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A Lectionary Resource for April 27 to June 1 2003
May 29
ASCENSION
Acts 1:1-11
Psalm 47 or 93
Ephesians 1:15-23
Luke 24:44-53
Sermons are not easy to remember, and not always easy to hear. As a young man I heard a sermon on the ascension of Christ that made enough impact for me to remember it. Forty years or so later I can remember that the three points were:
This was a Farewell with a Difference
A Farewell with a Blessing
A Farewell with a Commission.
The difference was that Jesus left in order that the Christ might always be present.
The blessing dripped down from the upraised hands of Jesus like the oil poured on Aaron's head, or the honey dripping from the cask in the speaker's childhood grocery shop. I could visualise the numinous in this experience.
The commission was to go into all the world with the Good News.
Even then I strongly queried the realistic interpretation of the ascension, but felt something of the spiritual power of the story. Now I question the political leverage that has been used to make male church hierarchies more powerful by insinuating their continuity with the hierarchical interpretation of the Trinity. In a three-tier universe the Ascension is a necessary myth to justify the divinity of Christ. In an infinite universe there are great difficulties with literal interpretations.
How then can we teach this story?
What is its value for today's Christians?
The accounts of the Ascension are found in Luke 24 and in Acts 1. There is also a mention in one of the later endings of Mark's gospel. As the Christian Church developed a totally different mythology of Heaven to that which they inherited from Judaism, the Ascension became an essential event to support this new cosmology. No longer was the top tier of the universe inhabited only by God, Elijah, Moses and angels, it had become the place where those who graduated from purgatory found a home.
John Dominic Crossan, in his books on Jesus, also adds another dimension to these stories. In Luke 24:33 it is stated that "the eleven and their companions" were "gathered together". The Ascension was therefore witnessed by a wider group of followers, almost inevitably including women. In Acts 1:2,11 it is clearly stated that it was the apostles, "Men of Galilee", only, who witnessed the Ascension, thus reinforcing their special status as leaders ordained by the risen Lord. Exclusive male apostolic leadership is an early Christian development, and has to be validated by the words or miraculous experiences of Jesus. The gospel of Luke is therefore amended slightly in volume two.
In most churches the designated leader ascends steps to make them higher than the congregation. Some of these steps ascend steeply. This ascension is an important element of the ritual of worship. What does it signify? Who climbs the steps? Who doesn't? Who kneels at the foot of these steps?
The readings from Ephesians1:15-23, and the Psalms (47 or 93), both emphasise the God in the top tier of the universe, enthroned, with the earth under his control. Ephesians adds the theological framework for believing that Jesus is at the right hand of God. This is Good News for people who feel weak, disempowered, excluded, and in need of a strong alliance with ultimate power.
Perhaps this has often been the experience of Jews, and a good reason for the popularity of the King image in Psalms. It is also the experience of many groups of Christians under persecution or ridicule for their faith. It is particularly meaningful in periods when monarchies are the norm.
How would twenty-first century, secular, post-christian kiwis understand this to be relevant for them? Would we use the image of the US Presidency, the British Monarchy, or the local Mayor? In the new society which Jesus promulgated is there in fact a pecking order or is there true anarchy, the absence of power structures?
Our current understandings of the abuse of power at so many levels are a recent privilege. Perhaps then the ascension is an inner journey, not an outer one. Perhaps it is a movement to the centre, not a vertical one. Perhaps it is to give all people responsibility to live in freedom and selfless love, not just to elevate a few to positions of dominance.
The March 10 issue of The Listener has a fascinating feature where some people give their imaginative interpretation of a post US world.
In personal and in political arenas, we need to grasp again the inner meaning and outer application of the Farewell of Jesus and the presence of the Christ.