CREATIVE ABSENCE
Ken Peterson
5-16-04
Acts 1: 1-11
Annually, we keep in mind some of the great truths of the church through the church calendar: Advent preparing for Christmas; Lent preparing for Easter; and the coming of the Holy Spirit that gives birth to the church on Pentecost. We are in that time of the church year between Easter and Pentecost (which is two weeks away). This morning we’re going to ponder a watershed event that takes place ten days before Pentecost and 40 days after the resurrection of Christ– the ascension. We rightly celebrate Jesus’ coming and His resurrection from the dead. But, Scripture reminds us we also have good reason to celebrate His leaving us in His ascension into heaven.
Unfortunately, the ascension often gets missed because it doesn’t fall on a Sunday. It is always ends up on a Thursday, and since most churches don’t have daily services, this doctrine can get ignored. In fact, in 34 years of preaching, I can’t recall that I’ve ever specifically preached on the ascension. How many of you recall off-hand a sermon on the ascension? Now, lest you think I’m too negligent in doctrine, I have certainly taught about it in Bible studies– but a sermon, no. So, we’re breaking new ground!
Let’s look now at Luke’s account as he begins the book of Acts, the history of the early church. We’re reading Acts 1:1-11, page 1055 in your pew bibles.
LEFT!
I well remember the feeling when my parents left me at college. I grew up in Kalispell, Montana in a small town about twice the size of Omak. It felt like a very insignificant place to me. This was before Montana acquired a certain charm to the rest of the world. I went to college in Seattle which was 600 mi. away. Of course I was in absolute awe of such a big city and both excited and intimidated by it. I did not have my own car, so my parents took me to school, got me moved in, then left.
Now I was a real homebody. I loved being home, it always felt safe and secure to me. I never even went to church camp or scout camp. I had no desire to be away from home. I know some young people can hardly wait to get away from home– but that was not me. Here I was all of a sudden left at a college where I knew no one and in a huge city I had no idea how to navigate in. College was new, intimidating and all my fellow students seemed way more brilliant than me and their personalities I felt were far more charming than mine. As my parents drove off, a huge loneliness moved into my heart. I suddenly felt truly on my own. I had to manage my money, make decisions for myself, and I realized how much I had counted on them just always being there for me. I couldn’t go home until Christmas break. Then, I’d have to take the train home– another new experience.
But, the absence of our support network forces us to grow in ways we couldn’t grow otherwise. I felt I really grew-up that first quarter at college. Even though Mom had carefully instructed me on things like laundry and ironing– doing it without her was different. If I ran out of spending money, there was no source of a quick infusion of cash from Dad’s pocket. Doing it ourselves without any help or backup makes us feel vulnerable, but it is also a needed step to grow.
Perhaps that gives us a clue as to the emotional framework of the disciples as Jesus leaves them and returns to heaven. After the resurrection, Jesus has been with them on occasion for 40 days. But, we’re talking about only 11 recorded appearances– most of the disciples probably saw Jesus no more than two or three times during that 40 days– and then only a few minutes per appearance before He would vanish again. Luke, in his Gospel adds some other detail to this scene of Jesus’ departure– Luke 24:45-53.
Putting together all that Luke tells us, Jesus met with the disciples (and probably others) somewhere in Jerusalem, explaining to them their mission. Ever the practical realists, these disciples ask the question, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?” (6). They are still looking for an earthly rule and reign of Jesus with Israel at the center, ruling the nations. Jesus tells them that such knowledge is not for them to know, but, he does give them a promise that the Holy Spirit will come. And he reiterates what they need to know, their mission. Then he leads them out to the Mt. of Olives, a hill just across the Kidron Valley from Jerusalem, less than a mile away. And Then,
he lifted up his hands and blessed them. While he was blessing them, he left them and was taken up into heaven. (Luke 24:50‑51).
