May 28, 2006 At Saint Mark Church in Norman, OK
Acts 1: 1-11 + Ephesians 4:1-13 + Mark 16: 15-20
Today when we celebrate the Ascension of the Lord, we are face to face with the truth of Divine Revelation. Nothing that Christ did or said was meant for him alone. Christ did not speak to himself. What is reveled in Christ is not for the sake of Christ. It is for our sake. In revealing to us what he is, Christ also reveals what we are. The ascension is a description of our own future, of what lies in store for us. The ascension is also a commentary on our present condition, in light of the prayer Jesus has offered for us.
The focus of the New Testament Gospel insists that Jesus is not “gone” in the sense of being over or finished, because he is still in relation to those of us who are sort of — “on the ground.” He has prayed that even though he will soon be gone, the Father will continue to offer the same protection from the world and evil that the Father provided for His Son; because they belong to him, because He now lives in them. and because they have faith him Him, His disciples are no longer “of the world.” They are just stuck in it – so to speak. On the ground, yes; but oriented toward the things that are above.
So, the revelation of this Gospel is both about us and about Christ: about Christ in as much as his redemptive, sanctifying work leads him back to the Father; about us in as much as we now know where we belong, and how best we might relate to this world and the things that are above. We have, like the risen ascended Lord, been taken out of this world, yet we too often fail to live like it, and certainly do not often look like it. Christ no longer needs to be with us, because now he is within us. It is a quality of presence, this being within. It is a presence that when recognized, acknowledged, and embraced becomes evident in “Spirit” as we shall soon be reminded next Sunday. But until that Spirit has filled us, overwhelmed us, and taken possession of us, we shall be stuck in this world, standing around all day.
Our prayer today is the prayer of the church longing and groaning in hope and expectation that we shall be born again, that we shall be re-created, that we shall be lifted up from the petty, simplistic, materialistic things of this world, and fix our eyes, our hearts, and our hopes on what is to come. For we who are Baptized into Christ and Confirmed in His Spirit are no longer of this world. We live in joy with a firm expectation of what is to come, and we pray:
COME HOLY SPIRIT FILL THE HEARTS OF YOUR FAITHFUL
AND INKINDLE IN US THE FIRE OF YOUR DIVINE LOVE.