Acts 1:1-14, Psalm 47, 1
Peter 4:12-19, John 17: 1-11
O God, the King of glory,
you have exalted your only Son Jesus Christ with great triumph to your kingdom
in heaven: Do not leave us comfortless, but send us your Holy Spirit to
strengthen us, and exalt us to that place where our Savior Christ has gone
before; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, in glory
everlasting. Amen
John 17: 1-11
Jesus looked up to heaven
and said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son so that the Son may
glorify you, since you have given him authority over all people, to give eternal
life to all whom you have given him. And this is eternal life, that they may
know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. 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. I have made your name known to those whom you gave me
from the world. They were yours, and you gave them to me, and they have kept
your word. Now they know that everything you have given me is from you; for the
words that you gave to me I have given to them, and they have received them and
know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me. I
am asking on their behalf; I am not asking on behalf of the world, but on behalf
of those whom you gave me, because they are yours. All mine are yours and yours
are mine; and I have been glorified in them. And now I am no longer in the
world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect
them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one, as we are
one.”
Pray
with me:
Creator God, send
us your Holy Spirit. As our Redeemer prayed, keep us in your Name and in the
unity of the Holy Spirit, for ever. Amen
Having grown up in Nebraska,
I learned as a young child how to really say “Goodbye”. In that mid-western part
of the country especially, there is a definite ritual to leave-taking. My
family traditionally met at my grandparent’s farm for Sunday family dinner every
other week. All of my father’s brothers and sisters, their husbands and wives,
and of course the whole gang of cousins would descend after church services from
the farms and local towns where they lived. My parents lived closest, as our
farm adjoined Grandpa’s farm and my Uncle Joe and Aunt Wilma lived the furthest,
having a farm across the border in South Dakota, a drive of about 35 – 40
miles. These get-togethers were consistent. We knew for weeks ahead which days
would be the family gathering and on which Sundays our nuclear families would be
left to entertain and forage for ourselves. Dinner was served at 2:00 o’clock.
(The meal was much too elaborate to be called a lunch and it would be, by far,
the largest meal of the entire week.)
Not long after we ate
though, would begin the good-bye ritual. Some one, usually one of my farmer
uncles would begin by stating the obvious – “We are going to have to leave soon
because the cows will need to be milked this evening.” This would start a
discussion about the current success or failure of farming and the local labor
markets which would last for an hour or more. No one moved.
Next would be, “Time to
gather up the children, Mom.” As you might imagine, my cousins and I were not
particularly interested in the labor market or the current price of corn and
would have slipped away to the canyon lands to explore the amount of water in
the creek, enjoy the breezes under the pine and cedar trees, pick wild
strawberries, or search for dinosaur bones. We would start walking back
to the house when we knew we could no longer ignore the sound of our mothers’
voices calling us.
Once everyone was gathered
together again the hugging would begin. As I said earlier, these events happened
regularly – every other week. But you would have thought that my family
members would not see each other for another two years or more. Everyone got to
hug everyone else good bye (even if you were not in the current wave of families
leaving). Of course, this would invite comments on “How much cousin Billie has
grown” which progressed to a general discussion on life, the cycles of growth of
plants and animals, which may then lead back to another discussion of the
current success or failure of farming and the local labor markets. No one sat
down (or this discussion would have been extended for another hour or more and
the children would have been able to slip away for another round of exploration
– maybe to the barn and the newborn calves).
Finally as the nuclear
family settled into their car for the ride back to their individual home, the
car windows would be rolled down for a final round of good byes. Well, some one
would have forgotten their baking dish from the potluck dinner and a trip would
have to be made to the kitchen to retrieve the item. (Aunt Alice would need it
to bring food the next time). Everyone back into the car – the windows still
rolled down – and the round of bathroom breaks would begin – everyone back into
the car – hugs all around through the open windows. Then finally, as the sun
started to lower in the western skies, the cars would begin to roll toward the
highways and home so the evening chores and anxious milk cows could be taken
care of.
Those of us who lived
closest would still be standing in front of the house waving at our relatives,
physically gone but still connected by the spiritual ties of love.
