Ascension

DWELL.  Matthew 28:16-20

Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. When they saw him, they worshipped him; but some doubted. And Jesus came and said to them, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.’

REFLECT

This is the fortieth day since Easter Sunday; also known as Ascension day.  In the gospel narrative of Luke, the risen Jesus is present with the disciples (in an altered 'resurrected body' state) for 40 days. Then he ascends to the Father. The disciples witness this cosmic coronation event.  It symbolizes Jesus' authority as Lord and Savior of the nations. It's the end of the epic biblical journey; Noah in the Ark, Moses on Mt. Sinai, Elijah on the mountaintop, Jesus in the wilderness.  After 40 eyars in the wilderness, the people of Israel enter the promised land.  After 40 days, Jesus Ascends.  It's also the answer to the question, "How does this fledgling faith community continue to exist and thrive after their founder, Jesus, is absent from them?"  First, is the belief in the resurrection itself.  He is not dead, but lives on.  And so the mission lives on with him.  Second, his absence is mitigated by a new spiritual presence in the lives of those who believe in the resurrection as the ultimate sign of his power and authority as the reigning son of God. The Ascension absents Jesus from the community, but gives him a cosmic and eternal identity with God. His status and identity is literally elevated to a new location above and beyond all others.  He sends the Holy Spirit into the hearts of believers, who have faith that Jesus is truly present to them in bread and cup and baptism water and gospel story.   

So how do postmoderns deal with this strangely mythic disappearance?  

I was on a mountain last weekend.  The solitude and transcendent beauty of the view, the lake below us, the sky above, the warm sun and gentle, steady breeze gave us a sense of awe and contented joy. We didn't want to leave that place.  We sat for an hour.  I could have sat there for a day. But we can't stay.  Something calls us down to earth.  Food, family, work, house, life in the world. 

Jesus cannot stay with his first followers and expect them to do the work of the kingdom of God.  If all they did was gather around the risen Jesus and worship Him, what would happen to the mission and the message of the cross?  Too many church people stand around and look up---they worship the ascended Lord and fail to follow the ever-present master.  We have baptized into the church but failed to teach the way of Jesus.  Churches that are worshiping Jesus but not multiplying disciples are missing an essential move in the cross-bearing life.  Under imperial protection and provision, churches didn't have to do what the early Christians had to do.  Multiplication was by social order and human reproduction. For centuries.   BUT not any more.   

NOW, we are being called and sent by Jesus to GO and MAKE DISCIPLES.  Baptism and teaching are the acts of the apostles (those who are sent to carry on Jesus' work). The teachings of Rabbi Jesus are all about serving others, downward mobility, healing and forgiveness.  It's very relational as he establishes a new kind of family. Love God, love your neighbor as yourself.  Love your enemies.  Love one another. Love is faith in action.  It is what it means to imitate Christ.  Love transcends prejudices and human boundaries. Jesus included the irreligious, the poor and the marginalized. He openly welcomed "sinners" and ate with them.  Sex workers and addicts were part of his family. 

Ascension day reminds us that the mission and ministry of Jesus has been handed off to his disciples with a commission to go and do what Jesus did with them. The great news for us is that,from the beginning, some doubted.  There was doubt inside the worshippers on that mountain.  We all have our doubts.  Is this true?  Is it real? Can we really believe this story?  Like them, do we doubt our own identity and calling as the people of God?  Do we doubt that what we hope could happen, will happen?  Do we doubt that he lives and is present among us?       

He established the greatest movement in human history, whose constitution is love and whose community includes any and every one.  He moves in to human history.  He moves out of the conventional religious and social systems and embraces those left out.  He moves up from human rabbi to crucified King.  He becomes poor so we become rich, some would say.  He moves on so that his followers can move on from stagnancy and fear to empowered community.  Some think Ascension is a vision of hope that the faithful on earth will follow him to up heaven. But its really a movement of heaven coming to earth in the ordinary lives of children like you and me.  We learn to move like Jesus.  In, Out, Up.   

Wouldn't you like to be part of the movement that brings heaven to earth and earth to heaven? 

PRAYER 

Jesus, you went up to the Father so that holy love might pour down upon your church; and through your church your love might be known to the ends of the earth.  May your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.  May your Kingdom come among us and through us.  May others know your healing mercy.  May your church carry the cross and live courageously as bearers of your forgiveness.  Teach us and send us to share the good news with other. Amen. 

