Ascension Day

Rockville United Church
The Rev. Suzanne Rudiselle

May 28, 2006

In an Anglican church, Our Lady of Walsingham, there are 15 chapels, each depicting an event in Jesus’ life, from the Annunciation to Pentecost. Each is decorated with symbols appropriate to the event: stars and magi for the birth, cross for crucifixion, empty tomb for the resurrection. In one there is nothing - or it appears as if there is nothing - until you look up. There hanging out of a plaster cloud are two nail-scarred feet. It is the ascension chapel.

It’s a great depiction of what happened on that Ascension Day as described by Mark and Luke and in Acts. The disciples were talking with Jesus and suddenly he was taken up into the clouds, and they were left. Can you imagine? They looked, and according to Acts, two men in white appeared and asked, why are you Galileans standing here looking into the sky? Why indeed? After the terror of the arrest, the debilitating fear and disappointment of the crucifixion, and the wonder and awe of the resurrection, why were they surprised at all? They looked around and what did they see? They saw each other and no one else. Jesus was gone from their view and their presence. They returned to Jerusalem to wait in prayer as Jesus had commanded.

The church has just celebrated one of its seven major feast days, and most of us didn’t notice at all. We affirm it in the Nicene and Apostles’ Creeds. “He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father….” but we somehow gloss over the ascension business. Jesus is gone from the earth. We skip over it or take it for granted. Then the Holy Spirit comes (that’s next week!)

Let’s go back a few years to the beginning of Jesus’ ministry. Laurie Beth Jones writing in Jesus CEO describes it this way: “In your humanness, you might hope your new staff will have the powers of angels, but the first one pointed out to you smells not like heavenly phosphorescence but like mud and dead fish. The next one is not drawn from the halls of a university but is out collecting taxes in the name of the government that everyone hates. The selection process continues … Your staff and followers are plucked from trees, back alleys and down at the pier. As you gaze on your chosen few, you realize that this group will outlive you and must carry out the task you cannot accomplish without them: to change the world.”

This is what Jesus started with – this rag-tag bunch of new believers. The question was, when Jesus is gone, who is to carry the message of God’s good news?

In John we have heard the prayer of Jesus at the end of his ministry, asking for God’s protection of the disciples. We have heard Jesus describe the world as the enemy, the source of persecution. Yet in the same prayer the world is also the object of Gods loving purpose, and the apostle’s mission. There is work to be done and a world to be won. There are 11, and Jesus himself prophesied that the 12 would rule over the twelve tribes of Israel in his absence. The divine plan cannot go forward. Before they begin, before the Spirit arrives to empower them, they must fill their ranks again. More than 120 gather in prayer. 120 is the number of men required to form a synagogue with its own council, and already there are enough followers to form a legitimate community by Jewish law.

There are two requirements: that a new apostle must have been with Jesus from the beginning, from his baptism by John; and must have been a witness to the resurrection. After prayer and a period of discernment lots are cast and Matthias is chosen. This close and comprehensive knowledge of Jesus insures that what he says is reliable. And so it has been from that time on. Those who lead must study scripture and the life of Jesus; must know the history of the church and the ways the church has interpreted that history; must maintain the tradition and have the experience of Christ in their lives. Wesley called it the quadrilateral. We know God’s truth by scripture, reason, tradition, and experience.

With a promise and a prayer those 12 became the church. “The followers became leaders, the listeners became the preachers, the converts became the missionaries, and the healed became the healers. The disciples became the apostles, witnesses of the risen Lord, and nothing was ever the same again. … Jesus went away - was taken away - and they got on with the business of being the church. The Lord who was not anywhere anymore had become everywhere instead. It was almost as if he had not ascended but exploded, so that all the holiness that was once concentrated in him alone flew everywhere, and the seed of heaven were sown in all the fields of earth.” (Barbara Brown Taylor, sermon “Ascension Day” The Abingdon Women’s Preaching Annual)

Leadership takes different forms but it always includes the ability to actively listen to the need; to guide and influence, to take responsibility for planning and executing an action. Leaders are convicted of a truth and need for action. On this Memorial Day Sunday we are aware of those who have led in other times and places: George Washington, first general of the US Army who moved beyond his patrician safety to risk his life leading a revolution. Douglas MacArthur who was awarded the Medal of Honor in WWI for excessive bravery in leading his men into battle, wounded several time and gassed before being evacuated from the front lines. There were others, such as Sergeant York who was forced to assume leadership when his commanding officers were killed and who led his men to victory against great odds. There are many whose names are not well known, whose names appear on crosses in cemeteries here and abroad, and on the marble walls of the Vietnam memorial. Today some generals lead in questioning the policies that have taken us into war in Iraq. Challenging the status quo requires leadership as well. All leaders, in every field, have been prepared long before they were given the opportunity to lead, even when they did not know it. All have been able to use their talents in ways that inspired and encouraged others to follow.

So it is in the church. Nothing is wasted in God’s economy and every life has the potential to make a difference. Rockville United Church has recently baptized a family into our greater ecclesiastical family; confirmed five young people as full members, and elected new elders to lead this congregation. The preparation for and the recognition of, these events have deep roots in our tradition. The discernment process, however flawed it may have been, has led the elders to use their God-given gifts in new ways of serving. As one steps aside, another is chosen. The ranks must be full so that the work of the church goes on; so that the witness to the resurrection continues; so that “at the name of Jesus every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God.” (Philippians 2:10-11).

The elected leaders are not the only ones needed. Every Christian has an important role in the continuing story that is the church. Your presence is imperative. Your gifts and graces are used to further God’s realm and to share the good news of God‘s saving love. There are leaders of every stripe: those who march in and take command of a situation; those who act out of conscience and move against the unjust currents of the day; those who lead by teaching and those who lead by example; those who seek position of responsibility and those who find themselves surprised in places where their talents are required for the good of others.

“One person, Jesus trained twelve human beings who went on to so influence the world that time itself is now recorded as being before (B.C.) or after ( A.D.) his existence. This (Jesus) worked with a staff that was totally human and not divine … a staff that in spite of illiteracy, questionable backgrounds, fractious feeling and momentary cowardice went on the accomplish the tasks he trained them to do.” (Jones)

Christ ascended but did not leave the disciples alone or powerless. Neither are we alone or powerless. The Holy Spirit has come and will continue to move among us. More important, Jesus prays for us as he did for the twelve, for our protection and faithfulness and power. We are called to live out the gospel, feeding the hungry and giving shelter to the homeless, demanding justice, acting out our faith so that others may know this Jesus in whose name we love and serve. We are not of the world but surely we are in the world to proclaim good news. Let it be so.