For the next three Sundays, the church will be celebrating two specific experiences and one specific theological affirmation. Respectively, Ascension Sunday, Pentecost, and Trinity Sunday mark the high points of church celebrations post - Easter. Now, we’re not going to get all crazy or anything and try to convince ourselves that these church occasions rank in the same league as Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, Easter, or the seasons of Advent and Lent. But, just because the Sundays of Ascension, Pentecost, and the Trinity have escaped larger popularity doesn’t mean they have dwindled into lesser vitality. For this week’s commentary we’ll wade around in Ascension Sunday. Next week we’ll investigate Pentecost. Finally, we’ll swim around in the trinity. All three should be interesting.

     William Temple, the Archbishop of Canterbury, wrote these words about Jesus’ ascension:
“ The ascension of Christ is his liberation from all restriction of time and space. It does not represent his removal from the earth, but his constant presence everywhere on earth. ” While all of those words sound good, what do they have to do with us? What does the ascension of Christ mean to we who didn’t see it? To we who live 2000 years after it happened?

     Those are the questions that are important. Left unanswered, or at least un - investigated, the ascension is nothing more than something glorious that happened to Jesus without relevance for Christ followers. And, surely, that’s not the case. Probably the most well known verses in scripture about the connection of the ascension to the followers of Jesus are found in John’s gospel. There Jesus tells the disciples that where he is going they cannot follow right now but that he will return and they will be together again. This is found in John 14.

     In this year’s lectionary readings the gospel lesson about the ascension is from Luke’s gospel. Luke has a different purpose than John. Luke is preparing the readers of his gospel for Pentecost. In Luke’s gospel there is attention paid to the power of the Spirit that cannot come into the disciples’ lives until Jesus has returned to the glory of God. Luke’s Jesus tells the disciples to go back to the temple and to their homes and wait. God is at work. The Spirit will come. And wonderful stuff will unfold. But first, the disciples must obediently, trustingly wait.

     For me, the idea of waiting is appealing on Ascension Day. I can neither fully understand nor participate in the grandeur of being swept up into heaven. But, I can follow the commands of the Lord who is delivered up into heaven. I can wait. I can pray. I can rejoice knowing that the glory of God revealed in Jesus will be revealed in me and you and all who trust God at work come Pentecost. Jesus ascends. We wait. God is at work. Something wonderful is about to happen!

     Grace and peace,

Pastor Mark