From Helen
Last Thursday was a great day, there was so much to celebrate. There was the opportunity to vote and exercise our democratic right, there was Liverpool getting through to the final of the Europa cup and most important of all it was the day when we celebrated the Ascension of Jesus.
I may have told you this before but in one of our Church schools every year the local Vicar would go in on ascension day and the whole school would go outside as he talked about the ascension of Jesus and he would send a balloon flying up into the air showing something of the ascension. There was one child who had a problem with this. He noticed that the vicar was right handed and so would send the balloon up to his right, the child pointed out that one year at least Jesus should be sent to the left of the vicar, after all Jesus is everywhere !
Ascension is such a wonderful celebration because it reminds us of the new chapter. Jesus had physically left the earth and yet He had promised there was more, something even better to come. This Sunday could be called a waiting Sunday as this is what the disciples experienced. They were told to wait for something amazing to happen, but they didn't know what.
A Vicar was walking down the street one day when he noticed a very small boy trying to press a doorbell on a house on the other side of the road. However, the boy was very small and the doorbell was too high for him to reach.
After watching the boy’s efforts for some time, the Vicar walked across to the boy and putting his hand on his shoulder, he pushed the doorbell for him. The Vicar then crouched down to the boys level and asked, in the nicest and kindest way he could, 'what now, little man.' The boy replied, "Now we run!"
Sometimes all is not what it seems ! Helping people does not always work out as we might like. For us as believers we could just sit back and hope that everything will be fine. We could hope that everyone will always know about God without us working to show and tell them.
This was not what Jesus called the disciples to do. It’s not what He calls us to do.
When Jesus ascended He didn't just tell the disciples to wait, He called them to do more, He called them to keep building the Church. The disciples needed to move on, they needed to wait but after they waited they needed to go out, and at this time they must have been so confused and scared but there was something more as we will celebrate next week when we think of Pentecost.
God gave a challenge but He didn't leave us without the power to do this. When we heard our reading from the book of Acts (16:16-34) we heard of Paul being attacked for speaking the words of Jesus. In our gospel reading (John 17:20-26) we heard of Jesus praying that we would have power, He prayed that we, the Church, may be one, united as God Himself is united.
That is amazing, Jesus the night before He died was thinking of us. He was concerned about how all believers would cope as they spoke of Him and His words, and His power to save. In Acts, Paul spoke of the need to believe in the Lord Jesus in order to be saved.
This is absolutely amazing, not only did Jesus come amongst us, die for us, rise again, ascend to heaven but He left us more. Jesus prayed for us, He prayed for you, He prayed for me. Jesus wanted us to know what it is like to know Him.
On Ascension Day we were reminded of the awesome power and majesty of Jesus as he left us with the promise of the help of the Holy Spirit, and it is in his power that we must seek the confidence and inspiration to live out our lives for him.
This means seeing the world as God sees it, this means understanding the pain and joy of others.
There’s a prayer by the French author, Michel Quoist, which sums up the way that we should be looking at the world,
If only we knew how to look at life as God sees it, we would realise that nothing is secular in this world, but that everything contributes to the building of the kingdom of God. To have faith is not only to raise one’s eyes to God to contemplate him; it is also to look at this world – but with Christ’s eyes.
If we had allowed Christ to penetrate our whole being, the world would no longer be an obstacle, but it would be a perpetual incentive to work for God in order that his kingdom might come on earth as it is in heaven.’
God came amongst us, He prayed for us, He is with us, and He calls us to wait for more of Him in our lives, in our Church, in the world around us. If we truly believe that God is everywhere then we can know that God cares for everything and we are to do that too. We are to take time out to wait but we need to always remember that we are called to do more, the world around us is in pain and we have the news that can change people.
In this period between the ascension of Jesus and the giving of the gift of the Holy Spirit, the early followers of Jesus spent their time in fellowship, in prayer and contemplation – they were no doubt filled with joy and excitement and perhaps a little fear of what lay ahead, but they were ready and confident, trusting in God to satisfy every need. It’s not always easy for us to feel that way ourselves but we are to do it, and trusting in God in praying to Him then we can have that power.
I would like to finish with some words from William Temple which if you were at the service on Thursday you will have heard before, words that remind us that in all situations God is with us and He is not contained to one place but is everywhere…
In the days of his earthly ministry, only those could speak to Jesus who came where he was. If he was in Galilee, people could not find him in Jerusalem; if he was in Jerusalem, they could not find him in Galilee. But his ascension means that he is perfectly united with God, and we are with him wherever we are present to God, and this is everywhere and always.’
Today as we try to reflect the joy and excitement of those early followers in every part of our lives, may we also have the confidence and faith to reflect on what’s really important, both in our lives and in our Church. And may we have the faith and trust to know that God is everywhere and He is with us always. AMEN
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