Living in the In-between Times

For today's post I share the sermon that I preached this past Sunday.

First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)
Georgetown, Ky
February 19, 2012
Transfiguration Sunday (Year B)
2 Kings 1:2-12; Mark 2:2-9
“Living in the In-between Times”

Help us to listen for your voice God,
because our minds so easily wander to things
that we are more concerned about than we are with you.
O Timeless God, for whom we so often do not have time,
catch us off guard with a word from you,
so that we will look hard enough at ourselves
that we will be renewed by your presence.
In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

It was time for Elisha to assume the role of prophet that Elijah had filled admirably during the ninth-century B.C. It’s almost comical to listen to their exchange.

Elijah said, “I’ve got to go to Bethel; you stay here.” And Elisha said, “No. I’m going with you.” So, Elisha went with Elijah.

Then, Elijah said, “I’ve got to go to Jericho; you stay here.” And Elisha said, “No. I’m going with you.” So, Elisha went with Elijah.

Then, Elijah said, “I’ve go to go to Jordan; you stay here.” Guess what? Elisha said, “No. I’m going with you.” So, Elisha went with Elijah.

Then Elijah said, “Elisha, you’re going to have to let go of me. I’m getting ready to be taken from you in a whirlwind.” Imagine the anxiety that Elisha must have felt over that. Elijah wasn’t just going to Bethel or Jericho or Jordan; he was going to be taken from Elisha permanently.

Elisha was accustomed to leaning on Elijah and letting Elijah take the lead. Now, Elijah was about to leave him. And Elijah said, “Now that I’m leaving you, what do you want?” Elisha said that he wanted a double share of Elijah’s spirit. He wanted to be empowered more than Elijah was so he could serve as a prophet. And Elijah said it would be granted.

Change was hard for Elisha. When Elijah departed, Elisha grasped his own clothes and tore them in two.

Life would be different without Elijah. He was a renowned prophet. How could Elisha fill Elijah’s shoes? Elisha wanted to hang on to the way things were.
There was a similar exchange between Simon Peter and Jesus. The story is known as the transfiguration of Jesus. In the gospel of Mark, the story comes at the mid-point between Jesus’ baptism and crucifixion.

We’re told that Simon Peter, James, and John accompanied Jesus to a high mountain. While they were there, Jesus’ clothes became dazzling white, and like it was at Jesus’ baptism, God said, “Jesus, you’re my beloved child.” It was one of those spiritual highs that come to us every now and then. No wonder that Simon Peter wanted to remain on the mountain. Who wouldn’t want to? They had been following Jesus around, and they had to deal with those crowds who were coming to Jesus asking to be healed and fed. It was getting old, traveling all over the countryside. Simon Peter wanted to stay on the mountain.

Simon Peter wanted to hang on to that moment, just like Elisha wanted to cling to Elijah. Elisha and Simon Peter were at an in-between time. Elisha didn’t know what was going to happen next, now that he was the prophet who was replacing Elijah. For SImon Peter, it was between the time of Jesus’ ministry and the increasing opposition that Jesus was facing that would ultimately lead to his death. Uncertainty and fear were in the air.

Life is full of in-between times. Many of us know the feeling of experiencing the death of our parents when they are in their 80’s or so, and it begins to dawn on us that now we’re next in line. As much as we know that at some time our parents will die, until it happens, it’s impossible to know what that will feel like. And when it does happen, we wonder what the last two or three decades of our lives will look like. How will our lives unfold? What will I accomplish in the last stages of my life? Many of us know that feeling. It’s an in-between time.

There are in-between times for teenagers. There is that year or so before you get your driver’s license, and you think that that day will never arrive. There’s also that year or so before your parents allow you to date.

Seniors in high school live in an in-between time. You may be uncertain about your future plans. You wonder, “Where am I going to school when I graduate? Am I going to take some time off before going on to college? Am I going to college at all?” It’s tough to live in this state of unknown, this in-between time.

There’s also that time just before a person graduates from college. That’s a real in-between time. There are inevitable questions. Where am I going to work? Will I be able to find a job at all? Also, there are the feelings that you’re finally going to be on your own. Parents will continue to play an important role in your life, but now you really are entering adulthood, and it’s a strange feeling.

Some crises in our lives bring us to an in-between time. A crisis can lead us to lose our spiritual center, and we wonder if it will return. Exhaustion can also bring it on. Reaching middle age and asking if this is all that there is, can also be a time of looking for a deeper spiritual walk. It’s an in-between time that is like the people of Israel had when in the wilderness. They had been rescued from bondage in Egypt, but they hadn’t yet entered the Promised Land. It was a time of great uncertainty.

I believe that our country is living at an in-between time. We’re asking, what is going to happen to the economy? What is going to happen in the midst of so many foreclosures? What is going to happen with unemployment?

