2021.05.16 - Ascension Sunday

Scripture - Acts 1:1-11
 
Acts 1:1-11
In the first book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus did and taught from the beginning 2until the day when he was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. 3After his suffering he presented himself alive to them by many convincing proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God. 4While staying with them, he ordered them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait there for the promise of the Father. “This,” he said, “is what you have heard from me; 5for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”
 
6So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, is this the time when you will restore the kingdom to Israel?” 7He replied, “It is not for you to know the times or periods that the Father has set by his own authority. 8But 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.” 
9When he had said this, as they were watching, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. 10While he was going and they were gazing up toward heaven, suddenly two men in white robes stood by them. 11They said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up toward 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.”
 
Sermon
 
This morning, we’re going to spend some time together reading this passage using a method called Ignatian Contemplation - it’s the process where you let your imagination place yourself in the scripture passage and explore the scene using your senses. You might find yourself as a character in the story or as a bystander in the scene. Perhaps you’ll find yourself interacting and conversing with the people in the narrative or perhaps you remain silent. 
 
I’ll be guiding us through this exercise - but I want to give some context to this reading to help us fully enter the narrative.
 
The early followers of Jesus have been through a lot - their beloved rabbi and friend had been arrested by the religious authorities, turned over to the empire, and executed as an enemy. A few days after this, they discover that Jesus, in fact, is alive - first through the witness of the women at the tomb and then as Jesus visits them himself. He walks with them, breaks bread with them, and them. I have to wonder what they might have thought and felt after 40 days of Jesus hanging around. If we take this story in partnership with the end of the Gospel of Luke, the final conversation here between Jesus and his disciples takes place outside in the vicinity of Bethany, which was a small village on the eastern slopes of the Mount of Olives - just outside Jerusalem.
 
I invite you to find a comfortable position - you may choose to turn your video off for this if you like.
 
Close your eyes and find the rhythm of your breath…..in…..and out….note your feet on the ground….feel the place you’re sitting in hold and carry your weight...let yourself be held….scan your body for any places of discomfort or tension...breathe again to work loose those places….and take a moment to note what’s going on in your body...and place those feelings in God’s care…. 
 
Take another breath in and out….and consider in this moment God’s deep love for you...and ask yourself the question: What does God desire for me in this moment?...as you discover what that is, ask God to grant that to you….and if you are unsure….ask to be open to whatever gifts God has for you through this passage...
 
“In the first book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus did and taught from the beginning 2until the day when he was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. 3After his suffering he presented himself alive to them by many convincing proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God.”
 
Imagine a montage of Jesus appearing to the disciples - what scenes do you see? What is Jesus doing - and how are the disciples responding? What are the disciples doing and how does Jesus respond? Is there something happening that you imagine that particularly captures your attention? 
 
4While staying with them, he ordered them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait there for the promise of the Father. “This,” he said, “is what you have heard from me; 5for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”
 
Where are you in this scene? What is the reaction of those around you when Jesus says these words? What emotions rise within you from what Jesus speaks?
 
6So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, is this the time when you will restore the kingdom to Israel?” 7He replied, “It is not for you to know the times or periods that the Father has set by his own authority. 8But 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.”
 
Imagine the setting - outside the Mount of Olives - what sounds and smells do you sense? Who is present and where are you in the scene? What do you feel as you come together with Jesus? What expectations do you have for yourself and for your community when you hear someone ask about the restoration of the kingdom? How does Jesus’ response sit with you? What words of his stick out for you?
 
9When he had said this, as they were watching, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight.
 
What does this look like to you? As you are watching, what are you thinking? What are you feeling? Where does that reside within your body? What reactions do you see from others around you? 
 
 10While he was going and they were gazing up toward heaven, suddenly two men in white robes stood by them. 11They said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up toward 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.”

Describe the atmosphere in this scene - and note what the two men in white robes say. What happens when they speak? What expressions are on their faces as they deliver those words? What do the disciples do next? What do you do next? What motivates you to take that action?

As we come out of our time of contemplating this story...you can turn your video screens back on...what struck out to you? What did you notice or feel in the story that you hadn’t given consideration to before?

What did this experience leave you with? An invitation? A challenge? 
 
In what ways are you living with Jesus’s command to be his witness - or in what ways is that a struggle for you? What does that mean for us as a community of faith?
 
I offer this poem from Steve Garnaas-Holmes called “Absence” as we move into our time of sharing Joys and Concerns:
 
Sometimes empty sky
is what we get,
 
loss and absence
our only version of the Beloved,
 
the fact of lack of tact
our faith, for this:
 
the One has exceeded now
one flesh and is flesh
 
with all flesh, the Body
raised into all bodies,
 
your place no longer there, but here,
in love, even when borne as grief,
 
the emptiness in us
your shape.
 
Even your absence
hosts your presence,
 
our yearning
is you.
 
Amen.