I graduated from high school on this day thirty years ago. Graduations are times of transition as one chapter of life ends and another begins. One unique thing about my high school graduation day is that I did not spend one minute of it in my home. I woke up that morning on the campus of Eastern Illinois University which is the site of the Illinois High School Association state track finals. Our team was one of many teams that stayed in the dormitories at the university. My race was not until the second day of the meet so on the first day I was watching the competition and supporting my teammates. Late in the afternoon a coach and the graduating seniors made the nearly two-hour trip back to our school in a van. We arrived at the school about an hour before the graduation ceremony which gave us a chance to shower and change into our graduation regalia. We then participated in the graduation ceremony and afterward we were allowed to have a few moments with friends and family before we were in the van to head back to the track meet. We returned around midnight and I did not sleep well at all as I was still feeling the emotions of graduation and being nervous about my race the next day. I ran my race and I did not do as well as I wanted. I ran much slower than my qualifying time but as I left the track my disappointment was tempered somewhat by the fact that I had actually made it to the state finals after many years of disciplined running. We returned home after the track meet and the next day was a Sunday and my parents hosted a graduation party in my honor. It was a memorable afternoon spent with family and friends. To this day I appreciate how loved and supported I am by friends and family. I received numerous gifts and one of those gifts was a five-dollar laundry basket from Wal-Mart that is still in use today in my apartment. The day after the party I showed up to work at Hardee’s fast-food restaurant which is where I would be employed until leaving for college at the end of the summer. Despite my academic and athletic accomplishments which had just been celebrated I was starting at the bottom just like anyone else. The only status that I had was that since I was eighteen, I was allowed to operate the beef slicer to make the roast beef sandwiches.
When I think back to that four-day period of thirty years ago it is very obvious that it was a time of transition. I look back fondly at those days and I think about the lessons that I learned and how they shaped me into the person that I am today. In the Ascension story it is obvious that the disciples are also at a transition point. Jesus has risen from the dead which is good news however it is quite clear in this text that things were not going to return to how they were before. When Jesus appeared on Easter evening the disciples originally thought that he was a ghost. Today’s Gospel passage starts with Jesus telling the disciples that “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you.” Jesus was definitely there and he had just eaten a piece of broiled fish so the disciples were probably somewhat confused that Jesus spoke to them as if he were already gone. It is clear that the pre-Easter Jesus has not returned and that the nature of the relationship that the disciples will now have with Jesus is going to be quite different than what it was before.
Like any good educator Jesus gives the disciples the tools that they will need as they enter a rapidly changing world. Being well prepared for the future means being prepared to deal with change because change is inevitable. Our jobs do not stay the same as technology advances and economies are restructured. Our relationships are often in flux as cherished loved ones pass on and new generations come into being. We move into new homes and even if we stay in the same residence for many years, we see that our neighbors seem to be constantly moving in and out of the neighborhood. Jesus prepares the disciples for the reality of a changing world by teaching them to turn to the scriptures for guidance. Just as he did when he taught the travelers on the road to Emmaus Jesus makes it clear that he came not to abolish the law and the prophets but that he is the fulfillment of the scriptures. In the law, the prophets, and the psalms of the Hebrew scriptures God promises faithful love to God’s people as well as justice and freedom for the oppressed. We have the gift of scripture which is a resource to which we can always turn and in scripture we see that we worship a God who loves us so much that this God is present with us and shares our suffering as part of the work of saving the world.
Jesus is present not only in scripture but he is present everywhere. Without the Ascension it is very possible that we would not be here today worshiping God. In the ancient Middle East, each nation had a god and that god was generally thought to rule over a specific territory. With the Ascension it is now clear that God is not limited to any one time or place. The pre-Easter Jesus did many great miracles but even when he was walking on water, healing the sick, and feeding five thousand people Jesus appeared in one particular place at one particular time just like any human being. After the Ascension Jesus is everywhere and Jesus can be experienced and known at any time and in any place. Jesus is clear that he is the Lord of the entire world as he tells the disciples that they are to proclaim repentance and forgiveness of sins to all nations. It is not only members of the nation of Israel but it is each and every nation all over the world that has the opportunity to experience the Risen Jesus. The promise of God has always included repentance and forgiveness of sins. When the Israelites rebelled against God the invitation to return to the Lord was always present. Now these promises that were made to Israel are made to all of God’s children throughout the world.
After graduation the class scatters and everyone goes their separate ways. Everyone takes the lessons that they learned with them to a new situation. In some ways it is sad but moving on is inevitable and it is the only way that growth can occur. The good news about Jesus spread because the apostles possessing what they learned from Jesus proclaimed to other nations the gifts of repentance and forgiveness. The Kingdom of God grows through divine intervention but it is not a singular cosmic event like the Ascension that spreads the gospel but it is God working through individuals who share their experience of Christ’s love that allows people to experience the salvation promised to us in Jesus.
The Ascension story ends with Jesus blessing the disciples before being carried up into heaven. The timing of this has always intrigued me. Biblical scholars are certain of the common authorship of Luke and Acts. In Acts we read that Jesus appeared over forty days between Resurrection and Ascension. However, in Luke there is no mention of a time gap so it appears to me that on Easter night Jesus and the disciples made the two mile walk to Bethany where Jesus ascended into heaven. There is no need to reconcile this discrepancy even though I am partial to the idea that on that first Easter Day everything happened including the empty tomb, the Resurrection appearances, and the Ascension. I personally view the Crucifixion, Resurrection, and Ascension as one saving act that occurred in a three-day period. In the end it does not matter whether the Ascension happened on Easter evening or forty days later. Just as none of us remember the specifics of the algebra equations we solved or the essays that we wrote, we know that what matters is that we were prepared by our teachers to enter the world just as Jesus the Great Teacher prepared the disciples for the world that they would now face.
Jesus blessed the disciples and after the Ascension the disciples continually worshiped God and blessed God in the temple. I love that the Gospel of Luke ends in this way. We have been blessed by God and saved by our Lord Jesus Christ. Because we are blessed, we have the opportunity to share our blessings with others. The things that we learned in school did not seem to have much meaning at the time. However, the basic skills that we learned in school have the ability to change the world. No matter what your job is the fundamentals like the basic math and communication skills that you learned allow you to accomplish your work in the world which brings meaning and purpose to you and to others. The basics that we learned in school allow us to bring blessings to others as we all contribute to making our society function and hopefully make the world just a little bit better each day.
In the Ascension Jesus prepares not only his disciples but also those of us alive today to face the reality of life in a changing world. Jesus is not only present in scripture but Jesus also fulfills scripture. Jesus is not limited to one time and place but Jesus goes with us wherever we go which allows us to take the Gospel to new places. The ability to take the Gospel to new places is a blessing and is possible only because we are blessed by God. Whether you are graduating this year or you graduated thirty years ago or sixty years ago be assured that God is always with you and has prepared you for discipleship.
- Vicar Kyle Anderson