ASCENSION Acts 1:1-14
ASCENSION
It is one of those apocryphal stories. Jesus arrives at the Pearly Gates following his Ascension. There he is met by the angelic host. They all want to know about his time on earth. As Jesus tells his story of being raised in humble circumstances, the years of teaching, preaching and healing followed by his account of being at the receiving side of torture and murder prior to the ultimate conquest of death, the angels are enthralled. The story of all that Jesus has done to share the good news of a God who wants only the best for creation leaves them truly amazed.
But then, one of them has a question to ask;
“Lord, now that you are no longer physically on earth, who will continue to share the good news?”
Jesus answers, “There are eleven who were especially close to me and I have given them the responsibility of getting the word out.”
Relieved at this, the questioner responds, “ O Lord, these must be incredible people - the best and the brightes that creation has to offer!”
“Well, actually no,” Jesus responds. “These are average people with ordinary abilities. Not the “best and brightest” by any means.”
“But if these are only average people with ordinary ability, how can you be sure that they will get the job done?”
“To be honest,” Jesus answers, “I can’t be sure.”
“ You can’t be sure, Lord? What if they fail to do the job? What is your back up plan?”
Quietly Jesus answers, “ I have no back up plan.”
The story of the Ascension of Jesus tells us that it is now left to ordinary people such as us to continue his work. Luke in his account of the Ascension links the Ascension of Jesus with the challenge to continue the work of Jesus in Jerusalem where they were, in Judea which was nearby before deaded Samaria and ultimately to the ends of the Earth. Jesus might be absent in the physical sense but this absence would not be the end of the story but the beginning of a new chapter. Powerfully, this tells us that we are so valued by God that we are actually called to share in the ongoing work of God.
The problem with all of this is that on first reading we find the Disciples being given the impossible task at the very time when their resources are lowest. Weeks before at Easter they had found their own limitations severely exposed as they fled on the night of Jesus’ arrest. In those days, they experienced something of an emotional roller coaster ride. Now after a number of encounters with the Risen Christ, they were left alone - only with a giant of a task. Yet the message of the text is that they were not alone for Luke links his account of the task they are given not just with the Ascension but with the promise of the Spirit, the Spirit who working within them will be the guarantor of Christ’s continued presence. Perhaps the brief delay between Ascension and Pentecost represents a chance for the Disciples to begin to learn to walk on their own. BUT they are not to feel as orphans, deserted.
A helpful illustration may be one concerning Mahatma Gandhi who was one of the greatest figures of the 20th Century. His murder at a time of crisis in India devastated many within the Hindu community who had come to rely on his great spiritual guidance. His friend, Stanley Jones, the Christian missionary recalls hearing a well known Hindu poet named Mrs Naidu , lament this tragedy on the radio just three days after his assassination. Tearfully she cried out for both herself and her stricken nation;
“O Bapu, O Little Father, come back. We are orphaned and stricken without you.”
Stanley Jones said he could sympathise with her feelings but he also reflected;
“ O God, I am grateful I do not have to cry out for the leader of my soul: ’O Jesus, come back. Come back. We are orphaned and stricken without you.”
He knew that reality that the hymn writer writes of in ‘Alleluia! Sing to Jesus’ which is expressed in the line, “Not as orphans are we left in sorrow now.” For Jones was able to recognise that which makes Jesus different from others, namely that ‘though absent in the flesh, Jesus is a continuing presence in our lives as a result of the presence of the Spirit. Added to which Ascension is linked to a promise of return which means that ultimately it is the purposes of Jesus that will be fulfilled in the world.
