June 5, 2011
Looking Back. Looking Forward. Looking Up.
- Luke 24:44-53
- Dr. Teri Thomas
Jesus and the disciples are gathered on the Palestinian hillside. The group is listening to their teacher, their mentor, their leader, their friend. They have been with him for three years- traipsing around the countryside, listening to his sermons, questioning his teachings, watching him heal the sick and helping him feed the hungry.
They watched him die on a cross. And now he is back from the dead. He reminds them of what he come to do. He promises them the gift of the Holy Spirit. He commissions them to serve as his witnesses. He blesses them. And then he is gone.
The disciples still standing on the ground staring into the sky, mouths open in awe? Shock? Confusion? Amazement?
Just like that, Jesus is gone. He leaves behind no trace of himself except this feeling that his presence was real, that his absence is temporary.
"And they worshiped him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy; and they were continually in the temple blessing God."
In the syntax of God: to make an end is to make a beginning. Luke has come full circle in this Gospel. If you remember the reading from last Advent, it began in Jerusalem, in a temple, at a time of worship. The story told of Zechariah and Elizabeth says God is at work and something marvelous is about to happen.
Now at the end, again in Jerusalem, again in the temple, again at a time of worship, the story tells us that God is at work and something marvelous is about to happen.
We cannot explain what happened that day. I won't even try. But for centuries Christians have dared to act on the truth of this story and have lived as though Jesus died and rose from the dead
and ascended into heaven where he sits on the right hand of God. The story has meaning, if not explanation.
The story of the ascension is about: Looking Back
The ascension is the end of Jesus in the flesh and blood. It is the end of Jesus on earth and the beginning of Christ in heaven. Jesus ties his story to the whole story of God's presence with us. He reminds us of God's faithfulness- justice- mercy through all time.
In the words of the R.E.M song- We live at the end of the world as we know it. And I feel fine.
Jesus came to the disciples to give them final lessons and support for the tasks ahead. They were not left to their own devices. They were not expected to be self-sufficient. They had a time of instruction and then the outpouring of the Spirit. They were assured that their mission would be ordained and guided by God.
The story of the ascension is about: Looking Forward
I remember the day I took my only son to college. Jack and I helped him up unpack the car, carry stuff to his room, and make the bed. We walked around the campus a little, we had some lunch, and then it was time to go. I was in tears and so was he. It was the hardest thing I ever had to do, leave him there- all alone- with a few thousand strangers. Leave him- so he could grow and learn and become who God was calling him to be.
Jesus loved his disciples.
But he leaves them, I think, because if he stayed around they would never be able to grow in their understanding of God and their understanding of their own mission in the world. If Jesus had stayed, they would always be looking to him – for the miracle, for the right word.
It was time for the disciples to be out on their own and looking toward the future Jesus left them.
He got out of the way. To help disciples everywhere discover that Christian mission is in the hands of his witnesses now.
The story of the ascension is about: Looking Up
When Jesus was born- God came to earth. When he ascended- humanity came to God. Jesus' final blessing places us all in the love and care of God. When his humanity is taken into the heart of God, all humanity is taken in with him. Jesus carries us all with him into the presence of the living and loving God.
The story of the ascension is one of those stories. If we think about it too hard it makes no sense.
But it has a core of comfort and assurance. Just because he left, doesn't mean he is gone. Just because we can't see him doesn't mean he is not here. It is a story of how love survives loss.
We are not comfortless. We don't worry too much about his absence, because his Spirit is so alive and present.
He has gone to sit on the right hand of God and pray for us.
He has gone to prepare a place for us.
He has gone to set this table in God's kingdom for us.
Thanks be to God.
Amen.