Friday, June 03, 2011

The Ascension...

Though for the most part, the Ascension story is about the enthronement of Jesus as Lord of heaven and earth, from a human perspective it is also a story about loss and grief and hope.

Luke records for us in Acts 1 how the disciples questioned Jesus about the establishment of their 'dream' kingdom, the restoration of Israel, proving once again that they still had not comprehended what Jesus was all about. His signaled departure was worrying and it is easy to put yourself among the crowd as Jesus disappeared from their sight and hear the questioning, "Is he coming back???"

The appearance of the two men (angels), refocus the disciples on this earth. To paraphrase their question, they ask, "Just what are you looking at?". A good question since Jesus had made a clear on any number of occasions that his absence would not mean the end of his work, but rather the beginning of a new aspect of his work in which the disciples themselves would be doing those 'greater things'.

Sadly, I think, we often spend more time worrying about the when and where and how of Jesus' return, or take great pains trying to experience his presence or search for some spiritual experience to reinforce our struggling faith. The reality is that Jesus, and the coming of the Holy Spirit, have given us all we need to carry on the work he has given us to do as individual Christians and as church.

So rather than looking up and wondering when and where he will return...we need to look around and see those around us, for Christ is already here among us...in you and in me and in the people we interact with every moment of every day.

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