Ascension of our Lord A - Eph 1. 15-24 Thence and Thither
"He ascended into heaven and ssitteth and the right hand of God the Father Almighty, from thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead." Creeds.
Grant we beseech thee Almighty God, that like as we believe thy only begotten Son Our Lord Jesus Christ to have ascended into the heavens, so we may also in heart and mind thither ascend, and with him continually dwell."
One of the things about the Ascension of Lord, a major feast on par with Easter and Christmas, something that runs by in our creeds, a feast "on the outs", even the Roman Catholic church in the US now celebrates on this Sunday, the Seventh of Easter.
People say these days that this event called the Ascension of our Lord does not offer us a focussed message. We may be confusing that question with considering a comprehensive affirmation of Jesus resurrection life among us from our paschal celebration to the last day.
There is an "ascension" because the Lord has gone away. Or has he? While the disciples stare at an empty sky of Jesus' departure, the angel indicates that the real action of the Jesus movement is grounded at particular times and places. The action with how Jesus is present or will be, is on terra firma - for a time among brothers and sisters until the time when he again set s his foot on earth.
Beyond the difficulty with heaven as a location like any other that is located up from here, there is the assertion that Jesus is "king of kings" and "Lord of lords", the ruler of all things, God's power at work in the world, primarily in the Church.
I can see where the ascended Lord can become an absentee Lord. Christ has delivered us from having anything to do with God, if God's on the cross, should God die on the cross one could understand I'm sure, and then have our proof He's risen and gone. All there is to wait for is (up there) where the (big guy) is.
However, as the gospel of John so glorious highlights for us, what appears to be going away is rather more an intensive presence. Jesus goes away from a present objective to us to a presence that is subjective, in other words, Jesus acts in our lives from the wellsprings of our hearts. As the one who saves us by enduring the hopelessness and death that abound in our lives, we now have hope in His presence bringing the forgiveness of sins and the destruction of the barriers between ourselves and God.
"From thence," from a place alien to us - God's fullness, completeness, and perfection - comes the Son of God to live as humanly as He lives divinely. "Thither" we turn to Him in faith and trust for all he has done for us, the assurance of doing all for us, now and forever. Thence and thither, we live in God.
Grant we beseech thee Almighty God, that like as we believe thy only begotten Son Our Lord Jesus Christ to have ascended into the heavens, so we may also in heart and mind thither ascend, and with him continually dwell."
One of the things about the Ascension of Lord, a major feast on par with Easter and Christmas, something that runs by in our creeds, a feast "on the outs", even the Roman Catholic church in the US now celebrates on this Sunday, the Seventh of Easter.
People say these days that this event called the Ascension of our Lord does not offer us a focussed message. We may be confusing that question with considering a comprehensive affirmation of Jesus resurrection life among us from our paschal celebration to the last day.
There is an "ascension" because the Lord has gone away. Or has he? While the disciples stare at an empty sky of Jesus' departure, the angel indicates that the real action of the Jesus movement is grounded at particular times and places. The action with how Jesus is present or will be, is on terra firma - for a time among brothers and sisters until the time when he again set s his foot on earth.
Beyond the difficulty with heaven as a location like any other that is located up from here, there is the assertion that Jesus is "king of kings" and "Lord of lords", the ruler of all things, God's power at work in the world, primarily in the Church.
I can see where the ascended Lord can become an absentee Lord. Christ has delivered us from having anything to do with God, if God's on the cross, should God die on the cross one could understand I'm sure, and then have our proof He's risen and gone. All there is to wait for is (up there) where the (big guy) is.
However, as the gospel of John so glorious highlights for us, what appears to be going away is rather more an intensive presence. Jesus goes away from a present objective to us to a presence that is subjective, in other words, Jesus acts in our lives from the wellsprings of our hearts. As the one who saves us by enduring the hopelessness and death that abound in our lives, we now have hope in His presence bringing the forgiveness of sins and the destruction of the barriers between ourselves and God.
"From thence," from a place alien to us - God's fullness, completeness, and perfection - comes the Son of God to live as humanly as He lives divinely. "Thither" we turn to Him in faith and trust for all he has done for us, the assurance of doing all for us, now and forever. Thence and thither, we live in God.
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