Going up?

Acts 1: verses 1-11: Ascension Day

Have you heard the story of the country bumpkin family, who decided one day to go for a trip to London? It was their first trip ever away from their farm, and there were all sorts of exciting things to see and do. They decided that they would stay in one of 'them there fancy 'otels', and so they drove their tractor to the Ritz, in Piccadilly.

The father of the family took his son, and told his wife to stay in the tractor while he got them booked in. The farmer and his boy entered the lobby of the hotel, and looked around them in amazement. There were so many things they had never seen before - marble floors, chandeliers, water fountains. But the most amazing thing was the lift at the end of the lobby.

“What’s that thing there?”, asked the son - as they stared at the shiny doors. “I don’t know” said the father - “let’s watch”. So they watched, as a little old lady of 93 pressed the button to call the lift. When the lift arrived, she got in and was seen to press another button, before the doors closed, and she disappeared. A few seconds later, however, the doors opened again - and a stunning young blonde came out of the doors.

“Son,” said the old farmer, “that’s fantastic! They have a machine which makes old women young again! Go and get yer mother!”

The sense of wonder that that old Farmer experienced must have been a bit like the wonder of the Disciples as they saw Jesus taken from their sight, up into heaven - hidden by a cloud. They must have wondered what on earth was happening. And certainly, according to Luke’s account in the book of Acts, they stood there for sometime with their mouths open. Luke says “they were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men in white stood beside them”. These two men, whom we assume to be angels, then reassured the disciples that Jesus would come back in the same way that they had seen him go up into heaven.

Some people have wondered whether this is in fact a historical account of an actual event. After all, we don’t have the same three-tiered picture of the universe that the people of the ancient world had at that time. Few of us really think that hell is below us, and heaven above us… our understanding of those concepts is rather more subtle these days.

One way of thinking about heaven is to suggest that it is with us all the time. After all, Jesus proclaimed that “the Kingdom of Heaven is among you”. We may even have the capacity to enter, or at least touch heaven, albeit briefly. We might also say that heaven is present whenever there is peace, or justice. Or whenever we pray, or feel the touch of God upon our lives. Tom Wright, the Bishop Durham, describes heaven and earth as not separated by a vast expanse of sky - but rather by a sort of spiritual curtain, which we can sometimes step through and touch.

But perhaps Jesus chose not to worry about that particular theological point. Perhaps he realised that if he simply stepped through the curtain into heaven, the Disciples would not understand that he had been taken from them semi-permanently. After all, during the preceding days, he had popped in and out of their lives, and rooms, very frequently. What was needed was a grand gesture - something which made very clear that a new stage of the Christian journey was beginning. For, as Jesus explained to his disciples in chapter 14 of John’s gospel - it was essential for him to return to his father, in order that the Spirit, the Comforter, could be sent to give power to the Church.

But this event must have worried the disciples immensely. How could they follow Jesus when they could no longer see or hear him? And that’s a question which bothers us too. How are we to live as disciples of a now departed Lord?

The book of Acts, in which this story of the Ascension is told, provides some of the answer to that question. The reasons that the book is referred to as the Acts of the Apostles is precisely because it records what the disciples, the Apostles, then did in response to that question. And its interesting to see what they got up to.

Discipleship, for them, was about being an active witness to the risen Lord. They had seen him rise, and they now set about proclaiming that truth, around the whole of the known world. Their example can be quite a challenge to us...it certainly is to me.

Sometimes, we can be lulled into a false sense of security about the Christian life. We get stuck into doing the good deeds that we feel must be done. We play our part in the organisation of the church. We do our pastoral visiting, and our voluntary work. We help out at church functions, and we give generously to Christian Aid.

But the message of Acts is that, as good and right as all these things are, being a disciple of Christ is not primarily about doing good works - even in a society which keenly encourages them. It is primarily about proclaiming the good news that Jesus Christ is risen from the dead, and now reigns in heaven. It is about proclaiming the good news that he has sent the Holy Spirit to give us life, and to lead us along life’s road.

That’s a tension for me, in my daily work as a minister. It would be very easy for me, and quite pleasant too, to spend all my working days visiting the lonely and sick of the parish. It’s something I enjoy doing, and something which I know brings a great deal of comfort to those I am able to visit. But, if I did that, all the time, I would miss out the primary calling of every disciple - which is to proclaim the good news. So, I must force myself, each day, to ask ‘what will I do today which will spread the good news?’ - and sometimes instead of more tea and rather nice cakes, I make the decision to spend time writing the best sermons I can, preparing the best services I am able - God be my helper!

St Paul, in his letter to the Ephesians, reminds us that good works, though important, are not the heart of the gospel. In his chapter 2, he says “it is by grace you have been saved, through faith - and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God - not by works, so that no-one can boast”.

The fundamental message of Christianity - and one which distinguishes it from all other religions - is that we cannot do anything to earn our salvation. All that is required for us to spend eternity with the risen Lord has been accomplished by him. Every other religion is fundamentally based on the idea that I can earn my way into heaven by my own efforts… by how many good deeds I do, or how much I give to charity, or how much time I spend in meditation...or whatever. Jesus’ message liberates us from those kinds of worries. The good deeds that we do, we do as a response to his love, not because we are desperate to earn it. We do our good deeds in co-operation with the Spirit - as a testimony to the love of God...not because we seek to gain anything by doing them.

And that’s good news! It’s good news for those who have the time to do good works. But its also good news for those who are too sick, or too busy, or too old, or too poor to be able to do them. God’s gift of life is just that - a gift. Given by his grace, and not the result of anything we can do for ourselves.

And the best news of all, demonstrated powerfully by his ascension into heaven, and the subsequent day of Pentecost which we will celebrate in ten days time, is that Jesus has sent his Holy Spirit...to inspire us, to strengthen us, to lead us to faith, and to give us His gifts...so that we too can be disciples who set out to tell people the good news that we have learned for ourselves.

So that’s one of the challenge’s of today’s reading. The disciples wondered how they could be disciples without Jesus to bodily guide them. Like them, we will discover, if we are faithful, that Jesus is still very much with us. By his Spirit.

Here’s a final thought: what do we really believe when we confess that Jesus ascended into heaven?

Simply this - it is our affirmation that Jesus is still alive and presently sends the Spirit, to help us spread the good news of salvation in Christ.