The search for meaning and the need for truth are absolute, basic human needs. We are taught from earliest childhood to tell the truth. We grow up expecting that people around us speak truth to us: parents, teachers, clergy, doctors, elected leaders. And we believe that through that truth we will find meaning and purpose. Then we discover that truth is rather a rare commodity and that it is easily hidden or compromised.
It is difficult to remain optimistic in the real world in which we live. But it is that hopeful optimism which is the core of the gospel message. We who follow Christ are challenged to believe this. Yes, there is much that is wrong in our broken world. But we who follow Christ believe that the world and our lives have been patterned on Jesus’ own life, which changes everything.
During these final weeks of the Easter season we have had the opportunity to reflect more deeply on the difference Jesus' death, resurrection and ascension make on our lives. We’ve read from the Book of Acts to see how the early church struggled and survived during its first critical days. This early Christian community was mission-minded, wanting to go out immediately to tell others the good news. But Acts begins with a strange message by the risen Christ to his disciples. He tells them to stay put.
They had gone through some tough times. They watched their Lord and Master betrayed, arrested and executed. This brought them to the edge of despair. They had heard from others that He indeed had risen, but still they doubted and were afraid. Then, finally, they experienced His risen presence for themselves in utter joy. They felt that they were now ready to get on with the business of proclaiming the Good News. Instead they are told to "wait for the promise of the Father."
Truth be told, the disciples really weren't ready to go off spreading the news of his resurrection. They are told to stop a moment, take a breath, and wait for God's promise to be fulfilled. They need to break free of their limited view with their prejudices and their tendency to misinterpret the meaning of Jesus' life. For all of this to happen they will need the help of the Spirit.
The Ascension story is sometimes seen as a conclusion - and in some ways it is. It ends one way the disciples have come to know Jesus. But it is also a bridge to another, new and surprising way that the disciples will come to know Jesus. This new experience of his life with them will be known by the presence and activity of the Spirit in their lives. The Ascension is an in-between time, when one period is ending and a new one is about to begin. But not quite yet.
Through the Spirit’s active presence in our lives, Jesus continues to live and spread the gospel’s good news. In him we have our being and towards him, we journey together. With him as our lens, we can truly view the world to find meaning and truth.
On this feast of the Ascension, we should look for the risen Christ in our joys, in the needs of those around us, and in the opportunities for hope and healing. It does no good to stand looking up into the sky. Christ is to be found in the contours of our lives.
