Here
we are in a liturgical in between time -
after
the Ascension, celebrated this last Thursday,
and
before Pentecost, next Sunday,
yet still being in the Easter Season.
The
Ascension is placed liturgically 40 days after the Resurrection
following
what Luke the Evangelist wrote in Acts 1.
40
days is a significant, representative
number,
the number of fullness, completion.
The
40 days of appearances of the Risen Christ
indicate a fullness of resurrection witness.
Then
with the Ascension as a demarcation, a dividing point,
we are faced with a profound change –
the Risen
Christ no longer physically present
so
that instead the Risen Christ would be present in us through the HS.
But
here in this novena of days in between Ascension and Pentecost
is
the opportunity for personal and community reflection
on
Resurrection
and
on new appearances of the Risen Christ to each of us
intimately
in and through the Holy Spirit.
So
let’s explore Ascension and look at it a bit more closely.
The
event of the Ascension marks a distinct break
between the physical appearances of Jesus
and a whole new way for the Resurrection
Jesus to appear.
We
could say that the Ascension puts closure
on the old
familiar way of looking at Jesus.
The
disciples had spent a lot of time with their Teacher,
living very closely with him,
listening to his teachings,
witnessing his actions,
being sent out to try all this out themselves
and coming
back to him for reflection on their experiences in ministry,
and
then seeing it all come to a screeching halt
when Jesus pushed the religious authorities
to the breaking point
and he was
arrested and executed.
But
then here he was again!
But
how changed!
He
had a solid body, which he invited them to touch, and that could eat food,
but that solid body could show up in a locked
room.
At
other times he showed up but was not recognized,
and then when he was recognized, he
disappeared.
It
even seems that in one instance
he appeared
in two different places simultaneously.
It
seems like this was sort of a transition time for the disciples,
a time in which Jesus was preparing them for
a transition
from one way
of recognizing his presence to another,
from the
physical experience of Jesus,
which was
bound by the limitations of space and material presence,
to Resurrection presence
which is
unbounded in time and space.
The collect for Ascension Day describes this Resurrection
presence this way:
“…our Savior Jesus Christ ascended far above
all heavens
that he might fill all things…”
No
longer bound by a mortal body,
the Resurrection Jesus now thoroughly
pervades all life,
all of the
universe, all of creation.
And
so the Ascension sets things up for Pentecost.
Now
if I were a disciple at the time of Jesus
and
had the wonderful experience of being physically present with him,
I’m not so sure I would rejoice at the
thought of the Ascension.
Who
wants to give up what some would call “the real thing”
for an unknown, unseen, untouchable,
intangible
resurrection
presence of Jesus?
Who
wants to give up what they have known and loved about Jesus?
But
here is the extremely important point about Ascension:
We
have this great human propensity
for holding on to the Jesus of our past
experience,
closing off our receptivity to any new – to
us – revelation of Jesus.
We
would keep Jesus bound
by the
limits of our own experience and perception of him.
But
Jesus will not be held, will not be restrained.
The
point was made very graphically to the disciples
on the mount
of the Ascension.
Jesus
is taken from their sight in such a way
that it is
clear that this is good-bye, the end.
The
disciples had no choice;
it was back to town to sit and wait and see
what comes next.
True,
they were sitting with the promise of Pentecost,
but little did they know what that would be
like
or that they
themselves would become Resurrection appearances of Christ.
Now what has this to do with Emmanuel right now?
What has this to do with you or with me individually right
now?
And can we recognize what transitions we are going through
right now?
Well, we always face one transition, an ultimate
transition:
the
death of the physical body
and
the transition of birth into a liberated way of being in resurrection.
As it says in 1 John 5, from the Epistle for today,
“…this
is the testimony: God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.
Whoever
has the Son has life…”
Hallelujah! So
what is a faithful response to this?
As we move through life with our mortality ever before us,
we
can fearlessly look it in the face
and
make provision for those who will come after us,
knowing we are links in a continuing lineage of family and
faith community.
So I will now read to you a rubric from the Book of
Common Prayer, page 445,
the
final rubric from the liturgy for Thanksgiving
for a Child.
The Minister
of the Congregation is directed to instruct the people,
from
time to time,
about
the duty of Christian parents to make prudent provision
for
the well-being of their families,
and
of all persons to make wills, while they are in health,
arranging
for the disposal of their temporal goods,
not
neglecting, if they are able,
to
leave bequests for religious and charitable uses.
Voila! – Legacy Sunday!
And to help you with this, resources are available at
adult ed. class today.
Meanwhile between now and death,
what’s
the advice from today’s readings for us?
The Acts reading from chapter 1
is
preceded by the last words of Jesus before ascending:
Stay
in Jerusalem
until
you are empowered.
Then
you will have plenty to do.
Ten days they waited, and then Pentecost and the Holy
Spirit
and
empowerment for ministry,
an empowerment not just what they would receive,
but
for the whole church,
for
all who would come after them as followers of Jesus.
The empowerment is for giving testimony about the
resurrection of Jesus,
for
witnessing about him.
Hmmm – How well do we do with that? you? me? Emmanuel?
There is a caveat in this:
Saying
that we will witness by our deeds will only go so far.
You
have got to be able to put your faith into words also,
or
we are missing the boat.
Again, from today’s Epistle reading:
“If
we receive human testimony,
the
testimony of God is greater;
for
this is the testimony of God
that
he has testified to his Son.
Those
who believe in the Son of God
have
the testimony in their hearts.”
God’s testimony is what is effective and God puts that in
the heart,
where
the Holy Spirit enlivens and empowers it.
If we are to wait on anything, it is this – for God to act
in us.
That is just what Jesus prayed for us in the Gospel
reading from John 17.
In this portion of it this year, Jesus prays,
“Holy
Father, protect them in your name that you have given me,
so
that they may be one, as we are one…
…Sanctify
them in the truth; your word is truth.”
May we trust that truth.
May we trust the One who prayed that for us,
the
One who is himself Truth,
who
reveals himself to us in new ways
beyond
the limits of old familiar ways of looking at Jesus.
May we trust the Risen Christ.
Trust that as though our lives depended on it,
for,
of course, they do.
