HAS LEFT THEM WITH INSTRUCTIONS NOT TO LEAVE JERUSALEM, BUT TO “WAIT THERE FOR THE PROMISE OF THE FATHER.” IT SEEMS TO THE FOLLOWERS THAT THINGS ARE BACK TO NORMAL FO A MOMENT. FORTY DAYS HAVE ELAPSED SINCE THE CRUCIFIXION. THIS MOTLEY GROUP, THE DISCIPLES, ARE BACK TO FISHING OR COLLECTING TAXES OR WHATEVER THEIR OCCUPATION IS. THE ROLLER COASTER RIDE THEY HAVE BEEN ON, OF SHOCK, DESPONDENCY AND FEAR HAS SUBSIDED, BUT THEY MAKE SURE TO GATHERING REGULARLY. ROMAN OPPRESSION IS STILL AT HAND. AND SO WHEN JESUS APPEARS AGAIN, THEY ASK A LONG HELD QUESTION, “LORD IS THIS THE TIME WHEN YOU WILL RESTORE THE KINGDOM TO ISRAEL?” THEY WANT TO KNOW FOR CERTAIN WHAT IS AHEAD, WHAT THEY SHOULD EXPECT.

JESUS COULD SO EASILY HAVE ALLAYED THEY FEARS BY SAYING, “YES,” OR AT LEAST HAVE GIVEN THEM SOME CLUE ABOUT WHAT WAS TO HAPPEN. BUT NO, WHAT HE DID SAY WAS SOMETHING LIKE, “ HEY, YOU’RE ON YOU OWN. I CAN’T GIVE YOU A TIMETABLE, BUT I CAN ASSURE YOU THAT THE HOLY SPIRIT WILL COME TO YOU, TO EMPOWER YOU TO DO THE WORK I’M ASKING YOU TO DO. AND THAT IS TO SPREAD MY WORD TO THE ENDS OF THE EARTH.” AND WITH THAT HE WAS “LIFTED UP, AND A CLOUD TOOK HIM OUT OF THEIR SIGHT.” AS THEY WERE LOOKING EXPECTANTLY TO SEE WHERE HE WAS, THOSE TWO MEN IN DAZZLING CLOTHING APPEAR AGAIN. ANGELS, REMEMBER THEM AT THE TOMB? THEY GIVE AS THEY DID THEN, AN INTERPRETATION OF WHAT HAD HAPPENED. HE REALLY WAS GONE FOR GOOD. AFTER GOING BACK TO JERUSALEM, A LARGE GATHERING OF FOLLOWERS MET IN THE UPPER ROOM, MEN AND WOMEN, AND THEY CONTINUED TO PRAY.

I FIND IT EASY TO EMPATHIZE WITH THIS GROUP. THEY ARE BEGINNING TO LIVE IN AN “IN-BETWEEN TIME.” JESUS HAS LEFT, BUT THAT SPIRIT HAS NOT YET COME TO THEM AS HE PROMISED. IT IS A FAITHFUL GROUP, FOLKS WHO BELIEVE IN A VISION AND AN IDEAL BUT ARE STRUGGLING TO CARRY IT OUT WITHOUT THAT GUIDING PERSON WHO HAS MEANT SO MUCH TO THEM. THEY ARE LEFT WITH A MEMORY, AND A PROMISE, AND EACH OTHER, BUT NO SPECIFIC PROGRAM, OR AT LEAST NOT A PRESCRIPTION. THEY ARE AT A CROSS ROADS. THEY ARE NOT TO LOOK UP OR BACKWARDS BUT TO MOVE ON, TO LOOK FORWARD. JESUS HAS ESSENTIALLY SAID THAT HE HAS LEFT THEM SO THAT THEY WILL DISCOVER FOR THEMSELVES WHAT GOD WOULD HAVE THEM DO,

