Ascension
Cycle C
Lifted Up
The apostles didn’t know
what to think. One minute their master was dead, then he just shows up every
once in awhile when they least expect it. First he’s here, then he’s there,
then he’s over there. What an amazing roller coaster of emotions they must have
been on. Was he really not dead? Was he really going to stay this time? Why is
he being taken from us again? How will we carry on without him?
Has that ever been your
experience of Jesus? First he’s here, then he’s there, then he’s over there.
Have you ever been confused about what you’re supposed to do next? Have you
experienced the ups and downs of believing? The apostles didn’t have the whole
story, didn’t understand the entire plan they still walked away rejoicing,
because they trusted in the promise. They didn’t know how the promise would be
fulfilled, but their experience of the risen Lord and their love for him was
enough for them to believe. Have you ever had that same experience and felt
that same joy in the promise, even in the face of unknowing?
Luke says Jesus was
lifted up and taken from their sight. He wasn’t gone, they just couldn’t see
him. Sometimes we lose him. Other times he seems to be hidden from us.
Sometimes he chooses to seem far away to allow us to do things for ourselves.
Other times he is right next to us and we cannot recognize him, as he was with
the two disciples on the road to Emmaus on Easter evening. But most of the time
I think we push him from our sight. He is hidden from us by our own sinfulness
and unwillingness to bend our will to his. We hide him away because what he has
to say can be offensive to our sensibilities. We’re embarrassed to bring him
out into the open because we’re afraid of what others will say about us. And
most of all he is hidden by our fear. We’re afraid that maybe he has left us
here on our own. Maybe he’s not coming back.
Like the apostles, we’ve been hurt and have felt very alone so many
times. It’s hard to trust. It’s easier keep him here, in the church, where we can
come to see him every once in awhile. It’s safe in here.
But the promise is not
safe. Jesus had to be lifted up on the cross before he could be lifted up into
heaven. Jesus was lifted up, taken higher, exalted, glorified, given his
rightful place, because he submitted his will to his father’s. And it is the
same for us. St. Paul tells us that Jesus Christ is like us in all things but
sin. It’s not just that Jesus can truly relate to and understand our human
condition, but that we also share in his divine nature. As he is, we will be.
We will die and rise again on the last day. His resurrection and ascension will
also be ours. We also will be lifted up and share in his glory.
What a wonderful promise
of hope for us all.
In the ascension Jesus
joined heaven and earth together. Just as the resurrection was the conclusion
to Jesus’ death, the ascension was the conclusion to the resurrection. He
ascended so that he could come again in glory. The ascension was not the end of
hope but the beginning of hope. It may have been the end of Jesus’ physical
presence and ministry here on earth, but not of his mission. He commissioned
his disciples – us – to go and make disciples of all the nations, teaching them
everything he has commanded us, and to baptize them in the name of the Father,
and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. We are to be his witnesses, even
to the ends of the earth. It’s almost as if the angels present at the
ascension were saying “Men of Galilee, what are you looking at? Why are
you hanging around here? It’s time to get to work! Get busy!”
By giving us that
commission he has honored and strengthened the thing that makes us truly human,
our free will. He has honored us by making us coworkers in the vineyard. He
actually said that we would do the same, and even greater things, than he had
done. All in his name. He left behind a very small seed that has grown to
spread over the entire world. We have gone and made disciples of all the
nations. We have and do teach the world everything he had commanded us. We are
his hands at work in the world, being the instruments of his promise. That
small group of disciples has grown to truly transform the face of the earth.
The Holy Spirit allowed
the apostles to continue to experience the risen Jesus in one other. After the
ascension they did not split up and return to their old ways of life. They did
not go off by themselves into the hills or take up their old jobs. They stuck
together, as a community. They did and shared all things in common. They worked
and prayed and hoped as community. They told stories of Jesus to each other.
They broke bread together. They lived and died together. It seemed the natural
thing to do.
Because it is. And that
is why we also follow Jesus in community. Because we are all in this together.
It is natural for us to get together each week and share Jesus stories, to
break bread together. To pray and to hope together. To live and die together. We
live out Jesus’ death, resurrection and ascension every time we participate in
the holy Mass. We lift our hearts to the Lord, the priest lifts the body and
blood of Christ on high, and we witness the great hope of our own glorification
into eternal life.
No, just like the
apostles, we don’t have all the answers, but we have the promise. And that is a
cause for great rejoicing for us as well.
