The Ascension Of Our Lord
Devotional
Streams of Living Water
Lectionary Devotional for Cycle B
Acts 1:1-11
As they were watching, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight.
-- Acts 1:9b
As we celebrate the ascension, we are witnessing the movement from Jesus the particular person to the universal Christ. Here was Jesus who had walked this earth with his disciples. He was a person who could be seen, touched, and held on to. Yet if he remained that person, he would have become an idol. He would have been the revelation of God frozen into a particular time and place on earth. But now he was "lifted up and a cloud took him" (v. 9). From the exodus, where a cloud led the people by day, to the mount of transfiguration, where God spoke to the disciples out of a cloud, the cloud has been a symbol of God's presence.
The cloud both hides and reveals -- now this cloud takes Jesus. God takes Jesus back to himself. No longer is Jesus only in one place at a time. Now where God is, Jesus is. The Christ is now sent to be among the people in a universal way. Christ is now among us as one who is high and lifted up. Like these first disciples, the church cannot possess Christ even though Christ is among them. The task of the church is to discern the presence of Christ both among them and in the larger world that God seeks to redeem. The scriptures become our guidebook, and the first major clue is that Christ is always out ahead of us. We are informed by the traditions of the past, but we are invited to meet Christ in the future.
Psalm 47
God is king over the nations; God sits on his holy throne.
-- Psalm 47:8
This psalm is normally referred to as an enthronement psalm. The assumption is that it was used in the yearly enthronement liturgy in which the ark, which symbolized God's presence, was carried out of the temple, the temple was cleansed, and then the ark was carried back into the temple indicating God's renewed rule over all the earth. "For God is king of all the earth; sing praises with a psalm" (v. 7). The church uses this psalm on the Sunday that we recognize the ascension of Jesus because as Jesus was lifted up, he transcended the particular moment in time and assumed his rightful place as Lord of creation. For individual Christians and churches, it becomes a time in which we recognize again that Christ is Lord of our lives.
In the same way that "God has gone up with a shout, the Lord with the sound of a trumpet" (v. 5), so Christ has been lifted up in our lives and deserves our acclamation. In an age when the name of Jesus Christ is mostly used as an exclamation with little significance, it might be very powerful for the church to engage in a liturgy in which Christ reenters the church, and we are reminded again of the sacredness of the name above all names. To reexamine the meaning of acclaiming Jesus as Lord of our life and recommitting ourselves to obedience in his name could become an important preparation for the Pentecost experience in which the Spirit of God again infuses the church with power. To recognize that Jesus is not only our Lord but Lord "of all the earth" and "over the nations" (v. 8), might give a new perspective to how we live our lives.
Ephesians 1:15-23
And he has put all things under his feet and has made him the head over all things for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.
-- Ephesians 1:22-23
The challenge for Christian believers in celebrating the ascension of Christ is to find our place in the acknowledged reign of Christ. Paul is clear that God has granted Christ the power that is "far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the age to come" (1:3). Paul is equally clear that God "has made him the head over all things for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all" (vv. 22-23). The historical challenge is that the church has often become arrogant when it tried to exercise dominion over other authorities and powers on the earth.
Perhaps in reaction to this misuse of power, or perhaps just in rebellion against acknowledging any authority in our life, vast numbers of self-proclaimed Christians have attempted to divorce themselves from what Paul refers to as the body of Christ on earth. If we acknowledge Christ as Lord of the earth and our Lord, what is our relationship to the church, "which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all"? (v. 23). Has the present divided and often quarrelsome state of the church become the Christian wilderness that we must pass through before we can fully understand what it means to trust Christ as Lord? In Deuteronomy, the people are told that the wilderness experience was a time of preparation. "Remember the long way that the Lord your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, in order to humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commandments" (Deuteronomy 8:2).
It is clear that many Christians are starving for spiritual food and, like in the days of Moses, are in a rebellious mood. They leave the church, become eclectic in their religious potluck, and fail to understand that "he humbled you by letting you hunger, then by feeding you with manna, with which neither you nor your ancestors were acquainted, in order to make you understand that one does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord" (Deuteronomy 8:3). Perhaps we must relearn that the church best serves by being a servant like its Lord and that in acknowledging Christ as Lord, we are recommitting ourselves to the one truth that gives us unity.
Luke 24:44-53
So stay here in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.
-- Luke 24:49b
The disciples have just experienced two major life-changing experiences. First, the risen Jesus "opened their minds to understand the scriptures" (v. 45), and then they saw him being "carried up into heaven" (v. 51). Given the impatient activism of our society, the natural tendency when we have come to a new insight is to want to act on our new understanding. These disciples were commanded to wait until God filled them with power. They were told to hurry up and wait. Having patience to wait upon God is not natural to us. Some of the conflict among churches is an exhibition of impatience.
Our society is falling apart, and we fight among ourselves over what actions we should take. Everybody is certain they know which issues should be acted upon. Perhaps we need to exercise more patience, waiting for the Lord to fill us with power. The disciples spent their waiting time "continually in the temple blessing God" (v. 53). They had their marching orders. "... Repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem" (v. 47). For us who have been granted a moveable Jerusalem in the church, perhaps we would have less in-fighting and a stronger testimony for the nations if we were willing to proclaim repentance and forgiveness to each other and then have the patience to wait upon the Lord to understand how we are to proclaim the same message to the larger world.
