On this Sunday, in our journey from the empty tomb, to the Pentecost experience, we are in a sort of unusual position. Last Thursday, on Ascension Day, we remembered Jesus passing from earth to heaven and taking up his Throne. Next Sunday, Pentecost, the Spirit comes - that other comforter sent to equip and inspire and here we find ourselves in the middle.

Think for a moment about the disciples and their position. Already they had thought that they had lost Jesus once, only to find him still alive and still with them and now as he departed, the feelings of loss and sadness and uncertainty would be overwhelming.

• Wait in the city he said,
• you will receive power he said,
• you will be my witnesses he said,

but what did that mean????

It is clear that nothing could prepare them for what it was that would come. The Spirit would change them and in that they could achieve the seemingly impossible task that Jesus had set them. But it is the uncertainty that I would like to focus on.

I would like to say that I believe that this time, between Ascension and Pentecost, is very like the times we face this day as the church in Tasmania. We are in that period of uncertainty and anticipation that comes with the promise of the change of Bishop and with the turn of the century. Our focus is both to the past because of its certainty and to the future with its promise of something new, because only something new will be able to cope with the new challenges that are now before us. And it is not only in the church that this is a problem - Life in toto, especially for those linked to the land has an uncomfortable instability at the moment, that we do not know what will ultimately happen.

Now it is important that we deal with the life uncertainties, but I want to leave them for another time and today face the question of the spiritual uncertainty.

In some ways, I could not chosen a worse time to be a Priest. For not only are there the ever increasing complexities of the world that making the job difficult, but the pressures to take on and assess new ideas and to find the way forward with them, and the pressures of finance in a declining population and economic situation. But it is not only me which has them, as we share them as a parish council, and a congregation. Perhaps there is no worse time to be in congregation as well, particularly as there are ever increasing demands of commitment being placed upon the people of God.

It seems to me that we have a choice. Now it would be easy to crawl back into a cocoon and try to keep things the way they were. Or, we can prepare ourselves for what it is that God has to offer us in the future (what ever it may be). Although we might celebrate the past (and I believe we have a lot to celebrate), our destination is the future and what that means is not at all certain. But were never promised certainty, only the companionship of a God who walks beside us; a companion on the way.

So how will we get to this unknown future? We can bemoan it, we can fear it, or we can embrace it. We can tell God, that he has made a mistake, we have no money and our churches are in the wrong place, or are to small or our parish boundaries should be different, or that everyone is busy, and there is no time, or we can see these as the challenges that God has given us for this future. We can seek out what God wants us to do, to be, and seek from him what it is that we lack to do his will. To bring our friends and our neighbours and our families to Jesus.

And the clue, is in the reading from the Acts of the Apostled for today. The disciples did not form a committee, or a commission, they did not hold a synod or engage in training programmes, they did not run a stewardship campaign or an alpha course. But what they did was that they did pray. They gathered in prayer - one hundred and twenty of them devoting themselves in prayer. And it was in this way that they were prepared for the task that God had given them to do.

I have the sense of excitement about the possibilities that the future holds for us as God's people. About the future that we face together. But as I engage the Scriptures, I understand that the only way that we can get there, that we can embrace it is to begin on our knees. Like the Apostles and others gathered in the upper room, we need to refocus back to God and become a people who pray. As we begin in prayer, we open ourselves up to be used by God and to achieve his purposes and we prepare for a personal Pentecost and the equipping for the challenge that lies ahead. Nothing is impossible for God, and as we work in harmony with him, Nothing is impossible for us.

So let us set our sights on the future, using our past as a springboard into it and let us begin in the way of the apostles on our knees. Let us pray…

Lord Jesus, when your disciples saw you leave, they were tempted to continue watching after you, but your angels sent them of into the world. Help us we pray, together to seek the possibilities that our future holds and in prayer prepare ourselves for the equipping and inspiration of your Spirit. And grant us the privilege of doing your will..

AMEN.