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"He ascended..." Up, up and away. It must have been a very
strange sensation for those on the hillside. What was this? A
magic show? Jesus suddenly levitating above them, disappearing
into a cloud? Uh-huh. What's the trick? Is David Copperfield
around here someplace? OK. You can bring him back. Anyway, we
have work to do. A Kingdom to establish. Besides, we were not
done talking. What did he mean, "John baptized with water, but
you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from
now?" And what was that about, "You will receive power when the
Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in
Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the
earth." Come back, Jesus. The show is over. Come back. Jesus.
Jesus? But he was gone.
I have told you this apocryphal story before. Jesus arrives
at the Pearly Gates following the Ascension. The angel host was
gathered to welcome God's Son and celebrate his return home after
his incredible sojourn on earth. Everyone had questions and
wanted to hear his story - born of a virgin, raised in humble
circumstances, years teaching, preaching, healing. Eventually,
there was that gruesome torture and murder, but finally the
conquest of humanity's most feared enemy - death. All to share
the good news of a loving God who wants nothing but the best for
creation. Now the Christ is HOME, and everyone is exultant.
Someone asks, "Lord, now that you are no longer physically
on earth, who will continue to share the good news?"
Christ responds, "There are 11 who were especially close to
me, and I have given them the responsibility of getting the word
out."
"O Lord, these 11 must be incredible people - the best and
the brightest that creation has to offer!"
"Well, actually no," the Lord responds. "These are average
folks with ordinary abilities. Not the "best and the brightest"
by any means."
"But Lord, if these are only average people with ordinary
ability, how can you be sure that they will get the job done?"
"Well, to be honest," the Lord answers, "I can't be sure."
"You cannot be sure, Lord? Well, what if they fail to do
the job? What is your backup plan?"
Quietly Christ answers, "I have no backup plan."
Hmm.
One might figure that our friends would be depressed at
Jesus' disappearance. After all, they had been on quite an
emotional roller coaster. There were the good times traveling
through the countryside for three years, the bad times of trial
and torture that culminated at Calvary, the good times together
once more following the resurrection, now...gone again. Who
could blame them for being dejected? The record says, "a cloud
took him out of their sight." Hmm. The same cloud that led the
children of Israel in the wilderness? Good Jews had long looked
at clouds as symbolic of the presence of God. Perhaps that is
why, instead of dismay and depression, in the other biblical
account of the ascension in Luke's gospel,(1) we find the disciples
returning "to Jerusalem with great joy." Somehow, they
understood that Jesus had simply gone home.
He had stated over and over again that this was the plan.(2)
This was not GOODBYE but rather SEE YOU LATER. Had he not said,
"In my Father's house there are many dwelling places. If it were
not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for
you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again
and will take you to myself, so that where I am, there you may be
also?"(3) This was not the end of their relationship with Jesus
but a brand new beginning. Not a cause for despair but case for
delight!
In a unique way, their Lord and Savior was not LESS
accessible but MORE. No longer would he be limited by space and
time, but now would be available EVERY where and ANY time by the
presence of his Holy Spirit. Within just days and weeks, that
pitiful band of beleaguered believers which had hidden itself
behind locked doors in fear for its life stood boldly in the
public arena and proclaimed the gospel of the crucified and risen
Christ. It spread beyond Jerusalem, just as Jesus said, into
Judea and Samaria and on to the ends of the earth. What a
difference! It gave rise to the first confession of faith the
church ever had: JESUS CHRIST IS LORD! It is fleshed out by what
we repeat from week to week: "He ascended into heaven and sitteth
on the right hand of God the Father Almighty." GLORY!
The great Christian missionary to India E. Stanley Jones, a
close friend of Mahatma Gandhi, commented that after Gandhi's
assassination, the radio constantly broadcast programs that
eulogized the father of that great land. He noted that a Mrs.
Naidu, a well-known Hindu poet, spoke on Sunday, three days after
the assassination. She had been in frequent contact with the
Christian community in India, and her words carried an eloquence
born of her emotion: "O Bapu, O Little Father, come back. We are
orphaned without you. We are lost without you. Come back and
lead us."
Jones said he could sympathize with her plea, representing
the cry of a stricken nation. But as he sat there he thought, "O
God, I am grateful I do not have to cry that cry for the leader
of my soul: 'O Jesus, come back. Come back. We are orphaned and
stricken without you."' He knew that his Master had been
received in glory, that he is a living presence in our lives day
by day, and that he is coming back to redeem the entire world.(4)
"He ascended into heaven and sitteth on the right hand of God the
Father Almighty."
The point of the whole matter, of course, is a reminder of
who Jesus is - not simply some ancient itinerant rabbi who taught
timeless truths, not simply some helpful Hebrew healer who had
remarkable power over disease and even death, not simply a
compassionate, caring friend who reached out to those whom
society rejected, but rather the God of all creation come to
earth, incarnate in human flesh. Now it was time for his return
to glory.
The early scribe who, blessed with divine wisdom, completed
the Lord's Prayer for oral repetition by adding the resounding
phrase, "for thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory" knew
what he was doing. It was the perfect touch. That scribe knew
from the depths of his being, Jesus "ascended into heaven and
sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty."
