Thoughts going in, Sunday May 20th

Transition is in the air...
This week—whether the Sunday readings are taken from Ascension Day (Thurs the 2nd, 40 days after Easter) or the 7th Sunday of Easter, it is obvious that we’re almost done with the Easter Season and preparing to go somewhere else.

Like many congregations, we will spend this Sunday contemplating the Ascension of Jesus. It would be easy to turn this into a dogma lesson. The Ascension is fairly important to the creedal tradition of the Church. The Nicene Creed states: 

On the third day he rose again 
in accordance with the Scriptures; 
he ascended into heaven 
and is seated at the right hand of the Father. 
He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, 
and his kingdom will have no end. 

In the Apostle’s Creed we find the words: 

He ascended into Heaven, and sitteth at the right hand of God, the Father almighty; from thence He shall come again to judge the living and the dead...

Whereupon we learn that at Christ’s Ascension he was given all power, dominion and authority by the Father (sitting at God’s “right hand” is not a ‘place,’ but rather a ‘status’). This power, dominion & authority doesn’t mean that it’s the ascended Jesus causing tornadoes in Missouri, but rather that HIS GOSPEL KINGDOM will be established—literally, come hell or high water. Nothing can stop it. It will happen. 

It is also from this passage of the creed (and the day’s reading from Acts, specifically vs 11) that we get the dogma of the RETURN of Christ. Current and past wacky preachers have always ended up with egg on their face when they try to predict the precise date of the return of Jesus. The words from this Acts passage: It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority” seem to be some of the most forgotten words in the Bible. And yet, the fact that Jesus really will come again.... and this is a truth the Church has always believed.

But beyond the dogma, what are we to take from this passage?
One of my favorite Charlie Brown clips shows him sitting slouched in front of the tv. On the tv, the voice of a little boy is saying, "Shane! Come back, come back!!" Charlie Brown glumly responds: "I've seen this movie a dozen times... and he *never comes back." It would be easy for the disciples that day, and US today, to have the same glum attitude about the Ascension. Jesus is gone and we're on our own. Forever. But that's not it at all. Jesus is *ascended--not gone. There's a huge difference. And, when the work of the Gospel is complete--unlike the scenario with 'Shane'--He **will return. In the meantime, it's our turn. The mission of one man has been handed on to us: men, women, boys, girls, rich, poor, young & old.