Still Here

One of my favorite icons of the Ascension is this one….an Orthodox icon...depicting Jesus being carried up into Heaven….surrounded by the disciples…

To borrow a phrase from a recent New York Times piece[1]…. Today is one of those days when , quote unquote: Christianity gets weird

Ascension….the 40th day of Easter….I definitely did not grow up celebrating….commemorating….or doing much thinking at all about the Ascension… in the more evangelical churches I grew up in…. We knew it was in the Bible…. And we had some vague idea that it was when Jesus somehow left earth and went back up to heaven….. After he had risen from the dead…. But there were never really sermons on Ascension texts….and we definitely did not have a whole day for the Ascension….like we do….and like other liturgical traditions do….

Really you can’t blame them for not having a whole day devoted to it…..because when you stop to think about it….it is a little….strange…. I mean…I get that… resurrection is strange period….don’t get me wrong….but so is the Ascension…. floating back into Heaven….

I kind of like that about it….that is weird….

I was talking with my brother...about how I was preaching today...and we talked about how we both kind of like it….because …. It is one of those weird days….centered on one of those weird stories of our faith..…. Kind of out there….. A little sci-fi…. Sort of funny…I even decided to do a quick google search of Ascension memes….here are a few I found. There’s more out there too...you can do your own research later…. and...I don’t know if you saw the meme that someone posted in the HT Facebook group….about the Ascension being when Jesus decided to….work from home….but if not you should check it out….

To be fair...the NYT article was talking about the Latin mass… but this is just “bible story weird”...right?

Ascension is one of the times when Christianity gets weird….

Our texts are filled with phrases like God has gone up with a shout, Jesus being taken up into heaven....carried into heaven..and God has now been seated Jesus at God’s right hand in heavenly places…..

This weird bible Story…. much like the memes that have been made about it…. and that beautiful icon….. seems to be implying that Jesus…. Has gone vertical….up into heaven….which many of us think of as beyond space….or another realm and stayed there….. We even might….instinctively point up often when referencing heaven… where Jesus is to be found…. post-Ascension

When I was preparing for today….I was reminded of a sermon that one of my late professors from the Lutheran School of Theology, Vitor Whesttele preached on Ascension[2]….. he points out an interesting image in our Acts reading…..as they are staring up into Heaven one of the men in white robes says: why are you staring into Heaven::: This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven."

To that promise that Jesus will come again in the same way..…. Prof. Westelle points out that this….Reveals something about Jesus' presence now that he has ascended...and where exactly Jesus is to be found….now…..post ascension.

Prof. Whestelle reminds us that ….Jesus...when he came among us...the first time...before his ascension….he came to the poor and the forgotten, the lonely and the isolated…. The discouraged and the dispossessed...the hopeless and the struggling…. born… to a teenage mother…eating with sinners and tax collectors... .and eventually to a roman cross, outside of the city … Before his ascension/in his life and ministry….God in the flesh stooped down...toward us…. Into all that it means to be a human…. And this is the way Jesus still comes….With this in mind, Prof. Whestelle poignantly titled his ascension sermon the Glory Down Below….

All of this about Jesus coming in the same way….may sound a little flat...right now/disconnected… or a promise that is only for later...after all it is not as easy to sense Jesus’s presence with us these days….or at least for me…. Jesus may be up there...but down here…. I’m not sure…for me one of the clearest signs of Jesus’s presence down here…. is gathering with you all ….at 1218 W. Addison or 637 S. Dearborn... singing with holy abandon, smelling incense, feeling the water from our font wash over our bodies...Seeing...tasting...Jesus with us now in bread and wine… and in the embrace of a friend or stranger during the peace…..Jesus has ascended….but has he come again now?

38.6 million people in the US have filed for unemployment….since the pandemic began… and some of us have felt the sting of those numbers close to home..and if we haven’t lost our jobs we still may feel anxiety and fear of the unknown….. Jesus has ascended...but has he come again….now?

There are so many losses we are all grieving right now...not just economic losses...or loss of in person worship...but loss of time with friends and family...loss of time with teachers, coaches, and teams….loss of in person milestones...like graduations (mine was on zoom)….weddings (we had to postpone ours) and funerals…loss of a sense of normalcy and routine..like sitting at home in a fog that never breaks and we can’t escape….Jesus has ascended...but has he come again….now?

Then there is as one preacher put it this week[3]….the ways that COVID19 is revealing….systems and structures of white supremacy and inequality that were once more easily hidden that have now been unveiled….Jesus has ascended...but has he come again….now?

And… we have so many questions about God’s presence in the midst of so much suffering...with nearly 100,000 dead in the US from COVID19…..Jesus has ascended...but has he come again….now?

It is in the midst of our real lives we hear these words break forth from the scriptures into our midst.

In our Ephesians reading we hear that the fullness of Jesus….fills all in all….. That he is seated at the right hand of God….which Luther says is everywhere and fills all things….and we remember a different gospel and in the proper verse of our gospel acclamation[4]….before his ascension that Jesus says he will be with us always….

With that we hear the promise of the angel: Jesus will come again….and be with us….and stay with us…. The same way he came before…Jesus has come...again and again….and continues to dwell among us…. In the midst of the messy and mundane of your life and mine….

Weirdly the promise of the ascension is that Jesus is still with us…. That he has never left us….set up shop with us...and continues to walk by our side…..

And, even more weirdly….. As our gospel says: We are witnesses of these things….you are witnesses of and to these things…..you are the body of Christ in the world…. You are witnesses for one another and for our world that the risen and ascended Jesus is still among us and with us….here and now….

When you show up for one another...whether it is through zoom...a phone call….facetime...or a handwritten note…. Just to listen and be present….you are a witness….The risen and ascended Jesus is still here….

When you socially distance and wear a mask to support the most vulnerable and love your neighbor in tangible ways you are a witness to these things….and the risen and ascended Jesus is still here….

When you share a part of your story….like Dan will in a few minutes you are a witness to the reality that the risen and ascended Jesus is still here….

When you do anti-racism work….and when you advocate for those who have been oppressed for too long...you are a witness to the way that Jesus first came….and continues to show up…..and you show...the risen and ascended Jesus is still here…

When you continue to meet online….until it is safe for all of God’s children to come together….. The risen and ascended Jesus is still here...and you are witnesses to these things….

And through this community….virtual community….in our homes….yet together….around the word of life….we hear the words of Jesus spoken again and again..words of presence and mercy for you…. And continue to be witnesses to these things...and to our God who is here….especially now….

So….today is certainly a day when Christianity gets a little weird….and a day that has inspired some great memes…. But also a day marked by promise that this Jesus….is here…. And we are witnesses to these things….Don’t look up….look out and to one another…. Alleluia, thanks be to God.

[1] Here is the article about the Latin Mass that inspired my phrase When Christianity gets weird https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/08/opinion/sunday/weird-christians.html

[2] Here is the link to Vitor Whestelle sermon The Glory Down Below, http://www.vitorw.com/2010/07/15/the-glory-down-below/

[3] Professor and preacher WIll Williman mentioned at the Festival of Homiletics how COVID19 is apocalyptic in the sense of unveiling and revealing systems and structures that have been hidden for too long.

[4] The proper verse for the gospel acclamation appointed for today in Evangelical Lutheran Worship is this: Go and make disciples of all nations, says the Lord;* I am with you always, to the end of the age. (Matt. 28:19, 20)