The Ascension - Acts 1:1-11

One of my close friends from undergrad is a wiz at languages. Her skills have landed her several different internships in China and Germany, among other countries. She is currently working in Germany, and in one of her emails to me this week she explained that she had a long holiday because of the celebration of a holiday – The Feast of Ascension, which commemorates the forty-day after Easter – the day that Christ ascended into Heaven. My friend’s holiday caused me to start to ponder why the ascension was so important as to prompt such a celebration. Perhaps we can struggle with that question together today.

The Book of Acts is composed by the same author as the Gospel of Luke, starting another letter to Theophilus, lover of God. The general premise is that the gospel told chiefly of the works of Christ and his life, while the book of Acts speaks about the formation of the church, the body of Christ. But notice what the author starts this account of the church by telling – the ascension of Jesus.

We have been speaking on and off through this Eastertide season about the disciples paralysis. Their seemingly inability to get it together. Now that they have Jesus back, physically, in their lives they once again seemed to be paralyzed, not necessarily by fear but by adoration without action. The author states that for forty days after Christ’s resurrection he spoke to the disciples about God’s Kingdom and gave them detailed instructions to stay in Jerusalem until God tells them otherwise.

But as Jesus is teaching about the divine kingdom of God, the disciples keep asking about present, earthly matters. Specifically about leadership as they posed to Jesus the question of kingship over Israel. They are still searching for a king. The messiah is standing in front of them, and telling them about a kingdom far greater then what they could ever imagine, yet they are concerned with only what they can see, only about what they have been told about over the years. They want a new David.

I love Jesus’ response to their questions. “You don’t need to know the time of those events that only the Father controls.” God is going to send someone far greater into their lives to be ruler, the Holy Spirit. God is going to give them detailed instructions about when to leave Jerusalem, and presumably what the next step is. But maybe those instructions weren’t enough for the disciples because they wanted someone in front of them to tell them what to do. Someone to command them. For years Jesus had been their teacher and leader. As he continued to speak about leaving them, you can only imagine how they were feeing – the emotions they were experiencing and the images of the rugged cross searing into their minds. They didn’t want instructions that would put the onsis of leadership onto them – they wanted someone to tell them what to do and guide them through their every move. But this was not the plan.

After Jesus gave them their final teachings concerning the Holy Spirit and their mission as his disciples he was taken up into a cloud. Even though the disciples could not see him after he was taken up they kept looking up into the sky. Like a child watching a balloon disappear into the vastness of the blue above them, the disciples kept looking up, hands over their eyes, hoping to catch one more glimpse of Jesus. Hoping that he would come back like last time. But instead they got two angels coming down and telling them to get their head out of the clouds and to get their legs moving – for they had a mission directly from the Lord. Jesus had been taken into heaven, Now is their time to tell everyone, yes everyone, in Jerusalem, Judea, and Samaria about the good news of Jesus Christ. The message wasn’t always going to be easy to tell, and not everyone would necessarily receive it. They would be called to go to places outside of their comfort zones, but it was now time for them to go out and raise up new disciples of Jesus Christ for the sake of the kingdom of God.

I can just imagine the disciples thinking that this new task was hard, It was not what they signed up for all those years ago when Jesus called out to them. They were tapped to be followers, not leaders. Yet everyone who follows Christ is also called to be a leader. Let me say that again – everyone who follows Christ is also called to be a leader. Being the body of Christ is about this tension between following Christ and leading others to Christ through your gifts and graces, through the story you have to tell. For no one can tell your story like you can, because you lived it. The disciples had to tell others about Christ because all of these years they had these wonderful experiences with Christ and soul-changing teachings. And now that their spirit had been nurtured they were sent out.

I’m sure the disciples didn’t think that they were ready. For sometimes it’s easier to look up in the sky for a sign or in hopes of Jesus returning then to listen to the voice that is calling us to go. To make disciples. A tasks that doesn’t come with a set of instructions or a leader who we can physically see. I fear that these reasons lead to many Christians deciding that it is easier to be a follower then a leader. To be a person in the pews instead of a person of action for the Lord. We want someone to hold our hand and lead us through evangelism instead of taking our message to the streets. Because we are paralyzed by fear. We are afraid that people won’t understand us. We are afraid that we will have to go to places that we ought not go. Believe me, the disciples knew our fears all too well – so they tried to keep their vision gazed upward instead of outward. We don’t trust ourselves or believe that we are spiritually fit enough to be leaders, and neither did they. But if the disciples would not have gotten it together and into gear, we would not be here today – we would not be the church. What would we lose out on if we give into our fears? What will not exist in the future because we don’t want the hardships the come with being leaders today?

There is a song that states, “God who began a good work in you, will be faithful to complete it.” Do we really believe this? Do we really believe that the Ascension was important because it was bringing to completion the life of Jesus here on this earth while propelling forward the creation of the church? Do we really believe that we celebrate this event today because God is still moving the church forward? For God has started the work in us to be leaders for the kingdom of God. Are we willing to let God complete our formation, even if this happens as we are a people of action. We do not learn passively, we learn by doing. We learn how to be by telling people about who we are and what we believe. You have been called by a God who has started something amazing, powerful, and beautiful in you. Are you willing to risk yourself for completion for the sake of the kingdom of God? Amen.