This is the fifth week of a message series for the Easter Season called
“Ground-breaking”. It is a unique series for us because of its double meaning.
First, later this month we are actually going to be breaking ground on a
1500sq. ft expansion which is part of our Generations campaign. This new space
on to the front of our Church will connect and complete our campus and provide
us with additional space for groups, activities and our growing Family of
Faith. (See the drawings in Parish Centre). Second - we are in the Season which
celebrates the most ground breaking event in history – Easter.
A ground breaking describes
something that has never been seen or done or even thought of before - its
pioneering. Usually is surprises and shocks and maybe shapes culture or
redefines the way people live or work. Something ground breaking changes
stuff....and certainly Easter was that..... it changed things.... it was ground-breaking
- the impact is still being felt today
This first week we look at
that heart of the ground-breaking of the Resurrection is the fact of its a new
vision - one of Mercy. In our
second week we took a look at Fear and how we can overcome up due to the Resurrection
of Jesus by making three things a part of our life – the call to “feed,
tend, go.” Then we looked at what it takes to be a ground breaking Church. Last
week we are invited to ask ourselves if we are willing to “stand up?” and this
week is all about presence and investment.
The feast
of the Ascension can best be described as a connecting time in this Easter
season. It is “a time between times”—a moment when we have left one place in
our faith journey but have not yet reached the second. Today’s narratives
describe the Ascension as embellishing and enriching the meaning of the
Resurrection: the same Jesus we have come to know and love in his humanity, we
now celebrate in the fullness of his divinity at the right hand of the Father.
Jesus is one and the same.
With his two brief accounts of the Ascension (in the
Gospel and in Acts), Luke remains our main source of information about Jesus’
Ascension to heaven. What is striking here is that the passage speaks more
about the disciples—their fears, their questions and their mission—than about
Jesus himself. Throughout the resurrection narratives, Jesus has helped the
disciples to understand the story of Jesus within the larger story of salvation history.
Beginning with Moses and all the prophets, Jesus indicates that the messiah
would not immediately be a glorious king, but on the contrary, that it was
necessary that he should suffer and die before entering into his glory. In this
light, the suffering and death of Jesus do not destroy the messianic
credentials as the disciples had feared. Indeed, their hearts now “burn” as he
opens the scriptures to them. The angels in the tomb (“Remember what he said to
you…that the Son of Man must be handed over to sinners and crucified.”), Jesus
on the road to Emmaus (“Was it not
necessary that the Messiah should suffer these things and enter into his glory?”), and now Jesus at the
supper with all the disciples (“Thus it is written that the Messiah would
suffer and rise from the dead on the third day.”)—all contain words that try to help
them to understand this. This is what makes them witnesses of the
resurrection and ministers of the word….they just need to wait for the
outpouring of the Spirit (an allusion to the prophet Joel 3:1-5, who looks
forward to the day when God will “pour out the Spirit upon all flesh”) which
they will receive at Pentecost. It will be
through the Spirit’s presence and power that Jesus’ commission for mission will
be extended to the entire world.
Our
current Scripture readings will guide us through this paradox as they help us
commemorate a turning point in the life of the Church…a groundbreaking
of sorts. With the celebration of Jesus’ Ascension to the “right hand of the
Father,” one part of the story now comes to an end. We will soon celebrate the
coming of the Spirit—Pentecost—the energizing power and guiding light of all
the baptized: God’s reign is now at hand; the Spirit is now with us; the
Kingdom is beginning to flourish; the Master Plan is unfolding as it
should and each one of us has a major
part to play in the process.
Yet,
in this process, the disciples have their own “sweet sorrow” to go through.
They are understandably sad that Jesus in His bodily form had left them. No
doubt they are blankly staring after him as the angels say to them: “Men of
Galilee, why are you standing there looking at the sky?” Yet, the message of
the angels also gives hope, when they continue: “This Jesus who has been taken
up from you into heaven will return in the same way.” Indeed, in the gospel
reading, Jesus tells the disciples that he has not left them “orphans,” for He
will send “the promise of my Father upon you [which will] clothe you with power
from on high.”
This
speaks to the power if an impression. Its like that in our relationship with
Mothers too. They may not be physically with us, but we can hear their voice,
sense their advice and even know what “they would want us to do.” The Ascension reaffirms for us that the power
of our presence and investment in the life of others is significant, but it
connects us to the reality that Christ’s enduring presence remains active and
alive in His Church – a groundbreaking Church – called to embrace others with a
new vision - one of Mercy. Called to overcome Fear due to the Resurrection of
Jesus by making three things a part of our life – the call to “feed,
tend, go.” Called to be willing to “stand up and called to invest and invite
others into our midst. May it be so!
Loving God,
as a mother gives life and nourishment to her children,
so you watch over your Church.
Bless these women,
that they may be strengthened as Christian mothers.
Let the example of their faith and love shine forth.
Grant that we, their sons and daughters,
may honor them always
with a spirit of profound respect.
Grant this through Christ our Lord.
as a mother gives life and nourishment to her children,
so you watch over your Church.
Bless these women,
that they may be strengthened as Christian mothers.
Let the example of their faith and love shine forth.
Grant that we, their sons and daughters,
may honor them always
with a spirit of profound respect.
Grant this through Christ our Lord.