Rochester, MN UCC - "The Promise of the Ascension" - Acts 1:6-14

Have you ever had the experience of walking into a new place and suddenly seeing a familiar face? The fear and the nerves instantly dissipate as a smile spreads across your face and you are greeted by a friend? This feeling of relief, of welcome, of love- this is the promise of the Ascension of Jesus Christ.

 At first glance, the resurrected Christ ascending through the clouds to take a seat at the right hand of God seems to mean that Jesus has left us; that he has broken his promise to be with us always, “to the end of the age.” Yet Christians throughout the ages have claimed that the opposite is true; because he has ascended Christ is even more present to us now. Because he is both human and divine, his physical presence above the heavens does not prevent his divine and spiritual presence being with us at all times and all places. The body of Christ is not only at the right hand of God, it is also spiritually present with us in Holy Communion, and in the life and love shared in the Church; the body of Christ. What is more, the risen Christ gives to us the Holy Spirit, his very spirit. The Spirit of Christ is thus within us, transforming us, guiding us, sanctifying us, and leading us to greater love of God and one another. Because Christ has ascended, he is both spiritually and bodily present to us across time and space. He is always with us, all of us, everywhere we are, until the end of the age.

 There is thus nowhere we can go where Christ is not. There is no room that we can enter where Christ is not already present. Even when our mortal lives have ended and we have the opportunity to see God face to face- even then we will see the familiar face of Jesus Christ. In that most unique and transcendent and blessed moment- the humanity of Jesus is there to welcome us, to wipe away all fear and anxiety, and to walk with us into the fullness of God’s love and glory. Thanks be to God for the presence of Christ beside us, within us, and waiting to accompany us into the glory of God’s presence. Amen.

 Pastor Andrew Greenhaw