What are some of the responses during the in-between times, whether it be a person, a family, a group, a nation, or a church? In-between times are a time of not knowing, and many times, we don’t do well with not knowing. When we don’t know, some of us ratchet up our anxiety by imagining the worst case scenario. You know how that is. I’m going to fail that test, and my GPA will drop so low that I won’t get accepted into the college that I want to attend. We might think that our nation is going to suffer an economic depression that rivals the Great Depression of the late 1920’s through the mid-1930’s.

Because of the anxiety and fear that in-between times bring, it’s hard to let go of the old. Even if the old is no longer working, there’s a sense of security that comes from knowing what the old is like. When the people of Israel were in the wilderness between that time of being in slavery in Egypt and not yet arriving in the Promised Land, do you remember what they did when they hit on hard times? They wanted to go back to Egypt! Can you imagine that?!

In the in-between times, it’s hard to prevent ourselves from trying to return to the old. Think of the relationship between children and parents when the child has entered adulthood. Some adult children have great difficulty letting go of their parents. Some parents have great difficulty letting go of their children. Their children are adults, and they still hold on to them as if they’re in middle school. It’s hard to let go.

During the in-between times, many churches want to turn back the clock. Some of you remember when it was the in thing to be at church on Sunday mornings. How many of you remember when all stores and restaurants were closed on Sunday, so most people went to church? You recall that there were no activities for children and young people that competed with church.

As difficult as it is to accept that things will never return to the days when the church was at the center of the culture, it’s simply the reality of our day and time. For several decades now, churches have been living at an in-between time, wondering what is going to unfold. What can the church do to compete with the culture during this in-between time? But I still believe with all my heart that we in the church have something to offer that people need.
People are pulled in a hundred different directions. They’re worn out. And they wonder why they feel empty at the core of their lives. It’s because they don’t have a spiritual center. The truth is that even with many of us who do attend church, we feel this same emptiness, because we have bought into the hectic pace of the culture. We in the church know that there is an alternative way to live.

The culture says that you must join the rat race if you’re going to make it in this world. The church says get out of the race and start living a different way.

The culture says that we must go 24/7. The culture says that we are to live on Orange Alert all the time. This causes the anxiety and tension to rise within us. The church says that we are to honor the sabbath as a day of worship because we are limited creatures, and by setting aside a time of worship, we remember who the limitless Creator is.

Because of the message of Jesus, we in the church know that there is a different way to live than buying in to the consumerism that our culture says will bring happiness. We know that possessions aren’t what satisfy our deepest longing.

The culture says that you’ve always got to have more because you never know when you might run out. The church says live one day at a time and don’t be consumed with what tomorrow might bring.

The culture says that the way to live is to look out for yourself and those you love the most. The culture says that what is most important is individual happiness. The message of the church is that we’re all in this together, and as long as any of God’s children suffer, we all suffer. Therefore, there shouldn’t be haves and have-nots. The church says that everyone is our neighbor.

The culture says that you prove your worth by how much you produce—this is the definition of success. The church says we are somebody because we are a child of God.

The culture is at an in-between time, wondering if there is an alternative way to live. We in the church can say that we can move beyond the in-between time and live with true freedom. Obviously, none of us live this way all the time. We too often mirror the culture rather than living the alternative way. But at our best, we know what it means to be liberated.

The in-between times can be a tough place to live, but they can also offer us an opportunity. They can be a time of incubating as we’re on the verge of something new emerging.

It can be a time when we learn the virtue of patience. As much as we want things to move along, we can’t force it. Besides, when we do try to force things, we end up making a mess of things. There’s no need to panic. We serve one who is far greater than we are. In the words of the old hymn, “God’s got the whole world in his hands.” In the words of the anthem that Joyful Noise just sang, God says to us, “Trust me.
If you’ll wait, you’ll make it through the anxiety of waiting. And you’ll make it to the other side.”
The prophet Isaiah promised that
those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength,
    they shall mount up with wings like eagles,
they shall run and not be weary,
    they shall walk and not faint.
Wait on the Lord. Let God do things on God’s timetable.

Jesus and the disciples were in that in-between time of Jesus’ ministry thus far and what was lying ahead, which we of course know was Jesus’ death and resurrection. If we wait in this in-between time, God will eventually give us an experience, maybe not as powerful as what Jesus and the disciples experienced on the mountain, but in God’s time, we will receive reassurance. When that happens, like Simon Peter, we will want to linger there. Simon Peter wanted to stay on the mountain, but Jesus made it clear that this experience was preparing them for what was ahead.

We don’t know what lies on the other side of the in-between time, but we do know that we serve the same God that Elijah and Elisha and Simon Peter and Jesus did. This God is always waiting in the wings to bring new life. It will happen. Linger in the in-between time. Don’t force things to happen. Wait, and in God’s time, God will bring resurrection.