Ascension Day - A Glorious Letting Go
Heaven is reality itself. All that is fully real is Heavenly. ~C.S. Lewis
Thursday was Ascension Day. A(what?) day? Ascension Day. As a kid I never celebrated Ascension Day. Did you? Outside of a fairly small group of devout people, there is not much mention of Ascension Day among Christ-followers and less among the broader culture. There are no Hallmark cards for Ascension Day, but Ascension Day is huge! This is the day that a human (resurrected Jesus) became a permanent part of the Triune God. It stretches the imagination to consider a human as part of the Trinity! If Christmas is the day we give gifts to each other in memory of the gift of Jesus, and if Easter is the joyful celebration of New Life because of the Resurrection, then Ascension is the day we should celebrate the hope of our New Humanity. What would that look like?Let’s unpack this a bit. According to Christian tradition (based on Acts 1:3), 40 days after Easter is Ascension Day. After Jesus was raised from the dead he spent 40 days hanging out with people, eating with them and talking with them about the kingdom of heaven. Jesus wanted to solidify his new humanity with the people who knew him. He looked like Jesus, sounded like Jesus, smelled like Jesus, laughed and ate like Jesus, but he was different. He was able to simply appear and disappear, seemingly moving through walls and locked doors.A new kind of human was walking on the earth after resurrection and his friends were experiencing a bit of emotional and intellectual whiplash. On the one hand they were overcome with joy. Imagine seeing someone you love, who has died, up and walking around, having dinner with you. Those closest to Jesus were hoping, with him alive again, all the political dreams they had for a new kingdom for Israel might now come true. On the other hand, it’s pretty obvious they were terrified and a little jumpy. Every time Jesus instantly showed up in their midst, he immediately said something like “Don’t be afraid” or “Peace be with you.” And some doubted. They watched him die and seeing him alive now was just too weird. Was it just their imagination, desperately wanting it to be true? To the doubters, Jesus said things like “Touch my wounds” and “Give me something to eat.” He wanted them to know that his death was real and… his life was real too. The wounds of his death were visible and touchable and the ability to eat fish proved his life.
His friends would have to learn to live with the paradox of his bodily resurrection.
So, after 40 days of these kinds of interactions, Jesus and some of his followers end up on the Mount of Olives. This was a special spot for Jesus on the road between Jerusalem and Bethany; a road that he traveled often. Jesus stood on the Mount of Olives and wept for the city of Jerusalem. It was here that he sat down with his followers before he died and tried to explain to them about the future. At the bottom of the Mount of Olives is the garden where Jesus went to pray before he was arrested and crucified. On this particular day, I imagine Jesus was walking along with his disciples and stopped at the crest of the hill to look towards Jerusalem, perhaps as he always did when he took this walk. The disciples gathered around to hear what they would later remember as Jesus’ last words to them.Then, the strangest thing happened. His body was “taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight.” (Acts 1:9) They strained to see him, but he was gone. Two angels appeared and reminded them that Jesus would someday come back, just like he left. They must have looked at each other in bewilderment wondering when that would be, exactly, then slowly made their way back to Jerusalem. This is, basically, the story of the Ascension. But, so what? Where did he go and what does it have to do with letting go?Jesus went to Heaven in his new body. (See Luke 22:69; Ephesians 1:20; Colossians 3:1) After setting an example of how to live a humble life fully obedient to God, even unto death, Jesus now had to let go of being a constant, physical presence on earth. He let go of the potential of being the ultimate earthly emperor starting then. By letting go of his earthly, physical power, he was given an honored seat in Heaven…in his resurrected body. He let go of setting up a kingdom at that time so the Holy Spirit could powerfully animate billions of Christ-followers to live humble lives fully obedient to God, even unto death. His letting go opened the way for God to be magnified billions of times over.
His glorious Ascension gives us hope that our bodies are not incidental accessories to our souls nor can we ignore or discard our bodies.
His example of letting go of earthly power gives the powerless hope that their humility magnifies God in ways that no worldly king could.Today, right now, Jesus, as an embodied person is part of the Trinity. When we begin to follow Jesus we are invited (as Spirited humans) into the perichoretic dance of the Trinity. This is truly amazing! Can we let go of some pettiness or despair when we see this magnificent picture? Surely we can… It is not accidental that the Church is called the Body of Christ. This Body, which is made up of billions of people, is the presence of Christ in the world. If we are part of this Body, can we love others like Jesus loved?So... what could we do to celebrate Ascension? We could play games of “Now you see me, now you don’t”. We could sneak up on people and surprise them. Ha! Then say, "Peace be with you." We could play hide-and-seek. We could dance for joy to be a body that will live eternally. We could be the Body of Christ and love our neighbor. What a concept! Ascension Day... live it out...