Acts 1:1-11; Luke 24:44-53
In the Christian Calendar there are big holidays, like Christmas and Easter, and there are little holidays, like Ascension Day. In case you are wondering, Ascension Day is the fortieth day after Easter and it was celebrated last Thursday, May 25th. For most of us Ascension Day passed without much fanfare; and, to be honest, Ascension Day is just not one of the big Christian holidays. That is a shame because it has major implications for our faith. I think one problem is that Ascension Day is hard to explain. Think about it, Christmas is about the birth of a baby; that is easy to understand; all of us have had some experience with babies. Good Friday is about the death of a man; again, we can understand death; it is something we are familiar with. Even Easter with its message of resurrection and new life is easy to understand; we celebrate the fact that Jesus who died is now alive.
Then there is Ascension Day. What happened on Ascension Day? Turning to the scriptures is not much help. Luke is the only writer to describe that day and he gives two accounts of the events. In the gospel he says, “While Jesus was blessing them, he withdrew from them and was carried up into heaven.” And in Acts he says, “As they were watching, Jesus was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight.” But, words like “withdrew” and “lifted up” almost sound like Luke is describing a magic trick. I do not blame the disciples for looking around for Jesus; they are like those who keep looking for the trapdoor in the stage floor. The truth is that Jesus’ ascension is beyond anything we have ever experienced so, instead of trying to understand what it means for us we often skip over it and move on to Pentecost. But, I believe we need to come to terms with Ascension Day because it helps us understand Jesus’ role in the church today.
So, what really happened on Ascension Day? Well the simple answer is Jesus went to heaven. In his letter to the Ephesians, Paul put it this way: “God put this power to work in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places.” Jesus’ ascension is how he moved from earth to heaven. The problem with simple answers is that they usually lead deeper questions. If Jesus is in heaven, then where is heaven? I do not believe heaven is a place we can locate on any map; rather, I believe “heaven is being surrounded by God’s love.” Now, that may be good theology, but it does not help us when we ask, “Where did Jesus go on Ascension Day?”
One modern theologian who has written on this question is the Anglican Bishop N.T. Wright. He writes, “Basically heaven and earth in biblical cosmology are not two different locations within the same continuum of space or matter. They are two different dimensions of God’s good creation… heaven relates to earth tangentially so that the one who is in heaven can be present simultaneously anywhere and everywhere on earth.” What I think Bishop Wright is trying to say is that there is more to creation than what we can perceive with our senses. There is a portion of creation described in Genesis as “earth” that is what we can see and taste and touch; and, there is a portion of creation called “heaven” that is intimately bound to earth but outside the realm of our senses. What I believe is most significant about Bishop Wright’s words is his observation that Jesus, “the one who is in heaven,” “can be present simultaneously anywhere and everywhere on earth.”
Here is the issue: if heaven is a physical place then it is far away; and, if it is far away then Jesus is far away; and, if Jesus is far away then he has nothing to do with my life here on earth. This leads to a kind of practical atheism; a belief that God exists but is not really involved with the earth and my problems. If heaven is a physical place then on Ascension Day we can say that Jesus has left the building. But, when we see heaven as a dimension of God’s good creation, then Jesus is not far away. Jesus is as close as our next breath. Jesus is involved in the problems of the earth. Jesus is concerned about what happens to you and to me. Truly, it means that Jesus has NOT left the building. In fact, it means that Jesus is right here, right now.
So, Ascension Day is not about Jesus beaming up to some space ship; Ascension Day is about Jesus becoming even more deeply and personally involved with our physical reality. The Good News of Ascension Day is that Jesus is here to guide us in our daily life. Jesus is here to support and protect us as we walk through the valley of the shadow of death. Jesus is here to comfort us with his rod and his staff. Jesus is alive and not in some far off heaven. Jesus is alive and here today.
So far we have been looking at Ascension Day from Jesus’ perspective; we have been trying to understand what we mean when we say that Jesus is seated “at God’s right hand in the heavenly places.” But there is another way for us to look at Ascension Day. The other question we must answer is, what does it mean for us that our Savior is alive and present in our lives today? How must we respond to Jesus who is not hiding out in some faraway place but is part of our daily life? I believe the answers can be found in Jesus’ words as recorded in Luke and Acts. Jesus spent the forty days between his resurrection and ascension “speaking to his disciples about the kingdom of God;” teaching them what they must do in the days to come. Two themes that emerge from Jesus’ words. First Jesus calls us to fulfill the scriptures – to fulfill all that is written about Jesus in “the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms.” Second, Jesus calls us to “be his witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” Our risen and present savior, Jesus Christ, calls us to fulfill the scriptures and be his witnesses in all the world.
