The View from Higher Ground
Reflection by Rev. Dr. Kathryn Johnson Cameron
Luke 24:44-53 and Acts 1:1-14
Toy Story 2; The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King; Frozen 2.
These movies share a common distinction: the sequels surpassed
the original.
Frozen 2 reveals more refined animation
that sharpens how we view the story--the red tint in Anna's
hair matches the fire in her eyes!
In The Return of the King,
from Shire folk to brave, pure-hearted warriors;
from the scruffy Gandalf the Grey to the sword-maiden
who defeated the Witch-king at The Battle of the Pelennor Fields;
the characters act with greater courage.
In Toy Story 2 the toy cowgirl Jesse sings a lament,
voiced by Sarah McLaughlan
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Km4WiqKtZ-E
and pierces us with
the poignant truth of our limited existence.
Jesse and Woody help us learn to make peace
with knowing
that we'll one day have to say goodbye and "so long, partner"
to the people we love. These truths were only
hinted at in the original.
Could the same be said of the Ascension scene in the Book of Acts, the sequel to Luke's Gospel? The author of Luke and Acts lays it out to his student, Theo in a long email. This is not the kind of lesson you can share in a tweet. His subject line? The Acts of the Apostles:
In the first book, O Theophilus I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach,
until the day when he was taken up, after he had given commands through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen.
He presented himself alive to them after his suffering by many proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God.
And while eating with them he ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, “you heard from me;
for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized in the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”
So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
And when he had said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight.
And while they were gazing into the sky as he went, behold, two messengers dressed in white robes stood by them and said, “People of Galilee, why do you stand looking up into the sky? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into the sky, will come in the same way as you saw him go into the sky.”
Then the apostles returned to Jerusalem from the hill called the Mount of Olives, a Sabbath day’s walk from the city.
When they arrived, they went upstairs to the upper room where they were staying. Those present were Peter, John, James and Andrew; Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew; James son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of James.
They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers.
A student of Luke would know that this same scene in the Gospel didn't even mention by name some of those present including the women and Jesus' family. In Acts, the author mentions the Holly spirit twice whereas in Luke the Holy Spirit goes unnamed and is only hinted at as a power from on high!
In both scenes, the action moves in and out of Jerusalem, but in Acts the sequel, the followers get to take a secret Sabbath hike to the Mount of Olives and back, even after Jesus first told them to stay in the city. Both accounts hit the highlight of Jesus ascending, going into the sky, so there is that. But who wouldn't feel more drawn to the cloud of God's presence in Acts than 'the parting' of Luke? Some takes of this particular scene in Luke have Jesus just fading away and omit the drawing up into the sky:
Then Jesus said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.”
Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures,
and said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead,
and that repentance and the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem.
You are witnesses of these things.
And behold, I am sending the promise of my Father upon you. But stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.”
And he led them out as far as Bethany, and lifting up his hands he blessed them.
While he blessed them, he parted from them.
And they returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and were continually blessing God.
Now that description does fit in a tweet; which goes to show that while brevity is the soul of wit, our emotional responses cannot be so neatly contained. We need the bigger picture with both humor and pathos. We want to see ourselves with the apostles and others looking up into the cloud of unknowing, to infinity and beyond!
We want to see ourselves in the crowd of followers watching Jesus go and try to find the courage to continue the mission with the yet to be revealed power from above/Holy Spirit. How many weeks or years will it be between this chapter and the next? Between this book and the next. Who will write the script, film the sequel? Our grief is palpable as is our awe; our fear mixes with joy. We wait with baited breath, for Christ to bestow the power, to send the Holy Spirit.
That's where we find ourselves this May of 2020, this Memorial Day weekend of more rain, more "better at home", physical distancing. That's where we find our church, nearing the completion of our ministry, without coming together face to face just yet. We wait with baited breath, for Christ to bestow the power, to send the Holy Spirit.
When we see ourselves as followers looking up to Jesus who returns to God, we usually perceive our eventual receipt of power and pray for courage to do what the Spirit empowers us to do. What would we see if we look from on high with Jesus on those who will receive the Holy Spirit after we are taken up? Will we perceive that we may bless those who take on the work of Christ's mission even if it looks different than what we produced?
There’s a wonderful woodcut of Jesus’ ascension by Albrecht Durer. A visual representation before the days of film! (Scroll back to the top of the page to see it). If you look closely at the picture -- not up in the clouds, but on the ground -- you can see footprints on the earth. Durer has carefully outlined Jesus’ footprints down on the level where the disciples are standing with their mouths open. Perhaps the artist was simply imagining a detail that isn’t in the text. Or perhaps, he invites us to imagine that with Jesus we might let it go, let it go and trust the promise of God?
