Ascension Day

A reflection on Ascension Day
(Acts 1:1-11, Psalm 47, Ephesians 1:15-23, Luke 24:44-53)

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Today is 40 days after Easter Sunday, the day we commemorate Jesus’ return to the realm of Heaven and the commissioning of Jesus’ Followers as the witnesses of what it is to be the Kingdom-on-earth-as-in-heaven. This was the coming together of all that Jesus had been teaching them, the lived experience of proclaiming the bread and wine to be Jesus’ body and blood as the nourishment for the Image of God within us. To Follow Jesus is to be Image Bearers of God and to bear witness in the world of the power of God’s Love for all people. This living out of our core identity as God’s Beloved is what Paul used the phrase Body of Christ to describe.

The Body of Christ is one of those church phrases that can be over used so that we can tend to consider it to be some magical incantation that is to solve all of our relationship problems. When folks aren’t getting along or some folks are behaving in ways that bring harm to the community, simply to remind us that we are the Body of Christ as a way to dismiss the harm done is misusing the idea of being the Body of Christ.

Have you ever gone to the doctor with a particular complaint only to find out that what you are experiencing is only a symptom of something else? Our physical, human bodies function as a whole. When one part isn’t functioning properly it impacts our entire body, even if we try to ignore this fact. To medicate the symptoms without addressing the underlying issue does not bring about healing. The Body of Christ functions the same way. When some aren’t functioning properly, it impacts all of us. And at times we are all the part that isn’t functioning properly.

When I harbor anger or resentment or shame or guilt, denying it or pretending it isn’t real, I not only cause harm to my own self but this is what causes me to harm others, be it emotionally, physically, or spiritually. With the understanding that I am part of something so much greater than myself, I am responsible for working through that which causes me to, either intentionally or unintentionally, harm others. The self work we do as God’s Beloved is life-long work. It is challenging work. It is the wise work of knowing that I can’t change or fix anyone else but I can do what I need to do to be emotionally, spiritually, and physically well.

But, please, don’t hear me saying we all have to be perfect. No one needs that pressure! And it isn’t even pressure that God puts on us. And before you quote Matthew 5:48 where in our English translations Jesus says, “be perfect as God is perfect”, the Greek word doesn’t mean without flaw, it means to be whole or complete. We are fully the humans we are always becoming when we are in healthy relationship with God, others, and ourselves.

We are commissioned to be the physical incarnation (is that redundant?) of Jesus on earth, as Jesus is in Heaven. Each day, with each encounter we have with others, we are to bear the Image of God within us, to reveal God’s Love to welcome others into The Kingdom. Some days we do this better than other days, as so we ask God to show us how we can heal and grow into who and Whose we are always becoming. And we do the challenging work that is necessary for healthy relationships.

Paul’s prayer for the Church in Ephesus is a good one to pray for ourselves and each other (Ephesians 1:17-19, slightly altered by me to help us look within rather than putting our own ill health on others):

May the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give us a spirit of wisdom and revelation as we come to know him, so that, with the eyes of our heart enlightened, we may perceive what is the hope to which he has called us, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance among the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power for us who believe, according to the working of his great power. Amen.

And if you want a really good discussion on The Ascension, I highly recommend this video and article from BibleProject.

Keep Lovin’ louder than the hate, Y’all!