Up and away?

Today we’re thinking about the Ascension of Jesus. Here is the way Luke tells the story in the book of Acts…

On one occasion, after he had risen, while Jesus was eating a meal with the disciples, he emphasised that they were not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for the Father’s promise.

“You have already heard me speak about this.” he said. “John used to baptise with water, but before many days are passed you will be baptised with the Holy Spirit.”

This naturally brought them all together, and they asked him, “Lord, is this the time when you are going to restore the kingdom to Israel?”

To this he replied, “You cannot know times and dates which have been fixed by the Father’s sole authority. But you are to be given power when the Holy Spirit has come to you. You will be witnesses to me, not only in Jerusalem, not only throughout Judea, not only in Samaria, but to the very ends of the earth!”

When he had said these words he was lifted up before their eyes till a cloud hid him from their sight.

Acts 1

That reading talks about Jesus being lifted up, a literal ascension – almost a take off. Here’s how it’s shown in a chapel in Walsingham

In the ancient world there was a belief that God was up there, beyond “the spheres”, and that is maybe why Jesus was described as going up. This was really about Jesus going away to be with God. But that doesn’t sound great either – as if the place God lives in heaven, a long way away, and Jesus has gone to join God there, and the disciples are left on their own.

That doesn’t sound great for us either. If God is a long way away, then how can he help us in this life – how can we feel close to him?

At the ending of Matthew’s gospel we are given a different picture. Jesus meets his disciples for the last time, and he promises them ‘I will be with you always, till the end of the age’.

And in our reading today Jesus promises that his followers will receive of the Holy Spirit. The word Spirit is the same word as breath – Jesus is promising that God will breath his life into us. It reminds me of a Jewish prayer that says ‘You are as close to us as breathing.’

So I don’t think the Ascension means that Jesus goes further away. In his life here Jesus was deeply involved in the reality and the messiness of the world, and now, through his Spirit, he can be with each of us in the reality and the messiness of our lives.

We can sometimes act as if we’ve forgotten this. We have special days when we make time for God. We have special places where we go to be with God. We can separate the special, holy times from the rest of our lives and the reality of the world.

We might be tempted to use church as an escape from this reality – like we use other things. The other day we put on the TV to watch MasterChef and while we were finding the recording the news came on, with a terrible story about Gaza. We thought about stopping with the news, but we were in escape mode – we went on to MasterChef.

Our Communion services here are a moment of peace in our days – but they could be an escape too – an escape from the stresses and difficulties of life – with the sense that what happens here isn’t connected to all of that.

I was reflecting last week on the special sense that I have sometimes of God being very close as we sit around this table. And I was thinking about the contrast between that awareness and how I feel in other parts of my day.

I sensed a challenge – an invitation. How can I be open to that same sense of God’s presence at those other times – how can I carry the sense of Jesus being among us out into the rest of my life?

Perhaps we can bring together the times when we feel the close presence of God in our lives with the more challenging realities that we live through.

Lord Jesus, you promise to be with us always, to be with us when we meet together, to be with us in this moment… 

May we be aware of your presence in this time - and may we carry that awareness out into every part of our day, our week and our lives.

You know all that makes up the reality of our lives, including all that is most challenging - we hold this before you now… 

Breathe your Spirit into us, to give us strength, and wisdom and love in all of this.
Lord, we know that there are people living through great suffering and facing huge challenges - those around us, those in different parts of the world…

Help us to share your compassion, to know when we are called to respond, and to be bearers of your light and your love.