Ascension Sermon

June 5, 2011
Psalm 68:1-10 Northridge Presbyterian Church
Acts 1:1-14

Hello & Goodbye

Wouldn’t you rather say hello than goodbye? Greeting someone involves the exciting anticipation of connection, of time spent together, and perhaps even a few tears of joy if the hello comes after a long absence.

Waiting to greet my family at DFW Airport this Christmas Day, I got to see one of those greetings firsthand. I was intrigued by what looked to be a four year old girl all dressed up in what was obviously a special Christmas dress. She could not stand still as she alternated between clutching her mom’s hand asking “when is grandma coming? Is she here yet?” and then running and peering at the door to look for her grandmother. She ran back and forth like this for several long minutes, the excitement emanating from her. Excitement that I as an adult was trying to contain as I waited for my own family. The anticipation turned to fulfilled squeals of delight as the grandmother was wheeled through the doorway in her wheelchair.

Both the grandma and the granddaughter knew how to say hello. The grandmother was decked out in a Christmas sweatshirt, the tacky kind that you give to Goodwill, but the kind that lights up and is delightful for a four year old. Grandma was wearing a Santa hat, and had a teddy bear in her lap. The granddaughter bounded up to her wheelchair, climbed in her lap and gave her a huge hug. That grandmother was ready to receive that hello from her granddaughter, fawning over her with love. The joy was radiating from both of them….Saying hello is truly wonderful.

This is a season rich with saying hello and goodbye. Thresholds like Graduation, weddings, family reunions and moving, involve both a hello and a goodbye. Graduation involves saying goodbye to good friends and a familiar routine, but hello to a new season in life and new freedom.

The end of a school year means saying goodbye to that math teacher you didn’t care for, to those book reports, and hello to a summer full of unstructured time and freedom…or to the same routine with camps and swimming lessons meant to give parents some freedom.

Weddings involve saying goodbye to family is you knew it, and a hello to a new union and all the joy that goes along with starting a new life with a partner. Goodbye to the single life, and hello to interdependence and in-laws. Moving means saying goodbye to a chapter of one life, literally packing up and saying hello to a new space, a new routine, and perhaps even a new way of seeing yourself.

With each goodbye and hello there is an opportunity to see yourself and your life anew.

Today’s passage contains both the joyful hello of easter and the tearful goodbye of the Ascension. It is a unique moment when the disciples begin to see themselves anew.

Jesus spent the last 40 days of Easter with the disciples, breaking bread with them, teaching them…forming them…Thomas and the others worked to connect the dots about the importance of Easter and whatever is to come next.

There was some question about what was coming next. We learn that there was some tension in the already of Easter, but the not yet of movement beyond Jerusalem. Jesus kept teaching one point during these forty days: God’s Kingdom is at hand. But, what did this mean? As the forty days progressed and the literal kingdom didn’t come as they thought, they were left wondering. Much like a child asking repeatedly, “are we there yet?” the disciples asked Jesus, “Lord, is this the time when you will restore the kingdom to Israel?”

Jesus doesn’t entertain their requests to know of a literal time and place or even literal kingdom, but instead gives them this hope in verse 8 “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.”

Then Jesus ascends. This is the dramatic turning point in today’s passage, and the disciples couldn’t help but look upward for apparently quite some time until they hear something strange. Angels calling them not to look up or remain fixed on the past, to say good bye, yet, but also to say hello to their new call and to the gift of the Holy Spirit. The disciples move forward back to Jerusalem without Jesus.

When I was a little girl, I remember going to church on Ascension Day. It was always strange to me to go to church in the middle of the week on a Thursday. Each time I heard the story read in church I conjured up a mental image of Jesus flying like superman, but not fully understanding the purpose of the Ascension.

I do remember that my maternal grandpa Harger was fond of Ascension Day. My grandpa explained it was important for us to mark Christ’s ascension, or the completion of Easter because it meant, in his words, that we have a brother in heaven, someone who knows the human condition and all that is lovely and ugly in the world.

