Ordinary Discipleship

Sunday after Ascension

Today's Readings: Acts 1:15-17, 21-26; John 17:6-19

Grace and peace to you in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

This past Thursday was a little known holy day where we remember the ascension of Christ: the day when the resurrected Christ leaves his disciples, leaves this earth for the last time and ascends into heaven to be seated at the right hand of the Father until he comes again to judge the living and the dead. Jesus physically leaves this earth, but promises (remember) that the Holy Spirit will descend and remain with them always.

We will hear more about that next week on Pentecost, but this week we hear some of the discernment amongst the disciples as they prepare for life beyond Christ’s physical presence and leadership. They have lost one of their originals – Judas – and are looking for a replacement. If we didn’t have this passage, we might just assume it was the Apostle Paul who stepped up and into Judas’ place, since most of the New Testament is attributed to him and we call him an apostle! But actually, as we heard this morning, it is Matthias who wins the roll of the dice. Yet, we never hear about him or his ministry again after this passage.

The thing is that since the first disciples, many more have followed; left unnamed and undocumented. It is impossible to know all the disciples who have existed and surrendered their life to God’s will, doing extraordinary things often in very ordinary ways. Matthias, like many of us, was just an ordinary disciple – called, claimed, and sent by God to the world. We don’t have to have a book of his ministry to know that he was the hands and feet of God in his time.

Many of us may feel as though we are just ordinary - nothing special.. unnoticed.. doing nothing that’s noteworthy.. But hear this: like Matthias your life as a disciple does not have to be documented and put on display in order for it to matter. YOU are called, claimed and sent by God to the world and this call includes even the most basic, ordinary, everyday things you do.. which, no matter how simple, are extraordinary examples of God’s kingdom come, on earth as it is in heaven.

That smile you gave, that conversation you had, that meal you shared, those extra moments spent with someone who feels lonely.. that I love you spoken almost as a reflex.. that apology given or received.. all these things are steps toward kin-ship, toward the Beloved Community, towards the Kingdom come. It does not matter what titles you acquire in this life, it does not matter what degrees hang on your wall, it does not matter grades are on your report card – what matters is the love you give throughout your everyday, ordinary life.

You don’t have to be a superhero, you don’t have to be the president, you don’t have to be prom queen to be extraordinary. You’re extraordinary because you were made by the one true God and that God has claimed you, called you, and sent you to LOVE! And Jesus knows this isn’t as easy of a task as it sounds, and he prays for the disciples – prays for us. In a power hungry world, Jesus knows that love is not the world’s top priority.. but since he created the world he also knows that it CAN be! So in Jesus’ prayer he does not ask God for our escape, but for strength, guidance, and protection as we follow in the footsteps he has laid.. footsteps that lead to a cross.

In a world that is power hungry and individualistic, it is a revolutionary act to love your neighbor - even to love yourself or your God. Every time you do an act of love you are building up the kingdom of God that is in this world but not of this world. Your love may not be well received by everyone… your love of the least of these will certainly not be well received by those who thrive on their poverty and oppression.. yet we are not called to escape, but to enter in. We are called to radical, revolutionary acts of love throughout our everyday, ordinary lives that will build up the kingdom of God in our midst. In doing so, we continue the legacy of Matthias and the first disciples; we follow in the footsteps of Christ.. is there anything more extraordinary than this?