A Little While

Here we are in the first weekend of May. All you have to do is look at the gas prices to know that. The school year is winding down, graduations loom and flowers bloom and vacation time is on the horizon. With gas prices what they are that takes a bit of setting a side, perhaps doing without somethings and planning ahead - especially for families.

In today's Gospel and the reading from Revelation, we see that the life ofthe Church is a lot like that vacation trip. The parents do all the planning, saving and driving and the kids want to know . . .

• How many days til we go?
• How long will it take to get there?
• What's it gonna be like?
• What are we gonna do?
• Who else is gonna be there?
• Is there anything to eat?
• and of course, once you're all finally packed and piled in the car, about the time you merge into freeway traffic and hit the cruise control - "Are we there yet?" "How much longer, Daddy?"

Well, the more things change, the more they stay the same. Truly thePreacher of Ecclesiastes has an important sermon for us to remember in thef irst few words from his OT book:
Is there anything of which it may be said, "See, this is new"? It hasalready been in ancient times before us. . . . That which has been is whatwill be, that which is done is what will be done, and there is nothing newunder the sun. Ecclesiastes 1:10 & 9

The Israelites on their trip through the wilderness were like children going on vacation with all the same questions, whining and complaints.

• How many days til we go?
• How long will it take to get there?
• What's it gonna be like?
• What are we gonna do?
• Who else is gonna be there?
• Is there anything to eat?
• "Are we there yet?" "How much longer?"

And if you think about the questions the disciples asked Jesus, the discussions they had amongst themselves, and their behavior during Jesus' ministry, they were a lot like kids anxious to get to their vacation destination. Jesus is about to vacate the premises, and he knows His disciples (remember, that would include you and me) are like a bunch of eager, curious, impatient kids , so He speaks to prepare them in today'sGospel lesson:
" . . . when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; A little while, and you will not see Me; and again a little while, and you will see Me, because I go to the Father." John 16:13a, 16

The Father is in charge of all the planning, Jesus is in the process of doing the saving, and the Holy Spirit will do the driving, and the kids want to know . . .

• How many days til we go?
• How long will it take to get there?
• What's it gonna be like?
• What are we gonna do?
• Who else is gonna be there?
• Is there anything to eat?"
• Are we there yet?"

Oh, and one other thing common to the Israelites, the disciples and the kids traveling in the car - Fighting for position and such. "Will you stop touching me?!" "Daddy, He's teasing me!" "Get your cooties off me!"

In a sense the answer to all of the above is, "A little while." A little while and all of the above will be clear - nothing else will matter. A little while for the journey, and all of a sudden you'll be there. A little while then it will seem like just yesterday that you couldn't wait; and like just yesterday that you didn't know; and like just yesterday that there were nothing but car problems and detours; and like just yesterday that you suffered through nasty weather and throwing up in the car; and like just yesterday that you had those accidents with people winding up in the hospital or even dying - all of it will seem like just a little while, and none of it will matter any more. Because there you are -- not at Disneyland, or Yellowstone, or Grandma and Grandpa's house, but in heaven with Jesus and the Father. The Holy Spirit has guided you there and delivered you at their doorstep just like Jesus promised.

[Pause]

It took only a little while for that bite of the apple and our fall into sin with our fore-parents, Adam and Eve. It takes us only a little while, out of our impatience and selfishness to fall to sin's temptation. It takes just a little while but, as the thief on Calvary came to know, it is only a little while and "It is finished!" we are saved into the presence of God as well.

Of course we know our heavenly destination is a gazillion times more special and glorious than any vacation. But so too is the journey, if we were only to recognize the vehicle that is taking us there. For the Holy Spirit is taking us there by means of the church. And in the church everything becomes just a matter of a little while. Time stands still in those little whiles we stand before the Lord:

• A little while for God to rescue us from sin, death and the devil by drowning them in the waters of Holy Baptism
• A little while in Confession where as soon as the words of repentance leave our lips, the Lord is quick to deliver the Word of His forgiveness that was a settled thing from all eternitybefore the foundations of the world
• A little while as God stoops down to enter our world and deliver His grace, mercy, and peace to us in the Divine Service
• A little while as Christ himself host’s the Lord's Supper and gives us to eat of His body and blood for the forgiveness of sins, life and salvation

And there is one other thing I would like you to think about in terms of that vacation trip - the things you do on the way to pass the time to make it seem like just a little while:

• stories
• songs
• memories
• who you'll see and what it will be like when you get there
• food & drink

And the funny thing is, vacation after vacation, trip after trip, you tell the same stories, you sing the same songs, you share the same memories, you eat the same old snacks and drink the same old soft drinks you always do, because somehow, these are the things that make it all seem like just a little while.

Well isn't that just what God gives us in the Church. Isn't that a description of the Divine Service, what we are blessed to be given and receive even today? Only it is better, as is our destination.

And here is a little secret for you, during our little while, Jesus and theFather are with us the whole time. While the Holy Spirit guides and keeps us through theWord and Sacrament of the Church, the Son and the Father are with us in those things too. So when we see the grand picture of heaven as we do in our reading fromRevelation, it is not just a picture of what is to come, but a present reality that is unfolding as we travel together in this thing called Church.

Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea. Then I, John, saw theholy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying,"Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, andthey shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the formerthings have passed away."

Then He who sat on the throne said, "Behold, I make all things new." And He said to me, "Write, for these words are true and faithful."And He said to me, "It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginningand the End. I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely to him who thirsts. He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be My son."

Dear baptized and beloved of God, this is not only what is to come, but it is what has always been, and it is what is here with you today -- because for every little while you have here on earth in God's church- all of your sins are forgiven and the kingdom of heaven is yours . . .

In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen

(Thanks to Pr. Chris Kellogg of Bethany Lutheran Church, Pueblo, CO for the idea)