Ascension is not about where Jesus went, but about what he asks of us as His disciples.
There are two times in the Gospels when we get glimpses of God’s creation, that is so much bigger than we can imagine – glimpses of God, who is so much bigger than we can imagine – that it defies our understanding.
The first was in the transfiguration of the Lord on the top of Mount Tabor, as Luke tells us in Chapter 9 of his gospel. The second is at the Ascension, which we read today.
In both cases, what the apostles beheld was so extraordinary, so beyond their experience and understanding, that words fail to describe fully the power and mystery of the experience.
You and I have had those kinds of moments too. For me, one of those was being present at the birth of my children. And my grandchildren.
Words can never give justice to the reality of that experience. And I am sure you have had those moments too. These moments of looking up to heaven, being on the mountain-top, these experiences of being elated are necessary and important in our lives. They are indeed moments of pure Grace.
However, the fruits of those moments are truly expressed in the ordinariness of everyday life. Of daily grinds and sleepless nights.
At the transfiguration. Peter wanted to pitch tents and stay there. At the Ascension, the apostles just stood there, staring up into the heavens. But in both cases, they were brought back to earth.
At the Transfiguration, Jesus brought them down from the mountaintop into the experience of daily life, and the journey towards Jerusalem. And at the Ascension, the angels, the “mysterious figures in white robes” ask them what are they just standing there staring up at the sky.
In the Gospel, Jesus tells them to announce to all nations the good news that he had preached, and to bear witness with their own lives to what he had preached.
The Feast of the Ascension is not about wondering how God ascended. About whether Heaven is a ‘place in the sky’, or to use a more contemporary metaphor, another dimension of existence ….. for all we know, Heaven might be all around us, but not visible to our feeble and clouded senses.
Ascension is not about where Jesus went, but about what he asks of us as His disciples
The Disciples couldn’t possibly be “witnesses not only in Jerusalem but throughout Judaea and Samaria, and indeed to earth’s remotest end”, if they kept standing there just gazing at the sky. And neither can you or I.
God has called you and I to announce to all nations the good news that Jesus had preached, and to bear witness with our own lives to God’s message to transform this world. To let Love be our guiding principle. To care for others and share with others. To speak out for what is true, and right, and just, and wise. And above all, to believe in God’s mercy towards us, and to evidence that Mercy in our relationship with others.
And there is another hint in todays Gospel.
He announced that mission, our mission, at Bethany. Beth in Hebrew means “House or Home”. Ani is short for Anawim. The poor and lowly ones. The outcasts and marginalised of society. Bethany was where the poor, the needy, the outcasts of society lived.
And you and I are called to live out our mission of love, of caring, of revealing the true essence of God, to those who are most in the need of an experience of Gods love, mediated though our actions and revealed in our love for them.
All of humanity is in this together, and each one of us has a crucial role to play.
Our mission, our commitment to transforming the world through Love in action is here, on this Earth, and in this life, beginning with those who most need to experience Love, God’s love, in their lives.
If we do that, then Heaven – whatever or wherever it is – will take care of itself.
Ascension is not about where Jesus went, but about what he asks of you and I as His disciples