Acts 1:6-14

Then they gathered around him and asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?”

He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight.

They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. ‘Men of Galilee,’ they said, ‘why do you stand here looking into the sky? The same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.’

Then the apostles returned to Jerusalem from the hill called the Mount of Olives, a Sabbath day’s walk from the city. When they arrived, they went upstairs to the room where they were staying. Those present were Peter, John, James and Andrew: Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew; James son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of James. They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the woman and May the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers.

Let us pray,

May the words of my mouth, and the meditations of all of our hearts, be pleasing and acceptable to you, our rock and our redeemer…

Today is a very special Sunday. Today is Ascension Sunday. It is the last Sunday of Easter. The Sunday before we celebrate Pentecost. It is the day where we celebrate Jesus’ ascension into heaven. Where Jesus is welcomed into the Father’s presence. Jesus’ ascension proves that he is Lord. Because only God has the power to rise from the dead and return to the Father in heaven. So today we celebrate that Jesus is God. That there are no other rulers but Jesus. 

Ascension concludes Jesus’ earthly ministry. It is the event that allows Jesus to send the Holy Spirit. The Spirit will aid the disciples as they fulfil Jesus’ commission- to share the good news with every nation and every peoples. But even with the Spirit, the disciples must figure out how to live without his physical, visible presence among them. Our Scripture reading for today reminds us that because of Jesus’ ascension, nothing and no one can separate us from God.

In our Scripture reading for today, the disciples gather together waiting for God. Waiting for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. And while they are waiting, they ask Jesus if now is the time that Jesus is going to restore the kingdom of Israel.

Jesus responds by telling them that they’re going to have to wait a while longer. Because it is not for you or me to know when the Father will act. He instructs them to go back to the city and wait. While they are waiting, Jesus ascends to the Father and the disciples return to Jerusalem. The disciples isolate together in an upstairs guest room. While they wait, they pray.

What I love about our Scripture reading for today is that it illustrates that we do not control when or how God’s Spirit interacts with us. Sometimes the Spirit moves so quickly and clearly through us that we feel like a little kid, riding a roller-coaster, hanging on for dear life. Other times we, like the disciples, have to wait upon the Spirit. And it is in that period of waiting that we draw closest to God.

I know that in my own life, I do not enjoy waiting upon the Spirit’s guidance. I do not enjoy waiting because it makes me feel like I’m not in control of my own life. I’ve learned in these periods of waiting that I’m not, but so far this knowledge has not improved my attitude about waiting. I’ve also found in my own life that periods of waiting are usually followed by major changes. I know something big is about to happen, but I don’t know what, and the unknown makes me anxious. 

To me, this ‘yellow’ phase of re-opening Pennsylvania feels like a community wide waiting game. Particularly during this first full week of eased stay-at-home order, and the opening of many retail establishments. We’re waiting to see if easing restrictions will lead to a surge in coronavirus cases. We’re waiting to see how comfortable people feel being in public with no treatment or cure for coronavirus yet found. We’re waiting to see what impact our new normal will have on our mental health, our finances, and our sense of who we are.

When I was in Guatemala last winter, I learned an important lesson about waiting upon the Spirit. Guatemala was the country where half of our group, myself included, came down with a nasty stomach bug. Our bodies weren’t used to Guatemalan food and our tummies were not happy. The stomach bug ranged in severity. The younger folks just had a couple days of dehydration and diarrhea. But some of the older participants developed much more severe symptoms. One had to be hospitalized and return home early she was so sick.

During the height of our illness, those of us who could eat gathered in the dining hall for dinner. Our practice throughout our trip was to participate in a devotion together after dinner. I can’t remember who lead the devotion that night, but I do remember the prayer they shared. It is a prayer written by the Catholic monk Thomas Merton. It goes: 

Friends, the most helpful thing I have found to do during periods of waiting is to pray. To acknowledge that I do not know what I am doing. But I trust that God does. And I trust that God will not leave me to face my perils alone. In these waiting prayers I confess that what I thought was going to happen isn’t and that’s okay. Because it is in these moments of waiting that I remember that God is in control, not me.

As Pennsylvania transitions to the yellow phase of re-opening, Session and I are working to communicate our plans for re-opening to you this week. We appreciate your patience as we weigh the risks of reopening and the restrictions necessary to mitigate these risks. Our plan for re-opening comes out of the many, many prayers we prayed as we waited for the Spirit’s prompting. We know that no plan eliminates all risk. And we know that our plan is bound to ruffle a few feathers. But we trust that because Jesus is Lord, and that God acts on God’s own time, things will be different going forward- and that’s okay.

In my theology class in seminary when we learned about the ascension, my professor said that ascension clarifies what the resurrection means. What he meant by that is that Jesus returning to the Father was God’s plan all along. Jesus didn’t come to die, but to defeat death and return to the Father. The same God who suffered death and rejection by the world, now welcomes us at the right hand of the Father. Ascension reminds us that Jesus is God’s plan for the world. And neither death nor life. Minions or a global pandemic. Can stop God from acting in our world for our benefit.

Thanks be to God,

In Jesus’ name 

Amen.