What does it mean to fulfill the scriptures? Here is one analogy that I have found helpful when trying to answer this question. Imagine that you are watching a three act play. The first act is the Old Testament. In this act God, the author, develops the themes of creation and law. In this act the characters respond in both obedience and rebellion to God’s call to be a light to the nations. In this act we meet Abraham, Moses, and David, and in this act, God prepares us for the coming of a messiah. Now, the second act is the New Testament. In this act, God tells the story of Christ; God develops the themes of salvation and love. In this act we meet Jesus, and others like Peter, and Paul. In this act the characters seek to respond to Jesus Christ and begin to spread his Good News to all the world. Now, at the end of the second act, the author, God, comes out onto the stage and announces that we – the audience up until this point – are going to put on the third act. Now there are two ways God could proceed. One way is for him to pass out scripts and tell us to do it his way. Some people would say that this is fulfilling the scriptures. But I do not believe this is what God does; I believe God chooses a different direction. I believe God announces that we have to improvise Act III based on the themes he has already developed in the first two acts. In other words, God calls us to fulfill the scriptures by living out the themes contained in God’s Word. This means that we are called to fulfill the theme of justice as we live in the world. We are called to fulfill the theme of mercy in our everyday lives. We are called to fulfill the theme of love as we interact with one another. Now, to be sure, God has a plan, an outline if you will, of where Act III needs to go. But, God allows us to fulfill the scriptures, not by slavishly following a predetermined script, but by seeking to live out the grand themes he has developed and presented in the scriptures. I believe that this is what Jesus meant when he said, “everything written about me in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms must be fulfilled.” We are more than puppets being manipulated by God; we have a say about how the action develops. But we are not doing this alone. We are co-creators with Christ in developing the action on the stage. Christ is present to lead, guide, offer suggestions, and even take a major role in the action. But, as we improvise, we must always keep in mind the themes God has set out for us. We are not free to develop new themes outside of God’s plan for the world. And, we must remember that God is always moving us toward a climax; a climax where all creation is reconciled to God.
So we are called to fulfill the scriptures and we are called to be witnesses of what Christ is doing in our lives and in the world. This is what sets Christianity apart from other faiths. We do not just tell people about what Jesus said and did; we tell the world about what Jesus is saying and what Jesus is doing today. Now, to be sure, we do tell the stories that are recorded in the gospels. We do tell about Jesus’ teachings from the mountains side; about Jesus healing the sick and casting out demons; about Jesus confronting the powers of his day and preaching that the kingdom of God is at hand; we do tell the story of Jesus’ death on the cross and his glorious resurrection on Easter Sunday. We do tell the story of Jesus, but we do not and cannot leave it there. Yes, people may be interested in the stories about Jesus, but lives are transformed when they hear what Jesus is doing in your life today. You see, Jesus has not left the building; he is here today and he is active in my life today. Jesus walks with me when I am tired; Jesus inspires me with I am down; Jesus picks me up when I fall down and Jesus encourages me when I succeed. Jesus is not some dead guy from the past; Jesus is not some absentee landlord living off in some faraway fantasy place. No, Jesus is alive today. Jesus is here. And Jesus is active in my life. So, I have a story to tell and you have a story to tell. We are witnesses to these things; we know what Jesus has done for us. And we need to begin right where we are and spread the Good News. Jesus calls us to be witnesses in our neighborhoods, in the surrounding communities, and in the farthest corners of the world. We do not follow the teachings of a dead prophet, we serve a risen savior who is present, active and alive in the world today.
Ascension Day says Jesus has not left the building. Ascension Day says Jesus has not abandoned us. Ascension Day says Jesus is walking beside us every step of the way. Ascension Day calls us to fulfill God’s purpose and will in the world. Ascension Day calls us to be witnesses of all that Christ is doing in our lives. Ascension Day shouts that Christ is alive.
I want to add a hymn this morning; I want to sing number 310 – He Lives, because “I serve a risen Savior, he’s in the world today; I know that he is living, whatever foes may say. I see his hand of mercy, I hear his voice of cheer, and just the time I need him, he’s always near. You ask me how I know he lives? He lives within my heart.”
Amen.