This time after Easter
Sunday through Ascension, reminds me of those extended good-byes. First, Jesus
was gone. Jesus had been crucified – he died on the cross. He had died - but
then he had come back. He had returned for a period of forty days to give his
final instructions and say his final good-byes. During that time Jesus was
teaching them, warning them, comforting them and providing them with God’s
insight into the past, present and their future as Christian disciples. Things
had changed. Jesus had taught many of these same lessons before his betrayal and
crucifixion but the apostles had not understood them in the same context. Now
they were hearing them in light of that gruesome, sorrowful, but also triumphant
week of Easter. Forty days was long enough, almost, to forget that he had
been gone and would be gone again.
But, it was time again. The
apostles were still not ready to cope with the transition; they wanted to know
more about how things would take place. “Lord, is this the time? Are you going
to restore the kingdom to Israel?” Jesus’ response was that it was not
important to know the exact time and date, or even the shape of things to come.
What was of prime importance was to let God’s Spirit take possession and guide
their every step. What is of prime importance today is still that we let God’s
Spirit take possession and guide our every step. The emphasis should not
be so much on Jesus’ departure and physical absence. The promise was made
instead, of the continuation of God’s presence in the world and in our lives
through the Holy Spirit. The apostles would remain connected with Jesus by those
spiritual ties of love. And even today we remain connected by those same
spiritual ties of love.
The final, final good-bye
and “as they were watching, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their
sight. While he was going and they were gazing up toward heaven, suddenly two
men in white robes stood by them. They said, “Why do you stand looking up toward
heaven?” The disciples could no longer “see” Jesus; the times of his physical
appearances had ended. He was no longer physically present but a new
relationship between Jesus and the company of believers had been established.
How did these disciples
respond to this good-bye? What is the lesson for us today? The disciples were
suddenly caught in an “in-between” time. They had witnessed Jesus departure and
now they had to wait. So these early witnesses “returned to the room upstairs
where they were staying…and were constantly devoting themselves to prayer,
including Mary the mother of Jesus as well as his brothers.” They had to wait
for the Spirit to descend on them. They had to wait to be filled with God’s
power. So they waited and prayed, they waited together, and they waited with
hope. They were seeking, as we today seek, not just an intellectual knowledge
about God but an intimate union by feeling God’s presence in their lives. We are
empowered in that same quest when we discover that God is with us at our most
intimate moments; that God is with us in our innermost being. We can connect to
the ever-present Spirit by prayer and by living out the commandment to love and
to do justice in the wider community.
We received many benefits
from Christ’s ascension. Three were listed in the 16th century by the
Reformation theologian John Calvin.
First, Christ opened the
way to the heavenly kingdom. Christ’s ascension actually begins the kingdom of
God. In our gospel reading today
this is evident when Jesus prayed, “glorify your Son so that the son may glorify
you, since you have given him authority over all people, to give eternal life to
all whom you have given him. And this is eternal life, that they may know you,
the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.” Jesus entered heaven in
our name.
Second, Christ has become
our Advocate and Intercessor. In our gospel reading today Jesus continued in the
prayer, “the words that you gave to me I have given to them, and they have
received them and know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed
that you sent me. I am asking on their behalf.” We have one who acts on our
behalf and opens the way to God without fear.
Third, Christ gives us his
power. This is what is promised in those final instructions which we read from
Acts, “you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now. You
will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you and you will be
witnesses to the ends of the earth.”
As God’s family we are all
connected through God’s love. The Holy Spirit is with us, just as we are
physically here with each other. We demonstrate and strengthen this
inter-connectedness with God and with one another when we gather for worship.
The steadfastness of God
assures us that God’s affection will not be withdrawn from us even if we are
inattentive or neglectful. But the love that was revealed by Jesus is meant to
be reciprocal. We long to be awakened to that wonderful and loving relationship
with the Living God. It is this awakening that the coming of the Holy Spirit
brings. The resurrection and ascension opens the way to an abundant life.
Because of the resurrection and ascension, we can begin to experience and
understand a love that really endures forever. We can envision something
everlasting in spite of the apparent impermanence of all that we know. Our
faith enlivened by the Holy Spirit, assures us that what endures is the
never-ending love of God. When we, as a spiritual family, truly recognize God’s
love for us, we will want to return it.
Amen