Easter 7A 2020 (COVID 19) Lessons for Ascension
Last week, during the children’s and youth service, one of the questions that the kids were asked was, “If you could ask God one question, and know that God – the spirit of truth - would answer, what would you ask?
A couple of the young people asked, “What does heaven look like? What is it like up there?”
I think the disciples in our readings today had the same question. Today, we heard the story of the Ascension in both our lesson from Acts and the lesson from the Gospel of Luke.
Jesus gives his disciples their last instructions, and then he miraculously rises up into the sky.
The disciples are awestruck, and they stand there staring up after him.
They also were probably thinking, “I wonder what it’s like up there?”
Actually, its kind of funny how we read the lessons out of order, just because our liturgy always has the Gospel read last… But as many of you know, the same author wrote The Gospel of Luke and then the Acts of the Apostles… so today, we actually read the very last part of the Gospel of Luke, and then the Very First part of the Acts of the Apostles.
Like a Good sequel, The Gospel ends with a good ending, but the next volume picks up right where the first book left off.
The feast of the Ascension was actually last Thursday, but it’s such an important day, we usually remember it the Sunday following. Last Thursday, I shared a meme on my Facebook page for Ascension Day. It said, “Today is the feast of the Ascension. For those of you who wonder what that means, it’s the day Jesus started working from home!”
It’s the day Jesus returned from Earth to his heavenly home. He went to prepare a place for us in his his Father’s House.
In the mystery of the Trinity and the incarnation, we know that the Second person of the Trinity has been with God in heaven since the beginning, and all things were created through him. About 2000 years ago, That Second person of the Trinity became incarnate, flesh and blood, and was born as a baby boy in Bethlehem. His parents named him Jesus, per the Angel Gabriel’s instructions.
The Earth became his “workplace” where he lived, taught, and healed. After his death and resurrection, He appeared several times to his disciples, and finally on the Ascension, 40 days after his resurrection, he returned home. He now works remotely!
The disciples are standing there, when all of a sudden, two men in dazzling white come and stand among them. Who are these two men? Maybe they were the same two men in Dazzling White who met the women who came to the tomb in Luke and asked the question, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here, He is Risen!”
These angels, or messengers from God may have reminded Peter, James and John of seeing Moses and Elijah up on the mountain when Jesus was transfigured before them. This certainly was another transfiguration type moment, as Jesus rose up into heaven.
But the question the angels ask the disciples at the Ascension is a little different this time.
They are standing, looking up, maybe wondering what heaven is like… maybe just in awe, but the messengers call the men’s focus back down to earth. “Why do you stand there looking up into the sky? He’ll be coming back the same way.” I like to imagine the angels saying something like, “Why are you just standing there? Don’t you have work to do? He’s coming back, you know. Get going!”
The disciples then returned home and do the most important thing. They continue to praise God and to be together. I believe it was there that they began to reflect on what Jesus had told them.
Wait for Power from on high.
Soon you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.
“you will be my Witnesses in Jerusalem, AND in al Judea And Samaria, And to the ends of the earth.”
Those were the last words Jesus said before he ascended. “You will be my Witnesses.”
So, while it can be fun for us to imagine what Heaven is like, I think the point of the Ascension is that, now that Jesus is working from home, remotely, through his Spirit, and we are the ones through whom that Spirit works.
We will celebrate the coming of the Holy Spirit next week at Pentecost, but we who are Christians have already received the Holy Spirit. We were baptized with water AND the spirit, and so we are already empowered by Jesus to be his witnesses.
So the question you need to ask yourself now is, Where is your Jerusalem, your Judea, your Samaria, and your Ends of the Earth?
For the first disciples, Those geographic instructions made literal since. They were in Jerusalem. The good news of Jesus started with them there, and spread to the rest of Judea, their home country… Back to Galilee and beyond.
Samaria was a little different.. The Samaritans were physically close to the rest of Judea, but they were different and despised. They worshipped differently. There was bad blood between Jews and Samaritans for religious and historical reasons. They didn’t mix. They were from the “other side of the tracks” so to speak. But Jesus had already begun to break down that barrier. He talked with the woman by the well in Samaria. He told the parable of the Good Samaritan who showed what it was like to Love your Neighbor as yourself. So the disciples were also called to go to the Samaritans, to those who are different and despised by others.
