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May 28, 2017 - The Ascension Of The Lord

The Ascension of the Lord

Reading 1 ACTS 1:1-11

In the first book, Theophilus,
I dealt with all that Jesus did and taught
until the day he was taken up,
after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit
to the apostles whom he had chosen.
He presented himself alive to them
by many proofs after he had suffered,
appearing to them during forty days
and speaking about the kingdom of God.
While meeting with the them,
he enjoined them not to depart from Jerusalem,
but to wait for "the promise of the Father
about which you have heard me speak;
for John baptized with water,
but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit."

When they had gathered together they asked him,
"Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?"
He answered them, "It is not for you to know the times or seasons
that the Father has established by his own authority.
But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you,
and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem,
throughout Judea and Samaria,
and to the ends of the earth."
When he had said this, as they were looking on,
he was lifted up, and a cloud took him from their sight.
While they were looking intently at the sky as he was going,
suddenly two men dressed in white garments stood beside them.
They said, "Men of Galilee,
why are you standing there looking at the sky?
This Jesus who has been taken up from you into heaven
will return in the same way as you have seen him going into heaven."

Gospel MT 28:16-20

The eleven disciples went to Galilee,
to the mountain to which Jesus had ordered them.
When they saw him, they worshiped, but they doubted.
Then Jesus approached and said to them,
"All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me.
Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations,
baptizing them in the name of the Father,
and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit,
teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.
And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age."

http://usccb.org/bible/readings/052817-ascension.cfm

“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you,
and you will be my witnesses
to the ends of the earth."

"Go and make disciples of all nations."

"Men of Galilee, why are you standing there looking at the sky?"

What is the goal of being a Catholic - or a Christian for that matter - is a question often put before us but rarely taken up. Perhaps it is not the right question. Would it be better to ask what do we do that is characteristic of Christians, that is identifying of their purpose? A goal seems to be something you'd strive to gain, while a purpose may indicate what you'd have to offer.

Matthew and Luke, in describing the last time they saw him, have Jesus telling them what he expects them to be doing after he has gone away. "Make disciples of all peoples", and "be my witnesses". Surely we have here the answer to our question. These phrases are the words used in the early communities to explain the purpose that identified them: to make disciples by telling people about Jesus and showing in their own lives what a difference he made.

I suppose the question is still asked because the whole christian enterprise has been elaborated in so many different ways that its purpose seems lost. We love to decorate and complicate and entertain ourselves when we should be getting on with the job. Presentation is everything, we say, but there's a balance to be kept lest we lose the content in the packaging. Hence the need for cleaning up, clearing out, and getting back to simple basics.

Make disciples by being witnesses.

The word 'witness' can be a problem because it has acquired an artificial flavour in church useage. Essentially a witness would tell people what they had seen; eyewitness accounts are convincing. In our world we use referees when applying for a job, and a referee is someone who will testify that we are who we say we are on the grounds that they know us personally. Another word we use is 'representative', speaking of one who can act in our name. At the moment I can see that 'being a christian rep' has two parts: first there's the message I have to deliver, and second, how to deliver it which is something I have to work out.

At one point in the after-supper conversation in the John's gospel, Jesus says “it is good for you that I am going away.” Good that they will be left on their own to work out what they've got to do and how to go about it. All reps have to learn to do it themselves, to discover their own methods and approaches and make their own mistakes . If the boss or the instructor is available they will not tackle the problems but leave the most difficult decisions to him to avoid embarrassing blunders.

Christian history is a mass of blunders. Even interpreting the commission to 'make disciples and be witnesses' as one given only to the twelve apostles is seen by many as a blunder. It led to them being given such preeminence that in short order there was a hierarchy of priestly leaders set apart from the common herd whom they were to teach and govern in the name of Jesus. In fact every christian is a personal representative of Jesus. As his reps in our present situation we are his agents delivering his message, revealing what he revealed of God's mercy and compassion and love. When we join up, this is the role and the task we take on.