IT IS MY SENSE THAT WE ARE AT A CROSS ROADS TOO, RIGHT NOW, WE AS AN EPISCOPAL CHURCH, A MEMBER OF THE ANGLICAN COMMUNION, AND WE AS THIS CONGREGATION, A PARISH CALLED ST. JOHN’S IN COLLEGE PARK, GEORGIA. WE ARE ALL AWARE OF THE RIFT THAT HAS BEEN CAUSED IN THE ANGLICAN COMMUNION AS A RESULT OF THE CONSECRATION IN NEW HAMPSHIRE OF A BISHOP WHO IS IN A COMMITTED RELATIONSHIP WITH A PERSON OF THE SAME SEX. INVOLVED TO IS THE CANADIAN DIOCESE OF WESTMINSTER’S ADOPTION OF RITES FOR THE BLESSING OF SAME GENDER UNIONS. FOR MANY PEOPLE IN THE WORLD THESE HAVE BEEN CONSIDERED EXTREME VIOLATIONS OF WHAT THEY CONSIDER TO BE THE SACRAMENT OF MARRIAGE AND A VIOLATION OF THE BONDS WHICH HOLD THE ANGLICAN COMMUNION TOGETHER. THIS BEGINS THE “IN-BETWEEN TIME“, THE TIME WHEN THE RUG IS PULLED OUT FROM UNDER A WORLD WIDE COMMUNION OF ANGLICAN DIOCESES, WHEN THE STRUGGLE TO DETERMINE GOD’S WILL, TO KNOW WHAT JESUS’ MIGHT CALL US TO DO IS UNCLEAR.

IN FEBRUARY THE PRIMATES, THE HEAD’S OF EACH BODY OF THE COMMUNION, MET IN ICELAND. IT WAS NOT A CONFERENCE WITHOUT STRUGGLE, AND THE ALTHOUGH COMMUNIQUÉS WHICH HAVE BEEN FORTHCOMING HAVE REFLECTED COMPROMISE. AND THE PUBLISHED “WORD TO THE CHURCH ”

REFLECTING THE GUIDANCE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT , INDICATES THE COMMITMENT TO LIFE “IN COMMUNION,” THERE IS AN INDICATION THAT THE “IN-BETWEEN TIME” IS NOT OVER. THE RIFT MAY OR MAY NOT BECOME PERMANENT. AND UNTIL THE COURSE IS CLEAR, WE MUST BE IN PRAYER.

I HAVE BEEN AT ST. JOHN’S FOR ALMOST THREE YEARS NOW. THIS PARISH IS INDEED DIFFERENT FROM ANY THAT I HAVE SERVED IN MY 13+ YEARS OF ORDAINED MINISTRY. HOLY INNOCENTS WAS A HUGE PARISH, WEALTHY, THRIVING IN SANDY SPRINGS. EPIPHANY WAS NOT WEALTHY, BUT IN THE 6 ½ YEARS THAT I WAS THERE IT HAD GROWN RAPIDLY. WE CELEBRATED OUR 100^TH YEAR DURING THAT TIME, NOTING THAT IT HAD GROWN FROM A TINY LITTLE CHURCH IN THE MIDDLE OF LITTLE FIVE POINTS TO A GOOD SIZED PARISH IN THE MIDST OF EMORY, CDC, AND OTHER SUCH INSTITUTIONS IN ATLANTA. MY YEAR AS AN INTERIM IN DAHLONEGA WAS VERY DIFFERENT. IT WAS A VERY NEW CHURCH, IN A VERY NEW BUILDING, TRYING TO MAKE ITS WAY IN A VERY OLD COMMUNITY. WE RARELY HAD MORE THAN 45 PEOPLE IN OUR ONE SERVICE ON SUNDAY, AND ALMOST NO CHILDREN IN SUNDAY SCHOOL. AND THEN I CAME HERE TO ST. JOHN’S.

NONE OF THESE EARLIER THREE CHURCHES SEEMED “IN-BETWEEN” TO ME. EACH WAS MOVING AHEAD, ONE FOOT AFTER ANOTHER. AND YOU MAY WONDER WHY I SEE ST. JOHN’S AS BEING IN AN “IN-BETWEEN” STATE. ONE OF THE GREAT PRIVILEGE’S I HAVE AS PRIEST ASSOCIATE HERE IS THE CHANCE TO TALK WITH MANY OF THE OLDER MEMBERS OF OUR PARISH. SOME ARE IN ILL HEALTH, IN ASSISTED LIVING. SOME ARE MEMBERS OF THE THURSDAY MORNING WORSHIPING GROUP, AND SOME ARE HERE TODAY IN OUR CONGREGATION. AND MANY OF THE STORIES I HAVE HEARD ARE ABOUT THE “GOOD OLD DAYS,” WHEN THE CHURCH WAS PACKED ON SUNDAYS, WHEN THERE WAS A SCHOOL HERE, WHEN THERE WERE DANCES ON SATURDAY NIGHTS, AND WHEN THEY BUILT THIS MAGNIFICENT BUILDING, SOMETHING THIS PARISH COULDN’T DO ON TODAY’S BUDGET. SINCE THOSE DAYS, COLLEGE PARK AND THE SURROUNDING TOWNS HAVE TAKEN A TERRIFIC HIT. THE ATLANTA AIRPORT EXPANDED AND HALF THE POPULATION IN THE AREA WAS WIPED OUT, AND AS THE ECONOMY PLUMMETED, THE NOISE INCREASED. IT’S NOT THE FAULT OF ANY THING ST. JOHN’S DID OR DIDN’T DO THAT CAUSED THE DECLINE IN MEMBERSHIP, BUT IT HAPPENED, AND DEPRESSION SET IN HERE.

