One of the great commercials of all time was filmed in
1976 and featured a ketchup bottle and a Carly Simon song, Anticipation. This
ad told us that this was ketchup so rich and thick and delicious that it was
worth the wait… which is why over 40 years later it’s still the #1 ranked brand
of ketchup in the world.
Modern American television focused on this idea of anticipation
and gave us the cliffhanger. The present habit of binge-watching a whole season
of our favorite Netflix program is amazing, but there is nothing like spending
the summer wondering, “Who shot JR?”
Anticipation is a funny thing. We are used to waiting.
And the anticipation of a bad thing, for me that would be going to the dentist,
often makes us feel anxious or afraid. But the anticipation of good things –
that is the best. Our family is anticipating the marriage of our nephew and his
fiancé in July. Yes, there might be bumps along the way, but we expect that it
will be a joyous and fulfilling experience, and we can’t wait.
As we prepare for new experiences and opportunities,
we think about how they might change our present circumstances. But
anticipation can only so far because it takes information from our pasts or the
experiences of others. It can’t predict the future. What happens when the
events unfold in totally unexpected ways? Does our faith give us a foundation
to change course midstream and follow the call of Jesus? And what happens when
we do?
Time is a funny thing – we know stuff about the past
and present, and we base our ideas about the future on what we already know. We
know that change is coming, but it’s hard for us to wrap our minds around what
that will look like. And then our anticipation turns into knowing. Our new
reality starts, and what we have been waiting for becomes our new, big thing.
Ready or not, here it comes.
The Ascension marks the time when Jesus’ life comes
full circle. He came down from heaven. He lived. He died. He rose from the
dead. And he appeared to the ones who loved him, even when they thought it was
all over. But surely, they knew he would not be with them forever. They must
have felt great anticipation, and joy mixed with anxiety, as their time with
Jesus was coming to a close.
But isn’t this what life with Jesus was always like?
He redefined expectations all the time. The gospels and the book of Acts
document Jesus’ ministry as he was with people looking for the answers to
life’s ultimate questions. And Jesus always led them in directions they didn’t
expect.
Some examples: Everyone is waiting for a Messiah to
come and save Israel, but Jesus tells them that the good news is not just for
the Jews, but for everyone. In the pages of Luke’s gospel, we read about the
feeding of the 5000, the parables of the Good Samaritan and the Rich Fool, and the
healing of both Jews and Gentiles, believers and non-believers. We get instructions
not to worry about the future, but also to be prepared. Within these different
stories and scenarios, the consistent message is this: Jesus’ kingdom has a
place for everyone, for shepherds and kings, for disciples and centurions, and for
women and men.
Today, we hear about Jesus’ ascension, described at
both the end of Luke’s gospel and the beginning of the book of Acts. It is at
the same time bringing the Jesus story to a close and beginning something brand
new. In the moments of his rising, Jesus ushers in a new vision of what God's
kingdom must be like. After extra 40 days with Jesus, the disciples’ questions
will finally be answered. No longer do they have to wonder: "When will it
all happen? Now they know: “The time is almost here.”
In this last encounter, Jesus gives the disciples
these instructions: "It is not for you
to know about the dates and times, which the Father has set within his control.
But you will bear witness for me in Jerusalem, and all over Judaea and Samaria,
and a way to the ends of the earth" (7-8). And when Jesus is gone and the
disciples are still looking up trying to figure out what had happened, two
angels appear and ask a question and give an
instruction, “Why are you looking up, he is no longer here – go and wait
for the next big thing.” (11)
These two statements help us to
ask ourselves three important questions. The questions are When – Where – and
How…
These are the big, ultimate
questions of life, the big questions of faith: When, where, and how do we make
progress on our journey to him and with him.[i]
When? In the immediate aftermath of Jesus’ resurrection,
people thought that surely this would usher in the new Kingdom of God’s reign.
Many of them were still holding on to the old model – mainly, the desire that Jewish
people would retake control of Jerusalem and kick the Romans out. They thought
the resurrected Jesus might be the one to usher that moment in. But as Jesus
finally ascends, it becomes clear that is not going to happen. Yes, he will
return, but you will not know the day and time. So instead of preparing for
your salvation, be prepared to receive the Holy Spirit and go into the world to
be witnesses of Jesus’ story.
I’m not sure that almost 2000
years later we think much about Jesus’ return – sometime in the first-century
people stopped believing that it was just around the corner. Regardless of
whether we think it’s near or far away, we must always be ready for his coming.
And part of being ready is the duty to be witnesses to Jesus’ story… witness in
our words, but also in the way we live our lives.