Messengers of the gods

Getting back to basics today is leading to some surprising discoveries. There was a custom in the early communities of speaking of this role and task as 'ministry', and the word they used (in Greek of course) was diaconia, from which the word 'deacon' is derived. For a time it was thought that diaconia was the service given by slaves, the menial jobs of caring for the sick, feeding the poor, which christians did to imitate Jesus who had said he came not to be served but to serve. However it turns out that diaconia is anything but the service that slaves do. It refers to the role of the ambassador, and specifically a messenger from the gods. ***

Putting these items together, we can now see that the essential purpose of a follower of Jesus (a christian) is to be his rep, with the sacred task of passing on his message by sharing what we know of him and the values of our faith.

In a way the pyramid of the institutional church is turned upside down by this. The power and energy of the community is not concentrated at the apex, filtering down to the virtually powerless common folk at the bottom. The power is in each person, and it is in the many ways that we influence our local communities by our common diaconia that the work of Jesus is continued. Being his reps means that he is active in us, the people.

Another image comes to mind, that of a tree: the roots delve into the earth for water and nutrients, the trunk raises the branches high above the scrub, the branches spread the leaf-bearing twigs wide open to the sun, and it is those leaves - the smallest, most flimsy parts, prey to grubs and hungry animals, that are the powerhouse of the tree. The action all happens in the leaves. The light of the sun streams onto them, and they convert it to energy for growing a tree big enough to be a home for birds to live in - as Jesus pointed out, and to be made into homes for humans too.

We began with the question, what do christians do that is characteristic? The answer is that they not only live according to the principles he taught; they are also consciously his reps, passing on the message he revealed of God's mercy and compassion in truth and love. This ministry is not reserved for the ordained clergy. It is everyone's role. Each of us can do this essential diaconia of being God's ambassadors in Jesus' name.

In more personal terms

This cleaning and clearing out may look like a total refurbishment and people will wonder what has happened to the old familiar place they grew up in. This is not a pleasant experience for anyone. We must go gently, step by step, looking after one another as we go. So let's get a little closer to the action. We're saying that it's not the overseeing bishops or the ministering clergy who do most of the church's work, but the ordinary folk in their daily lives. How does this work?

Being a rep for Jesus is a very personal thing. While in some situations you will be a teacher or explainer, a saver or a healer, first and foremost you will be just you, one who finds light and life in what Jesus revealed of the Father's love. And you will share that on a one-to-one basis.

Sometimes it will be in a group or small community of like-minded folk who are open to listening to the Spirit. Taking his lead from the Mediterranean culture of the early christian communities, Dr Collins lists some conditions for this diaconia to happen:

A small community, or group is necessary because deeper relationships do not happen in large groups;
members will be given to reflection or introspection which implies that they are listening in their deeper self.
They will share something of what they experience,
building what they can on it,
and getting on with life encouraged, perhaps guided, by what they have experienced.

Authenticity is important, though not so important that people should be afraid to begin such sharing in a small group. “In fact,” writes Collins, “for the individual the process is self-authenticating... If all associates reflect on their own experiences and remain open to comparing and melding experiences, then associates can become one body of faith – indeed, of hope and love too."

* * * * *

Is this a picture of the future that you could relate to, a future in which the people know they are empowered to be christian reps in their local communities, and learn to talk about it?

Luke's colourful account of the ascension is rounded off with two Men in White standing beside them. They are not comforters but provocateurs, professional agitators, stirrers.

'People of the Outer Fringe,' they say, 'why are you standing there looking at the sky?'

*** Gateway to Renewal by Dr John Collins gives an account of the research in which he discovered that in the New Testament diaconia does not refer to servile works but to delivering a message as a credentialed ambassador. His work has been recognised by leading scholars and its implications are being examined. In a recent post on Catholica Dr Collins has outlined some of these, and I have borrowed from there. LINK

NEW VERSION, SHORTER AND KEEPING TO ONE POINT.

“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you,
and you will be my witnesses
in Jerusalem, throughout Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."

"Men of Galilee, why are you standing there looking at the sky?"

There are three key elements in this account of the Ascension:

Jesus goes away;
Holy Spirit will be sent;
A commission is given to the disciples.

It is the commissioning that I'd like to focus on. There is a handing over of the baton here. His followers are being commissioned to continue the work he had begun, to be his representatives. (Perhaps for us this word 'representative' carries the meaning of 'witness'.) Jesus will not be around any more, so they will be his reps.