THE FACT THAT WE ARE STILL HERE SEEMS A MIRACLE, BUT MY SENSE IS THAT JUST AS THE FOLLOWERS OF JESUS DIDN’T THROW UP THEIR HANDS AND DISBAND FOLLOWING HIS DEPARTURE, HIS ASCENSION, THIS CHURCH DIDN’T SELL OFF TO THE BAPTISTS AND FOLD UP. A STALWART GROUP OF PEOPLE HUNG IN, MANY OF WHOM ARE STILL WITH US. PRIESTS CAME AND WENT, IN RAPID SUCCESSION AT ONE POINT, BUT EACH TIME A SEARCH COMMITTEE GOT TO WORK AND FOUND A REPLACEMENT. AND NOW JIM HAS BEEN HERE FOR MORE THAN SEVEN YEARS. WITH PRAYER AND STRONG FAITH, GOD HAS GIVEN THIS CONGREGATION THE POWER TO KEEP GOING.

WHEN DO WE MOVE FROM A “IN-BETWEEN TIME” SITUATION TO A FULL SPEED AHEAD SITUATION? FOR THE EARLY CHURCH, THE “IN-BETWEEN TIME” ENDED WITH PENTECOST, THE GIFT OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. WE CELEBRATE PENTECOST THIS NEXT SUNDAY, THE BIRTHDAY OF THE CHURCH. IT WAS A CLEARLY DEFINED MOMENT FOR THE DISCIPLES. FOR ST. JOHN’S, IT WILL BE LESS PRECISE, BUT IT IS MY SENSE THAT THE UPWARD SWING IS AT HAND. FIRST OF ALL, I HAVE SEEN SO MANY CHANGES IN COLLEGE PARK SINCE I HAVE BEEN HERE. STARTING WITH COMMENTS FROM MY ATLANTA FRIENDS WHO HEARD ABOUT WHAT A GOOD RESTAURANT OSCAR’S IS, TO THE BURST OF NEW EATING PLACES WHICH HAVE PUT COLLEGE PARK ON THE MAP, THINGS ARE HAPPENING. THE INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION CENTER INTRODUCED OUR DIOCESAN COUNCIL GROUP TO THESE PARTS, AND NEW HOUSING IS GOING UP ALL OVER THE PLACE. I WATCH THAT APARTMENT COMPLEX OF 250 UNITS ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE CEMETERY EACH TIME I DRIVE DOWN VIRGINIA AVENUE, WONDERING HOW MANY POTENTIAL EPISCOPALIANS MIGHT LIVE THERE WHEN IT’S FINISHED.

OUR CHURCH MEMBERSHIP IN SOME WAYS REFLECTS THE DRAMATIC CHANGES IN THE COMMUNITY AROUND US ALTHOUGH NUMBERS AREN’T VERY DIFFERENT. BUT WHEN WE INTRODUCE AND WELCOME NEW MEMBERS, AS WE WILL NEXT WEEK, IT REFLECTS CHANGE. I HAVE BEEN ENCOURAGED WITH THE VIA MEDIA GATHERINGS WE HAVE BEEN HOLDING ON WEDNESDAY EVENINGS HERE. IT IS 40 PEOPLE SHOWING UP REGULARLY TO HAVE A DELICIOUS MEAL, AND DISCUSSION WITH EXCELLENT FACILITATORS.

JESUS SAID TO HIS FOLLOWERS BEFORE LEAVING, “YOU WILL RECEIVE POWER WHEN THE HOLY SPIRIT HAS COME UPON YOU; AND YOU WILL BE MY WITNESSES IN JERUSALEM, AND ALL JUDEA AND SAMARIA, AND TO THE ENDS OF THE EARTH.” AND THAT IS EXACTLY WHAT WE, AT ST. JOHN’S, ARE CALLED TO DO TODAY. WE ARE A WELCOMING CHURCH, AND WE MUST REACH OUT OUR HANDS AS CHRIST’S WITNESSES TO COLLEGE PARK, TO EAST POINT, TO HAPEVILLE, AND TO THE ENDS OF THE EARTH.

Rev. Ruth T. Healy - Priest Associate