Out of Our Sight

Today is the Sunday after Ascension Day.  The feast of the Ascension was this past Thursday, a day during the week, 40 days after the Easter Resurrection.  Because it falls on a weekday we don’t pay much attention to it.  Or, because we live so many centuries later we simply do not understand it the way the disciples did.

In the Gospel of John Jesus said, "Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son so that the Son may glorify you…. I glorified you on earth by finishing the work that you gave me to do.  So now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had in your presence before the world existed.”  Then, the Acts of the Apostles tells us the disciples were watching as Jesus was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight.

In the time of Jesus and the first disciples it was not possible to see beyond the clouds or the moon and the stars.  Today is different.  We have telescopes, a space station circling the globe, and thousands of satellites in orbit.

So, when Jesus was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of sight, we cannot understand this statement in a literal way.  The disciples’ experience was different; what they observed was all they could see.  As we heard in Acts, “while he was going and they were gazing up toward heaven, suddenly two men in white robes stood by them.  They said, "Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up toward heaven?  This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven."

Was this a reassuring message?  How did the disciples respond to the two men in white robes?  The gospel appointed for Ascension Day is from the 24^th chapter of Luke.  It is at the very end of the gospel and Jesus is blessing his disciples.  Luke writes, “While he was blessing the disciples, he withdrew from them and was carried up into heaven.  And they worshiped him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy; and they were continually in the temple blessing God.”

Just prior to this statement in Luke’s gospel it is stated that Jesus “opened their minds to understand the scriptures, and he said to them, ‘Thus it is written, that the Messiah is to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations…. You are witnesses of these things…. So stay here in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.”

There are a couple of things that are significant here.  First, the disciples finally understood what had been written in the scriptures.  Their minds were opened and they realized that Jesus, the Messiah, had to suffer death and rise from the dead on the third day.  Just as Jesus said from the cross, “Forgive them for they know not what they are doing,” so the disciples learned that repentance and forgiveness is to be proclaimed to all nations.

Second, given what the disciples could see as Jesus was carried up into heaven, they were moved to worship.  The joy they experienced as they returned to Jerusalem brought them into the temple blessing God.  There they joined with all the disciples and with several women and Mary, Jesus’ mother and his brothers, as they devoted themselves to prayer.

The disciples during the early days of the Christian movement lived with suffering and persecution.  They knew first hand about the suffering and death of Jesus, and they experienced the joy of his resurrection and ascension as he withdrew from them and was lifted up where a cloud took him out of their sight.

Suffering is part of our human condition.  It is prevalent all around us.  Some of it is beyond our control.  There are natural disasters, environmental damage, certain diseases and various hardships brought on by external forces.  Other kinds of suffering can be managed and even curtailed: violence, wars, and damages due to neglect.  It is important for us to know that no matter what happens, the message of the Gospel is that God is present with everyone who suffers.  God is present within all creation.  It is our responsibility to participate in correcting the problems within our control that lead to suffering and death.  This is what repentance and forgiveness are about.  In our understanding of the scriptures we are to be moved to prayer and worship, acting as witnesses to the good news of God’s love and compassion, and experiencing the joy of Christ’s life among us as we await his coming again in glory.

This morning, following the Nicene Creed, we are honored to share with Barbara and Bob Lawton who are celebrating 55 years of marriage.  They will renew the promises they made in holy matrimony.

May the God of all grace, who has called us to his eternal glory in Christ, restore, support, strengthen, and establish us in unity with one another and with God.  To him be the power forever and ever. Amen