The Turning Point of the Ascension

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cd8zZMZ6ki8

First Reading

A READING FROM THE BOOK OF ACTS

So when they had come together, the apostles asked Jesus, "Lord, is this the time when you will restore the kingdom to Israel?" He replied, "It is not for you to know the times or periods that the Father has set by his own authority. But 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." When he had said this, as they were watching, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. While he was going and they were gazing up toward heaven, suddenly two men in white robes stood by them. They said, "Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up toward heaven? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven." Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a sabbath day's journey away. When they had entered the city, they went to the room upstairs where they were staying, Peter, and John, and James, and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James son of Alphaeus, and Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of James. All these were constantly devoting themselves to prayer, together with certain women, including Mary the mother of Jesus, as well as his brothers.

ACTS 1:6-14

Sermon: The Rev. Dr. Maryann Amor

The Ascension is one of those church festivals that many Christians don’t pay much attention to. And honestly, it is not hard to understand why this is. The story itself is really strange. It is told most fully in the book of Acts. Jesus gathers with his apostles, blesses them, and then is taken up into heaven before disappearing into the clouds. It comes across almost like some kind of science fiction story, rather than something that naturally fits within the Bible.

So instead of leaning into the Ascension, many choose to ignore it, because why even go there if we don’t have to? But ignoring the Ascension, while yes, it is easier, misses its importance in the apostles’ lives and in our own. Because this odd story appears at a significant turning point for the apostles, a moment where they must make a choice: stay stuck in the past or move forward. A turning point that each of us has also experienced at one time or another.

As I mentioned last week, the apostles’ lives revolved around Jesus. And after his death, he appears to them many times to prove that he had, in fact, been resurrected. As noted earlier in Acts, “after Jesus’ suffering, he presented himself to the apostles and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God.”

And then we hear today that the apostles gather around the resurrected Jesus and ask him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?” In other words: are you going to act? Are you going to show everyone why you are here? Are you going to free this land from Rome and restore Israel as promised?

And Jesus replies that it is not for them to know the time when God will act. Instead, they will receive the Holy Spirit and become witnesses to the ends of the earth. God will act, but when that happens belongs to God alone.

And then, Jesus is taken up into heaven and disappears behind the clouds.

This is the turning point.

This is the moment when the apostles have a decision to make: do they trust what Jesus has said or not? Do they move forward believing his words, trusting that the Holy Spirit will come, and that God will act in God’s time? Or do they remain where they are, staring up into heaven, waiting for Jesus to return?

The angels who appear help them at this turning point. They say, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.”

In other words: do not stay stuck here. Do not simply stand gazing upward, clinging to what was. Move forward. The apostles cannot spend the rest of their lives waiting for Jesus to come back exactly as before. They have work to do. The mission must continue or it was all for nothing. The church must now become the body of Christ in the world.

The Ascension is not primarily about Jesus going up into heaven, but about the disciples. It is about whether they will trust Jesus or not, whether they will stay stuck, standing and staring upwards, or move forward and live the lives he called them to live, trusting in his promise.

And this is why this strange feast still matters to us today.

The Ascension reminds us that our lives cannot be about clinging forever to the past. We must learn how to move forward even when life changes. We must learn to trust that God is still present, even when that presence looks different than it once did.

The Ascension reminds us that endings are not always endings. Sometimes they are beginnings in disguise. Sometimes the moment when we can no longer hold onto what was is also the moment when God calls us into what comes next.

And this matters deeply. Because there comes a moment for each of us when we discover that things cannot go back to the way they were before. A loved one dies. A relationship changes. A child grows up and leaves home. A career ends. A church enters a new season. And we are left asking: what now?

Do we stay stuck, standing and staring into the sky, longing for what once was? Or do we find a way to move forward, trusting that yes, life will be different than it was before, but with God it will still be okay?

The apostles could have remained frozen in grief and confusion, staring up into heaven. But instead, they returned to Jerusalem. They prayed together. They formed a community. They carried the story forward. And we are here today because they did.

The Ascension is a strange story, one we might easily ignore, but this is only the case if we focus entirely on Jesus floating up into heaven. If instead we turn our attention to the apostles, we begin to see why this story still matters today.

The Ascension is about what the apostles do next. Jesus is gone, their lives have changed, and they must decide whether they trust his words enough to move forward.

And now the same question is placed before us. When life changes, when certainty disappears, when we cannot go back to the way things once were, will we remain standing still looking backward? Or will we trust that God is still leading us forward? Will we trust God’s promise to us? Amen.