2025-06-03
Brooke Strong
Sermon Text...
This morning I’d like to offer a little bit of bible 101, some background on our texts for today that I hope you will find interesting. The revised common lectionary, the three-year cycle of scripture readings that were compiled by an ecumenical group of church leaders more than 30 years ago, pairs the two readings Susi just shared for this ascension Sunday, and they pose some interesting questions that must really cause a struggle for anyone who takes the bible literally.
Why? Because scholars are quite certain that the same author wrote both the gospel of Luke which tells the stories of Jesus’ life and ministry, and the Acts of the Apostles, the story of the early church. Our gospel reading is from the last chapter of the book of Luke. The chapter begins with the resurrection on Easter morning, continues with Jesus’ encounter later that afternoon with some disciples on the Emmaus Road, then ends the day with Jesus giving his final instructions to the disciples before he is lifted up to heaven.
Conversely, the book of the Acts of the Apostles begins in much the same way that Luke’s gospel ends: Jesus gives instructions to the disciples then is lifted to heaven. The interesting difference, however is that, despite the same basic story as in the gospel, written by the same author, the two stories occur forty days apart: the gospel says that these events happened the same day as the resurrection. In Acts, the ascension of Jesus occurs 40 days after Easter.
In Luke, the ascension is a dramatic finale to Jesus’ early ministry while the book of Acts begins with this story, making it the presupposition on which the church is based. Noting that Jesus’ departure is both an ending and a beginning, retired Methodist bishop Will Willimon points out that Luke is looking at the ascension from different points of view and drawing from it different implications for the community.
For me, the ascension, like the birth narrative or the resurrection, is a bit far-fetched to take literally. These are beautiful, beloved stories that enrich our faith. But rather than get caught up in debate about a virgin birth, a physical resurrection, or Jesus being lifted in a cloud, I prefer to view the fantastical nature of these events as wholly unknowable and instead focus on their core message: Jesus was born, Jesus died, and Jesus’ ministry with his disciples continued . . . and continues with us today.
Even all these millennia later, so many Christians prefer to stand with their necks craned to the sky as spectators of the ascension, perhaps awaiting a cloud appearing that spells out “I love you!” or “I’ll be right back.” It is far easier to stand around debating if this really happened and trying to figure out when Jesus will return than to actually listen to the instructions he gave to be his witnesses to the ends of the earth. It is so much harder to do the work of continuing his ministry: seeking justice, loving enemies, caring for the marginalized and giving voice to the outcasts.
Our call to do this hard work reminds me of a story my friend Eric loves to tell about Amanda, his friend who went to India as a young woman to work with Mother Teresa. When Amanda arrived in Calcutta, Mother Teresa was off on a speaking tour, but Amanda was put to work in the kitchen washing pots. The next day, she was assigned to the laundry to wash sheets and then to the dispensary to fold bandages.
After weeks of these mundane tasks, Amanda approached her supervisor. “I came here to work with Mother Teresa,” she lamented, “but I’ve spent all my time doing menial chores, doing dishes, laundry, folding bandages. What does Mother Teresa do when she is here? That is what I came here to do!” “Well,” her supervisor calmly replied, “when she’s here, she does dishes and laundry and folds bandages.”
Luke reports that Jesus told the disciples that they will be his witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. What do these words mean for us today? Where is Jerusalem in our context – the place nearby where it takes little effort to reach people? Perhaps our call is to the people struggling with poverty in Geauga and Cuyahoga counties, perhaps to stand with our LGBTQ+ siblings who increasingly have come under attack.
Where is our Judea, those people it takes a bit of an effort to reach? Are these the people who are apathetic, who wrap themselves in their safe bubble, tuning out the world or stand idealistically looking up for signs in the sky but choosing to sit completely still as they do so? Where is our Samaria, the place where people are different from us but are still our neighbors? Is this our call to stand up for our Latinx neighbors being removed from our country without due process?
Finally, Jesus calls us to be witnesses to the ends of the earth. Does this mean that, despite the fact that we were born in a place of relative peace, security and wealth, all of our siblings across the globe are those whose concerns are ours? That we must pay attention and assist those coping with heightened repression in Russia, India and Venezuela? That we need to support those neighbors facing the catastrophe of armed conflict in Gaza, Sudan and Ukraine? That we have some responsibility to ensure that starving people in Somalia, Chad, Haiti and the Democratic Republic of the Congo have enough to eat?
Despite the demand of Jesus’ challenge, one phrase jumped out at me from the gospel reading. Luke reports that after Jesus ascended, the disciples returned to Jerusalem with great joy. The Common English Bible embues this verse with even greater meaning, noting that the disciples were overwhelmed with joy. Imagine that as Jesus departs, rather than being overwhelmed with sadness, they chose joy. At a moment when they could have given up, they were ready for action.
This verse resonated with me so deeply in part because, although on a very different level, it is manifest here at Federated today. When your beloved pastor retired last fall, you faced a turning point much like the disciples in our text today. At a time when you could have been overwhelmed by sadness and a sense of loss, you chose a renewed commitment to your faith and great joy instead. Ministry continues with great passion. New members continue to be welcomed and spiritual formation continues to deepen.
In the Acts account of the ascension, two men appear asking, “Why do you stand looking up toward heaven?” They seem to say, “Don’t just stand there! Do something!”
Jesus’ final instructions to his disciples – the to-do list he left with them and with each of us – was to be his witnesses not his spectators – to the ends of the earth. So let’s continue to be about it, realizing it is not enough to come to worship and sit in our pews as spectators. There are pots to be washed, sheets to launder and bandages to be folded. Let’s keep moving forward as joyful witnesses. Amen!