FIFTH SUNDAY OF EASTER – YEAR C
As an enthusiastic railfan, I am excited about the fact that America is about to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the opening of the first transcontinental railroad. Building that connecting link between the east and west coasts of our nation involved the perennial problem of how to get from Point A to Point B. And that challenge, and its solution form the narrative in the Scripture readings for this Fifth Sunday of Easter.
Jesus identifies Point A in the brief Gospel passage as he informs his disciples at table with him the night before his crucifixion, “My children, I will be with you only a little while longer.” For three years this band of brothers, together with a wider circle of disciples and faithful women, have been together. The twelve, at least, have been in almost unceasing company with Jesus. They have shared a house in Capernaum, wandered the roads, gone sailing together. Through it all, Jesus has always been there to instruct, to admonish, to give an example, to guide and direct them. Now all of that is about to change. There will, of course, be the appearances of Jesus to the group after his Resurrection, but they will be brief and unpredictable. And then, one day, Jesus will bless them and be taken up from their sight. Thus, Point A, our starting point.
“I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘Behold God’s dwelling is with the human race. He will dwell with them and they will be his people… He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or mourning, wailing or pain…” John, the visionary on Patmos, describes Point B for us. The destination of human history is the new Jerusalem where God and human beings dwell together in easy intimacy and there is undisturbed bliss. It is a magnificent vision, but it leaves us with the problem: How do we get there from here? How do we enlist the immeasurable power of Jesus’ Resurrection to bridge the gap between Jesus’ departure and his return in glory, the way railroad pioneers harnessed the immense power of steam to bridge a continent?
St. Luke gives us a blue print in the passage from the Acts of the Apostles that we just heard. Almost from the beginning of his career as a missionary rather than a persecutor, St. Paul developed a methodology that is as effective today as it was two thousand years ago. Let’s listen closely as Luke shows us Paul at work.
If I might be permitted a brief digression, let me stray back to my favorite obsession: trains. Some time ago, a parishioner gave me a book about the building of the First Transcontinental Railroad entitled, “Nothing Like It in the World.” If I were to suggest a subtitle for the Acts of the Apostles, it would be that very same epithet, Nothing Like It in the World.
But, back to St. Paul. His strategy can be summed up in four steps: convert, strengthen, exhort, delegate. After making a considerable number of disciples in a new mission, Paul and Barnabas go back to cities where they have already established congregations. “They returned to Lystra and to Iconium and to Antioch. They strengthened the spirits of the disciples and exhorted them to persevere in the faith.” Faith Formation, like all human progress, involves going back over familiar ground, strengthening understanding and commitment, urging and inspiring to greater efforts and achievements. We cannot presume that our efforts on behalf of the Kingdom of God are ever complete, over and done. We need to go back over familiar territory again and again. Reform and Evangelization must go had in hand with catechesis and motivation.
As an integral part of that effort, delegation comes into play. Paul knows that he cannot be in every church that he had founded forever. So, he and Barnabas appoint suitably prepared elders, we would say clergy, in each church and, with prayer and fasting commend them to the Lord in whom they put their faith. That last detail, commend them to the Lord in whom they put their trust is essential. Without trust in the Lord, why go to all the bother.
Paul’s formula for evangelization works for just about any venture that challenges us to make progress from Point A to Point B. Whether we are building a transcontinental railroad or pursuing an education or teaching or coaching, it is the only way to make progress. Last week at a boy scout meeting, I watched an experienced Scouter teaching a tenderfoot scout how to tie a bowline. He showed the boy, then let him try it. Demonstrated it again, went back over each step, encouraged the lad to try again, finally delegated him to show his skill to the others in his patrol.
We use Paul’s formula now as we assemble for this Sunday’s Eucharist. We move further toward the Kingdom by going over familiar Scriptural territory, listening to familiar stories with fresh ears. We strengthen one another’s commitment to discipleship, just as the Lord strengthens us, fortifying us with his own flesh and blood. And we find ourselves delegated to go out into our daily lives, charged to build connections between a hurting world filled with hurting people and that marvelous new Jerusalem, trusting in the Lord whose kingdom we will surely come.