"Taken Up into Heaven"
The angels say, "Men of Galilee, why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven."
Easter is a season. In that season we get involved in a whole series of both sacred and secular celebrations and feasts, and then the season needs to come to an end, so we can move ahead. We celebrate Mother's Day, Confirmation, Memorial Day, graduations, wedding showers, anniversaries – we move from one table to the next until the last graduation cap has been flung into the air, and then it is over, it is complete. Off to summer. It is time for a new season. For many, the Easter feasting needs to be replaced by going back to Lenten discipline.
The Biblical story of Easter, of the resurrection of Jesus, also needs to come to completion. It begins with wonder and fear and women looking cautiously into the tomb, trying to find the living among the dead. Then, as we explore the texts of Easter, we see many convincing proofs of Jesus' resurrection. We move from Thomas doubting that Jesus is risen, to Peter jumping in the water from his fishing boat after he sees Jesus on the shore and exclaiming, "It is the Lord!"
Jesus appears to the disciples many times and breaks bread with them and eats fish in their presence and opens their minds to the scriptures, and they become thoroughly convinced: He is risen. He is risen indeed!
All this comes to completion in the Ascension, which is the exaltation of Jesus to the place of power, the throne of God in heaven. We can read descriptions of the exalted Jesus in the book of Revelation and in the first chapter of Colossians. He is the Lord.
The ascension of Jesus impacts us in two ways. First, it moves us ahead into mission. Convinced that he is Lord, we join the company of disciples who are witnesses.
Second, we move into a season of hope. He will come back in the same way. We live in hope. Leon Morris points out that the ascension shows us that it is the humanity of Jesus that is taken into heaven, and so we know that one day the humanity which he has redeemed will be taken with him. All those who are in Christ will be raised from the dead. The ascension then speaks of the redemption of our humanity, not an escape from our humanity.
Some have criticized this account, as if it portrays an ancient view of a flat earth, with heaven located in the sky above and hell deep below the earth. They read the account as if Jesus goes up like a helium balloon a few miles into the air until he gets to heaven. But to read the account carefully, we see it is much more in tune with what we understand about our universe. Jesus goes up into a cloud. In the Old Testament the cloud was often a sign of the presence of God. Jesus enters the realm of God, and so becomes spatially and temporally separate from us. He is Lord in heaven. He will return.
The central point of the ascension for us is mission. Jesus tells the disciples to wait for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Then he says, "You will be my witnessesÉto the ends of the earth." David Tiede feels that the language of "witness" comes from Isaiah 41-44. The people of Israel were called to be God's witnesses in the world, and yet they acted like they could not see or hear. They did not tell the people of the world about the great and mighty acts of God and the grace of God. Instead they fell into the temptations and sins of the surrounding nations. Tiede then says, "the height of Israel's restoration is the renewal of her call to be God's witnesses." Witness is an outcome of healing, of restoration, of salvation. It is an honor to be a witness for God.
The disciples are now given that calling. This too is the heart of our identity as believers. But, as Ajith Fernando writes, "For our witness to be effective, it must be witness; it must come out of a firsthand knowledge of the risen Christ." What a great privilege it is for us to know the Risen Christ, and to be entrusted as his witnesses in the world. It is a sign of our restoration and healing.
But then we find the disciples, those called to be witnesses, staring at the sky. A few angels have to come to nudge them along. There is more to do in Christ than just stare at the sky. There is in fact always a danger that the church will replace witness and mission with staring at the sky, or just plain staring.
Are you staring at something today? Are you hoping something good will just happen to you? Are you missing something in your life and waiting for it to return? Are you staring at the TV, or at your bank account, or at the computer screen? Are you living without hope, without a sense of call, without a purpose? The tendency in the church is often to stare into space and mark time, rather than thinking deeply about the meaning of witness in Judea and Samaria and the ends of the earth.
The disciples were staring at the restoration of the Kingdom to Israel. They hoped something would happen now to free Israel from its enemies, especially the Romans. They hoped that the other peoples of the world would become subservient to their kingdom. They thought they were living in the last days, and perhaps should stop working and just wait for God to bring it all to an end. Jesus said they would not know about the time of the end. But they would receive power from the Holy Spirit, and then be sent into a rather large task to be busy about. So too for us. It is not time to stare into space. It is time to be about the Lord's Work. The point of the Ascension is mission.
So we are about to enter another season of summer, which is always a rich time to be about God's work. It can be such a good time for us to explore God's will, to receive his grace and power in our lives, and to serve God and proclaim the Gospel. We start this week with a rummage sale, a humble kind of event, but one in which we can meet and serve and bless all manner of people who will be drawn here by our goods. Who knows what God will do?
Our young people have some great opportunities ahead of them with a full slate of camps and CHIC for the high school group and a service week for the junior high. Who knows what God will do in their lives this summer? They will see Christ, and feel the Spirit, and bear witness.
Our children will be blessed with VBS and children's ministry outings and camp and family nights of fun and worship. Who knows what God will do in their lives?
The rest of us will be in the community serving with Sharefest projects, and on our hilltop picnic area eating hot dogs and sharing the love of God with folks we invite. We will perhaps be more available for conversation with our neighbors in the warm weather, more able to extend invitation – more visible to be salt and light where we live or at the park or the beach. The summer opens up so many good ways to be who God has called us to be, in both familiar and not-so-familiar settings. Who knows what God might do? Are you eager for this new season? Are you trusting God to use you?
Kathy and I have been staring at an opportunity to be involved in a different type of ministry for a few weeks this summer. Finally we decided to quit stalling and venture out to another corner of the earth. Paul and Beth McMinnimy, pastor of All Nations Church in Luxembourg, invited us to come there and stay in their house for a few weeks while they are in the U.S. I will get to preach a few times at their church, and then we will just look around a bit and see what God might do. It is not a "mission trip" as such, but something of an exploration to see another setting where God is at work. We hope in some way to be witnesses of the Risen Lord Jesus Christ. I am intrigued by the name, "All Nations Church." It speaks of the witness of Christ to the ends of the earth, to all nations. I am interested to find out how they do that in their setting.
You will find yourselves in interesting places, too. Make a commitment to watch for what God is doing, wherever you find yourself. Look for Christ exalted. Seek the power of the Holy Spirit in your life. Be a truthful witness of what you see and experience. Don't get lazy in your faith, but make the most of every opportunity. Christ is exalted as Lord. And we are his witnesses.
Amen.