But how do we live in the knowledge of the Ascension? Ultimately this leads us into an understanding that the Ascension is amongst other things one of the most political doctrines of the church. In Ascension, Christ is exalted and may truly be described as “King of Kings” or “Lord of Lords.” In the past week we have elected people into leadership in both Parliament and County Councils. Their tasks are important and their power to affect peoples’ lives is considerable. However, Ascension points us to One who is a higher power with a much greater claim on our allegiance and how we live our lives. Yet this authority of Jesus is at times counter cultural. It is the authority that challenges us to seek what is right through looking to the actions, teachings and self giving that we see in Jesus. This is the authority that puts before us the challenge that all should be treated with dignity, that our human created barriers against those we see as other than ourselves should be challenged and that power is best exercised in servanthood rather than in domination and manipulation. It puts before us great imperatives such as peace and justice along with great attitudes such as love and mercy. And radical as it may seem, when those imperatives and those attitudes are at odds with the exercise of authority in public life or in communities of faith, it is the authority of Christ that needs to be affirmed as supreme whatever the cost.
Today as we look to the Ascension we seek our place in the ongoing story of God’s work of love. It is a story that has not ended with Ascension but goes on through the narrative of the Acts of the Apostles and in the lives of people who follow Jesus.
In this I am reminded of the story of the Italian composer Puccini who wrote such great operas as ‘Madame Butterfly.’ He had begun writing his masterpiece Turandot which included such classic music as ‘Nessun Dorma.’ Sadly he was diagnosed with a terminal illness. Feverishly he worked to bring his work to completion but in the end he died leaving an unfinished work. Friends who saw the brilliance of this work and who had been inspired by Puccini later completed it. One evening in 1926 a year or so after Puccini’s death, Turandot was performed for the very first time at La Scala Opera House in Milan. The conductor was Toscanini who had been a close friend of Puccini. When he got to the end of what Puccini had written, he lowered his baton before turning to the audience and saying through his tears, “ So far the Master wrote before he died.” The performance was over but the following night he was able to announce, “But his friends have completed his work” and the entire opera was performed.
And it’s a bit like that with us. We are called as the friends of Christ to continue the Master’s work. But we have the bonus of the realisation that through the Spirit, the Master is present with us and using us with all our ordinariness for his extraordinary purposes.
AMEN
This was preached in a different church to the sermon on paraclete - hence the two sermons contain the same illustration. I am grateful to David Leininger for the illustration re Stanley Jones and the aftermath to the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi.
It was preached at Torrington on My 8th 2005.
It is one of those apocryphal stories. Jesus arrives at the Pearly Gates following his Ascension. There he is met by the angelic host. They all want to know about his time on earth. As Jesus tells his story of being raised in humble circumstances, the years of teaching, preaching and healing followed by his account of being at the receiving side of torture and murder prior to the ultimate conquest of death, the angels are enthralled. The story of all that Jesus has done to share the good news of a God who wants only the best for creation leaves them truly amazed.
But then, one of them has a question to ask;
“Lord, now that you are no longer physically on earth, who will continue to share the good news?”
Jesus answers, “There are eleven who were especially close to me and I have given them the responsibility of getting the word out.”
Relieved at this, the questioner responds, “ O Lord, these must be incredible people - the best and the brightes that creation has to offer!”
“Well, actually no,” Jesus responds. “These are average people with ordinary abilities. Not the “best and brightest” by any means.”
“But if these are only average people with ordinary ability, how can you be sure that they will get the job done?”
“To be honest,” Jesus answers, “I can’t be sure.”
“ You can’t be sure, Lord? What if they fail to do the job? What is your back up plan?”
Quietly Jesus answers, “ I have no back up plan.”
The story of the Ascension of Jesus tells us that it is now left to ordinary people such as us to continue his work. Luke in his account of the Ascension links the Ascension of Jesus with the challenge to continue the work of Jesus in Jerusalem where they were, in Judea which was nearby before deaded Samaria and ultimately to the ends of the Earth. Jesus might be absent in the physical sense but this absence would not be the end of the story but the beginning of a new chapter. Powerfully, this tells us that we are so valued by God that we are actually called to share in the ongoing work of God.
The problem with all of this is that on first reading we find the Disciples being given the impossible task at the very time when their resources are lowest. Weeks before at Easter they had found their own limitations severely exposed as they fled on the night of Jesus’ arrest. In those days, they experienced something of an emotional roller coaster ride. Now after a number of encounters with the Risen Christ, they were left alone - only with a giant of a task. Yet the message of the text is that they were not alone for Luke links his account of the task they are given not just with the Ascension but with the promise of the Spirit, the Spirit who working within them will be the guarantor of Christ’s continued presence. Perhaps the brief delay between Ascension and Pentecost represents a chance for the Disciples to begin to learn to walk on their own. BUT they are not to feel as orphans, deserted.
