On Thursday, we celebrated the Ascension of Christ. We include in the Creed, week by week, the words: 'He ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of the Father'. But what does it mean to say that Christ ascended into heaven?
The doctrine of the Ascension does not require us to believe that Jesus rose up, in his physical body, mile after mile, till he reached a place called heaven. The Ascension is a mystery which our minds cannot fully fathom, a mystery which in fact equally applies to the resurrection of Christ. The risen Christ is truly physical. His disciples touch him and eat with him; but he comes and goes through locked doors; he appears and disappears in mysterious ways. The Risen Christ is in time and space, but also beyond them. So too with the Ascension. Something happened, an event in the experience of the disciples: it marked the end of the risen Jesus' present with them. But it's a mysterious event: an act of God, in time and space, but transcending time and space. Ultimately inexplicable in our normal human categories of thought.
So what does the Ascension say about Christ and what are the implications for the church, for us today?
Paul writes in Ephesians that Christ 'ascended far above all the heavens so that he might fill all things' (Ephesians 4:10). Christ did not ascend into heaven in order to detach himself from this world on some glorious divine sabbatical, but in order to fill this world with his presence. As William Temple, Archbishop of Canterbury in the 1940s put it: 'During his earthly ministry Jesus could only be in one place at one time. If he was in Jerusalem, he was not in Capernaum; if he was in Capernaum he was not in Jerusalem. He lived with the restrictions of time and space. But now that the risen and ascended Christ is united with God, he is present wherever God is present; and that means everywhere. He is no longer localized but available to all people, everywhere.'
So the Ascension marks the liberation of Christ from all restrictions of time and space; it marks his filling of heaven and earth, and therefore also his impinging upon our lives, his nearness to us. But it says more than that. The Ascension also affirms the kingship or Lordship of Christ. As the wonderful Ascensiontide hymn puts it; 'the head that once was crowned with thorns is crowned with glory now.' Jesus was despised and rejected; he was crowned mockingly with thorns by his torturers; but God has vindicated him by raising him from the dead and has crowned him with glory by exalting him to the highest place in heaven.
We may be so used to saying 'Jesus is Lord, and talking about the majesty of Christ, that we take it for granted. It's good to be reminded that believing in the Lordship of Jesus marked the earliest Christians out painfully – it often led to persecution and even death. In the first century Roman Empire, if you made the most basic and distinctive Christian confession – 'Jesus Christ is Lord' – then you were in serious trouble for not confessing that Caesar, the divine Emperor, was Lord of all. Those first Christians risked their lives to follow Jesus as Lord.
So what does it mean for us today, 2,000 years on, to live out that fundamental Christian confession 'Jesus is Lord'? Well, we may not find ourselves being thrown to the lions, but if we are serious about living our lives under the Lordship of Christ, we may at times feel painfully, embarrassingly, at odds with the assumptions of those around us. The challenge applies to all the key areas of our lives – how we use our money, how we relate to other people, how we make moral decisions – the whole of what we are, social and political, spiritual and sexual, intellectual and everything else. To confess 'Jesus is Lord' and to pray 'Thy Kingdom Come' is to impact all of our everyday lives. And we have been reflecting recently in many different ways on how exactly we live out our faith in our everyday lives and how we can encourage one another to do so.
The Ascended, exalted Lord, calls us to share in his mission to the world. After the Ascension of Christ, a new era in God's purposes begins. The best way to illustrate this is perhaps through a story. You may well have heard it before. It's not a story with any biblical basis but it does seem to make an important point.
After the Ascension, Jesus arrives back in heaven. At the pearly gates, the angels are out in force to welcome him home, and Gabriel steps out to their behalf. 'Lord, we've so admired everything you did down there. You really showed them what the kingdom of God is all about; you healed the sick; you showed compassion to everyone in need; you resisted every temptation to compromise with evil, and you suffered so much in obedience to God...But, Lord, we've just got one question: you've started such a marvelous movement, but who's going to keep the show on the road?' Jesus replies: 'well, I have these eleven followers, and I'm giving the job to them, and to whoever joins them.' Embarrassed silence. Shuffling and coughing among the angels. Then Gabriel speaks up again, looking rather troubled: 'But Lord, do you really mean Peter, who's all talk, but no good under pressure; do you really mean James and John, who are so obsessed with status; do you really mean Thomas, who's so cynical, and Philip, who's so slow? None of them are well educated or have any influence in society...' 'Yes', says Jesus patiently, 'you're quite right. But it's them I've given the job to.' 'But, Lord, is this wise? They're bound to make a mess of it. At least consider some kind of back-up plan?' 'No', says Jesus firmly. 'I'm giving them the job and I have no other plans.'
