Acts 1:6-11 - The Ascension of Jesus

The Ascension of Jesus

So when they had come together, they asked him, "Lord is this the time when you will restore the kingdom to Israel?"  He replied, "It is not for you to know the times or periods that the Father has set by his own authority.  But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth."  When he said this, 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, "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 you saw him go into heaven." Acts 1:6-11

*********************************************************************************

Today (Thursday) is the Feast of Ascension and this Sunday we will reflect on the Ascension of Christ together with the children.  Our season of Easter tide is coming to a close, forty days have passed since the resurrection of Christ and throughout this time he has made appearances to his followers, stretching out his hands to them, breaking bread with them, restoring them, opening the word to them, speaking about the kingdom of God and the coming of the Holy Spirit.  In these Easter stories Jesus often appears unexpectedly: to the women at the tomb, to the disciples in the upper room and then to Thomas. e cooks breakfast on the beach, meets the travellers on the way to Emmaus and at the end of this period he leaves them in a cloud of glory with his words burning in their hearts:

"It is not for you to know the times or periods that the Father has set by his own authority.  But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth."

As I have contemplated this story I have wondered what it would have been like to witness the ascension - that particular time when the veil between this world and the world to come became very small and God's glory broke through.  I suspect it would have been all at once unsettling, overwhelming and mysterious. I think I might have stood weak kneed and slack jawed.  But perhaps as I went back with the other disciples and talked and prayed I would see it more and more as the gift, the revelation God intended it to be. And it would continue to minister to me and to teach me throughout my own ministry.  Perhaps after I had absorbed the wonder of the clouds and the vision of Jesus being lifted up before me I would remember Moses and the cloud that settled on the tabernacle; the glory of the Lord - a sign of his divine presence.  As I spoke with the others I would remember the words of the prophets, and the prophet Elijah who was taken to heaven in a chariot and great whirlwind. I would remember the voice of God from the mount of transfiguration saying, "this is my Son, my chosen, listen to him."  And the ascension would become weighted with meaning and beauty that "Jesus would take Earth, in his own person, in his own human body right into heaven" and then we would pray and wait for Spirit is "the life of heaven manifest and powerful here on Earth." (NT Wright).

I imagine the disciples struggled mightily with fear as they waited for the promised Holy Spirit. I imagine them gathered together and praying as they had been taught:

Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed by thy name, thy Kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven, Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.  For thine is the Kingdom, the power and the glory forever and ever.

... Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.  This Kingdom of God subverts the powers of the kingdoms and rulers on earth; it always has.  Jesus came to us as a baby, he was baptized by John and the Spirit came upon him. To those who believed he was a healer, prophet, teacher, leader, saviour, companion, the Messiah. He was crucified King of the Jews, rose on the third day and he has just ascended before our very eyes to the right hand of the Father.  We have glimpsed this Kingdom in Christ. It is a Kingdom where the God reigns with love, with justice and in truth, where not one person is overlooked, where people are made whole, where all of creation is made new.  God will send his Spirit, soon, very soon. There is anticipation amongst our people as we pray; there is a longing for this Kingdom; there is an energy that is palpable.  We hold closely to one another and to the Word.

"You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you..."

"You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in Judea, in Samaria and to the ends of the earth..."

But how, Lord, we wonder as we wait....

Ascension Day

We saw his light break through the could of glory

Whilst we were rooted still in time and place,

As earth became a part of heaven's story

And heaven opened to his human face.

We saw him go and yet we were not parted,

He took us with him to the heart of things,

The heart that broke for all the broken hearted

is whole and heaven-centred now, and sings;

Sings in the strength that rises out of weakness,

Sings through the cloud that veils him from our sight,

Whilst we ourselves become his cloud of witness

And sing the waning darkness into light;

His light in us and ours in him concealed,

Which all creation waits to see revealed.

