RENEWsletter for May 9, 2010 - 6th Easter

Greetings Renewers!
A little over a year ago we elected a President who promised Change. And then there's Mother Earth. Her surface undergoes change through earthquakes and volcanoes. And the volcanoes and other factors change her atmosphere. And people... people change too. Well, speaking of change...

Our readings for this Sunday talk of change. Nothing is so sure as change! as many a wise person has noted. Time passes. The earth shifts, mountains are built and then worn down. Stars blaze and eventually burn out. People are born and die. Some things change faster than others. Religious practices also change, sometimes very slowly, but sometimes more quickly, as we can see in the readings for Sunday.

Those readings, for this Sixth Sunday of Easter, can be found on the web at: http://www.usccb.org/nab/050910.shtml, and in your Bible in:

Acts 15.1-2, 22-29
Psalm 67.2-3, 5, 6, 8 (with v. 4 as the response)
Revelation 21.10-14, 22-23
John 14.23-29

The First Reading tells of the results of a council that might be called "Jerusalem I" (recorded in the skipped part, Acts 15.3-21). The issue at stake was circumcision. Gentiles had begun to embrace faith in Jesus and some of the higher-ups at Jerusalem and Antioch were anxious to have the men circumcised according to the Law of Moses. But after "Jerusalem I", that practice was deemed unnecessary because God had already filled uncircumcised Gentiles with his Holy Spirit. Thus the requirements were pared down to just: "abstain from meat sacrificed to idols, from blood, from meats of strangled animals, and from unlawful marriage" (v. 29). The Gentiles were, of course, delighted to hear this (v. 31... outside the bounds of the reading).

The Responsorial Psalm could easily have been heard being sung by these happy Gentile Christians on reading the letter from the elders at Jerusalem. "O God, let all the nations praise you!" (Ps. 67.4) For some in the growing 1st Century Church, change was happening rapidly... but when they heard this psalm, they would realize that God has been God of the Gentiles for a long, long time (v. 8).

Change in a big way is what John is describing in the Second Reading. The New Jerusalem gleams with the splendor of God himself... the entire city shown like a precious stone (Rev. 21.11). And, guess what! No temple (v. 22)! Jerusalem without a temple?? No need for one anymore as God himself was there, in person. No need anymore for a sun or a moon either (v. 23). The glory of God lit it. That will be a change that will take some adjusting to.

The Gospel Reading describes another change, one that has already taken place for us. But the disciples who were following Jesus hadn't experienced it yet. Their beloved Teacher, Jesus, was talking about leaving them. But he promised an "Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send..." (John 14.26). He told them this "before it happens, so that when it happens you may believe" (v. 29). They believed, but didn't really understand what kind of change this would be.

We often view approaching change with trepidation. But change must occur if we are to avoid stagnation. (And even in stagnation, change comes about... putrefaction and death.) Now some change is pleasant, some is not, but change creates new outlooks, new experiences, new knowledge, new wisdom. And each minute that ticks by brings us closer to that New Jerusalem where we will bask in the love and glory of God with us. This is the peace that Jesus left with us (John 14.27).

And after that? Hmmm. You're free to speculate on what other changes may take place.

Randy Jones
"Those who hang onto the status quo will be disappointed!"