Acts 16:16-34
John 17:20-26
We are still amid the Great Fifty Days of Easter. Today is the Seventh Sunday of Easter, day 43 in the Great Fifty. Today is also the Sunday after the Ascension. This past Thursday was the Feast of the Ascension. Ascensiontide, in a way, is a subset of Easter season. And, as we continue to rejoice in the celebration of Easter resurrection, the collect and readings for today also make allusion to Jesus’ Ascension.
As I said in my homily for Ascension Day, Jesus’ ascension created a momentous shift in the lives of the disciples. It caused a huge change in the way they understood their relationship with Jesus. This profound conversion or change in perception has very significant implications for us today.
For the disciples, Jesus’ ascension changed Jesus’ life and ministry from a historical event to a timeless reality. Before the ascension the disciples had met and known Jesus in particular places and times, singular historical events. After the ascension, they came to meet and know Jesus, alive with them, in all times and places. Jesus, of course, was always a part of God’s eternity. It was the disciples’ awareness that changed.
In Jesus’ Easter resurrection, people became aware of his power, his transcendence over death. After his crucifixion, he came to them alive. Mary met him in the garden. The disciples saw and touched the living Christ in the upper room. They ate with him by the Sea of Galilee. They gathered with Jesus on the mountaintop. Then they saw him leave. He promised to send them the comforter, the Holy Spirit. And he promised to be with them always. And he left, ascending into heaven.
The disciples would never see him again in the same way they had in the past, in particular places and events. But by the power of the Holy Spirit, they would meet the living Christ in all sorts of places in the future. Somewhat paradoxically, Jesus’ physical departure from the earth made him infinitely more accessible to the disciples and to us.
Meeting the living Christ no longer depends upon being in the right place at the right time. We cannot grieve because we had a schedule conflict and missed the one showing of the Sermon on the Mount. We can’t be upset that we were not among the chosen twelve. We cannot say, “if only….” If only I had been there, then, I would have met Jesus. Those days are gone. For the disciples and for us. But a wondrous new day has dawned. Now, by the power of the Holy Spirit, the living Christ is present in all places and all times. The living Christ is always with us.
The living Christ is always with us. There is no time or place in our lives today in which Jesus is not with us.
So. Do we live that way? Do we live as though we are aware or care that Jesus is with us always?
Do the choices and actions of our daily lives reflect the presence of Christ? At the risk of casting Jesus as Big Brother, do we act as though he were watching over us? Do we seek his guidance, follow his will in the choices and actions of our everyday lives?
In our interactions with one another, with our fellow human beings, we often quip: “It is easier to ask forgiveness than permission.” We plow ahead with thoughtless or ill-advised actions in the hope that we will be forgiven for any potential hurt or harm. It is easier to ask forgiveness than permission. That is never a faithful approach to living. Even though God is abundantly, infinitely ready to forgive—more so than our fellow human beings—we should never be casual or indifferent to Jesus’ presence with us, assuming that God will understand or forgive us in the long run. Every choice, every action is made in the presence of the living Christ.
What a wonderful gift. Jesus, always with us. To guide and support us, never abandoning or forsaking us. But do we welcome and cherish the gift of Christ’s presence with us in the actions and choices we make everyday?
There is a prayer in the Book of Common Prayer for Young Persons (p. 829). It is only appropriate, of course, for young people. It speaks of the actions and choices of daily living.
God our Father, you see your children growing up in an unsteady and confusing world: show them (us) that your ways give more life than the ways of the world, and that following you is better than chasing after selfish goals. Help them (us) to take failure, not as a measure of their worth, but as a chance for a new start. Give them strength to hold their faith in you, and to keep alive their joy in your creation; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Do we live as though we had the living presence of Christ with us? To say that Jesus is with us always is also to say that he is with others always. Today’s Gospel reminds us that we are one. We are one because we are united, bound together, by the very life of Christ present and shared among us all. This is most powerfully true when we share in communion, when we literally take the living presence of Christ into our bodies. That living presence of the Body and Blood of Jesus binds us into one.
But in this post-ascension world in which we live, it is always true that we are bound together by the presence of Christ. In our baptismal covenant, we vow that we will “seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving our neighbor as ourselves.” When we look upon others, do we see the face of Christ? Jesus is with them, too, always. Do we live that way?
Finally, in terms of living in the presence of Christ…. In the Gospel reading for Ascension Day, Luke says that immediately after Jesus ascended from their sight, the disciples went to the temple and were there praising God continually. Continually. They were not lost in grief or despair, they were praising God continually. We know that eventually they left the temple, at least from time to time, to become apostles. To help others discover the living Christ present with them.
But no matter where they went or what they did, they continued praising God, singing songs of worship and praise. Even in prison.
In today’s reading from Acts, Paul and Silas have been imprisoned. Falsely imprisoned. What would your reaction have been? They were thrown in prison because some other people were greedy and angry and had the power to imprison them. An abuse of power, illegitimately exercised. And Paul and Silas were beaten, imprisoned and chained. The story turns out OK in the end, but they couldn’t have known that then. They only knew that God was with them. By the power of the Holy Spirit, the living Christ was with them and they began to sing songs of praise.
The living Christ is with us. Sing praise. No matter what is going on in our lives. Whether it is a time of wonder or a time of mundane tedium. Whether we are mired in tragedy or being tried beyond endurance. Or whether it is a time of peace or beauty or joy. By the power of the Holy Spirit, Jesus is with us. No matter where we are or what we’re doing, Jesus is with us. Sing praise.
We have Jesus’ own assurance that he will be with us always. Do we act like we know or care? Pray that we may live thankfully aware of Jesus’ life shared with us, seeking his support and guidance in all we do, cherishing and nurturing his presence in others, and always offering thanks and praise.
Every day. Everywhere. Sing praise.