Malcolm Guite

Ascension and Pentecost are closely linked and I am grateful that the texts of the last couple of weeks have been leading us towards Pentecost. This week as we gather with the children, we celebrate the Ascension of Christ; we give thanks for his life, his death, resurrection, ascension in glory to the right hand of the Father.  We reflect on the time that we live in, the age of the church; what it means that we bear witness to Christ; to be a people who reveal the justice, mercy, love, wholeness of God's Kingdom in our city.

Here are some ideas on how we might teach on the life of Christ and his ascension today:

(from Carolyn Brown)

1.  Gather some images or props from Christ's Life: his birth, his baptism, his ministry, death, resurrection, ascension.  Take some time to share some things you have learned this year about the life of Christ.

2.  Where is Jesus now?  He sits at the right hand of the Father.  People have not seen Jesus since he ascended but people do see Jesus in dreams and visions.  Jesus will come again in the same way he left.  Take some time to think look up some of the references to clouds and the glory of God.  Give children the opportunity to have a creative response to this.

3.  Using the image of passing the baton in a relay race you can discuss with your class, Jesus finishing his leg of the race and passing the baton on to the disciples, to the church.  You could have kids run around a space and pass the baton to illustrate this. How does the church carry on Jesus' work today?

4.  Witness!  What is a witness? Have you ever been a witness to something joyful and good or even to something difficult?  What was this like? How are we witnesses to the love of God?

5.  Why are you looking Up?  This question is a reminder that God is with us, he is all around us wherever we are.  Everywhere we go we can look for where God is at work and we can join him.  It might be in caring for the earth, in gardening this summer, it might be in kindness you show someone, in standing up for what is right or including someone who doesn't have many friends in your group, it might be in welcoming someone who is new in your neighborhood this summer, it might be in helping your mom or dad, it might be that you look around, see where God is and give thanks.

6.  You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in Judea, in Samaria and to the ends of the earth!  How would this group of disciples begin the work of sharing the gospel with the world?  How do we share the gospel today?  Have your friends ever asked you about God or what it means to be a Christian?  You might want to share a story of a missionary that has impacted your life.

Awe Came Upon Them

Life Among the Believers

Awe came upon everyone, because many wonders and signs were being done by the apostles.  All who believed were together and had all things in common; they would sell their possessions and good and distribute the proceeds to all, as any had need.  Day by day, as they spent much time together in the temple, they broke bread at home and ate their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having the goodwill of all people.  And day by day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved.
Acts 2:43-47

The Believers Share Their Possessions

Now the whole group of those who believed were of one heart and soul and no one claimed private ownership of any possessions, but everything they owned was held in common.  With great power the apostles gave their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all.  There was not a needy person among them, for as many as owned lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold.  They laid it at the apostles' feet, and it was distributed to each as any had need. There was a Levite, a native of Cyprus, Joseph, to him the apostles gave the name Barnabas (which means "son of encouragement").  He sold a field that belonged to him, then brought the money, and laid it at the apostles feet.

******************************************************************

The text for this week opens with the word 'awe' and it seems a fitting description for what I feel as I read this text today in 2014. Awe.  The testimony of a community of Christ followers united in heart and mind, sharing possessions and goods as any had need, spending much time together in the temple, breaking bread together with glad and generous hearts and praising God does indeed inspire awe.

Or maybe it creates in some apprehension or even fear?  Is the gospel this radical? Is this community in Acts some kind of model community that we should try and emulate? Recreate?  Should we all become underemployed, new monastics?  Won't that make us even more fringe than we already are?  More to the point, have you ever tried to share or give away something of value?  It is not as simple as it appears in this text, or is it?  Surely we miss the point to assume that this is in some way for us today, in one of the most affluent cities in North America.

Or do we?

I don't want to get all despairing about the western church in 2014 but let's face it,  we are not this.  We struggle to make it to church for an hour and a half a week, the vast majority of us don't give a tenth of our earnings, if we have people in our homes we prefer to have over those who are like us - our friends.  I mean, we are pinched for time and if we are going to spend my time with someone we want to make sure it is a high return on investment relationship, right?  What about the those in our city or even in our midst who don't have enough to eat?  Did you know that in Edmonton 10% of our population live below the  poverty line, do you know how many of those are children?  Are the words: generous, hospitable, unified in heart and mind, committed to the well being of the community, teaching and sharing the resurrection life of Christ words that you would use to describe the Canadian church? Or our church?  Which words would you identify as gifts of our community?  How have you experienced this as at St. John's?

