Sermon written by Rev. Gabrielle Suedfeld
Delilvered by Deborah Richards.
When I was a young teen, living in a suburb of New York City, we would sometimes travel into the city, for a day of browsing around shops, maybe going to a theatre matinee with special high school discount tickets, or to a museum. One of the things we would do, because we just couldn’t resist, was to stand on a crowded street corner, and look up at the sky. Just stand there, looking up.
Pretty soon, lots of people were looking up, some, with their mouths hanging open. Then we would go over and ask them what they were looking at. When you are fourteen or fifteen, this is about as much power as you can get. Everyone starts to feel pretty silly, but they follow the crowd. As we look at the theme picture for today, we see a small crowd of disciples, gaping at the incredible, unbelievable sight of Jesus, ascending into Heaven. Maybe there is something there, after all.
Today we have two readings, that at first hearing, seem to be redundant. Scholars tell us that the book of Acts is a continuation of the gospel of Luke, and yet in the first words, it feels as though Luke is repeating himself. I like to think of it as a replay of the most recent events: sometimes on a TV series there will be short scenes from the past couple of episodes, just to help people catch up, in case they missed anything,or a couple of hockey games replaced the evening shows. Well, the ascension of Jesus into Heaven is certainly not to be missed. So Luke begins his second book with a short review.
Forty days after the resurrection, and ten days before the coming of the Holy Spirit, Jesus was taken up to be with God. He’d had a very busy six weeks, appearing to all sorts of people, and he tells his disciples to go to Jerusalem - which for Luke is the centre of all holy happenings – and wait for the coming of the Holy Spirit to lead them into the next phase of their faith journey. Forty days, tying up the loose ends of his ministry so that he could depart knowing that his message of salvation had been heard, accepted and was ready to be proclaimed. As the disciples stand there gaping, two angel-types appear, and bring them back into sharp focus again. “Stop gawking, and get back to Jerusalem. You have work to do.” Instead of looking up or down, the disciples are told to look ahead, and get on with life. God has some important tasks for them. The job description seems to be a bit vague, at this point. They have to take it on trust. Having nothing better to do, they go back to the familiar surroundings of the Upper Room, to gather with a number of women to pray and await the next batch of orders.
This Scripture tradition tells us that there were only eleven men, and a few women. There is a story that tells of the entry of Jesus Christ into heaven. There he is met by the archangel Gabriel - no relation of mine, I’m sure. The angel asks him what he has accomplished on earth. “I have eleven faithful men, who will spread the good news”. says Jesus. “Only eleven?” “Yes”.”But what if they can’t do the job?” says the angel. “What is your alternate plan?” “I have none.” Jesus answers.
And that’s the way it has been, through the ages. There is no alternate plan, just this one. “Could any group of people be more human, more pedestrian, more unpromising?” asks Herbert O’Driscoll. They displayed all sorts of human weaknesses which the gospel accounts are not ashamed to recall. They showed fear, they denied Jesus, they deserted him in his hour of need. Some were ambitious for power and personal advancement, some doubted, others were just plain thick-headed and ignorant. At the time of this story, they were a broken community, with one of their number gone in betrayal and treachery. And this is the church that Jesus leaves behind, to carry on his work! God’s work!
Pretty soon, lots of people were looking up, some, with their mouths hanging open. Then we would go over and ask them what they were looking at. When you are fourteen or fifteen, this is about as much power as you can get. Everyone starts to feel pretty silly, but they follow the crowd. As we look at the theme picture for today, we see a small crowd of disciples, gaping at the incredible, unbelievable sight of Jesus, ascending into Heaven. Maybe there is something there, after all.
Today we have two readings, that at first hearing, seem to be redundant. Scholars tell us that the book of Acts is a continuation of the gospel of Luke, and yet in the first words, it feels as though Luke is repeating himself. I like to think of it as a replay of the most recent events: sometimes on a TV series there will be short scenes from the past couple of episodes, just to help people catch up, in case they missed anything,or a couple of hockey games replaced the evening shows.
