MAY 12, 2013 at Saint Mark Catholic Church in Norman, OK
Acts of the Apostles 1, 1-11 + Psalm 47 + Hebrews 9: 24-28; 10, 19-23- + Luke 24, 46-53
Probably set up by various artists who painted their vision of the Ascension, I would wonder about this scene so simply described as “he parted from them and was taken up to heaven.” I’m not sure why that line got my attention except that I’m a “visual” person and that sort of thing gets my imagination going. When my brain catches up to my imagination, I realize that there is a line just a little earlier that is a lot more interesting: “but stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.”
“Clothed with power from on high!” Now there is something to think about: power. We like it. We use. We abuse it. We encourage it. We want it. It is good when we have it. It is bad when someone else has more. From our earliest days as children we fantasize about power. There are, after all, Power Rangers, Superman, Spiderman, Iron Man 1, 2, and now 3.
Perhaps this fascination with power begins early because we are so powerless. Consequently power becomes all consuming. Trouble comes because we never seem to grow up. About the time we get finished with the action figures, we discover another power that can be physical, political, social, or economic all leading us around in circles manipulating, using, abusing, oppressing those who do not have as much. Sometimes we use our power to liberate others, but by the time we are finished liberating them they begin to wonder if it was worth it when they look at the death and devastation their liberation cost. Meanwhile I don’t think there is much evidence that we have begun to discover much less explore what it means to be “clothed with power from on high.”
I watch our young people all the time, and I wonder all that time what we are teaching them about power; what kind of power we are handing on to them, and how are we teaching them to use that power. If you have not begun to wonder about that, I wish you would. I am going to leave you in a little while, and I would like to leave you wondering about a few things, thinking seriously and deeply about them, and asking more questions. I do not want to leave you smug and confident thinking you have all the answers.
In studying this text, I came across a book entitled: “Wouldn’t Take Nothing for My Journey” by Maya Angelou telling the story of her grandmother who raised her in the little town of Stamps, Arkansas. Maya describes her grandmother as “a tall cinnamon-colored woman with a deep, soft voice,” whose difficult life caused her to rely utterly on the power of God. Get that: “whose difficult life caused her to rely utterly on the power of God. Difficult life? Look at us! I know some of you have difficult days; but most of us don’t have a clue about difficult days. I open the refrigerator to figure out what to eat, not whether or not there is anything to eat. I open my closet to select what to wear, not see if there is anything to wear. So, lacking difficult days, we don’t much rely on the power of God, we would rather rely on our own power: political, economic, social, or military.
Angelou envisioned her Mama “standing thousands of feet up in the air on nothing visible,” when she would draw herself up to her full six feet, clasp her hands behind her back, look up into a distant sky, and declare, “I will step out on the word of God.” “Immediately,” Angelou recalls, “I could see her flung into space, moons at her feet and stars at her head, comets swirling around her. Naturally it wasn’t difficult for me to have faith. I grew up knowing that the word of God has power.” Don’t you wonder if any of our children grow up thinking that the Word of God has power?
So here we are with images of Jesus being “taken up” into the sky after spending a life time stepping out on the word of God. The disciples want to know if now is the time he will restore the kingdom to Israel. Jesus does not answer their questions, but points to the power of the Holy Spirit with which they will be clothed.
They stand there looking up and see nothing. Then they look at each other clothed with the power from on high to turn away from anything that stands between them and the divine one who calls them to glory. Their work is to teach others that same trust in the power of the word to uphold them, fill them with joy, and lead them to glory. This is power; the Word of God. This is the future. This is the way peace, and our only hope for glory and for joy.