As they were watching, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight.
-- Acts 1:9b
As we celebrate the ascension, we are witnessing the movement from Jesus the particular person to the universal Christ. Here was Jesus who had walked this earth with his disciples. He was a person who could be seen, touched, and held on to. Yet if he remained that person, he would have become an idol. He would have been the revelation of God frozen into a particular time and place on earth. But now he was "lifted up and a cloud took him" (v. 9). From the exodus, where a cloud led the people by day, to the mount of transfiguration, where God spoke to the disciples out of a cloud, the cloud has been a symbol of God's presence.
The cloud both hides and reveals -- now this cloud takes Jesus. God takes Jesus back to himself. No longer is Jesus only in one place at a time. Now where God is, Jesus is. The Christ is now sent to be among the people in a universal way. Christ is now among us as one who is high and lifted up. Like these first disciples, the church cannot possess Christ even though Christ is among them. The task of the church is to discern the presence of Christ both among them and in the larger world that God seeks to redeem. The scriptures become our guidebook, and the first major clue is that Christ is always out ahead of us. We are informed by the traditions of the past, but we are invited to meet Christ in the future.
Psalm 47
God is king over the nations; God sits on his holy throne.
-- Psalm 47:8
This psalm is normally referred to as an enthronement psalm. The assumption is that it was used in the yearly enthronement liturgy in which the ark, which symbolized God's presence, was carried out of the temple, the temple was cleansed, and then the ark was carried back into the temple indicating God's renewed rule over all the earth. "For God is king of all the earth; sing praises with a psalm" (v. 7). The church uses this psalm on the Sunday that we recognize the ascension of Jesus because as Jesus was lifted up, he transcended the particular moment in time and assumed his rightful place as Lord of creation. For individual Christians and churches, it becomes a time in which we recognize again that Christ is Lord of our lives.
In the same way that "God has gone up with a shout, the Lord with the sound of a trumpet" (v. 5), so Christ has been lifted up in our lives and deserves our acclamation. In an age when the name of Jesus Christ is mostly used as an exclamation with little significance, it might be very powerful for the church to engage in a liturgy in which Christ reenters the church, and we are reminded again of the sacredness of the name above all names. To reexamine the meaning of acclaiming Jesus as Lord of our life and recommitting ourselves to obedience in his name could become an important preparation for the Pentecost experience in which the Spirit of God again infuses the church with power. To recognize that Jesus is not only our Lord but Lord "of all the earth" and "over the nations" (v. 8), might give a new perspective to how we live our lives.
Ephesians 1:15-23
And he has put all things under his feet and has made him the head over all things for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.
-- Ephesians 1:22-23
The challenge for Christian believers in celebrating the ascension of Christ is to find our place in the acknowledged reign of Christ. Paul is clear that God has granted Christ the power that is "far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the age to come" (1:3). Paul is equally clear that God "has made him the head over all things for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all" (vv. 22-23). The historical challenge is that the church has often become arrogant when it tried to exercise dominion over other authorities and powers on the earth.
Perhaps in reaction to this misuse of power, or perhaps just in rebellion against acknowledging any authority in our life, vast numbers of self-proclaimed Christians have attempted to divorce themselves from what Paul refers to as the body of Christ on earth. If we acknowledge Christ as Lord of the earth and our Lord, what is our relationship to the church, "which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all"? (v. 23). Has the present divided and often quarrelsome state of the church become the Christian wilderness that we must pass through before we can fully understand what it means to trust Christ as Lord? In Deuteronomy, the people are told that the wilderness experience was a time of preparation. "Remember the long way that the Lord your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, in order to humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commandments" (Deuteronomy 8:2).
It is clear that many Christians are starving for spiritual food and, like in the days of Moses, are in a rebellious mood. They leave the church, become eclectic in their religious potluck, and fail to understand that "he humbled you by letting you hunger, then by feeding you with manna, with which neither you nor your ancestors were acquainted, in order to make you understand that one does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord" (Deuteronomy 8:3). Perhaps we must relearn that the church best serves by being a servant like its Lord and that in acknowledging Christ as Lord, we are recommitting ourselves to the one truth that gives us unity.
Luke 24:44-53
So stay here in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.
-- Luke 24:49b
The disciples have just experienced two major life-changing experiences. First, the risen Jesus "opened their minds to understand the scriptures" (v. 45), and then they saw him being "carried up into heaven" (v. 51). Given the impatient activism of our society, the natural tendency when we have come to a new insight is to want to act on our new understanding. These disciples were commanded to wait until God filled them with power. They were told to hurry up and wait. Having patience to wait upon God is not natural to us. Some of the conflict among churches is an exhibition of impatience.
Our society is falling apart, and we fight among ourselves over what actions we should take. Everybody is certain they know which issues should be acted upon. Perhaps we need to exercise more patience, waiting for the Lord to fill us with power. The disciples spent their waiting time "continually in the temple blessing God" (v. 53). They had their marching orders. "... Repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem" (v. 47). For us who have been granted a moveable Jerusalem in the church, perhaps we would have less in-fighting and a stronger testimony for the nations if we were willing to proclaim repentance and forgiveness to each other and then have the patience to wait upon the Lord to understand how we are to proclaim the same message to the larger world.