“While he was blessing them, he left them...” The detail we have about the ascension itself is that he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight. (Acts 1:9)
The “cloud” refers to the glory and presence of God. In Exodus, we are told there was a cloud over the tabernacle (40:34) and the cloud led them through the wilderness (13:21). Now Jesus is entering the glory and presence of God so the disciples can no longer “see” Jesus with their physical eyes. This inaugurates a new era. Standing there in stunned awe, wonder, and confusion, still trying to catch a glimpse of Jesus, they are surprised by two angels who appear beside them, reminding them they have a commission and leaving them with a promise:
"Men of Galilee," they said, "why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven." (Acts 1:11)
The ascension is bracketed by two promises: the coming of the Holy Spirit and the return of Jesus. Of course, the first promise is fulfilled in just ten days, on the Day of Pentecost. The fulfillment of the second promise is one for which we still wait. We live between the promises with a commission to fulfill. The Holy Spirit has come. We are now to be about proclaiming and bringing forth the kingdom of God wherever we are until He comes again. This also defines the major movement of our Christian lives. We have received so much through the Holy Spirit in our lives, yet so much remains unfulfilled. No matter how well we do, evil still is having a hey day in our world. While the Lord heals, much goes unhealed. We know freedom in Christ, yet many bondages remain. Deliverance comes, yet incredible suffering remains in our world. We live in an “in between” time. Our souls are saved and we receive eternal life that begins right now, yet we’re waiting for the redemption of our bodies. The kingdom of God has come, yet it is still coming– we await it’s completion in the return of Christ at the end of history.
FOR OUR GOOD
In Jesus’ extensive teaching about the Holy Spirit in John 14-16, the night before His death, preparing them for His absence that has now happened on this day of ascension, He says,
But I tell you the truth: It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Counselor [the Holy Spirit] will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. (16:7)
Jesus had to leave in His physical dimension to be present in a greater dimension. He left as Jesus of Nazareth, resurrected, victorious; He returns in the Holy Spirit, indwelling believers and able to be present everywhere at once. Now He is unloosed on all the world for all time. Now, in practical usage, it is okay to refer to the Holy Spirit as the “Spirit of Jesus” or the “presence of Jesus.” The New Testament writers often treat them as synonyms. And, in a practical sense, it takes the Holy Spirit out of the ethereal and gives Him personality– the nature and character of Jesus. When we get to the doctrine of the trinity, some distinctions need to be made, but we’re not going there this morning.
Sometimes people say to me, “I just wish I could have lived when Jesus was on earth and talked with Him, listened to His teaching, and seen Him ministering to people’s needs.” Of course that would be interesting. But what Jesus is saying is, that we have something even better than the disciples had. Do you realize, before Jesus ascended into heaven and sent the Holy Spirit to us:
The gift of the Holy Spirit that is given us by Jesus after He gets back to heaven is indeed an awesome, wonderful gift. It is easy for us to take it for granted or fail to avail ourselves of the rich resources He gives.
Even so, there are those times when we feel God’s absence and long for more of His presence. We still go through times of fear, loneliness, and the confusion of unanswered prayers. But even that is creative as well. It humbles us before God in our need, and can often be a time of refining our seeking. We sort through things, sift our motives, and try to discern entry places where the Holy Spirit might be ready to bring us what is needed.
And, here is another insight by Barbara Brown Taylor:
Sometimes I think absence is underrated. It is not nothing after all. It is something: a heightened awareness, a sharpened appetite, a finer perception. When someone important to me is absent from me, I become clearer than ever what that person means to me. Details that got lost in our togetherness are recalled in our apartness, and their sudden clarity has the power to pry my heart right open. I see the virtues I have overlooked, the opportunities I have missed. The quirks that drove me crazy at close range become endearing at a distance. From that enlarged perspective, I can see that they are the very things that make my someone someone and not just anyone.
I expect all of us have experienced that in the death of a loved one. As each of my parents passed away, I discovered the richness of this truth. Without the overlaying details of living, it was like the essence of their life is revealed in greater detail. The minor stuff is seen as minor and the bigger picture emerges and continues to bless us.
Emptiness, absence is often needed to clear away the clutter of our living so we can focus upon what is essential. It clears the landscape. Often, in that process, we become starkly aware of our inadequacy and our need for an infusion of power from on high. This is where these disciples are, I’m sure. They’ve seen extraordinary things and received incredible promises. Jesus has assured them they can’t do it without the Holy Spirit, so don’t even bother trying– wait. That becomes the prelude to incredible fulness and fulfillment.
