May 12, 2024
The Ascension of Our Lord Jesus Christ
The Seventh Sunday of Easter - May 12, 2024
The Rev. R. Allan McCaslin
Readings: Acts 1:1-11; Psalm 47; Ephesians 1:15-23; Luke 24:44-53
From the Acts of the Apostles, “… Why do you stand looking up toward heaven?” I speak to you in the Name of God: Father, ascended Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.
Asked how we, as Christians, can, beyond a shadow of a doubt, offer absolute proof of the Easter story; proof of Christ’ resurrection from the dead, St. Teresa of Avila, a 16th Century mystic, responded with these powerful words;
“Christ has no body now, but ours.
No hands but ours, no feet but ours.
Ours are the eyes through which Christ’s
compassion looks into the world.
Ours are the feet by which he walks to do good.
Ours are the hands with which Christ blesses the world.”
I thought of Teresa’s words when meditating on today’s scripture readings. See, this morning we celebrate the Ascension of our Lord Jesus Christ – probably the most undercelebrated Feast Day in the Church Calendar year. And that is understandable given that the Ascension took place exactly 40 days after Easter and that typically falls on a weekday – for us it was this past Thursday. Nevertheless, it is an incredibly important day for Christians because the Ascension is a key moment in not only the life of Christ, but in our lives as well.
See, the gospels tell us that God sent God’s own Son to be born in human flesh, to live as one of us, to understand every aspect of our human nature, our human condition, and ultimately, to die for us in a loving act of atonement. In the great mystery of Easter sin and eternal death were forever vanquished, conquered, and the bonds of hell shattered when Jesus rose from the dead, when he was resurrected. And the gospels also tell us that following his resurrection, Jesus reappeared in the most unlikely of places; in a garden, in a room with locked doors and barred windows, on a seashore cooking breakfast, and many other places. But the resurrection was not an ending unto itself - there was still more to come! We would be wise to remember: every ending in scripture is always followed by a new beginning.
The reality is that his resurrection from the dead was not the final act of Jesus of Nazareth: there was much more grace to unfold. Now, I am sure, had he wanted to, Jesus could have remained on the earth showing up here and there forever, even to this day. And yet, had Jesus stayed, then the rest of the New Testament and all of church history would be about who saw Jesus and where and when, and speculation about his next appearance. So there would probably be just as many rumored “Jesus sightings” as there are Elvis sightings today. No, Jesus had to leave. He had to leave in order to put a period on his earthly ministry and in his leaving, he entered the realm of his divine eternal ministry.
When Jesus physically ascended into heaven he took his rightful place seated at the right hand of God, our Creator, where he forever engages in ministry as redeemer and intercessor for us! In other words, the ascension completed the resurrection and affirmed whom Jesus of Nazareth truly was and still is. And just as the Ascension marks the beginning of Jesus’ new ministry of intercession, it also birthed a new ministry for us.
See, the Feast of the Ascension is more than, “the day Jesus started working from home” as one of my colleagues posted on Facebook this week. For Christians, this day finds its deepest meaning and impact in what happened and continues to happen after the Ascension. In fact, the Ascension birthed what is probably the greatest challenge for the church today, because the Christian life is more than gazing up toward heaven waiting for Jesus to return, or trying to predict when that will happen. This feast is about how we live and breathe as followers of Jesus in this place right now. It goes to the heart of who we are as people of God, as followers of Christ. It is about action and not waiting around for Jesus to return. In the words of the two men in white robes described in Acts, “Why do you stand looking up toward heaven?” There’s work to do.
Luke, the author of the Book of Acts, is very careful to write, “In my first book, (that is, in his gospel account,) I told you about all that Jesus did and taught from the beginning until he was taken up to heaven.” In other words, the foundation of everything we do and say is solely based upon what Jesus said and did, and no one else. Nevertheless, there was still more to come. When Jesus was asked if it was time for the kingdom of Israel to be restored, he told them that ours is not to know such things. He then went on to address in today’s gospel reading that which is far more important and life changing for us: Jesus said, “You are my witnesses.” We have a mission to accomplish and that is to spread, to preach, to live, and to demonstrate to the whole world the entire gospel – to say and do all that Jesus said and did. So, “Why do you stand looking up toward heaven?” There’s a mission to fulfill.
Paul, in his letter to the Church at Ephesus says that he prays daily for the church. He prays that God may give us all a spirit of wisdom and revelation as we come to know him, so that with enlightened hearts and minds we may know the hope to which God has called us, and to grasp the depth of grace, the depth of our inheritance as adopted children of God. Paul offers that our calling in life as Christians is to know God as revealed in Jesus Christ. And throughout the verses and chapters that follow, Paul stresses that our work together – even our unity – is always an active process; the church must always be reconciling, forgiving, welcoming, repenting, and blessing. In other words, ours is an active faith. As we proclaim in our baptismal covenant promises, active faith involves continuing to study scripture – especially all that Jesus said and did - just as active faith involves ongoing education in the Apostle’s teaching, to prayer, to giving, to working for peace and justice, and more so that we, all of us, know God.
Nevertheless, many Christians today are obsessed with seeking signs of Christ’s eventual return and trying to predict the day. Even more disheartening, many rejoice each time a devastating earthquake destroys cities and lives, or train wrecks spill oil everywhere as “signs” of Christ’s return and everyone who ever treated them badly will get theirs! Revenge, retribution, hate, rejoicing in someone’s misfortune, or in natural disasters, is not what Jesus taught nor what he did.
The ascension of our Lord completed his resurrection when it put a period on his earthly ministry. And in so doing our earthly ministry began to take shape. As we will discover next week in our observance of Pentecost, with all those signs and wonders of the Holy Spirit’s power recalled and celebrated, our earthly ministry is about love, not revenge or trying to out prophecy one another. Ours is a ministry marked by love and love alone: love for God and for neighbor, love that gives its own life for others, love that feeds the hungry, clothes the naked, visits and sets free the prisoner, welcomes the stranger, forgives and seeks forgiveness because that is what Jesus taught and did. “Why do you stand looking up toward heaven?” There’s work to do: The incredible work of our calling – to share and buildup God’s kingdom through the example of how we choose to live, the example of how we demonstrate our love for God, and love for our neighbor.
I began this sermon with a quote from a 16th Century Mystic, Teresa of Avila, on the proof of the resurrection. And I close with these words from a contemporyary Saint, Brother Curtis Almquist of the Episcopal Monastic Society of St. John the Evangelist in Cambridge, MA on the proof and impact of the Ascension. He was asked, “Where is the ascended Jesus to be found today?” He answered,
“In your presence, through your words,
with your touch, in your heart.
It is no longer you, just plain you who lives under your skin;
it is Christ who lives within you.”
Let us pray. In a paraphrase of this morning’s collect, “Almighty God, help us to perceive that our Savior Jesus Christ continues to abide with his Church on earth not through our gazing upward into heaven nor by our trying to predict when he might return, but through and by how we live and act, how we embrace, embody and demonstrate all that Jesus taught and did. We ask all this in the Name of our Risen and Ascended Lord, Jesus Christ.” Amen.