I’m going to go out on a limb here and suggest that for much of our Christian understanding and belief - the Resurrection is the culmination of the Gospel story. Today I want to make a case for an alternative ending. Well ending is not exactly the right word. Let’s use gateway or threshold. Because the story of Jesus’ ministry does not end with the resurrection.
Our
lesson from Acts is actually the lesson from Last Thursday which was the Feast
of the Ascension. The BCP folks believe
these readings to be so important that the rubrics allow them to be read on the
Sunday following so that more people will have the opportunity to hear them
than might be present in a weekday service.
In this story from Acts Jesus ascends into the heavens. But first he tells the disciples that they
are to anticipate the coming of the Holy Spirit. Then after instructing them that they will be
witnesses for him, Jesus is taken up into heaven. The disciples stand there gawking – totally
distracted from the work Jesus had just asked them to do. Two angels appear and question them saying
essentially (what are you looking that way for…
pay attention! you have work to
do here…. Luke tells us that Jesus,
patient as ever with their incessant questions and doubts, reassures them that
whatever goods they need for the journey God will provide for them and that
they will indeed find their voices and speak with authority about the power of
God to redeem the world. They close
their mouths and set their feet to Jerusalem.
They return to the work that Jesus had given them to do- they began the
work of teaching the Good News. They
continue the story…..
Ascension
Day marks the end of the time of post resurrection encounters with Jesus. Ascension is a sort of interim period – a
transition time – between the promises that Jesus makes to the disciples and
fulfillment of those promises. It marks
the end of Jesus’ time on earth and it heralds the coming time of ministry for
the church. The two - God’s incarnation
in Jesus and God’s mission through the Body of Christ - are inseparable. Without Jesus and Resurrection there would
be no Good News to spread and without the Spirit-filled passion of the early
followers we would not have a means to carry out God’s mission in the
world. The angels that appear to the
disciples at the time of the Ascension call them to live faithful and obedient
lives and to remember that the wonder of God’s love and presence revealed so
radically in the cross and the open tomb still has in store fresh surprises of
joy. The disciples of Christ are called to witness, little realizing how the Spirit
lurks to transform all that they do into magnificent occasions for the
outpouring of God’s love. And so in this manner Ascension points to Pentecost
and to all the marvelous ways that Holy Spirit fills us with love and passion
for God.
Whenever
I read the story of the Ascension I am reminded of the first church in which I
served as a deacon…
St
Stephen’s was built in 1869. It is a
huge neo-gothic structure with massive Tiffany stained glass windows, a tryptic
of St Stephen in the back and on either side of the sanctuary the Annunciation
and the Ascension. Unfortunately the
building had begun to leak just a few years after it was built. In fact there was so much moisture that the
walls which were constructed of cement blocks had become dingy and worn. In 1910 the vestry decided to paint the walls
white to make them bright again. That
fateful decision led to moisture buildup behind the paint which for the next
100 years slowly caused the blocks to crumble.
By the time I arrived the paint hung limply from the walls and vaulted
ceilings. 15 million in deferred
maintenance. And we think we have
problems….
One
Sunday at the 8 AM service I saw Anthony, a parishioner who had some learning
struggles, kneeling in preparation for the Mass. Since I knew that occasionally he could
become distracted and wander up to the altar during the service, I decided to
join him in the pew. As we knelt there
together I looked around at the dilapidated walls and thought what a sad
predicament and how ugly the walls looked.
Anthony was quiet for a long time and then he leaned over to me and
whispered, “Aren’t the windows beautiful”
Ya gotta wonder who was the one who was distracted when God’s wonder and
beauty called to us in that place.
The
arrangement of the windows at St Stephen’s – cradling our worship and renewal
in that period of time when Jesus walked among us on earth, calls us to leave
the place of sanctuary and move into the world outside of our church as
servants of God. And that call is for me
a tangible expression of what it means to be a Christian in today’s world. We make a mistake if we do not realize that
everything we do – everything about our lives is about responding to our call
to serve God.
Our
calling as Christians is to heal and transform the world – this world. The temptation
for the disciples -and for us - is to
gaze longingly at the heavens, and forget that Jesus sends us back to our own
places is to live faithfully in this life as God’s partners in healing the sore
places of the world.
There
are a lot of things that distract us just as I was distracted that morning
sitting in the pew with Anthony.
Whatever the distraction is, when we ignore our responsibility to
witness to God’s love in everything we do – from home to church to workplace to
neighborhood we are like the disciples who stood looking the wrong way. But when we are present to the day, when we
allow ourselves to be cradled in this wonderful faithful community of God’s
people and to be empowered and guided by the Spirit that is moving among us –
here and now – that is when we make a difference.
‘the Power behind us is greater than the task
in front of us.”- thank you Bishop Barbara…
