Liminal space can be unsettling.
Liminality is the in between, not quite one, not quite the other. Teenagers are in liminal space; not a child, not yet an adult. Someone engaged to be married is in liminal space; no longer single but not yet married.
Liminal space can be unsettling, it can be a time when people are unsure of their identity, uncertain about the future, desperately trying to make plans but not sure when or how those plans may work out. Yet liminal space is a rich space where we grow. It is a place where habits are formed, discoveries made and personality shaped.
The days we’re living in now feel like liminal space. We’re free but locked down. We’re well but at risk of being ill. We’re wondering if and when the lockdown may end, what life may look like with social distancing, and how long this may go on for.
After the Ascension of Jesus, the disciples found themselves in liminal space. The resurrected Jesus had been with them, had eaten with them and spoken to them. As the first chapter of Acts unfolds, Jesus spoke to the disciples and tells them to wait in Jerusalem for the coming Holy Spirit, and in the next moment He is taken up into Heaven, seated at God’s right Hand, where He now is.
But they hadn’t yet understood or received Him. They were in liminal space.
Our time at the moment now may feel like liminal space, stuck in, waiting for this virus to slow, ease or pass. But Acts 1 v 14 tells us “They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with His brothers”.
In the place of liminality, uncertainty and discovery, the disciples pray. There are three significant factors for us to consider in this verse:
First, they prayed together. Whereas we can’t physically be together, we can pray in unison by using the prayer prompts on the weekly news sheet, or at our weekly prayer meeting on Tuesdays at 8pm. The link to this is on our online church page. The disciples show us the importance of petition, as they ask for the Holy Spirit it come, and they do this united, together.
Secondly, they pray constantly. Our verse of the year, Colossians 4 v 2, encourages us to ‘be devoted to prayer’. 1 Thessalonians 5 v 17 tells us to ‘pray continually’. Find ways to be in constant, conversation and communication with God.
Thirdly, they pray along with the women and Mary. This suggests that the women were already praying, and the disciples join in. Jesus and the New Testament gives us a compelling picture of the inclusion of women into significant leadership and powerful prayer. Our lives should be like that of the women, prayerful and attractive that others want to join in prayer along with us.
From this extended, continual place of prayer, the Holy Spirit comes in power on those in the room, then upon those gathered in Jerusalem as Peter stood up to speak.
It’s hugely significant that the Holy Spirit came on the gathered disciples, and then those present in Jerusalem. We must pray regularly for God’s Holy Spirit to fill us, but not only us, but for the Holy Spirit to move powerfully in the community of Aintree Village in which we live and placed as a church.
In this liminal space, find new rhythms of prayer, new devotions to the Divine and constant conversation and communication with God.
Pastor Lee.