Going up

This last Sunday was the festival of the ascension, and the day that we observe the ascension of Christ our Lord into heaven.  It's a good festival, a great festival, and yet one that remains largely forgotten.  In terms of the church year, an awful lot of Christians no longer celebrate nor observe the ascension of Christ into the heavens, which is a shame, given that it is recounted in both the Gospel, and in the book of Acts.  The ascension is the moment that bridges the time of Christ and the time of the church.  It is the moment of overlap between the Gospels and the book of Acts.  This is the moment where the church becomes itself as we know it, no longer a group of people looking to Christ here on earth to establish a kingdom.  This is important, and we all act as though it is important, though we consult it rarely, if at all.

But this is something that we ignore at our peril, and the funny thing is that Christians all behave as though the incarnation was of utmost importance, even though they might not say that it is all that often.  I'll explain what I mean.

When Jesus calls the disciples to his service, he says to them 'follow me.'  This happens a few times, both at the beginning of his earthly ministry, and at the end.  He calls his followers with those simple words, which we have to approach in the good Lutheran way.  The good Lutheran question that comes up always, is to ask 'what does this mean?'  This is a good question to apply to that simple sentence of 'follow me,' and you already know what it means.  If you approach the scriptures with your ministerial use of reason, you will know and understand that 'follow me' means to follow Christ. If we use the ministerial use of reason, we will know and understand that if someone tells you to follow them, they mean a couple of things.  Firstly, and for this discussion something that I'm not going to talk too much about, he wants us to hear his words and obey his commandments.  That makes sense so far.  But there is another meaning that seems to be forgotten most of the time.  That 'follow me' means to follow him.  That is, and try to bear with me on this one, that if we were both going somewhere, and you didn't know the route, then I would tell you to follow me, expecting you to go where I go.  That doesn't mean that in order for us to get to the same destination, I want you to agree with me religiously or politically, though I do anyway.  Rather, it is a matter of saying 'if we want to get to the same destination, then you will have to go where I go.

This isn't even that esoteric of an interpretation.  It's medium-brained at best.  And when I say this, I am doing another Lutheran thing, which is to let scripture interpret scripture.  Letting scripture interpret scripture lets me bring up a wonderful passage, and it's a passage that we all know and are all well aware of.  John 14.  This passage is one that people really want to hear when it comes time to have a funeral.  Very few people spend much time thinking about this passage outside of funerals, but we really should think of it more often, because of what it says about our expectations, about our hope.  When the New Testament says 'always stand ready to give a reason for the hope that dwells within you,' John 14 tells you what that is all about.  In John 14, Jesus gives the culmination of what is expected with his simple commandment of 'follow me.'  "In my father's house are many rooms, 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, that where I am you may be also.  And you know the way to where I am going.'  Thomas said to him , 'Lord, we do not know where you are going, how can we know the way?'"  Jesus is talking about the final fulfillment of following him.  Following him not just in terms of keeping his commandments, not just in terms of doing what he wants you to do, not just in terms of having good opinions and thoughts, but in terms of going where he goes.  The terminus of the call of Christ to follow him is to follow him all the way, to follow him not just to the grave, but to resurrection and to paradise itself.  And his presence in that space, as the way to it himself, is the guarantee of your presence there as well.  Think about it this way - if Jesus tells us to follow him, that only works if we go where he goes.  As I say the final fulfillment of that is in paradise eventually, but if we are people who are going to be living here and now for a spell, what does following him mean now?

Well, remember how I spoke earlier about how if you are going to follow someone, you have to go where they lead?  It's the same concept here, you know.  If you're someone who is wanting to be a follower of Jesus Christ here and now, you need to understand that you need to go where he is.  Now, if you're a Lutheran Christian, this is good news for you, because you don't have to pull any of the moves that the disciples were trying to pull at the moment of ascension.  You don't have to ask if Jesus will at this time restore the kingdom to Israel. You don't have to stare up into the clouds waiting for his return, either.  His kingdom is not of this world, you know, so your best bet would be for you to look for him where he has said he is going to be.  Where is that?

On the night our Lord Jesus was betrayed, he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and gave it to his disciples, and said 'take and eat, this is my body, given for you.  Do this in remembrance of me.'  In the same way after supper, he took the cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them and said 'take and drink, this cup is the new testament in my blood which is shed for you for the forgiveness of sins.  Do this as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.'  We get to ask the good old Lutheran question at this point 'What does this mean?'  What does 'is' mean?  Well, Lutherans would say that is means is.  If Jesus says that it is his body, and it is his blood, then if you're looking to follow Jesus, maybe you should go where he is? And maybe if you're looking for him ,you should go where he promised to be in the here and now.  Not in the sky, not in the Holy City, but where two or three are gathered in his name, and in with and under the bread and wine.

So ultimately, this tends to come down to what Martin Luther spoke about in his sermon on the ascension:

"We must, therefore, conceive of his ascension and Lordship as something active, energetic and continuous, and must not imagine that he situs above while we hold the reins of government down here. Nay, he ascended up thither for the reason that there he can best do his work and exercise dominion.  Had he reamined upon earth in visible form, before the people, he could not have wrought so effecturaly, for all the people could not have been with him and heard him. Therefore, he inaugurated an expedient which made it possible for him to be in touch with all and reign in all, to preach to all and be heard by all, and to be with all.  Therefore, beware lest you imagine within yourself that he has gone, and now is, far away from us. The very opposite is true: While he was on earth, he was far away from us; now he is very near.