Transcription
Week we talked about the promise of the paraclete, and no that’s not a lacrosse shoe phrase. The paraclete being the actual descriptive name for the Holy Spirit, but we’re not at Pentecost yet. When is Pentecost? Next Sunday. And what are you all going to wear? Glenn, you’re a week early and that’s close enough, but a little more red maybe next time. Just saying. So wear your red, bring in your geraniums next week, and then we’ll finally talk about the Holy Spirit, but we’re now talking around it.
Because right now is the big moment. Sort of. Because right now we’re in this middle space, this Middle Easter-y space, where the resurrection has happened, Jesus has arrived and showed up, and the disciples are trying to work through what this means in the moment, but also what this means in the moments to come.
Because at some point, what Jesus has promised is going to happen, and what people think has been promised, like the who, when, the Messiah thing is going to happen that they were asking about in the very beginning, that has to kind of get dealt with as well. They’ve had proof of life after death and know that this is Jesus, but they’re waiting on the Holy Spirit. They’re waiting for that final little bit, and Jesus is still there. So what’s going to happen next is hanging in the air. What is the next decision? What is going to happen after? Now, if they’ve been paying attention, there’s this weight that the disciples are carrying. Wondering, waiting, waiting for the other shoe to drop, waiting for that promise of the paraclete to be fulfilled, but also waiting for the promise that Jesus will ascend to happen.
To say that the disciples are in a place like a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs would say probably an underscoring of where they are. They’re nervous, they’re wondering, they’re waiting, but Jesus is doing everything he has in these final moments to bring them along, to inch them along, it would seem, and they ask this question. When are you going to do this thing that we’ve expected you to do since forever? When are you going to do what we want you to do? What does Jesus answer? It’s not for you to know the times or periods that the Father has set by his own authority. Sorry guys, you want to know? Get in line. You want to know? Just wait. That’s the promise of Jesus is that if you want to know when, hurry up and be ready. Hurry up and wait. Hurry up and prepare because guess what? You don’t know. Only, only the Father knows, but Jesus doesn’t dismiss their question out of hand. He also says, you know, I hear you, and he reiterates his promise, reiterates that there will be a comforter, that paraclete I talked about last week, that will be there in the interim, that will be there once he’s gone. Now, if this doesn’t feel like one of those moments that I would say causes Barbara to do, ahhh, it probably is. The disciples want answers and Jesus is not going to give them, and they should know by now that when you ask Jesus a question and he doesn’t give you an answer, you either ask the wrong question or it’s not the right time for the answer. So, Jesus redirects their attention, redirects their concerns away from that messianic promise and towards the continuation of serving, the continuation of the kingdom.
He answers without answering. The thing is, he’s not going to tell the disciples all the details. He’s going to give them the equipment so that when those pieces fall, when those moments come, they’ll be ready. Now, is he going to restore the kingdom of Israel? No. He’s going to build up a better one. He’s going to build up a new one that we are going to help him with in building here as the kingdom is in heaven. But right before this Q&A about when these things are going to happen really goes off, all of a sudden what happens? Jesus starts to go up like this into the clouds, teaching us that you always need an escape plan. No.
What it teaches us is that this is an amazing moment. The moment promised, the moment given, the next step along the way where Christ ascends is happening. And the disciples, of course, are doing what? They’re watching Jesus go up like you watch a tennis ball during a match. They are not going to pull their eyes out off of him. Why? Well, let’s look at it here. How many times has Jesus ascended into heaven? Wouldn’t you, if you were one of the disciples, sit there staring the whole time? I mean, it happens once in Scripture, really? And you’re going to look away? Come on. No. We’d watch. But then think about other great moments and what happens. Because there are other moments of watching and waiting. Think of the transfiguration. What happens? All of a sudden Jesus is talking with Moses and all of a sudden Peter gets really excited. And what does Peter want to do? He wants to build shelters. He gets so excited. So again, this is this great moment, this once-in-a-lifetime moment. The disciples are watching it happen. The disciples have kind of shown that they have a penchant for loving the moment and living into past moments. So what’s the risk here? What is the risk here as Jesus ascends?
