Word to the Wise
Sunday, May 8, 2016 - Ascension of the Lord - C
[Acts 1:1-11; opt: Heb 9:24-28; 10:19-23; Luke 24:46-53,227]"Thus it is written that the Christ would suffer and rise from the dead on the third day and that repentance, for the forgiveness of sins, would be preached in his name to all the 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." [Luke]
All stories are supposed to have a beginning, a middle, and an end. Luke, however, has a two-volume story to tell. The two volumes (Luke and Acts] overlap today and they do it in reverse chronological order! The gospel scripture [Luke - volume one] is chronologically earlier than the first scripture from Acts [volume two]! Both scriptures tell the story of Jesus' "ascension" to the Father at the end of his time on earth.
It is tempting to think of this as some kind of helium balloon or "beam-me--up" event. Luke is telling the story several decades later. What we do know is that in Luke's story of Pentecost, the disciples will be in town, scared to death of arrest, until the coming of the Holy Spirit. They have to begin to understand what it means to be "witnesses of these things."
This is precisely what we have to ddo as well. In Acts, an angel tells the gaping disciples that the "ascesnion" is not to be wondered about. It is the message that matters and the Spirit will come to enable them to preach that message. That very same Holy Spirit has come to us. We will celebrate it next Sunday at Pentecost, but it is present to us now. We, too, are "witnesses to these things." AMEN
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