What can this text teach us today as a community of believers in Edmonton?

Now the example of these early believers isn't described a whole bunch of times in the New Testament; it is a unique and it is a powerful witness of the transformative power of the gospel in lives and communities.  And today we need to remember just that: the gospel transforms us and our communities.  Maybe you went to the Food for the Hungry Boot Camp one year ago?  If you did you might remember an exercise where we went around the room reading beliefs held by different communities around the world.  I will not soon forget this because in our age of tolerance we are very slow to say that someone has an incorrect belief - it is simply different than our own.  When we are faced with real life issues like female genital mutilation we are confronted with the problem in our thinking.  All cultures have sin in them.  We don't have to look to far in our own to see the ways in which materialism, consumerism, porn culture are affecting us, do we?  Last year as I rounded the Great Hall I was confronted by the ways in which the Gospel is indeed the good news - if only people knew that the water didn't have spirits in it they could be well.  If only we knew, really knew that we aren't what we own, maybe we would be more generous.  Maybe our stuff wouldn't matter quite so much.  

The gospel transforms lives and communities.

We see this in our churches, we give witness to it in our lives.  It is a holy mystery but as we read God's word and are instructed in the scripture we are reminded of the story that we belong to, we remember how God has acted throughout history for redemption. We have a firm hope in a faithful God.

As we pray and worship together we are confronted with who God is and who we are; we are convicted of the ways we distort the truth, the ways we miss the mark in our lives and utterly fail.  We receive God's grace and mercy towards us - we are loved and forgiven.  This is most visible in our worship as we receive the sacrament of communion. There is a way forward for us as a people,  through the body and blood of Christ.  

Did you notice the words, "they spent much time together" in the text earlier.  I read somewhere in the past nine years that with children the words, "quality time" are not what matter.  It is quantity time, it is around the table, over the board game, in the car, cleaning the house, walking to school that the relationship grows and secure attachment is formed.  Apparently there is no substitute for quantity not, quality time.  The more we give ourselves to our communities of faith the more we discover who we are together, here, in this place. We move beyond the surface conversations; we get a little more real with one another.  We even pray for one another or encourage each other.  It gets kind of exciting.  And we begin to wonder what God might have for all of us gathered here, together...

If you have ever glimpsed God working in a community in generous and hospitable ways where people speak freely to the work of Christ in their midst, you have a context for this text.  It looks different and the same; I can only describe it as beautiful and mysterious and utterly compelling. And to witness or to be a part of it is a foretaste of the Kingdom to come - it is a place where the space between the already and the not-yet seems incredibly small.  Sometimes I get a glimpse of this work here in our midst but most recently it reminded me of a reflection Father Don shared after returning from Haiti this Spring. He spoke of driving through the devastation of disaster and poverty and arriving in the small, remote, rural community of Cachiman and discovering amongst this poor community the rich presence of Christ.  These people who sleep on earthen floors, spend hours transporting water in a day and know struggle deeply, also know joy and generosity.  They give out of their poverty and abundance of heart to a benevolent fund sharing with those in their community in need.  They don't just want any partner church who will donate money to projects, they want a partner church who believes in the God they believe in.  And when they heard Father Don deliver the creed they couldn't even contain their joy, they were praising God even as he spoke.  And the clapping and cheering led to singing 'How Great Thou Art' in Creole and English with the same heart and mind and the tears rolled down as they sang.  Awe came upon them.

The lessons for this week focus on themes of one big family, God's people share and God's people are dependable. I am curious to hear how the children will respond to this text: what is their experience of the church? What are the ways that they participate in and contribute to our life together?  Why does this matter?  May our community of children be a place of hospitality for children, a place where scriptures come alive, where life is shared and Christ is made known.