May 14,
2023
Mother’s Day / Easter 6
Fr. Phil Eberhart
The
time of pruning… and fruit bearing
So much
has happened in the past month that I’m struggling to capture it all in a 20
minute talk. I have been using the words
“PLANETARY SHIFT” AND “SEISMIC EVENTS”
to describe the events in Africa for the Anglican Communion at the GAFCON
conference in Kigali and the events in our own state and nation, in the 21-day
Fast and Prayers for Israel.
When I
say a “planetary shift” I mean that the Anglican Communion has severed ties
with England and the Archbishop of Canterbury.
England has decided to go the way of The Episcopal Church in the US and
the Church of Canada in its liberalism and approach to marriage.
They have
abdicated the rights of headship in the communion and now, 85% of the provinces
have simply said NO! What does that mean
for us? We will probably add a line to
our sign: GLOBAL ANGLICAN
COMMUNION! You see the cloth began tearing
for us 20 some years ago. And the tear just now came all the way through to the
English church! It’s like watching a
train-wreck in slow motion!
We will
watch with interest here in the USA and the ACNA, but we have gone on! 20 years on!
I’m reminded of a friend who called me to mourn with me the fact that
the Episcopal bishop was defrocking many of us who left, six years later! He asked me if I was experiencing any
internal pain over the proceedings, announced in The Denver Post for all to
see! I told him that my greatest pain
was that I might lose my clergy discount at Cokesbury! Not a lot of pain, six years later! Just so, now, the separation with Canterbury
was almost a foregone conclusion in the very first GAFCON in Jerusalem, 15
years ago. There is a line in the
Jerusalem Declaration that says we do not have to go through Canterbury to get
to Jesus! That was a shot across the
bow, almost 2 decades ago, that has gone unheeded.
I
recommend the new document from GAFCON, “The Kigali Commitment.” It is clear and was masterfully done, allowing
the whole of the conference to have substantive input.
Friends, we are in great company, in a global family that is
tied together by Word and Spirit, by Liturgy and Mission together around the
globe. God is doing a great work that we
can be proud to be a part of.
The last
weekend was our kickoff in Pagosa Springs of 21-days of fasting and prayer for
Israel. If you’ve watched any news, times
are heating up in the Holy Land right now, so the call for a time of fasting
and prayer was “FOR SUCH A TIME AS THIS!”
Last
weekend we had a 12-hour marathon of prayer and worship in Pagosa Springs as we
pressed in to a state-wide call to Stand with Israel as a united church across
the state of Colorado. There were about
200-300 who came during the 9 am to 9 pm service at Restoration Fellowship in
Pagosa Springs. Then on Monday we had a
meeting at a close by lodge for friends from 4 states, who are a part of the
prayer movement to support Israel and Jewish people as things heat up in the
Middle East. REZ is in the middle of God’s
plan in our placement on this Holy Hill and in the midst of the Jewish people here
in Greenwood Village. We’re actively
involved in local outreaches and ministry that stretches around the globe from
Colorado and from our little parish. I
hope that you have been able to join in some of the fasting and prayer opportunities
that are afforded us in this season. We have posted resources in the Constant
Contact and ways for you to access events, from noon communion to evening prayers,
and I want to invite you to the culmination service of the 21-days on
Pentecost, May 28th in the evening at 7 pm at Church in the City/Beth
Abraham.
We will
close the 21-days with an evening Holy Communion service for all who can attend. We will be joining with over 100 million
intercessors around the world as we pray and take communion together.
The rest of the world seems to be discovering something that
we have known for a while: there is
special power and grace that comes to us through the Holy Communion, and it is
a “means of grace” and a sign of our unity in Christ across the whole Body of Christ
around the whole world.
Now to
the sermon!
Our
gospel this morning is from just after the table of the Last Supper, after the
foot washing and the discussion of betrayal among the disciples. The 13th
and 14th chapters of John’s gospel capture those moments, and then
Jesus takes them on a walk from the city through the Kidron Valley, past the
vineyards on those hillsides to the Garden of Gethsemane. Along the way, as was his custom, I was
teaching and using the surroundings to make his points.
Walking
past the vines of the vineyards in the valley, he points out what they all know
about tending grape vines. But he adds
some important facets to the conversation:
I am the
vine and my Father is the vinedresser.
Fruitfulness is his goal and pruning is the way forward for you. Unfruitfulness results in our being “cut off”
from the vine. But as we are attached
and remain attached to Christ, we begin to bear fruit, more fruit and even MUCH
fruit! We are all familiar with the line
of Jesus, “Apart from ME, you can do NOTHING!”
Friends,
with the world shaking the way it is, and the times that we live in – that seem
to be coming apart at the seams; like
Esther, we have been born “for such a time as this.” We are in a crisis – seems like crisis after
crisis after crisis! But I want to
remind you that crisis is simply a “dangerous opportunity” – it is like the prophetic
word and picture that we received over 25 years ago about the WAVE coming
across the land – it is both JUDGEMENT AND REVIVAL. The secret here is in being prepared -- being ready.
God is
pruning the Church right now, worldwide.
He is getting the Bride ready for the coming of the Bridegroom! His expectation and our responsibility is to
lean in – to press into what God is doing both locally and around the
world. These are days like no other,
friends.
That means
that we need to stay closely attached to Jesus Christ, in prayer and by reading
the Word. By doing the things that make
for growth in the Body of Christ from ACTS 2 – what we have been about for
almost a decade now! DEVOTION TO THE
APOSTLES’ TEACHING, TO COMMON LIFE AND FELLOWSHIP, TO COMMUNION AND EUCHARISTIC
HOSPITALITY, AND TO PRAYER!
After all
that I’ve been away to do over the past 4 weeks, I am more convinced than ever
that we are right, smack dab, in the middle of God’s hand and God’s plan for
this church.
Two
words: Get Ready!
ABIDE IN
JESUS. Through prayer, reading His Word,
taking communion, fellowship with other believers in community.
BE FILLED
WITH HIS SPIRIT. Apart from Me you can
do nothing!
PRAY FOR
THE HARVEST. Luke 10:2 Pray at 10:02 every day. Set an alarm!
BE WILLING;
BE AVAILABLE; BE OBEDIENT – God has a plan and purpose for you every single day,
as you “live and move and have your being” in HIM. There is an adventure here if you are willing
to live it.
LOOK
UP! God is doing things in our time that
are extraordinary, planet-shaking, seismic events. Look to God daily for all that He is doing
and wants to do, in and through you. Pay
attention to the pruning, because the fruit of the Kingdom of God is at hand.
Let’s
pray together.
Oh God of
infinite power and might; Creator and
sustainer of all things, in heaven and on earth. We look up to You, Lord, for our today,
tomorrow and our forever. Give us your grace
today, as we come to your table. Empower
us to live as ONE and to give an answer for the hope – the excitement – the joy
that we feel even in the midst of the uncertainties of our life today. Open our eyes to see Your hand at work in the
world around us. And send us, Lord. We say, Here am I, Send me!
In the
name of the Father, and the Son and the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