This radical way of being community – of including men and women, rich and poor, insiders and outsiders was one of the reasons the early believers were persecuted, and when they were persecuted in Jerusalem, they spread out to other cities and countries. By extension, their witness to the Good News about God then travelled to the ends of the earth. The disciples and apostle Paul went from city to city sharing the stories about Jesus, and how through his life, death, and resurrection, we all have forgiveness of sins and life everlasting. Miracles and Deeds of power through the Holy Spirit accompanied their proclamation, and people turned to faith. We are benefits of them carrying out Jesus’ command to be witnesses to the ends of the earth
So, for us today, what does this mean to be witnesses in Jerusalem and Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth? The angels tell us we shouldn’t just stand around looking up into heaven… either waiting to join Jesus there, or waiting for him to come back here. We’ve got work to do. We’re not just supposed to wonder what it’s like “up there”…. We’re supposed to help make “up there” come “down here.” To help “God’s will be done On Earth, as it is in Heaven.”
To be a witness means to share what we have seen, to share what we know with those around us. We can be witnesses not just in words, but in deeds.
So let’s think about those different areas where we are called to be witnesses today.
Our Jerusalem would be our home turf…. This would include your church and your family. People who share your values. These are the people who generally will accept you no matter what. Your witness to God shows up here in sharing stories, praying together, and supporting one another out of love. Here, people know who you are. It should be easy to share our faith in our Jerusalems… but there are many who are afraid to even take this small risk. But it’s the first circle.
Next, Judea was the larger area around Jerusalem that shared the same culture. So for us, our Judea could be our neighborhoods, our city, our wider community. Maybe our book club, or workout buddies, other groups of friends. We witness there in word when we share an answer to prayer, or offer to pray for others. We witness when we share how something we read in a spiritual book, or heard in a sermon made us think. We witness to the power of God when we take a meal, or help out with a project, or serve the wider community because of our faith.
Our Samaria is a little more challenging. Jews and Samaritans didn’t want to hang out together. But It was a challenge that Jesus tells us we were to overcome…. Our Samaria can be people of a different socio-economic group, people of a different ethnicity than us, people with different political persuasions, people of different faith traditions, or no faith at all. People we might be tempted to despise for one reason or another. We are called to overcome those barriers. For many of us, service is an obvious place to start… feeding the hungry, housing the homeless, showing compassion to all, no matter what their circumstances. It’s more of a stretch for us to build relationships, but we are called to do that too. We are called not only to do good for others, but to listen respectfully to those who think differently, and to find ways to show in word in deed the faith we carry within us.
Finally, to the ends of the earth… Some of you have been called to literal world-wide mission. I think for most of us this part of our mission is meant to remind us that No matter where we are, no matter what we are doing, we are to be Witnesses of Jesus to the world.
I remember one of the very first confirmation classes I taught to a group of adults. We were talking about the Baptismal Covenant, and the 5 promises we make, which include
Will you proclaim by work and example the Good News of God in Christ?
Will you seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving you neighbor as yourself?
Will you strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every human being?
This man said, “Man. That’s a lot. Like, I don’t even think I could put one of those little fish on the back of my car because, frankly, I don’t drive like a Christian.”
I think he got it. To be a witness in all the world means that our words and actions in every part of our lives should reflect that we are followers of Jesus. Whether we are driving, doing our taxes, speaking about the political situation of the world, working, shopping, travelling, volunteering, or anything else. The witness of our words and deeds are to match the beliefs of our hearts.
While we may be limited in this time by the extent that we can literally travel to the ends of the earth, in our global economy and networked world, the ends of the earth are only a few clicks away. Your online witness goes far and wide.
In all the spheres where we are called to witness, the important thing to remember is that we do not do this out of our own power. We are to work from the power of the Holy Spirit… so prayer is an important part of our witness as well.
And remember, Jesus isn’t really working remotely. Jesus, through the power of the Spirit, is closer to us than we can even imagine. So let us continue to gather in our Jerusalem’s to continually praise God, and then be his witnesses in Judea, Samaria and the ends of the earth.