In the time between Easter and Pentecost, I wonder what the followers of Jesus were doing.
The pain, confusion and fear associated with Holy Week and the crucifixion of Jesus were finished. Jesus came among the gathered community from time to time. He had a couple of things to say when he appeared. The first was, “Fear not.” The second was, “Wait.”
I imagine that gradually the disciples began to move out of their closed-off hiding places in the shadows and eventually resumed their everyday lives.
But what did it mean to go back to a normal way of living in the midst of a new understanding of the world? What did it mean to live and work and worship in the synagogue with one’s understanding of God’s nature and the reality of death forever changed? Did they do the same things with a renewed understanding? Did they make different choices and do different things given a new perspective on life in this world?
I wonder if they did everything that they had done before, only this time with an expectation that Jesus would be present in the midst of it.
In this season between Easter and Pentecost, I wonder what it would be like if we, in the community of faith known as the United Methodists of South Carolina, went about our daily lives with the expectation that God is indeed in our midst. Would we be any different or choose to do anything differently if we believed Jesus does work through the Body of Christ: the church?
It seems to me that when we believe God’s Spirit is at work in the church, we expect God to move in surprising, challenging and life-giving ways. When we expect God to be actively engaged in the world, we approach life with the anticipation that God has something to show us if we pay attention.
Do you believe God is present in the midst of the gathered community? Do you believe that it matters? What are your expectations?
By Kathy James