A helpful illustration may be one concerning Mahatma Gandhi who was one of the greatest figures of the 20th Century. His murder at a time of crisis in India devastated many within the Hindu community who had come to rely on his great spiritual guidance. His friend, Stanley Jones, the Christian missionary recalls hearing a well known Hindu poet named Mrs Naidu , lament this tragedy on the radio just three days after his assassination. Tearfully she cried out for both herself and her stricken nation;
“O Bapu, O Little Father, come back. We are orphaned and stricken without you.”
Stanley Jones said he could sympathise with her feelings but he also reflected;
“ O God, I am grateful I do not have to cry out for the leader of my soul: ’O Jesus, come back. Come back. We are orphaned and stricken without you.”
He knew that reality that the hymn writer writes of in ‘Alleluia! Sing to Jesus’ which is expressed in the line, “Not as orphans are we left in sorrow now.” For Jones was able to recognise that which makes Jesus different from others, namely that ‘though absent in the flesh, Jesus is a continuing presence in our lives as a result of the presence of the Spirit. Added to which Ascension is linked to a promise of return which means that ultimately it is the purposes of Jesus that will be fulfilled in the world.
But how do we live in the knowledge of the Ascension? Ultimately this leads us into an understanding that the Ascension is amongst other things one of the most political doctrines of the church. In Ascension, Christ is exalted and may truly be described as “King of Kings” or “Lord of Lords.” In the past week we have elected people into leadership in both Parliament and County Councils. Their tasks are important and their power to affect peoples’ lives is considerable. However, Ascension points us to One who is a higher power with a much greater claim on our allegiance and how we live our lives. Yet this authority of Jesus is at times counter cultural. It is the authority that challenges us to seek what is right through looking to the actions, teachings and self giving that we see in Jesus. This is the authority that puts before us the challenge that all should be treated with dignity, that our human created barriers against those we see as other than ourselves should be challenged and that power is best exercised in servanthood rather than in domination and manipulation. It puts before us great imperatives such as peace and justice along with great attitudes such as love and mercy. And radical as it may seem, when those imperatives and those attitudes are at odds with the exercise of authority in public life or in communities of faith, it is the authority of Christ that needs to be affirmed as supreme whatever the cost.
Today as we look to the Ascension we seek our place in the ongoing story of God’s work of love. It is a story that has not ended with Ascension but goes on through the narrative of the Acts of the Apostles and in the lives of people who follow Jesus.
In this I am reminded of the story of the Italian composer Puccini who wrote such great operas as ‘Madame Butterfly.’ He had begun writing his masterpiece Turandot which included such classic music as ‘Nessun Dorma.’ Sadly he was diagnosed with a terminal illness. Feverishly he worked to bring his work to completion but in the end he died leaving an unfinished work. Friends who saw the brilliance of this work and who had been inspired by Puccini later completed it. One evening in 1926 a year or so after Puccini’s death, Turandot was performed for the very first time at La Scala Opera House in Milan. The conductor was Toscanini who had been a close friend of Puccini. When he got to the end of what Puccini had written, he lowered his baton before turning to the audience and saying through his tears, “ So far the Master wrote before he died.” The performance was over but the following night he was able to announce, “But his friends have completed his work” and the entire opera was performed.
And it’s a bit like that with us. We are called as the friends of Christ to continue the Master’s work. But we have the bonus of the realisation that through the Spirit, the Master is present with us and using us with all our ordinariness for his extraordinary purposes.
AMEN
This was preached in a different church to the sermon on paraclete - hence the two sermons contain the same illustration. I am grateful to David Leininger for the illustration re Stanley Jones and the aftermath to the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi.
It was preached at Torrington on My 8th 2005.
posted by Rev Paul Martin at 1:56 AM
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