At one point in the after-supper conversation in the gospel according to John, Jesus says “it is good for you that I am going away.” We might wonder why, but a little reflection makes it pretty obvious. All reps have to learn to do it themselves, and they can only learn if they're left on their own to discover their own methods and approaches and make their own mistakes . If the boss or the instructor is available they will not tackle the problems with all their energy. They will leave the most difficult decisions to him to avoid embarrassing blunders.

From fairly early on this commission came to be seen as given to particular followers only. The apostles and those they appointed became official reps, and gradually acquired authority to teach and govern the communities, eventually forming a hierarchy of men set aside as a priesthood. There are no indications in the gospels that this was the intention of Jesus. Many feel it was a monumental blunder, though perhaps unavoidable in the circumstances, given the opportunities that seemed to open before the communities over time.

Jesus said his purpose was not to govern but to serve, and he insisted that the disciple should not be greater than the master.

He did not present himself as the universal servant to care for the needy and heal the world's sick, though he did all these things using them as signs and illustrations of something greater. Jesus came as Light to the world, as the one who speaks for the Father, revealing God's mercy and compassion, and finally, standing for the Truth against the corruption of the world.

This idea of service did take on in the early communities. Paul spoke of his service as a diakonia, which we commonly call ministry. He saw himself as of an ambassador passing on a message, and the message was the revealing of God's love which Jesus had made plain.

In commissioning his followers Jesus sent them out as his reps, to act in his name along the lines of his teaching and life, revealing God's mercy and compassion and standing up for the truth. That is something every christian can and should do. It is a mistake to leave it to the hierarchy.

In fact, "the effect of authentic ministry can be achieved by anyone of faith," says Dr John Collins writing in the Catholica forum about his new book Gateway to Ministry. LINK

It is the effect that is important, the witnessing to Jesus. Anyone of faith, any 'christian' who actually believes what they're on about, can 'do' what ministers do, namely, give witness to Jesus. They can be what the apostles were commissioned to be in those parting words of Jesus. While the hierarchical institution will forever be concerned about the correct ordering of roles, the 'average' person - every ordinary christian - can get on with their ministering, and in fact they will often reach further and deeper into society than the ordained could ever dream of.

How does this work? Being a rep for Jesus is a very personal thing. While in some situations you will be a teacher or explainer, a saver or a healer, first and foremost you will be just you, one who finds light and life in what Jesus revealed of the Father's love. And you will share that on a one-to-one basis, or perhaps in a small community of like-minded folk who are also open to listening to the Spirit. Taking his lead from the Mediterranean culture of the early christian communities, Dr Collins lists some conditions for this diaconia, this ministry of the Word, to happen.

A small community, or group is necessary because deeper relationships do not happen in large groups;
members will be given to reflection or introspection which implies that they are listening in their deeper self.
They will share something of what they experience,
building what they can on it,
and getting on with life encouraged, perhaps guided, by what they have experienced.

Authenticity is important, though not so important that people should be afraid to begin such sharing in a small group. “In fact,” writes Collins, “for the individual the process is self-authenticating... If all associates reflect on their own experiences and remain open to comparing and melding experiences, then associates can become one body of faith – indeed, of hope and love too."

Luke's colourful account of the ascension is rounded off with two Men in White standing beside them. They are not comforters but provocateurs, professional agitators, stirrers.

'People of the Outer Fringe,' they say, 'why are you standing there looking at the sky?'

“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you,
and you will be my witnesses
in Jerusalem, throughout Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."

"Men of Galilee, why are you standing there looking at the sky?"

The accounts the ascension are so varied they are impossible to reconcile. This is another indication that the message can be presented in many different forms. There are three key elements here: Jesus goes away, the Holy Spirit will be sent, and the disciples are commissioned to be his witnesses.

On this day we focus on the Ascension to mark the fact that Jesus has gone. The time of his life came to an end and, in his own words, he has 'returned to the Father'. In the idiom of that age he was lifted up, and a cloud took him from their sight. The cloud is universally a metaphor for the divine as it speaks of a pervading presence which obscures our vision; the cloud wraps you in its embrace, and the blinding effect refers to the One who is beyond our knowing.