Well, the ascension of Jesus into Heaven is certainly not to be missed. So Luke begins his second book with a short review. Forty days after the resurrection, and ten days before the coming of the Holy Spirit, Jesus was taken up to be with God. He’d had a very busy six weeks, appearing to all sorts of people, and he tells his disciples to go to Jerusalem - which for Luke is the centre of all holy happenings – and wait for the coming of the Holy Spirit to lead them into the next phase of their faith journey. Forty days, tying up the loose ends of his ministry so that he could depart knowing that his message of salvation had been heard, accepted and was ready to be proclaimed. As the disciples stand there gaping, two angel-types appear, and bring them back into sharp focus again. “Stop gawking, and get back to Jerusalem. You have work to do.”
Instead of looking up or down, the disciples are told to look ahead, and get on with life. God has some important tasks for them. The job description seems to be a bit vague, at this point. They have to take it on trust. Having nothing better to do, they go back to the familiar surroundings of the Upper Room, to gather with a number of women to pray and await the next batch of orders.
This Scripture tradition tells us that there were only eleven men, and a few women. There is a story that tells of the entry of Jesus Christ into heaven. There he is met by the archangel Gabriel - no relation of mine, I’m sure. The angel asks him what he has accomplished on earth. “I have eleven faithful men, who will spread the good news”. says Jesus. “Only eleven?” “Yes”.”But what if they can’t do the job?” says the angel. “What is your alternate plan?”“I have none.” Jesus answers. And that’s the way it has been, through the ages. There is no alternate plan, just this one. “Could any group of people be more human, more pedestrian, more unpromising?” asks Herbert O’Driscoll.
They displayed all sorts of human weaknesses which the gospel accounts are not ashamed to recall. They showed fear, they denied Jesus, they deserted him in his hour of need. Some were ambitious for power and personal advancement, some doubted, others were just plain thick-headed and ignorant. At the time of this story, they were a broken community, with one of their number gone in betrayal and treachery. And this is the church that Jesus leaves behind, to carry on his work! God’s work!
But the end of Jesus’ earthly life is the beginning of a new life for the disciples. It is scary, it is open-ended, it means that they will have to grow up spiritually, and make their own way in the world. Now, Jesus will not be there to set things right, to clean up after them, to comfort them. They will have to rely on the Holy Spirit, and on one another. There is a sense of confusion at first, but then we see that the plan is to form a strong community, to take into account the needs and concerns of their companions, to develop their mission, to better understand and follow the Scriptures. Jesus has given them teachings in the ancient laws, the prophets, the psalms and prayers; he has opened their minds to follow in his footsteps, he has talked about repentance and forgiveness. They have had some time to get used to the idea that he will be leaving. Now, it is time for them to become adults.
Lee Johnson says “to be someone who has gazed at the glory of the ascension means your sight is forever changed.” (Reflections on the Church Year, 2026, Presbyterian Church in Canada) I was reminded of this in a way when the four astronauts who had travelled to the far side of the moon did an interview last week. They have seen something that no one else has experienced, their view of earth was like no other and they are forever changed. When you listen to them as a group, you get the feeling that they have formed a warm and loving community, because of their call to service, with a shared wonder of that time together in space.
I had to give in a title for the bulletin on Tuesday, before I had really gotten into this sermon, and I call it Looking up, looking down, looking ahead. But as I wrote the reflection it didn’t always fit what I wanted to say. And then I came across something that a child in middle school had said about the journey of the astronauts: “Hey, there is no up or down in space!” And that child was right, so you can look in any direction when you think about this story and it will still work. The story of the ascension is an account of the beginnings of a community of shared wonder, cooperation and faith. It took hard work, mutual comfort, ingenuity, and a sense of humour. It’s all there in the Book of Acts, and the writings of the apostles and the letters of servants of God, like Paul, and Peter, and James and Timothy.
