Ascension Sunday

Grace be to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

You know how families have these stories of lore that get shared again and again? In my husband Eric’s family, there is one about his nephew Aaron. It was getting close to the time when Aaron was to start Kindergarten. His grandmother asked him how he felt about going to school.

He became thoughtful and said, “Well, Kevin went – and he came back.”

We always thought it was cute and funny.

Now, after yet another terrible school shooting in our nation, the story isn’t so funny anymore. Way too many parents have suffered the pain of sending their little kid or their teenager off to school, and they didn’t come back. Or they came back terrified and traumatized.

This school shooting comes a week after the grocery store shooting in Buffalo, NY. And it comes at the second anniversary of the terrible death of George Floyd. So much violence. So much pain. So many communities in grief and turmoil. So much fear and terror among the people. So much agonized wondering if this will ever change, and how.

All this was going on in the world leading up to today, to this Sunday we had planned to be the kick-off for our intergenerational summer program. I sat in my study and pondered how in the world I could connect these two realities.

Looking for guidance and inspiration, I spent time with today’s Bible readings. Today we celebrate Ascension Day. This actually fell on Thursday of this past week, but we are marking it today. The way Luke tells us the story, Jesus rose from death on Easter morning. For the next 40 days, he kept appearing to his disciples. Then, 40 days after Easter, Jesus gathered his followers for one last meeting. He gave them some final instructions and charged them to be witnesses of all they had seen Jesus say and do. He also promised them that soon, they would receive the Holy Spirit, power from on high to assist and inspire them in their calling.

Then Jesus blessed them and withdrew from them and was carried into heaven. From now on, Jesus would no longer stop by for visits. No more conversations in the upper room, no more walks to Emmaus, no more breakfast on the beach or breaking bread at the table. Jesus in his physical body of the resurrection was gone. From now on, Jesus would be present in the world in a different way, through his gifts and his people.

I love how Luke described the disciples standing there, looking up into the sky, apparently waiting for Jesus to come back. Eventually, two men in white robes appear and say, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up to heaven?” I imagine these men in white tapping these disciples on the shoulder and saying, ‘Stop staring into heaven, expecting Jesus to come back and fix all your problems. Get busy. Jesus told you what to do: be witnesses. Now, hop to it!’

Jesus is sending his friends into the world. Jesus is no longer visibly present in the world, but they are. They are to share the good news, spread hope, touch lives with the love of Christ, and show with their own lives what a difference it makes to be a follower of Jesus.

Looking at the five emphases of our Journey Together summer program and at our Bible readings this morning, I can’t help but marvel how much they overlap.

Bible: “I wrote about all that Jesus did and taught” and “These are my words that I spoke to you” and “He opened their minds to understand the scriptures”.

Spirit: “You will be baptized with the Holy Spirit” and “Stay here in the city until you have been clothed with power from in high”.

Disciple: “Giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen” and “You are witnesses of these things”.

Church: “And they worshiped him … and were continually in the temple blessing God”.

World: “You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the world” and “repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations”.

These five emphases on our Journey Together have always been the path of discipleship. From the creation of the church, these are the gifts Jesus has given his followers. Through his word in the Bible, through the Holy Spirit, and through the support of fellow disciples, Jesus has blessed us, anchored us in our faith, sustained us in times of trial, touched us with his love, nourished us in periods of doubt, gave our lives meaning, inspired us with the vision of the kingdom of God.

With the help of these gifts, we can fulfill our calling to be the church, to be witnesses to Jesus Christ in the world.

This week, we have been reminded once again how desperately the world needs that witness. Jesus is tapping us on the shoulder and saying, “Stop focusing so much on heaven. Stop expecting me to do everything. I am giving you the support and tools you need. Send your thoughts and prayers, but don’t stop there. Do something. Be my witnesses. Embark on the journey of discipleship and contribute to the healing and justice and peace that God wants for this world.” Amen.