The Adventurous Lectionary – Ascension Sunday – May 21, 2023
Bruce G. Epperly
Acts 1:6-14; Psalm 68:1-10, 32-35; I Peter 4:12-14; 5:6-11; John 17:1-11
These days, many of us would like to experience an Ascension. The world is too much with us. We are inundated with news of mass shootings, the potential catastrophe of national default, irrational and dangerous political policies, incivility, war in Ukraine, and rising tensions with China. We would like to escape. Yet, we are in the world, on earth, and need to join scripture and cable news and newsfeeds if we are to be relevant as preachers. An unhistorical gospel is irrelevant and counter to the moral and spiritual arcs of history.
AN EARTH-AFFIRMING FAITH. The Ascension reading asks: Why are you looking at heaven, your work is on earth? Can we be both heavenly minded and earthly good? Can we have an eternal perspective, embracing the afterlife and also seek this worldly beauty and justice to our earthly lives?
In the Acts reading, Jesus is ascending to heaven. However we understand the three story universe described in this passage, one thing is clear: Jesus is no longer on the earth. We can no longer encounter him physically or directly. We must experience him spiritually or mediated through earthly physical and relational experiences. Still, Jesus’ absence is no cause to abandon our planet or our ethical obligations. We have work to do. The exit of Jesus provides an opportunity to take our place as Jesus’ companions in creative transformation, in bringing beauty and healing to the good Earth. God is in us and with us and is luring us forward toward new adventures in faithful discipleship.
POWER FROM GOD’S SPIRIT. You will receive power from the Holy Spirit! What might that mean to us on Earth? What does that promise mean to struggling persons and congregations, dealing with the challenges of a post-pandemic world and the realities rapid religious change and the appropriate antipathy toward much of Christianity by nones and seekers? As we consider Jesus’ Ascension, we are reminded that our work is here on earth. We don’t need to wait for heaven to experience God’s presence and live out God’s good news. Heaven is for real – and it is right here as well as on the far shore of mortality.
What’s most important in the Acts passage is the promise that we will receive power from God’s Spirit and that our task is become both heavenly minded and earthly good. “Why are you staring at the sky? Why are you abandoning my work on Earth?” the angelic messenger asks. “Your work is here on earth. Your calling is to spread good news and embody Jesus’ ministry of hospitality and healing in your time. God will give you the power you need to transform the world.” This same counsel is given to us: we have work to do right here responding to global climate change, praying and acting for the liberation of the oppressed, working for equality for all persons, closing the gap between the wealthy and the poor, ensuring health care for the vulnerable, and bringing beauty to our daily relationships. We have work to do as God’s companions in healing the world.
We often feel too small to take on the challenges of the day. I am sure Jesus’ first followers had second thoughts about their ability to carry on Jesus’ mission. They, and we, might want our problems solved in a heavenly realm. We might want to escape white racism and politicians that fan it, global climate change, and the bloviations of politicians here and abroad. But we are not helpless and alone. God’s Spirit is with us, and God has given us power to be agents of healing and creative transformation in our time.
The Acts reading focuses on God’s initiative in our ministries, but it also affirms that we can prepare for bursts of creative power through devoting ourselves to prayer, individually and as communities. Prayer is not an escape from the world, or passive acceptance of God’s will, letting God do the work while we sit on the sidelines. Prayer is an active process of aligning our lives with God’s vision, discerning our calling, joining with neighbors in common cause, and getting to work. Prayer is essential to activism and inspires us to take creative risks and leave our comfort zones to fulfill our vocation in our time and place.
We are not alone. We are safe. The One who ascends to the heavens is also as near as our next breath and upcoming encounter.
THE MORAL EQUIVALENT OF WAR. The reading from I Peter invites us to a robust progressive spirituality to confront Christian nationalism, racism, and abandonment of the earth. William James once spoke of the “moral equivalent of war,” and the author of I Peter would agree. There are threats abounding in our world and they can overwhelm us, if we lose our focus and succumb to apathy, fear, and temptation. Faithful mindfulness keeps us alert to God’s presence, the dangers at hand, and the power available to us. From our sheltered comfort zones, we often act as if life is safe and secure even as we read newsfeeds about mass shootings and the rise of neofascism, often led by persons claiming to be Christians.
Looking at our world, we recognize that we have a fight on our hands. While we may not choose sides or define others as enemies, the future of our planet is at stake, the economic well-being of millions is on the line; we face those who hate, exploit, and destroy in the name God and personal prosperity; hate crimes have gone up targeting the LGBTQ+ community and persons of color. We must challenge those who limit God’s love to a select few or view God’s sovereignty as license to put children’s lives at risk, sacrificing them to the idol of gun ownership, line their pockets with gold while others are out of work, and destroy the environment for short term financial gain. Moreover, as we challenge the behaviors of others, we must face our own complicity and fearfulness. We may have to sacrifice so that others will live, and in our sacrifice, we share in Christ’s own willingness to share our burdens so that we might find wholeness and salvation.
With the cross on the horizon, Jesus prays for his disciples and for us. The passage from John’s gospel affirms that God is glorified in Christ and Christ is glorified in us. Jesus affirms that eternal life is here and now, as well as in God’s heavenly realm. In fact, we are in God’s heavenly realm whenever we attend to God’s vision and know God as our deepest reality. Jesus and the Father (Parent) are one in spirit; God is the animating force of Jesus’ life, and Jesus can become the animating force of our own lives. Aligned with Jesus, his power, inspiration, and guidance flow through us, not as robots but as creative partners in bringing beauty, healing, and justice to the world.
As Jesus’ followers, we are given the task of claiming and following the power and guidance of the Spirit. As the Psalmist proclaims, God’s sanctuary is with us and gives strength to God’s people. We are one in the Spirit and one in truth, and this must guide our politics as well as we challenge gaslighting, scapegoating, science denial, racism, homophobia, misogyny, and nation-first ideologies. We can become agents of divine reconciliation, bringing earth to heaven and heaven to earth whether we pray or protest, as we see to bring God’s realm to earth as it is in heaven.
Bruce Epperly is a pastor, professor, spiritual guide, and author of over seventy books, including THE ELEPHANT IS RUNNING: PROCESS AND OPEN AND RELATIONAL THEOLOGY AND RELIGIOUS PLURALISM; PROPHETIC HEALING: HOWARD THURMAN’S VISION OF CONTEMPLATIVE ACTIVISM; MYSTIC’S IN ACTION: TWELVE SAINTS FOR TODAY; WALKING WITH SAINT FRANCIS: FROM PRIVILEGE TO ACTIVISM; MESSY INCARNATION: MEDITATIONS ON PROCESS CHRISTOLOGY, FROM COSMOS TO CRADLE: MEDITATIONS ON THE INCARNATION, and THE PROPHET AMOS SPEAKS TO AMERICA. His most recent books are PROCESS THEOLOGY AND THE REVIVAL WE NEED and TAKING A WALK WITH WHITEHEAD: MEDITATIONS WITH PROCESS-RELATIONAL THEOLOGY. He can be reached at drbruceepperly@gmail.com
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