Growing up in Germany, my maternal grandparents recount that Ascension Day was always the day when all the youth groups would gather for a day of worship and fun together. It was and still is a national holiday in Germany and the Netherlands. Banks and businesses are closed and folks gather for family time, and in smaller and smaller pockets attend church.

When I was in fifth grade my church stopped celebrating Ascension day and my grandfather was upset. An Elder in the church, he took it up with the pastor in a theological discussion. As the family story goes, grandpa was concerned that the church maintain its identity and the Ascension and Pentecost are both important stories that gave birth and important grounding to the church.

Growing up in Germany during WWII my grandfather was shaped by a church that fought to maintain its identity in the midst of nationalism and the rise of Nazism. As a result, he was zealous for maintaining a deep ecclesiological understanding and the Lordship of Christ. For those that took the Bonheoffer class, you can understand this concern.

This translated into my grandpa discussing the importance of Ascension Day with the pastor, and our church celebrating Ascension Day not on Thursday, but on the Sunday following… much like we do today.

But why is Ascension Day important for you and me? Do you recall the line from the Apostle’s Creed “He ascended into heaven and sits on the right hand of God the father almighty?” New Testament scholar, Mark Skinner recounts, “The Ascension begins a new chapter and expects us to come…Jesus' ascension takes him to the right hand of God (see Acts 2:32-35). But what does that mean? ‘The right hand of God’ is not a place, as if we could find Jesus and his Father sitting in a throne room somewhere, or sharing a booth in a heavenly tavern. The reference is not so much to location but to status: Jesus receives power and authority. Call it sovereignty. By virtue of his elevation to this status, Jesus reigns over all creation. Creation is his. He has a role in everything. Therefore he is present throughout all creation through the Holy Spirit. Contrary to some popular assumptions, this event does not put Jesus out of play until the end of all things. He and the kingdom he inaugurated are not on an extended break.”

Here in North America, the world around us celebrates Christmas and even Easter, but the church needs and must claim Ascension Day and it’s bookend Pentecost. The world understands Christmas because Jesus is born. Easter, although a bit more challenging, is also pretty clear: He is risen. But, Ascension Day as the church marks it is a different matter…goodbye Jesus and hello, work? Go out into the world with the Holy Spirit? That’s a challenge. Our consumer culture doesn’t have a way to market or sell that message. I can guarantee you won’t see an Ascension Day card line at Hallmark.

We mark this day in part because it turns our hearts and minds upward and away from our small selfish worlds, and because it gives us new vision to see ourselves anew, and to see a new path forward, much like the disciples. We see downward and forward to the task of bearing the love of Christ out into the world, knowing that we go with the power of the Holy Spirit, the love of God, and the grace of Jesus Christ.

The church celebrates Ascension Day and Pentecost, because both are defining moments when the body of Christ, actually takes up the Gospel and moves away from the upper room and out into the world, pointing to the kingdom of God that is actually at hand. Saying goodbye to fear and hello to hope.

Hello and goodbye. Going out into the world right now means heading into zones of struggle and destruction. The images from Joplin to Japan have sadly grown all too familiar for us this revolutionary Arab spring. Going into the world can seem daunting if you go on your own volition with your own resources and your own vision.

The recently deceased Harvard Chaplain, Peter Gomes notes that Ascension Day gives us double vision. First, we have upward vision. Just as the disciples gathered to pray and direct their hearts and minds toward God, so we direct our hearts and minds upward. We are reminded as we pray and read Scripture of the vision and journey of Christ.

You and I need upward vision, to be lifted up and reminded of the power of God…We do this each week in worship with our prayers, Scripture reading, and hymns .

Having upward vision means praying for discernment and listening for God’s still small voice as we say goodbye to the manse and hello to the resources that will come with its sale.

Having upward vision means that we pray to have the mind and eyes of Christ as we look toward new and deeper mission engagement.

Having upward vision means that we pray and discern the nominations of those in our midst to serve as Elders, Deacons, and a Trustee.