For the first six years of my ministry, I lived in Hazelton - a very rural area. Sometimes we were cut off from the rest of the world, by bad roads, fog, and even for a memorable five days, from any electronic contact with the surrounding communities, when the microwave tower toppled over. It transmitted not only telephone, TV and fax, but, curses! banking machines, electronic cash registers, and worst of all, lottery sales! Far away from city expertise, people had to depend on their own resources. At the little United Church mission hospital, physicians learned to take their own X-rays and read them, which doesn’t often happen when there is a radiologist in the neighbourhood. If your pet was sick, you did the best you could, until the one day a week when the vet came, or you asked one of the physicians for help. If you ran out of something and the road was snowed over, you did without. As a minister, I learned to do counselling in emergency situations, and to deal with crises that I wasn’t prepared for, but there were no professionals nearby. They can’t teach you everything in theological school. Sometimes you just have to take a deep breath, say a prayer and march into the fray. If you had problems with the plumbing, or the car broke down, you improvised, with the help of kind neighbours, strong language and some scotch tape and string. Someone told me that pantyhose is a good temporary solution if a fan belt breaks. People learned to be creative and independent, to share and cooperate.
That’s what happened in the early church. At the beginning, there were only eleven faithful chosen disciples, supported and cheered on by several women. That’s all God had. Jesus didn’t have an alternate plan, so it had to work. And it did!
Today we are the church, and we have to make it work, because we are all that God has got. And it will. Life was seldom easy for new Christians. It is not easy now. As the body of Christ, we are divided in our views of Jesus, in the celebration of the sacraments, in music, in theology, and in our sense of purpose. But we must keep in mind the justice that God demands, act it out in our lives, and remind one another that we are preparing the way for the second coming of the messiah. We need to be aware of our human frailty and sin, and name it so that it can be repaired.
The good news here is that Jesus trusts us to carry out our mission, and fulfil his plans. Never mind that we are imperfect, contentious, greedy, ambitious and full of doubt. The focus of our lives is to witness to the Holy Spirit, at work in the world. Jesus accepts our weaknesses, as God has always done, and affirms our ability to live in grace with greater confidence. Standing on a city corner, or in the middle of the village street, the disciples slowly turned their eyes from the heavens, as the image of their beloved friend and saviour faded from view. They returned to their daily lives, with a greater strength and resolve. They began to accept their past faults and sins, and move on. They rejoiced in their tasks, in a spirit of harmony, and became the nucleus of the Christian community. Something simple, yet immense, had happened. There had been a transformation in their faith. They were able to combine up, down, and straight ahead without getting dizzy. When we can do this, we are on the way to being whole again.
Jesus had confidence that his followers would succeed, and he has confidence in this church family too. Today’s readings may be especially important to you as a congregation that is looking ahead to a change in ministry. You have been nurtured and loved by a very special person for ten years, and the future may feel a bit uncertain. In about two months, you will be asked to assume some strong leadership roles for a short while, and today Scripture has given you some guidelines.
This is a reminder of the ever - present sense of the spirit, the strength of hope that will never abandon you. There is always the promise that you will receive the power to do the work in God’s good time. You are being called to be witnesses to God’s blessings, and you know how to do that. Just look at all the things that go on here to build community, to serve those in need, to celebrate in music, in sharing food, in study, in being bound together as a family of faith. The church always lives in a between time: in the already of Jesus’ birth, life, death, resurrection and ascension, and in the not yet of his return as Messiah. We are always waiting for something to happen, and it is not a passive waiting.
You are here to live and proclaim the good news: of forgiveness, reconciliation, transformation and hope. You are here to continue Jesus’ work in the church, the community and the world. You are here to begin the unfolding of the future. Faithful leadership, a little bit of risk and a willingness to try new things, combined with a sense of humour, and above all a trust in the gift of the Holy Spirit, is what is asked of you. So stay together, and worship with great joy, looking forward in anticipation of all the blessings and promises that God has to offer.