Alleluia! Christ is Risen! [He is Risen indeed, alleluia!] We've been saying that at the beginning and the end of our services for 7 weeks now. And inside the church, that's all we really need to say. But for others - those for whom Jesus isn't an article of faith - an important question remains: If Christ is risen from the dead and lives eternally, where is he? And how come we can't see this risen Jesus.
Luke's story of the Ascension of Jesus, at both the end of his Gospel and the beginning of Acts, seeks to answer that question. Jesus rose from the dead; he appeared to his disciples in ways that proved that he was really alive and not just a ghost. And then, at some point, Jesus fully entered his glory, as the disciples watched him be carried up into heaven.
But what does this event really mean? I ask that question because I'm often afraid that the way we've understood and explained the Ascension of Jesus to ourselves and to others sounds kind of like a cop out. Oh, yes, Jesus rose from the dead. But then, like Elijah, he was carried up into heaven. So now he's gone and that's why you won't see him again until the end of time when comes back.
And while it's true that the angels do tell the disciples that they'll physically see Jesus come again at some point, they never say "Jesus is gone now. Good luck! You're on your own."
Yet sometimes, that's how we interpret the Ascension. It becomes kind of a mirror image of the doctrine of the real presence (the idea that Jesus really is present in the bread and the wine of communion.) In contrast, the Ascension becomes the basis for a doctrine of the "real absence" - that Jesus is gone from the world and so now we can't see him anymore like people once did.
But I don't think that's what we're supposed to learn from the story of the Ascension of Jesus. Although only Luke concludes his gospel with the story of the Ascension, even this story shares one important motif with the way Matthew and John end their Gospels.
In both Matthew and John, Jesus appears alive to the disciples and they can see him and touch him. In both of those Gospels, they can eat with him. In John's Gospel, Jesus even speaks of "ascending" to the Father.
And yet, Jesus isn't always visible to them. He shows up at unexpected times and in unexpected places. And he promises that he's going to continue to be with them to the end the time (as in Matthew's Gospel). And that's how those Gospels end.
It's as though those other two Gospels were saying, "Jesus rose from the dead, and we saw him and touched him and know that he's alive. But even though Jesus eventually stopped appearing to us physically, we continue to experience his living presence with us. It's what inspires us to go out into the world. And it gives us courage to know that at the end of our lives, and even at the end of time, Jesus will still be there with us."
And that's actually also the message of Luke's Ascension story. Luke's story is NOT that Jesus is gone from the disciples' lives, but that he's now going to be present with them and for them in a new way - through the power of his Spirit. That's why Jesus' final words for the disciples aren't "good luck! You're on your own until I get back." Instead, he tells them not to leave the city until they've been "clothed with power from on high" - that is, until Jesus is ready to walk with them again through the power of the Holy Spirit.
The life and power of Jesus wasn't just the life and power of a great guy in the first century, but the very life and power of God. And moreover, the disciples were still going to be able to "see" Jesus, but it would be in a new way.
And as the Book of Acts progresses, the disciples do indeed "see" Jesus. (Of course, Paul has an actual vision of Jesus). But more often, the disciples "see" Jesus - that is, they experience the living presence of Jesus - in:
- The community they share with each other (particularly in the "breaking of the bread and the prayers") - Jesus taught them to experience the power and presence of God in community with one another, instead of trying to go off and have a personal, individualized spiritual experience. They stuck together, and in sticking together, they experienced Jesus' presence...
- The places that Jesus sent them to - the angels tell them (literally!) to get their heads out of the clouds. Jesus had sent them to places that seemed absolutely foreign and strange to them. Yet they kept going to new places, not because they loved travel, but because they kept finding that Jesus was actively working through them in those places. And as Jesus worked through them, they experienced Jesus' presence...
- The words that they spoke in Jesus' name - whether it was preaching or healing someone in the name of Jesus, they knew that just saying "Jesus" wouldn't do anything. Only the One whose name they invoked could actually accomplish anything important. And through those words - as those words bore fruit - the disciples experienced Jesus' presence...
And so for us, too, the meaning of the Ascension of Jesus shouldn't be that Jesus is gone from our lives until he comes again. Rather, the meaning for us should be that the Risen Jesus continues to be a real and living presence in our lives as well. And while we probably won't see the visible body of Jesus standing in front of us, we should be looking for Jesus in:
- The community we share with each other - for us, too, the breaking of the bread and the time we share in prayer and fellowship with one another is an opportunity to actually experience the living presence of Jesus in our lives. At least for me, even though I know Jesus is everywhere and God is all around us, I experience the presence of Jesus through being part of a worshipping community in ways that I just can't by myself. Jesus promised to be present where even two or three are gathered, and experiencing his actual living presence is the center of what gathering together is all about for us as well as the first disciples...
- The places we live our everyday lives. Unlike so many other religious leaders, Jesus didn't send his disciples into quiet, holy places to see where he'd be at work. He sent his disciples into the regular, everyday lives of others. And for us, too, that means that if we want to "see" Jesus in our lives, we have to be invested in looking for what Jesus is doing and who Jesus is calling us to be in the midst of our regular routines. Over the centuries, too many Christians have sought God in peace and quiet and solitude. And sometimes that happens. But more often than not, Jesus' angels are also calling us to get our heads out of the clouds and to be invested in the world around us, just as Jesus was and is...
- In the words that we speak in Jesus' name. And that means actually expecting that the risen Jesus is working through our words and deeds right here and right now... (which means not asking "What Would Jesus Do?", since of course he isn't here and can't do it; but instead asking, What is Jesus doing through me right now, or calling me to do in this moment - since he's present and standing with me even if I don't physically "see" him...
So where is the Risen Jesus? The message of the Ascension isn't that he's gone until the end of time. Rather the message is that Jesus now transcends time and space in such a way that he isn't limited to being seen in only one place, and by only a few people.
Instead, Jesus is fully one with God, who's present everywhere. And so as we conclude the Easter season with the message that Christ is Risen, the meaning isn't that Jesus has gone away. Rather, the meaning is that Jesus is present with us now and always. And Jesus is present here and everywhere, working to make his presence known, and to be seen, in us and through us.
Amen.