Having upward vision means that we place our hellos and goodbyes into God’s hands.

Much like the disciples though who looked upward just a little too long, there is also downward vision. Note after the Ascension the disciples kept looking into heaven and needed to be jostled back to reality. They were asked “Why are you looking up to heaven?

Saying goodbye to Jesus meant saying hello to a new way of seeing the world and living. Following Jesus doesn’t mean escapism or pie in the sky spirituality, it means movement. The disciples return to Jerusalem to reflect on Jesus’ command to go out into the world. They don’t rush out hastily, but after some prayer, discernment and thought, they begin to see their world with new eyes. They begin to see the seeds of the Kingdom that Jesus planted. They begin to follow Jesus down the road less traveled.

Indeed, the kingdom of God was present, is present, but you and I have to have eyes to see it. This starts by looking upward if you will, toward God through the lens of Scripture and through the repeated pattern of worship week after week. And, it means looking downward, actually going out into the world with this double vision, being willing to see God at work in the midst.

Later on in this service we will commission two groups of people. Commission means to give someone authority. We will give our youth our blessing, and give you the authority or blessing of God as you spend a week working on home repairs from Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, Louisiana. This group of 40 youth and sponsors didn’t just decide to go to Louisiana on a whim. No, they go having spent the year in worship, Sunday School, prayer, and service preparing to go on this trip.

Northridge requires this intentional year long preparation for our mission trips because we know that mission is not something one is entitled too, but something that requires both upward vision of who God is through a year of study and worship, and a downward vision of seeing the needs of our neighbors. These wonderful youth are taking a risk by going on this trip. As we say goodbye to them for a week, they will say hello to new friendships, to hard work, and God willing, to a new way of seeing God’s kingdom at work in the world.

We are also commissioning a group of 20 who are going on our first family mission trip. Double vision isn’t only for adults. This church realizes that children and adults alike can connect with God and neighbor.

Parents and children will travel to Arkansas for four days of service. Our families will serve a meal in a pantry, work to assemble Presbyterian Disaster Assistance kits, and learn about the kingdom of God. We will ask questions about who our neighbor is, and hopefully return home to Dallas able to see needs and gifts that we could not see before.

But, you don’t have to go on a mission trip to have double vision.

I’ll never forget my first youth group mission trip. We said goodbye to our families, stood in a circle for a word of prayer in the church parking lot, and drove all day and through the night to New Mexico. My youth group leader had planned ahead and had church members and parents write letters to us. Each evening as part of devotions our leader read letters from different church members. Our Sunday school teachers, parents, Elders, Deacons, church members and even my little sister had each written us a letter of encouragement, had written prayers, and some had sent along homemade cookies. Even Mrs. Vandergrier (name changed), who sat in the back pew each week scowling sent us a letter. All week long we were buoyed by their love and support which in turn gave us energy to paint buildings, landscape, and clean up a school for Navajo children.

And when the church bus pulled into the church parking lot there was a large group of folks waiting for us. Parents, siblings, Elders, Deacons, the pastor, and grumpy Mrs. Vandergrier all greeted us. Strung up between two pillars was a large homemade sign proclaiming “welcome home!” That hello was joyful as we bounded off the bus to greet our parents and recount our stories. You could feel the love and support of the congregation all week long, and the hello at the other end was wonderful.

Whether we are saying goodbye to our missioners or hello to their stories and experiences that will change us. Goodbye to a season of independence or hello to a season of dependence. May we have double vision.

In the name of the Triune God: Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer of us all. Amen.



References:
The hello and goodbye parallel is from Scott Hoeze's notes on this text from May 2009 at the Center for Excellence in Preaching.

The Peter Gomes concept of double vision is from a Christian Century article May 18, 2009 by Kenneth Carter Jr. "Why Are You Looking Up?"

The understanding of the Ascension from Europe and the US comes from a breakfast conversation with my grandma, Swenna Harger last week.

I am indebted to my now deceased grandpa/opa Jan Harger for instilling a care for church seasons and ecclesiology.