Jesus Speaks, Acts, Leaves: Now What? Ascension Sunday Psalm 93; Ephesians 1.15-23; Luke 24.44-53
Rev. Tiare L. Mathison, Pastor & Soul-Tender
The dislocation of our perceptions; the mechanics of resurrection; and ultimately, transcendence. This is all I got for you today.
At pastors’ BS 10 days ago, I asked, “What is it about Ascension Sunday that doesn’t really get me excited?” My Lutheran colleagues were appalled; they have a much deeper appreciation for liturgy and the liturgical year then do I. I’ve learned a lot from them! “It’s the fulfillment of the gospel, Tiare. Jesus portrays the whole of Salvation History—the Law of Moses, the prophets, the psalms—is now complete in Jesus’ death and resurrection. The forgiveness of sins is made possible. It is all of Salvation History on this one Sunday! I mean, come on.”
Okay, they’ve got a point. As Jesus is taken up, the disciples fall to the ground, prostrate, like the angels, and the shepherds and the wise men, at the feet of the baby Jesus. They are astonished at what just happened. All they can do is go back to a familiar place, the temple, to offer blessings to God. And to wait, until they are ‘clothed with power from on high’, whatever that means, since it had never happened before. (Pause)
When was the last time you were astonished? Knocked to your knees in praise and blessing when you glimpsed an inkling of God’s glory? When were your eyes opened, no longer blind, to see love, grace and mercy mingling down? It is this dislocation of our perceptions that makes for a bit of a rough road. Our sight lines direct our way, make us the cartographers of our own lives. And then, Ka-boom. Our maps catch fire, and we shake our heads. Now what?
We live in this kind of time. Pandemic, coronavirus, Covid 19, shelter in place, wear masks, stay 6 feet apart, wash your hands 25 times a day, essential business only, bend the disease curve, search for vaccines, non-essential surgeries measured, no public gatherings, no church in the flesh. New words, new rules, new practices, and no end in sight.. Talk about dislocation, oh my.
Yet we are 2,000 years into this disruption of God, the astonishment of Jesus’ resurrection, let alone His ascension, the power of the Holy Spirit hovers on the horizon, soon to be made manifest. Jesus’ ministry is not a one-off, an accident, an anecdote for the dinner party conversation. Rather, He is the magnificent painting we are to gaze at to see, really see, God’s deepest desires for all of creation. He lives into and out of the covenant God made with humanity so long ago and has been enacting ever since. The creation of another Eden. I’ve said this a zillion times, but I’ll say it again: God loves you and names you Beloved; God wants you whole, healed, filled with hope. God wants the universe healed. Look, the cross is empty and so is the tomb. You have been given new life in Christ. So live it! Now What?
It may be a bit presumptuous to use the word ‘mechanics’ when talking about the resurrection of Jesus, and its aftermath, I grant you. I mean no offense. What I am suggesting is the writers of the gospels, try hard to make theological sense of these extraordinary circumstances they find themselves in. Luke begins his gospel with these words: “Since many have undertaken to set down an orderly account of the events that have been fulfilled among us, just as they were handed on to us by those who were eyewitnesses and servants of the Word, I too decided, after investigating everything carefully from the very first, to write an orderly account...” unquote. Written in 70 AD best historians suggest. 35 or 40 years after Jesus was crucified. A mechanics manual if you will. To tell the truth of what you have been instructed Luke says, to dear Theophilus.
It is this clarity of biology—yes, Mary got pregnant in an extraordinary way, yes, Jesus was born through a birth canal, yes Jesus grew up in the normal way of children, yes He started His ministry and called disciples, then went on to heal the sick, feed the hungry, love the demon-possessed, speak with women, cross the bounds of religious and political rightness, crucified, dead and buried, rose again on the third day, then spent 40 days (that lovely phrase that really means ‘a long time’) connecting God’s over-arching plan of salvation with His own life the disciples had already experienced. Yes. Jesus speaks...Jesus acts... Jesus blesses.
Before He goes away to prepare that beautiful place, He raises his wounded hands, scabs giving way to scars, and speaks unrecorded words that imprint so deeply, the disciples fall to the ground. They are astonished by this inkling of eternity, there is nothing else to do but say thanks be to God. The space/time continuum they have always lived with is now scaffolded in a different way—they live inside the ascension. They are not on the outside looking in, rather they are gifted with the transcendent beauty of the presence of God, just as Jesus promised. Their perception is dislocated forever.
This is our promise too. We are not on the outside looking in. We have been gathered into the Godhead through Jesus and as we know, the power of the Holy Spirit. We are clothed from on high. Like I said last week, second-skinned by Christ in our baptism. Our viewpoint is cast in the light of the deep and abiding mystery of transcendence. All of our life, our pandemic life, our life before, our life after, all of our life, is rooted in the renewed goodness of creation. Jesus speaks...Jesus acts...Jesus leaves...Now What? Amen