If you or I were God – and thankfully we are not – we might well think like Gabriel. We would want to choose our representatives on earth with great care. We wouldn't want our reputation to be damaged by them. But we are not God, and the reality is that the God revealed to us in Jesus Christ shows us an amazing patience and humility, an amazing self-effacement, in allowing himself to be represented by fallible, squabbling, sinful human beings – the Church.
In our gospel reading today, we heard part of what is sometimes called Jesus' high priestly prayer. Jesus, knowing that he will soon leave with world and return to the Father, prays for his disciples. God's purposes will now be continued through them. 'As you have sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world' Jesus says to the Father. He asks that God will protect them and keep them both holy and united. They are to be 'sanctified', holy and set apart for God, and to be 'one', drawn together in unity in relationship with the Father and the Son. Their holiness and their unity is to be a witness to the world around them. 'I am asking on their behalf; I am not asking on behalf of the world, but on behalf of those whom you gave me', Jesus says. He does not pray for the world but prays for his disciples and those who will believe in their name (and that's us). This is not because Jesus does not care for the world, but because the church, though deeply flawed and so often failing, is the means that God has chosen to continue his mission of love in the world and to bring about his kingdom.
When we look at the terrible failings of the church down the centuries – its bitter divisions, pride and complacency, cruel executions in God's name, and most recently shocking child abuse scandals – it is very hard sometimes to see God's gracious purposes at work in the church. But this is the way God has chosen to work in his world.
This is a huge responsibility and challenge to us all, as individuals and as a community. How can we truly live out our confession 'Jesus is Lord', pray for his Kingdom to Come, and live out those kingdom values?
Of course we are not left on our own. Jesus continues to intercede for us, just as he interceded for his disciples before his death and resurrection. As the writer of the Hebrews puts it: 'the lives forever to make intercession for (us).' (Hebrews 7:25). That is a great encouragement; Jesus is praying for us. But more than that, he sends upon us his Holy Spirit.
We celebrate the coming of the Spirit, next Sunday, at Pentecost. Karl Barth, the eminent Swiss theologian, called the 10 day period between Ascension Day and Pentecost a 'significant pause': a time of prayerful waiting. We wait and pray for the Holy Spirit to come and equip us for the mission to which God has called us.
For the last six years, Christians all over the world have been encouraged to use this period between Ascension Day and Pentecost to make more time to pray 'Thy Kingdom Come' and 'Come Holy Spirit.' This prayer initiative called Thy Kingdom Come is supported by all the major denominations in over 170 countries. This is an encouraging sign of Christian unity. So I invite you all at St Ursula's to join in this time of prayer.
I sent out in my recent email message a wealth of resources we can use to help us to pray. There are prayer activities for families with young children, prayers to use at work, a prayer journal for individual reflection, and a short video message for each day from different Christian leaders. We are specifically encouraged to pray for five friends or relatives who do not know the love of Christ. Today, I have also given you all a prayer card with two prayers on it (see below): one is the prayer for Thy Kingdom Come movement, and the other is an prayer of St Benedict of the 6th Century. Let us, even if we can't do anything else, commit ourselves to praying these prayers every day in this coming week.
The Ascended and exalted Lord has committed his continued mission to his church. We are called to live out our faith in our ordinary everyday lives, as individuals and as a community. As we seek to do that, let us commit ourselves afresh to pray and to wait for the Holy Spirit.
Thy Kingdom Come, O Lord.
Come, Holy Spirit.
Amen
Prayers for this coming week:
Thy Kingdom Come Prayer
Almighty God,
your ascended Son has sent us into the world
to preach the good news of your kingdom.
Inspire us with your Spirit
and fill our hearts with the fire of your love,
that all who hear your Word may be drawn to you,
through Jesus Christ our Lord,
Amen
Thy Kingdom Come, O Lord
O gracious and holy Father,
give us wisdom to perceive you,
diligence to seek you,
patience to wait for you,
eyes to behold you,
a heart to meditate upon you,
and a life to proclaim you,
through the power of the Spirit
of Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen
Come, Holy Spirit
Helen Marshall