Last Sunday Cathy gave us some ideas about how to read John's gospel, and we might keep those in mind when I mention that John has quite a few references to Jesus' going away, though no description of the 'event' itself. At one point in the after-supper talk Jesus said:

I did not tell you [these things] from the beginning because I was with you, but now I am going to him who sent me. None of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’ Rather, you are filled with grief because I have said these things. But very truly I tell you, it is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you.

I have wondered for a long time what John had in mind in writing those words: Truly it is for your good that I am going away. Can we paraphrase it like this:

It's better for you that I won't be around because you've got your own lives to lead and your own journeys to walk. One's walk through life is just that - one person's journey: Someone else's footsteps may be followed but the journey they experience is their's alone.

Each of you will walk your path, and I will not be there, but the Spirit will be, the one whom the Father will send to each for company, for guidance, motivation and warmth of love.

We know that many people have a relationship with Jesus which they describe as friendship and companionship. They see him as walking with them through the twists and turns of the day and they feel comforted and strengthened by his presence. It is much like having your partner/spouse with you, as compared to those times when we are actually on our own. There can be no criticism of such spirituality, nor do I imply any when I say that mine is different, at least in these later years. Currently I am finding an emphasis on the Holy Spirit being companion and guide; perhaps John had a similar awareness when he came to write down his reflections.

Next Sunday we will celebrate the 50 Days, the Pentecost which for the Jews is the end of the Omer, the counting of the days from Passover to the giving of the Law which formed them into God's People. The early christian communities celebrated the 50 Days as the time of waiting for the coming of the Holy Spirit. Eventually this was seen as the creation of a new people as they experienced expulsion from the temple and came to realise that the Law could no longer be lived in the classic Jewish way but was superseded by the Way of Jesus.

* * * * *

The third element to Jesus' going away is the commission which Luke records as you will be my witnesses, and Matthew as Go, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them..., teaching them... There is a handing over of the baton here. His very real going away transfers the task of continuing his work onto the shoulders of his disciples. His primary work is to serve - not to be the universal servant and carer of the world's needy but to serve the Word of Truth, to speak God's word of mercy and healing love. In the early communities this came to be called 'ministry' (diaconia in the Greek), and while it took many forms it was always for the building up of the community, as Paul insisted in his letters to the small community at Corinth. (see 1 Cor 14).

From the start there was a tendency in the communities to say that the commission was given to the apostles alone. The accent on the twelve is unmistakable throughout the gospels, and gradually the focus on them was sharpened as their authority became established and other 'orders' of assistants were created. In the end there came into being a sacred hierarchy of shepherds raised above the common flock. Ministry belonged to the ordained; the rest were recipients of their teaching and their care. The church developed in this form ever more elaborately, coming eventually to be an imperial court. Not only did any notion of serving the needy get neglected but the serving of the word, the true ministry of service, was transformed into a domination by dogma and law.

In our own times a counter movement has appeared. In groups such as Young Christian Workers (YCW) ordinary 'lay' men and women began to learn that they too could be apostles, and they could be more effective in the workplace than the clergy. Vatican II adopted this thinking, spelling out in detail how christians are to bring the influence of their faith into their everyday world. The clerical mentality clings on however in both clergy and laity. By a kind of reflex an average parishioner is likely to think that they need the permission of their priest to do anything that might even look like witness to Christ. And not a few pastors are most diligently on the watch for such initiatives, insisting on being the one in charge.

* * * * *

In his recent book Gateway to Renewal, Dr John Collins tells of his research into how the early communities conceived of 'ministry' in its many forms. The discoveries he made in the meaning of the word diaconia - ministry are outlined in the collection of essays that makes up Gateway, but on Catholica last week he provided a brief and incisive summary entitled: Authenticating the process of delivering the Word. http://www.catholica.com.au/forum/index.php?id=199016

Dr Collins' research has been recognised by leading scholars as of very great significance. I would like to look into this short piece more closely. He writes:

...the effect of authentic Christian ministry can be achieved by anyone of faith. But since being Christian does not make sense as a solitary venture – everything points to a shared experience as well as to an experience worth sharing – any move towards ministry/diakonia that an individual feels drawn to make will need recognition and endorsement.

