This is a celebration of Jesus’ return to the Father, from whence he came.
Going physically back to the source of that perfect love.
So, as we know, there’s a lot that’s happening. For mere humans cannot merely ascend.
We don’t float, we don’t rise in the clouds (without mechanical feats of engineering)
But Jesus does.
And he has his final chat with his disciples, giving these final instructions and lessons as the ascension is beginning.
This is like someone heading out the door, calling another “I love you!” over their shoulder as they depart.
There’s a LOT going on.
Because Jesus has just given them a lot of information: that they are his witnesses, that they are being commissioned and sent to carry the Good News to the ends of the earth, that the Holy Spirit is coming to them in a few days to give them what they need for their ministry…
And, in this account of the ascension, scholars suggest that this is happening the night of Easter – not the 40 days afterwards, which is what other accounts lean towards.
With Luke, the disciples are experiencing all of this on a rather condensed timeline!
So it’s no wonder that the apostles are a little awestruck, standing there.
Staring. Blankly, I imagine.
Staring at the sky. At the now empty sky.
No butterflies.
They are so overwhelmed that they just stand there for a moment, dumbfounded.
And there: God shakes things up.
Because God has a way of making things known in those moments of calm.
In the moments when we think we just want to do nothing, to think nothing, to keep things as they are….
Into that stasis God tosses in some big news.
But let’s not overlook that pause… the pause is good. The pause is sacred – the pause that invites us into reflection and increased awareness.
It’s a pause that our minds, souls, and bodies need: it’s why we know we shouldn’t make big decisions in a hurry.
We want to be able to respond, not just react, to the world around us.
We want to use good judgement; and so we need time to think, to pray, to sleep, to eat.
We take time to pause.
In these pauses we are encouraged to connect with others whose opinions and advice we respect, so we can discern the best course of action
– and discernment is different from decision –
a decision can be made by tossing a coin; heads or tails!
But discernment is the deep journey into the spiritual places to listen for the calling of God.
So we pause. We let the adrenaline fade a bit;
we reduce the external stimuli that distracts;
we quiet the noise that is stirring – from the world and within our own minds.
We pause: so that we may find that peace.
The peace for right now; and the peace that will serve as the foundation for the future.
The holy peace we considered last week.
It’s why Jesus invited the apostles to go back to the city and just rest for a little bit.
It’s not for a long time, but time enough to adjust to this latest massive change in their lives.
And to prepare themselves for the next major change in their lives.
For Jesus is clear: the future will not be the past.
Change is happening; their day to day realities are not going to be the same as they were before they followed Jesus.
They’re not going back to their fishing nets, or their tax collecting, or their other labours:
they are going forward, to live in the ministries to which they have been called; to spread the good news.
But first, they need to get back to the present.
Because in their present, they now have 2 new friends, robed in white, standing beside them.
In their present, God is about to stir things up.
The heavenly messengers in their snazzy dazzling clothes are about to give them new focus for their time of pause.
And it’s a question we can engage with ourselves.
For when they ask the apostles "why do you stand looking up toward heaven?" they are asking the apostles to think about their own actions: the immediate ones, and their longer term intentions.
In their gentle comments, these messengers remind the apostles that Jesus was doing what Jesus had told them he would do.
And that they were being nudged to recall that they were meant to be doing what Jesus had told them to do:
to learn from the teachings of the past, but not be bound by it;
to live in the present with eyes for the future and the amazing opportunities that were about to become reality for them.
What a great commentary for us all:
For we too have opportunity in our foreground.
We have the privilege of learning from what was, and pausing in the present to reflect on what may be.
And – with excitement:
we hear the Great promise of the gifts and power of God that is being given to all of us,
that we can carry forth the love and grace of God throughout the world.
We continue the ministry of the followers of God, called to witness to the overwhelmingly Good News of Christ in all the world: in Jerusalem, in Judea and Samaria – and in Saskatoon.
In exciting ways, in the same ways, in different ways.
The power of the Spirit means we are not limited in how we preach the Gospel.
For our experience with Christ is ongoing, for the real presence of God is everywhere and everytime. And we engage with that Christ in unique and exuberant ways.
Yet, no matter how perfect and inspiring our experience with God is, we are not meant to stay still and focus on what was.
The Ascension of Jesus and the promised coming of the Spirit serve to invite us into action, into living fully in the present moment, supported by the gifts of the past and focused on the possibilities of the future.
May our prayers this day be that God will wake us up to the exciting potential of serving one another in the name of the Risen and Ascended Christ! Amen!!
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