        

   

             

Depending

DWELL  Luke 11.

He was praying in a certain place, and after he had finished, one of his disciples said to him, ‘Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.’He said to them, ‘When you pray, say:
Father,* hallowed be your name.
Your kingdom come.*
Give us each day our daily bread.*
And forgive us our sins,
for we ourselves forgive everyone indebted to us.
And do not bring us to the time of trial.’*

And he said to them, ‘Suppose one of you has a friend, and you go to him at midnight and say to him, “Friend, lend me three loaves of bread;for a friend of mine has arrived, and I have nothing to set before him.”And he answers from within, “Do not bother me; the door has already been locked, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot get up and give you anything.” I tell you, even though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, at least because of his persistence he will get up and give him whatever he needs.

‘So I say to you, Ask, and it will be given to you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you. For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who searches finds, and for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened. Is there anyone among you who, if your child asks for* a fish, will give a snake instead of a fish? Or if the child asks for an egg, will give a scorpion? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit* to those who ask him!’

REFLECT

Do you pray?
Why?
Does it make a difference?  What?
What do you believe about prayer?
A lot of people ask me to pray for them because I'm a pastor.  And I do.  Sometimes it comes out better than others.  A lot of people will say that they pray or are thankful for prayers.  They say no one is an atheist in a foxhole.  People pray to God when they are facing peril.  But is that that only time and place to pray?  When we are weak, lacking, lost, afraid, or in danger?  

Prayer is something we learn how to do.  It is modeled by other faithful people.  Parents or grandparents might teach us.  Sunday School teachers and pastors prayed. I admit that I am still learning how to pray, why to pray, and what to pray.  I admit that the prayer of Jesus is often the default prayer when I don't know how or what to pray.  Also, I like to read and pray other people's prayers---saints and faithful people from history. I have a few prayer books with exquisite, poetic, deeply meaningful written prayers in them.  They cannot replace personal prayers from my own head, heart, and lips.  But some prayers are worth repeating. In my own life of faith I have depended on a lot of others to have a speaking and listening relationship with the invisible God.  

Someone once said that an atheist is a person with no invisible means of support.  I also know that it is quite possible to get along fine without a personal relationship with God.  Many people who prosper, acquire great wealth and power, do so independently.  Self-reliance and self-support are American virtues. I know people who do not pray.
The prayer of Jesus and the subsequent anecdote he tells his disciples to support his teaching suggest that prayer begins with a humble insistence that God is both willing and able to give us what we seek.
Prayer begins with the insistence that God speaks and listens, like we do only so much more and better.  God is, like a kind and generous parent, able to give us what we need--in fact God gives us God's very self---the spirit breath of life. 

In the story of the friend at midnight, prayer resembles an urgent request a friend makes on behalf of someone else, for whom he has responsibility to offer a gift. I've been in this situation.  Someone has an urgent need at the most inopportune time.  What do I do?  Nothing?  Jesus suggests that we ask God.  I wonder if prayer in these circumstances might create unforeseen options and creative opportunities.  God becomes a real partner with us in figuring things out.  Maybe if we ask the question:  What gift of God might we seek on behalf of someone in need of our attention and care? In this way, prayer is not selfish, though it does involve the self as ambassador or intermediary on behalf of another.  Jesus' prayer teaches us to depend on God for the grace we need to help and serve others.  When we come up short of what is needed to bring healing, hope, and help to our neighbors, we are invited to ask God the Father to intervene.   Prayer teaches us to trust God, rather than ourselves, to attend to circumstances out of our control.  (Like a friend's midnight arrival).  If prayer can remind me to get out of the way and let God act, then it will have done its work. Of course, prayer does not absolve me from responsible action.  It does, however, remind me that I am not alone in my care for someone else.  God cares about those who hunger for daily bread, who cry out for forgiveness, who hunger for liberation from the court room of our own bad judgment. Maybe that's the most important teaching we get from prayer. 

PRAY 

Lord Jesus, your prayer was simple, short, and poignant.  You prayed for the heart of the matter---daily bread and the forgiveness of our debts.  Teach us to pray with simplicity and clarity. Help us to ask, seek, and knock with confidence that you are like a loving and generous parent, willing and able to give us what we need.  Amen.