The 'gateway' in the title of Collins' book may have reference, inversely, to the locked enclosure of ministry as it has been developed in the churches. The selected persons ordained to the ministry by a sacrament are endowed with status above the common folk. They are then authorised to perform ministry in a particular place or setting, which ensures that they have power over those in their charge. But in fact the walled enclosure that appears to restrict ministry to the ordained is no more real than the wall that the Jews thought divided them from the Gentiles. Ministry penetrates such walls for the building up of one community in faith and love. That ministry is a function of every christian. It is grounded in the primary sacrament of initiation, baptism, which confers the role of being a witness. The last words Luke attributes to Jesus, 'you will be my witnesses', apply to everyone.

Having spent a lifetime of study in the meaning of words, John Collins is very selective in his own writing. It seems that each word and phrase means exactly what it says, and allows for consequences to be drawn. So, to bypass the matter of ordination to a sacred hierarchy of authorised ministers, John says that "the effect of authentic ministry can be achieved by anyone of faith." And, I might add, it is the effect that is important, the witnessing to Jesus. In other words, anyone of faith, any 'christian' who actually believes what they're on about, can 'do' what ministers do, namely, give witness to Jesus. They can be what the apostles were commissioned to be in those parting words of Jesus. While the hierarchical institution will forever be concerned about the correct ordering of roles, the 'average' person - every ordinary christian - can get on with their ministering, and in fact they will often reach further and deeper into society than the ordained could ever dream of.

Every person can do this, but recognition and endorsement are necessary nevertheless. Why so? Because "being Christian does not make sense as a solitary venture - everything points to a shared experience as well as to an experience worth sharing." This is of course the reality at all levels of human experience: humans are by nature communitatian. The christian community is not an innovation, but human community lived in a new spirit in which the bond of love takes precedence over the basic needs of defence, mutual support and shared work. This new spirit not only enhances and fulfills the human endeavour but also raises the experience to a new level, that of a new creation. We are by nature communitarian, and each of us depends on others for recognition [affirmation of the self] and endorsement [acceptance and approval in what we do]. The practical benefit of recognition and endorsement is in this, that those who don't make it, the eccentric and the simply mad, may be corralled off and the community protected from extremism.

Collins continues: "the original ministry/diakonia terms always indicate at least two factors at work: one is of process, the other is of authenticity...

"Of the two, process is far more important than authenticity. In fact, for the individual the process is self-authenticating... If all associates reflect on their own experiences and remain open to comparing and melding experiences, then associates can become one body of faith – indeed, of hope and love too."

The process that occurs in a small group in which the experience of life in Christ is shared is the ministry which builds a community of faith. This primary ministry is at the heart of all the other 'ministries' of service, caring for the needy. We have come a long way from 'ministry' thought of as bishop or priest in full robes proclaiming the Word of God and administering sacramental signs. This ministry is person to person witness, and it comes from and with deep reflection. It is a sharing of the self with the other in witness to Jesus. John's gospel might be thought of as the prototype of such sharing, although in our case it will be in much more simple terms and illustrated in homely examples.

That we learn how simple an effective witness to Jesus ('christian ministry') may be is the goal Collins has in mind in publishing this latest small volume:

"An understanding of what constituted the nature and process of ministry/diakonia in the ancient Mediterranean culture does suppose such components: small community, introspection, sharing of what the latter involves, building what one can on it, and getting on with life encouraged, perhaps guided, by what one has experienced. The prompt for all this, of course, is ‘the word’ delivered (‘mediated’ – a semantic component of diakonia) to the group by the carrier of ‘the word’."

It also appears to be a description of the essential christian community or, I would suggest, the church of the future.

* * * * *

In closing paragraphs John Collins explains that his case rests on "Paul’s claim to be a diakonos of God making available to small groups of Corinthians, through the process he called ministry/diakonia, the personal experience of ‘being at one with God’..." For the moment we have come far enough and I will leave readers to refer back to his post in the reference given.

Luke's colourful account of the ascension is rounded off with two Men in White standing beside them. They are not comforters but provocateurs, professional agitators, stirrers.

'People of the Outer Fringe,' they say, 'why are you standing there looking at the sky?'