For a few years, when I was a pastor in Whitefish, I also helped out on occasion at a chemical dependency treatment center for teenage boys. This was a rather unique two month program, set up on a working ranch. During this time, they were taken on a three week wilderness back-packing trip, where they were taught wilderness survival skills and exposed to God’s awesome handiwork. This happened year around. In the winter, these were cross country ski treks. These were boys from all over the nation, often city kids who’d never been in the wilderness.
The climax of their wilderness experience was a three-day solo in which they were left entirely by themselves for three days with no other human contact except a twice daily check to be sure they were okay by one of the leaders– just a look-in on them, no conversation. In the winter, the teen would construct a snow cave to spend a good part of the time in. It was during these three days of isolation they were to work on step four of the twelve steps of AA: “made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.” Then, when they returned to the ranch, they completed step five: “admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being, the exact nature of our wrongs.” I was “the other human being” for some of them– for those who wanted to confess to a pastor. The humility, the transparent honesty, the sincerity, and the brokenness of these boys was always deeply moving to me as they detailed the ways they’d sinned, manipulated others, and talked about hurt they’d caused to the significant people in their lives. It was like the junk of their lives was being hauled out, dealt with, and thrown out so they could begin building on a good foundation. Remember, they’d already worked through steps one through three of the twelve steps:
“We admitted we were powerless over alcohol [drugs]– that our lives had become unmanageable.”
“Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.”
“Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understand Him.”
So often, as they emptied themselves before me, the unspoken question that hung in the air that you could see in their eyes was, “Can anyone ever love me, forgive me, accept me after the mess I’ve made of my life and all the hurt I’ve caused?” When that happened, I would ask their permission to share with them about someone who had already expressed such a love– Jesus– and how accepting Him and His forgiveness would wipe the slate clean, never to even be remembered against them. Talk about good news! What a joy to see a boy grab hold of that lifeline and pray to receive Christ, then walk out with an inner peace and lightness, having shed the incredible burden of his sin and failures.
Emptiness, feeling the devastation of loss, is a wonderful gift when it leads us to the fulness of what God gives to us in Christ through the gift of the Holy Spirit. And this brings us to another truth the ascension highlights for us– the current role of Jesus on our behalf.
OUR ADVOCATE AND INTERCESSOR
Jesus is now in heaven praying for us. Hebrews 4:14-16 says it well:
Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are– yet was without sin. Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.
We have a sympathetic ally in our prayers, Jesus himself. He’s on our side, praying with us and for us.
The ascension and the coming of the Holy Spirit ten days later is also cited as proof that God accepted Jesus death on the cross on our behalf as providing forgiveness for our sins. Let me paraphrase Peter’s concluding argument in his sermon on the Day of Pentecost (Acts 2:32-36). The fact that God raised Jesus from the dead, then took Him into heaven, exalting Jesus to now sit at the right hand of God, proves Jesus’ death on the cross for our sins provides atonement to all who are in Christ. The Holy Spirit that has just been poured out on us is the final proof Jesus is in heaven with God, because the Holy Spirit is what Jesus promised us He would send to us from the Father. He concludes with,
"Therefore let all Israel be assured of this:
God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ (36)."
CONCLUSION
The ascension reminds us that when we feel helpless, when we are at the end of our resources, when we feel empty and lonely inside, that in itself is a wonderful gift to us. It is necessary preparation for a fresh infusion of power through the Holy Spirit in our present circumstances. Emptiness and absence of what we may want or think we need can become a doorway to a fulness we cannot even imagine.
This is a cycle that will often be repeated in our walk with Christ. You most likely first received Christ into your life out of that sense of need, a longing for what He alone can give us. His presence and power enters through the Holy Spirit. The first time this happens is when we are born again as children of God. But, fresh applications of this truth need to be made as we grow in the faith and have to surrender new things to Him. Remember, let every loss, every loneliness, every inadequacy you feel be part of weaning your soul from this world’s solutions and frantic busyness so you can focus upon The Promise: power and presence in greater measure through the Holy Spirit Jesus sends to seeing, waiting hearts.
That promise fulfilled keeps us going in the midst of all manner of trouble and adversity until Jesus’ second promise given this day is fulfilled: His return in power and great glory. At that time, all that is dark, evil, and wrong in our world will be swallowed up in the glorious kingdom of God.
Our closing prayer in the bulletin is one written by Marva Dawn that summarizes well the truths we proclaim in The Ascension.