It’s twofold. What happens after he ascends and how well the disciples watch. It’s very similar to other moments because we have both that moment of the transfiguration and the watching and seeing. But we also similarly think of Elisha and Elijah when Elijah gets taken up in a whirlwind. What is Elisha told before that? You gotta watch, buddy. If you watch, it’ll happen. If you watch, what is promised to you will happen, will come to fruition. But if you don’t, so what do you think Elisha was doing? He’s watching that whole time as his boss goes up in the whirlwind. Yes, he rips his clothes afterwards. Yes, he takes up Elijah’s mantle and serves God. Yes, at the transfiguration, as Peter is speaking about building those shelters, a voice booms out and says, this is my son. Listen to him. The stress on that is all mine. But we hear these moments that almost pull the person into the next moment. Peter has to have that voice. Elisha has this emotional ramping apart moment and then goes on.
And as the disciples sit there and watch Jesus go up, what is the risk in the moment? That they’ll get stuck. That they’ll sit in that great moment and be in that great moment forever. That they’ll just stay on that Mount of Olivet, build a shelter for Jesus to celebrate the ascension. And that’s where they’ll be. That’s where they’ll raise their families. That’s where they will found everything. But that’s not what God planned. That’s not what God wants. And that’s why we have those two men. The two men who come down and kind of slide up to the disciples say, what you watching? Jesus is already up there. You got work to do. But instead of this being a shake them until they get out of their funk moment, all they have to do is say, Jesus has ascended. And what did the disciples do? All right, on to the next. We are going to go. We are going to serve. They go back to Jerusalem and things start. Things happen. The moment moves forward The spirit hasn’t yet been given. The comforter hasn’t yet hit. That promise is still hanging in the air. But instead of waiting for that promise to be fulfilled, they are off and moving.
To an extent, this moment on its most basic, basic level shows us that Jesus still has it. I mean, it seems a bit rudimentary. Of course, Jesus still is the son of God. But there is this almost tension moment with the disciples of, does he still have the power to heal? Does he still have the full power? And seeing Jesus ascend conveys that, yes, yes, yes. Even though he died and rose, he is still the same Jesus. He has still the power of the very son of God. But instead of getting lost in the moment, instead of getting lost in what had transpired, the disciples move forward to the task that God has sent for them. They embrace what’s going on next.
One of the great challenges for us, for humanity, is we love to live in what was. We love the past, past moments. We look back and think, boy, those were the days. Even I get caught up with that, thinking about certain points in the 90s, thinking, boy, I remember being a kid in the 90s. It was great. And then you remember all the things that weren’t great in the 90s, like trying to go on a run with your CD player. And every time your foot hits, CD skips. And then foot hits and CD skips. You couldn’t do anything. All of this. We love to live in the past. And the disciples very easily could have gotten caught in the past, even in just the momentary past of the ascension. Because think about it. Jesus has gone up to the Father. Boy, name a moment greater than that, that they’ve witnessed. That they’ve witnessed. You could say the resurrection, but they weren’t there to witness it happening. That’s my contention.
Think about it. Of all the moments you could witness, and the disciples’ response is not to sit in that moment, sit in the glory of that moment, and stay and be forever. It is to enjoy the moment and then take on the task of the next moment.
That’s our challenge as Christians, brothers and sisters, to not get lost in the moment. I mean, if we could all sit in the glory and wonder of the moments of our baptism, that’d be great. But every time we come before God, God has a plan for each one of us. God is working a plan for each one of us. And to sit in the glory of one past moment, to sit in the glory of what was, is good to honor, but not to stay. It’s good to celebrate, but not to live in.
Think about it this way. How great did the church become? Because those disciples went down the mountain instead of staying on top. What would have happened to the church had they decided to live in that one moment?
But there’s so much more work to do for God. So much more we can do for God. The challenge for all of us is, will we embrace what is to come and celebrate what was and continue to move forward with God? Will we?