We have strong biblical warrant for that statement. It
starts with Psalm 110: "The LORD says to my lord, 'Sit at my
right hand until I make your enemies your footstool.'" Jesus
quotes it. Paul quotes it. Peter quotes it. "You will see the
Son of man seated at the right hand of Power,"(5) says Jesus. He
is "exalted at the right hand of God,"(6) says Peter in his sermon
on the day of Pentecost. "Behold, I see the heavens opened, and
the Son of man standing at the right hand of God,"(7) says Stephen
just before being stoned to death. "Who is to condemn?" asks
Paul. "[Is it] Christ Jesus, who died, yes, who was raised from
the dead, who is at the right hand of God, who indeed intercedes
for us?"(8) First Peter speaks of "Jesus Christ, who has gone into
heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities,
and powers subject to him."(9) And the writer to the Hebrews:
"When he had made purification for sin, he sat down at the right
hand of the Majesty on high."(10) This was the position of honor;
this was the place of power; this was where King Jesus belonged
through all the ages. Glory!
He deserved it. True, he wrote no books, composed no songs,
drew no pictures, carved no statues, amassed no fortune,
commanded no army, ruled no nation. And yet, he who never wrote
a line has been made the hero of unnumbered volumes. He who
never wrote a song has put music into the hearts of nameless
multitudes. He who never established an institution is the
foundation of the Church that bears his name. He who refused the
kingdoms of this world has become the Lord of millions. Yes, he
whose shameful death scarcely produced a ripple on the pool of
history in his day has become a mighty current in the vast ocean
of the centuries since he died.(11)
In 1957, Ben Michtom, president of the Ideal Toy Company,
had a brainstorm: why not sell a Jesus doll? The majority of
kids in America were Christian, so he figured parents would jump
at the opportunity to make playtime a religious experience.
Other Ideal executives were horrified, but Michtom was convinced
it was a great idea. To prove it, he took his case to a higher
authority; while on vacation in Italy, he got an audience with
the Pope and pitched the idea to him. The Pope gave his
blessing, as did every other Christian leader Michtom consulted.
Unfortunately for Ideal, Michtom did not consult any
parents, who probably would have told him the idea was a loser
(which it turned out to be). As Sydney Stem describes the doll
in Toyland, The High-Stakes Game of the Toy Industry, no one
bought them because parents were horrified at the idea of
undressing the Jesus doll, dragging it around, sticking it in the
bathtub. Nothing sold. Ordinarily, there is a no-return policy
on products already shipped. But in this case it was such a
horrible mistake that Ideal took them back. It appears that what
Ideal did with them was give each of its employees a doll and
then ground up the rest and put them in landfills.
Jesus dolls - packaged in a box that looked like the Bible -
were probably the biggest doll flop in American toy history.(12)
Why? Because even though people of faith celebrate the fact that
Jesus was truly human - walked, talked, ate, drank, suffered,
even died - we know there is more to his story: "He rose again
from the dead; He ascended into heaven and sitteth at the right
hand of God the Father Almighty." That is not doll house stuff!
So saying, there is something utterly unique with this king:
instead of being draped with the trappings of an all-powerful
potentate as he deserves, he reigns as a suffering servant. Our
Sovereign Lord is revealed in the one who walked the dusty roads
of Palestine, who had no place to lay his head, who emptied
himself in obedience all the way to the cross. That was not the
end of the story, of course. Hallelujah. He died to be our
Savior, now lives to be our Lord. "He ascended into heaven and
sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty."
Do you believe it? Do you? We continue to insist, as we
believe, so we behave. How do we behave in honoring such a
cosmic king as Christ? A good start is by taking his
instructions seriously. If you want a quick primer on acceptable
behavior, take a fast trip through the Sermon on the Mount.(13)
Angry words, insulting words are out. Our sexual behavior will
be in control. We will be honest in our business dealings. We
will go above and beyond the call of duty in response to appeals
for help. We will care for the welfare of, not only our
neighbor, but our enemy as well. We will be religious, but not
showy about it. Possessions will have their rightful place in
our lives, not the be-all and end-all of existence. We will not
be judgmental, but we will use good judgment. We will trust God
to meet our needs. Of course, the gospels have lots more for us,
but those should do to get us started. Is Jesus Christ your
Lord? Good. Then you will do your level best to do what he
says.
Piece of cake, eh? Of course not. But we have the promise
of his abiding presence to help us on our journey. This is,
after all, our LIVING Lord, the same one who "ascended into
heaven and sitteth at the right hand of God the Father Almighty."
This is the one who is ultimately in charge, and that, my friend,
is a wonderful word of hope for you or me or anyone who has ever
been drenched in the storms of life. It is a word of hope for
this old world that says "the wrong shall fail, the right
prevail."
Quietly now. Listen for it. Faintly to be heard over the
din of police whistles and fire sirens, the whine of fighter
bombers and missiles, the anguished cries of the mothers of
murdered children, you can begin to make it out. "He ascended
into heaven and sitteth at the right hand of God the Father
Almighty." Slowly but surely it builds to crescendo: "The
kingdoms of this world have become the kingdom of our Lord and of
his Christ. And he shall reign forever and ever. Hallelujah!"
AMEN!
1. Luke 24:51-53 2. cf. John 14:2, 12, 16:5, 28, 20:17, etc. 3. John 14:2-3 4. John Killinger, You Are What You Believe: The Apostles' Creed for Today, (Nashville:
Abingdon, 1990), p. 76 5. Mark 14:62 6. Acts 2:33 7. Acts 7:56 8. Romans 8:34 9. 1 Peter 3:21-22 10. Hebrews 1:3 11. Mack Stokes quoted by James S. Hewett, Illustrations Unlimited (Wheaton: Tyndale House
Publishers, Inc, 1988) p. 73 12. Dynamic Illustrations quoting Uncle John's Ultimate Bathroom Reader, (The Bathroom
Readers' Institute, Bathroom Readers' Press, Berkeley, California 1996) 13. Matthew 5-7
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