"UP, UP" but NOT AWAY
Ascension of our Lord, May 20, 2012
Acts 1:1-11 with Luke 24:44-53 in b.g.
Would it be helpful to have a sign from God, at least sometimes? You know when you are facing a major decision – should you move or not? Should you accept that new job or not? What should you do or say to your son or daughter, your husband or wife, your friend or neighbor, when you know some action, even some verbal response is warranted? Wouldn't it be great to know for sure – to have God the Creator or God the Son or God the Holy Spirit speak some audible word in our ear, touch our heart in an unmistakeable way, JUST SHOW US WHAT TO DO?
I remember a particular congregation that was just starting to grow. However they were "stuck" in an old building. They had begun to investigate finding or building a new building. But the costs at that stage of their life were prohibitive. Then one day the local funeral home called the church office, offering to buy their building above price. And the next week a local Mennonite congregation offered to sell their building, larger, newer at below market price to them. Now that congregation had to decide what it should it do. Who was God calling them to be in that time and place? Were they up for the challenge, the risk? During the ensuring discussions, (aren't congregational meetings wonderful?), one member stood up and announced, "If God would just give us an unmistakeable sign!"
And we laugh. But when it's "our" decision, "our" money, "our" time, "our" future – our homes that we are putting up as collateral – such decisions require a faith that is willing to step up and out and take some risk.
I am afraid that sometimes we don't long, we don't yearn, we don't look for any sign, for any direction beyond ourselves and our own understanding as we are called to decisions. You know we may only examine the dollars and cents question. Or we simply look at what we would like or prefer without considering anyone or anything else. We might even think that we have worked hard. We deserve it. So, we'll get it. Or, we'll leave for a holiday or we'll do what's easiest for us. But is that God's call that we are hearing? Is this what following Jesus means?
This morning we meet those early disciples in Luke's Gospel or in Acts chapter 1 the apostles, which means those who are being sent out. In Luke's Gospel it is Easter Sunday – that day when the disciples are just beginning to know that Jesus who has been killed is now alive. They are filled with fear. However the risen Jesus is seeking to move them beyond that – to new life, not only for themselves but for the world. In the text from the book of Acts 40 days have passed since that first Easter. During that time Jesus has been eating with the disciples and teaching them about who He is as the Christ. But now He must leave them. He must go to be with His Father and their Father, the Creator of the universe. But they will not be left alone.
He tells them that to begin with they must do something difficult – they must wait! They must wait for the gift of the Spirit to come upon them. It may or may not have been difficult for them to wait. The task Jesus calls them to is DAUNTING. He calls them and all who come after them to be his witnesses in Jerusalem where they already were, in the area of Judea surrounding where they already were, in Samaria which was inhabited by people whom they understood to be their enemies, who in some fundamental ways were opposed to them. Jesus also calls them and any who would follow Him to be His witnesses to the very ends of the earth – to places and people they hadn't even imagined yet. To be sure they were willing to wait – maybe forever. But Jesus told them before He left them that time – that they wouldn't have to wait long – that soon they would be gifted with the Spirit and a power that they may not understand, but yet which is very real.
So, do you ever think of yourself as a witness of Jesus?
Being a witness means that we share with others what we have seen, heard and know to be true. If it is good news that we are witness to, then that sharing will be done with joy and anticipation. Imagine if you were to win a million dollars, tax free? Whom would you share your joy with? How would you do that? Would you be generous and happy with those you love and know and perhaps even with some people you haven't met yet?
Or, if you have been particularly blessed with a friendship, a child or grandchild – would you tell anyone? Would that blessing affect the way you treat others and this creation that we are all blessed by?
How much more are we, can we be impacted by the life, death and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth, the One we call Christ, the One who is our Lord? In Him we know that death, ours and the death of others do not have the final nor the lasting, nor the most influential word. In Jesus we know that despite our shortcomings, our apathy, our fear, our hatred and misunderstanding of others, there can be new life, forgiveness, and then new beginnings with God and others. Through Jesus we see and experience that the powers which seek to perpetuate themselves by wreaking all kinds of havoc on people and creation others are not the ultimate power. So it is , we pray to pray to God, "Your kingdom, (your reign) come!"
Jesus promises those early apostles that God's Spirit will come upon them. It is that Spirit that will and does enable them to become his witnesses in thought word and deed, both nearby and far away. Not that witnessing is easy. Not that it is without cost to the apostles. BUT SUCH WITNESSING IS GOOD AND FILLED WITH WONDER. Through such witness others also begin to experience new life, new beginnings, hope that is real, that cannot and will not be killed.
Today we celebrate the ascension of our Lord. We no longer live with a cosmology that views experience as a 3 tiered universe. Some of us may no longer think of God as somehow "up" there, while hell or separation from God is somehow "down" there. However the ascension of our Lord points to a reality that is not tethered to or limited by the cosmological understanding of those who have gone (long) before us in the faith. The ascension of our Lord points us to the reality that Jesus is with God and that they are One. The Ascension of our Lord also points us to the real source of any power we may have to embody the love and forgiveness of Jesus Christ in our lives. The power to so love, to give witness against all odds to the love and victory of Jesus, as imperfect as we are, living in a time that almost commands us to hoard, to be afraid and sceptical of trusting anyone but ourselves, comes from God's own Spirit.
Take heart dear people. This Holy Spirit is not something we earn or deserve or even figure out .This Spirit comes upon us a gift. And then the Spirit drives us, nudges us, cajoles and embraces us with the love and forgiveness of God, with the very power of God to live our lives not solely or even primarily for ourselves but to bear God's creative and redeeming Word, (i.e. Christ) to the very world we are living in.
What a call this is! What a task! What a life to live. May God help us to move beyond locked doors or even "looking to heaven". May God move us to a living here and now with hope, forgiveness and love even as we encounter others in their giftedness and need. These are the gifts and dream of the suffering and risen Christ.
I close with a prayer from Teresa of Avila( 1515-1582)
God of love, help us to remember that Christ has no body now on earth but ours, no hands but ours, no feet but ours. Ours are the eyes to see the needs of the world. Ours are the hands with which to bless everyone now. Ours are the feet with which he is to go about doing good. Amen.