Where? Jesus’ ministry was always concentrated in a small
region of the world. Everywhere Jesus went could be walked to within a few days'
journey. But when Jesus leaves, he tells them to widen the circle of understanding…
he said, “You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and
to the end of the earth.” That is a mighty big expansion, and it will take more
than the original disciples to make that happen. Many of them recruit new
believers to journey with them… Jesus himself called Paul to ministry, a claim
which Paul claimed to anyone who challenged his authority.
We have the same struggles, to
go to new places to wait for the Spirit to call us into new work for the
Kingdom. We are often unable to answer the call to a more purposeful ministry
because we experience our anticipation as fear – fear of the unknown – fear of
failure – fear of not being enough. The instructions the disciples got are the
same ones we get. Be prepared for the Holy Spirit to come and give you power –
strength – courage to go into new places, despite the obstacles we imagine. I
remember all the pushback I got as I set out on a new journey of faith 35 years
ago. Not only did family and friends question my choice, but even as I pushed
forward, I remember thinking as my friends deposited me in my new apartment in
Durham, NC, “Oh, no, what have I done?” But here’s the good news for each of us
– the Holy Spirit does not let us sit in that fear long before giving us the
confirmation and courage to that the next step of faith. We just need to be
patient, not give in to our fear, and listen.
How? I’m sure the disciples had questions galore… but they
waited as instructed, and next Sunday we will celebrate the beginning they were
promised. The Holy Spirit not only touched them with wind and fire but pushed
them into the streets to proclaim the good news about Jesus, even removing the
barriers of language between the many gathered there. No one can explain how
that happened – that’s often how the Spirit works.
We also wonder how we can
accomplish anything of value for the Kingdom of God. Maybe we don’t think we
have gifts to share. Maybe we think the powers of evil and indifference are
stronger than our faith. Or maybe we don’t know or have forgotten what that
Spirit feels like when it moves within our lives. The whole book of Acts is a testament
to the power of the Holy Spirit within them. With that Spirit, the disciples
and other followers of Jesus went on to do some pretty remarkable, but
unexpected things.
They did not help restore
Jerusalem to Jewish rule. They did not run the Romans out of the region. Some
of them were martyred defending their faith. But they did spread the word just
as Jesus asked them to… in Jerusalem, in the surrounding regions – even ones
like Samaria where the people were considered to be the enemy. And with people
like Paul, pushing, pushing, pushing on, Jesus’ Kingdom has spread to the ends of
the earth.
Such unlikely heroes, our
disciple friends… such unlikely heroes are we, too. Christian friends are
defending the faith, loving people, confronting crisis, and speaking peace…
they serve in places where forgotten people crave knowing, where hurting people
seek relief, where starving people need food, vocal where a word of truth must
be spoken. They do not do this alone… for the power of the Spirit has compelled
them to step out into a new way of life. And with others, they become the
presence of Christ in the world.
Author Rachel Held Evan died
three years ago before her last book could be published, but her husband asked
a close friend to comb through the computer files, post-it notes, and journals left
behind to try to bring a new version of the book to life. The last chapter in Wholehearted
Faith is called Telos. It feels quite right that our adult study
discussed this chapter on Ascension Day last Thursday. She wrote:
So, we have come to the end. But as
Scripture reminds us, the end is never quite the end as we typically understand
it; it’s only a beginning. One of the biblical words for “end” is telos. This
Greek word doesn’t have the air of finality that the English word “end” has. In
other words, it’s not a dead end. To the contrary, it’s full of life, because
it has a sense of completion and contentment. It carries the satisfaction of
doing what you know you’re called to do and the fulfillment of being who you
were always meant to be.[ii]
It's easy to think that we don’t have much to offer
the Kingdom of God. But that is not true. If we are willing to offer anything,
God can do amazing things with whatever we have to share. God can use even our
doubt – our insecurity – our lack of vision – our fear… all of these are great
gifts we bring if we will only take that first step of faith to believe in what
God sees in each of us.
There’s a great 20th-century hymn that sums
this up in a wonderful way. After the death of a close friend, Natalie Sleeth
meditated on a line from T.S. Eliot’s “Four Quartets” — “In the end is my
beginning…” Inspired, she composed a poem that unfolded in overlapping circles
rather than straight lines. Written in 1985, first as an anthem, her hymn is a
contemplation of contradictions — death/ resurrection, doubt/ belief, winter/
spring, song/ silence, past/ future. And they are welcome words as we think
about the ends and beginnings this Ascension Day represents.
1) In the bulb there is a
flower; in the seed, an apple tree;
2) There’s a song in
every silence, seeking word and melody;
3) In our end is our beginning; in our time, infinity;
In the name of the
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.
Peace, Deb
(c) Deb Luther Teagan, May 2022
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