May 8, 2005 Seventh Sunday After Easter Ascension Sunday Contributed by Bruce G. Epperly

See aslo: [2008]

Acts 1:6-14
Psalm 68:1-10, 32-35
I Peter 4:12-14; 5:6-11
John 17:1-11

What do you do with an Ascension?

Now, most progressive and mainstream pastors simply want to avoid this Sunday. It’s a good day to turn the pulpit over to your associate or seminary intern. Taken, literally the ascension belongs to the mythical three-story world view of the ancients. While the followers of Bultmann look for an existentialist interpretation of the ascension, their image of divine authority and transcendence stretches the original intention of the  scriptural story. The first readers of Acts, no doubt, really believed that Jesus ascended to a literal heaven and would return from God’s throne “someplace up there” at the end of time. While we cannot deny the possibility of an ascension into the heavens – after all levitation has been claimed for yogis and other holy men and women – the point of this scripture is missed if we focus strictly  on geography and space travel rather than our own spiritual journeys. In a way, the story of the ascension is similar to the story of the creation of the first woman from Adam’s rib – it is not about male hierarchy or anatomy, but about unity and intimacy.

The point of the story is found, I believe, in the angelic challenge, “why do you stand looking up at heaven?” And, this is a very important point. In light of the possible other-worldly interpretations, the heart of this passage is that we have work to do here in this lifetime, in this precious and unrepeatable moment and life and in this beautiful world. This world is not the front porch to eternity, nor is it worthless in light of eternity. Rather, our life is in the here and now. Heaven is heaven and earth is earth, and both are beautiful!  Our calling as Christians is to heal and transform the world – this world. It has been said that there are some people who are “so heavenly minded that they are of no earthly good.” And, that was the temptation for the disciples – to gaze at the heavens, to wait for a Second Coming, and forget that their calling is to live faithfully in this life as God’s partners in healing the world.  

Accordingly, the recent “left behind” literature misses the point. It scapegoats “otherness.” It sees demons in those with whom we disagree and looks for a divine rescue operation from life’s problems.

In real life, we are not promised a divine rescue nor is there a strict line between the heroes and villains, but we are given the courage and strength to face life’s challenges as a result of the companionship of God. As we wait for God’s revealing in our lives and history, our call is simply to be faithful – to add to the beauty, justice, and love of the world.

The Eternal Day

Jesus’ final words to the disciples illuminate the “ this-worldly” nature of salvation. Eternal life is not “the pie in the sky when you die in the sweet by and by,” but companionship and awareness of God in the present moment. This moment is a holy moment; this day, a beautiful day. As the Psalmist says, “this is the day that God has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it.”

Our pastoral task in preaching is to help persons experience eternity in the midst of time.  The Celts called such moments and places “thin” in their revelation of God’s presence in the ordinary. Each act is eternal and is our gift to God. This moment perishes, but it lives forevermore in God’s memory. Further, each moment arises out of God’s eternity – God’s aim at wholeness, beauty, and justice. In this moment, we have eternal life, regardless of what the future may bring.

The passage ends with Jesus praying for those who follow the first disciples.  Although Jesus did not know “us,” Jesus prays for us. Today, physicians speak of the power of prayer to transform the health conditions of those for whom we pray. Prayer is perceived to be, in some sense, both non-local and non-temporal. Accordingly, could Jesus’ prayers for his future followers be shaping us today? Process thought must say “yes” to the power of Jesus to shape our lives. Surely, Jesus represents God’s intention for us, and God intends only abundant life for ourselves and creation. Jesus is part of our moment by moment self-creation, and our awareness of Jesus’ love for us shapes God’s aims in our lives.

In times of persecution, trust God!

I Peter challenges us to trust God in times of conflict and persecution. God is with us and will protect us. The nature of divine protection, no doubt, was a mystery then and is a mystery now. God did not prevent the imprisonment and martyrdom of early Christians, nor does God appear to protect us from life’s calamities. Trust in providence is more than thanking God for getting the “right” parking place. It is trusting God when “the money’s on it” – when cancer is diagnosed, when we have suffered injustice, when we have betrayed our highest ideals.

Process theology does not guarantee safety in this world. In reality, neither does any other theological tradition. Even fundamentalists die –as a matter of fact, all of them will! In reality, there are no promises and guarantees in a multi-factorial universe, except for one – and that is the biggest one – God will not abandon you in living and dying.

Today, I weep over the dying of a good friend. Although I believe in divine healing and accept miracles (acts of divine power) when they occur, I do not anticipate hisphysical recovery. We talked about fear and doubt, and then trust. He trusts, in spite of his doubts, in eternal life – in God’s eternal life of possibility and presence now, and in God’s eternal care in any future we can imagine. This is healing – to know that God’s love is faithful and everlasting for us and all we love.

We do not need to look up to the heavens to find meaning and fulfillment. The heavens are right here in this wondrous moment. God is here in our lives and God has given us everlasting life right where we are. For me, this means companionship with God beyond death – a loving adventure in God’s companionship in a realm of unconditional love where there is neither sunset nor dawn. But, fidelity to God is not in looking to the heavens, but simply rejoicing in this day as a reflection of the Holy. This is the day that I can do something beautiful for God – something God will treasure forevermore -  and in living faithfully today, God’s eternity is mine.

Bruce Epperly is Director of the Alliance for the Renewal of Ministry, Continuing Education, and associate professor of practical theology at Lancaster Theological Seminary. He is the author of God's Touch: Faith, Wholeness, and the Healing Miracles of Jesus, Mending the World: Spiritual Hope for Ourselves and our Planet (with Louis D. Solomon) and the forthcoming The Call of the Spirit (with John B. Cobb, Jr., and Paul Nancarrow).

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