The Ascension
of the Lord (which is commemorated today), is described by Luke’s gospel in a
rather wooden, three-dimensional way. “While [Jesus] was blessing [the disciples], he withdrew from
them and was carried up into heaven. And they worshiped him, and returned
to Jerusalem with great joy; and they were continually
in the temple blessing God” (24:51-53).
Today, instead of saying that he “was carried up into heaven,” we might
say that he phased into another dimension.
(I’ll admit that watching Star
Trek has affected my theology!)
Jesus’
doing this before his disciples reminds me of the gospel reading from this past
Sunday, which was John 15:9-17. It was
my sermon text, and I especially noted verse 15: “I do not call you servants any longer,” Jesus
says to his disciples, “because the servant does not know what
the master is doing; but I have called you friends, because I have made known
to you everything that I have heard from my Father.” These were some of my thoughts about that:
Jesus
takes the initiative and reframes their relationship. Friends and servants are not the same thing. Servants do not ask questions; they do what
they’re told! Friends, on the other hand,
do not ask us to blindly follow. They do
not ask for blind faith. Friends want
the best for each other. Friends want
eyes and hearts to be opened.
Still,
too often, we limit our concern and interest to a tiny circle. We’re too slow to expand our vision, to
broaden our horizon. Too often, we feel
like being friends with Jesus is an uncomfortable, and even dangerous,
enterprise. (No doubt, there are times
that it is.) But what if we encourage
each other a little more to accept the friendship of Jesus? He certainly wants us to.
We might even see those with broken wings
gaining the ability to fly!
