No Time Like the Present

No Time Like the Present
Acts 1:1-11
Luke 24:44-53
Ascension Sunday
Year C


Introduction – story of the faithful collie
There is a monument to a faithful collie at the train station in Fort Benton, Montana. The collies’s master died in 1936. The collie was there at the train station when his coffin was shipped back east to be buried. The collie followed the train as it pulled off, but of course could not keep up. So he came back to the train station and waited. Every time a train pulled up to the station, the collie was there waiting for his master to return. He never left the station. One summer day in 1942, the dog ran in front of a train and was killed. The conductors buried him on a hill and marked his grace. The monument still stands to his faithfulness to his master. No doubt the dog was faithful and loyal and honorable. But he also wasted six year of his life doing nothing. He was never able to move past the moment of his masters death. If his master had ever stepped off one of those trains, would he be impressed that he was still waiting, or would he has wanted him to go on with his life, carrying the memory of their time together and yet still living.

The point if waiting
Jesus has been constantly telling us to be patient, to wait for the holy spirit – but he is not asking us for a passive waiting, but an active waiting. A waiting where we go on with our normal lives, filled with the knowledge that life gets better. We are called to move forward, even in times when we don’t understand, knowing that it will eventually make sense. Even in times when times are hard, with the knowledge that in time things will get better. Even in times when we believe that jesus is coming back – but have no idea of what that even means

Explanation of scripture
In the story of Jesus- the disciples were hoping that Jesus was going to establish a heavenly reign, that he was the Obama of his time- he was the one who was going to change things- he was going to make a difference on the earthly world. Of course dying on the cross put a wrench in that expectation. But he came back – he appeared to them for 40 days. He promised that things were going to get better, and that the holy spirit was coming to bring about that change they were waiting for. It all seemed to make sense. He only appeared to his disciples- but no matter he was still on earth, he was still present, so there was still hope that he was the one. Ascension Sunday was the end of that dream. God takes Jesus back into heaven. If his body is not on earth – then he can’t very well be the one to change the world.

Two men dressed in white
If you follow the Luke’s Easter story – Luke has a fascination with two men dressed in white. They were at the tomb telling the women to move on and not look for Jesus in the grace. Two men are walking to Emmaus when a stranger comes along side them whom they didn’t recognize. And in Ascension story two men are standing among the crowd – and tell the people to move on – not to look for Jesus in the heavens, but to go on with life. Imagine if the poor collie in our story had a caring angel to give him some direction to move on. Imagine if someone had taken the time to teach him the real meaning of goodbye.

Goodbyes
In life there are always goodbyes. There are always endings. Sometimes we are ready for them. And sometimes we need to hold on for dear life. Some we celebrate, some we mourn. Some are easy, some are difficult. Some we were expecting, some come out of the middle of nowhere. Some are insignificant. Some are so devastating that we have no idea of what to do next. We cannot even picture life from that moment. The one thing that we can be sure of is that no one or nothing will last forever. At some point we have to learn to be comfortable with saying goodbye. Ascension Sunday is goodbye Sunday. The disciples not only had to say goodbye to Jesus. They also had to say goodbye to their hopes and dreams for the future. The beginning of acts – in the passage for today – Luke mentions a mysterious man – theophilus. Luke was a lawyer writing Luke and Acts as a proof of the power of Jesus Christ. Acts is written to show the power of the holy spirit. He intentionally demonstrated the transformation of the disciples from people dependent on their teacher for every aspect of life- to powerful witnesses to the presence of the holy spirit. There was one more thing that the disciples had to say goodbye to that day – their fears, their concerns, their comfort with the way things were. Jesus intentionally took that all with him, and replaced it with one thing – the promise of the holy spirit the promise that the holy spirit would make it all clear, give you all the strength that you need, and lead you where God wants you do be.
The whole point of the Easter story- is learning to be comfortable with change. The first step to transformation is always goodbye.

The importance of Easter time
When I used to read the gospels I used to get really depressed when I got to the point when Jesus was gone. What was the point in reading anything that was written about the time after Jesus death. Now I realize that us indeed the whole point of telling the story – to understand what happens after Jesus has moved on. Of Jesus has not left, there would be no story of the disciples, there would be no church, there would be no reason for us to gather today, there would be no hope for those who don’t know the story. Jesus knew that he had to step out of the way in order to let the holy spirit take over. As a pastor, this is my favorite part of the story. The goodbye. The place where the past meets the future, where what we learned meets what we always wanted to do, the transformation for when it is our time to take over and continue the work.
Interestingly enough, in Jesus time it was believed that above important cities was a portal between heaven an earth. And that you had to be in the right place in order to pass from heaven and earth. In the Easter sitings, Jesus travels from Galillee to Jerusalem. The hole to heaven would have been above Jerusalem. So he travels up the tallest mountain above the city and is taken up to heaven. Interestingly, Muhammed also travels to Jerusalem in order to be taken up to heaven.
For us today that portal is in time, not in a place. It is between ascenscion and Pentecost. Next week we celebrate the birth of the church post Jesus.

Goodbyes in the Methodist church
Speaking of goodbyes, as United Methodist we have to learn to become comfortable with goodbyes. Someone asked me if it was difficult to say goodbye to a congregation. After ix times you get used to it. When I am here I am here, when the district superintendent calls and tells me to move on- then I have to get ready to say goodbye. After your sixth appointment you get used to it. As a matter of fact, the one thing that I have learned – is that my ministry has nothing to do with the time that I am here. Everything that I do points to the day that I leave. What is the church going to look like when I am not there. If it is not going to last past the minute that I am there to manage it, then it is really not worth doing. I have learned to spend my entire ministry anticipating saying good bye.
The appointment season is more determined by annual conference. And annual conference is in June because that was the time when it was easiest for people to travel by horseback in order to gather. But I appreciate that we go through the Easter story as appointments are coming to an end. As we reflect on what it means to say goodbye to Jesus, we can reflect on what it means to say goodbye to our leader. As we gather the strength to go on past Jesus goodbye, we gather the strength to redefine ourselves as faithful disciples. We learn to respect the fact that goodbye is not the end of the world – it is the beginning of a new chapter in our faith story.

Story of the chief’s successor
A tribal chief lay dying. He summoned three of his most loyal subjects and told them that it was time for him to choose a successor. He told them to climb the holy mountain and to return with the most precious gift you can find. The first brought back a huge gold nugget, the second brought back a priceless gem. The third returned empty handed, saying “when I reached the mountaintop, I was on the other side a beautiful land, where people could go for a better life. The chief said, you shall succeed me. You have brought back the most precious gift of all: a vision of a better tomorrow.

The Importance of Joy
That is the whole point of the ascension story – to learn to see the good in goodbye.
The last paragraph of the good news for today say “Then he led them out at far as Bethany, and lifting up his hands he blessed them. While he was blessing them, he withdrew from them and was carried up into heaven. And they worshipped him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy; and they were continually in the temple blessing God.”
They were able to see the joy in the moment. And that joy gave them the strength to go on. To wait in anticipation of a new life in a new world.
On earth – the story was about a middle eastern man, who got a group of friends together to change the mindset of his people. A story that would have been written in time and forgotten in time
In heaven – the gospel is the story of all people in all times. Passed on in the lives of those who listen and sing the story for their times. A Christ for all time and all situations. He is our strength to get us through any and all goodbyes. Let us pray……