Date: May 28, 2017

 

Text – Luke 24:44-52

Title – Be Clothed with the Power of God

 

The other day, I was visiting a parishioner from our church at Davis Place. When the nurse saw me coming, she seemed delighted. You don’t see many people seem delighted these days to see a pastor or priest walking around. But she asked me if I could spare some time to go and meet an elderly woman. I agreed to do so and walked in to her room. As soon as I entered the room, I realized that I just stepped a farewell moment. She was surrounded by her children and grandchildren who were crying with tears and giving kisses. She seemed half conscious but responsive as the people said how much she meant to all them, how much they all loved her. In the middle of farewell, I was invited to say a prayer for her bidding God to embrace her soul. As I came out of the room, I was also emotional sharing the grief and pain of the family.

Most of us are not fans of farewell. We think that we are ready. But when the moment comes, we tend to be emotional with memories of love. But it is part of our life. It is what it means to be human. As the high school students graduate, their parents need to say farewell to them if they move away for college. It is a farewell. When your family or friend decides to move to another area, it is a farewell. When we retire from our work, we think about our final words and speech for our co-workers. It is a farewell. When our family is ordered to go abroad and stationed for military work, it is a farewell. When a Methodist pastor is called by bishop to move to another church, it is a farewell. When our loving ones depart from this world, it is a farewell. All these moments become emotional with sadness because of the lives shared.

In our scripture reading, Jesus bids farewell to his disciples. The Book of Acts tells us that Jesus stayed with his disciples for 40 days after his resurrection. After reminding them why he had to die and be resurrected, he is about to taken into heaven. In Christian calendar, we call today “Ascension Day.” Although the scripture tells us that the disciples were filled with joy, I wonder if the farewell was just a joyful moment for everyone. I wonder if these was anyone who held onto Jesus’ foot saying, “Lord, you cannot leave us. We are not ready yet. Besides, who would believe that you are resurrected from death if they cannot see you physically? We need you at least another year. Please stay with us.”

The other day, I was working with the Community Café on Friday. As I was doing the dishes in the kitchen, a gentleman wanted to engage in conversation with me. When I told him that I was the pastor, it seemed that he wanted to argue with me why Christianity is all lies. He said, “Who believe such a lie that Jesus came two thousand years ago and died and resurrected? Can you prove it with any scientific evidence?” Well, if Jesus stayed two thousand years more with us till today, I could have easily showed him the physical evidence. I can imagine that there could be no war among religions. But I do not have such so I asked him what he believed. He answered, “Oh, I believe that the aliens came to the earth and created the whole civilization.”

Despite the grief in farewell and solution to doubt about his resurrection, Jesus ascends to heaven in the story today. I think that he does so because he submits to the will of God in love. Jesus submits to the will of God willingly and lovingly. In Christian doctrine, we believe that God is three in one. God the Father, Christ the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Although they are equal in status, they share one substance which is love. God exists in relationship but submits to the will of God out of love, not out of coercion.

WM Paul Young, the author of The Shack writes insightfully in his book, “Submission can be a beautiful word of relationship or a terrifying word of power and control. God is relational and therefore submits because God’s nature if other-centered and self-giving love.”[1]  As the very existence of God is relational, person to person, Christ shows us what it means to submit to another out of love when he prays at Mountain Olive before being arrested. The gospel of Luke tells us that he was in great pain prayed so sincerely that his sweat fell to the ground like drops of blood. And he prayed, “Father, if you will, please remove this cup from me. But do what you want, not what I want.” (Luke 22:42) He submits to the will of God even sacrificing his own life for the sake of others.

Jesus who submits to the will of God also shows what it means to serve others out of love. The night before he was arrested, he took a towel around his waist and lowered his back to wash the feet of his disciples. It was not a gesture of friend, but servant. Peter certainly could not let him do it because he was his teacher, master, and Son of God. So, he said, “You will never wash my feet.” Jesus responded, “Unless I wash you, you have no share with me.” (John 13:8) His submission to God and others is grounded in love, not coercion or obligation. And out of his love for God, Jesus ascends to heaven so that the Holy Spirit would come and empower his disciples and followers.

Second, Jesus ascends to heaven so that the Holy Spirit would come and empower the disciples to go to the world. When Jesus turned 30 years old, he started his ministry publically. For three years, he travelled constantly, performing miracles, teaching the crowd, healing the sick, and proclaiming that the kingdom of God was already here in this world. At the same time, he nurtured his disciples for three years so that they would continue the work that Jesus had done giving the authority and power in the Holy Spirit. Although they all ran away from him, betrayed him three times, and still did not understand why Jesus had to go through death and resurrection, Jesus still gave them the power of God that turned them from people of sorrow to people of joy, people of hopelessness to people of purpose.

In the past, I once met a pastor who said, “Oh, my congregation has grown so attached to me. They tell me that I am the only one who can minister in this church. The bishop better not send me to another church. Because if she does, my church will stop participating in giving the mission share to the conference.” When a pastor elevates himself or herself as the only person favored by the congregation, I am very skeptical that the person is doing what Jesus told us or showed us to do. As the mission of the United Methodist Church is to “make disciples of Christ for the transformation of the world,” our job description is to empower people to follow the way of Christ – be loving, forgiving, merciful, reconciling, and pursue justice and righteousness of God.

The Ascension of Jesus, therefore, describes the mission of the Church in the world. Jesus told his disciples, “You are witnesses of these things” (v.48) – who Jesus is and what Jesus did.” Through our faith and work, we are to be the witnesses of Christ’s life, death, and resurrection. So, when the person at the Community Café challenged me saying, “Prove if Jesus was really resurrected.” My response to him was, “Christianity is not about proving with scientific fact. It is about living the story.” People whom we serve might come from places of despair, poverty, brokenness, or sickness. But when we serve out of love of Christ, they experience the power of God that transforms their lives. They also wish to follow the way of Christ by finding joy and love in their lives. They also wish to serve others.

And finally, Jesus ascends to heaven so that we become a people of anticipation and hope. In Acts 1:11, it says that the disciples looked up into the sky until they could not see him anymore. Suddenly, two men dressed in white clothes stood beside them and told them, “Why are you standing here and looking up into the sky? Jesus has been taken to heaven. But he will come back in the same way that you have seen him go.” The promise is that Jesus will come again even though no one knows the time. He will come and complete the story of redemption in fullness. Whenever we share the bread and cup, the liturgy reads, “By your Spirit make us one with Christ, one with each other, and one in ministry to all the world, until Christ comes in final victory and we feast at his heavenly banquet.”

When my parents come, they usually arrive at the Boston Logan Airport. From Korea to Boston, it is about 20 hours trip including the layover. I can imagine how exhausting the trip is. But when we meet them at the gate, they beam in joy and delighted to see us as if they forgot the fatigue from the trip. And I see that is true with other families at the gate. When a soldier comes home, he or she is welcomed by the family and friends with tears being delighted to reunited again. Until then, they can only see each other through video chat on their smartphones. They can communicate through emails. Likewise, we discern the will of God through the Bible. We learn from our ancestors of faith. We encounter Christ from those we serve. But the final day comes when we will see the face of Christ directly in joy.

As we gather to worship, gather to serve others, and gather to wait, we hear the words of Christ who says, “I am sending upon you what my Father promised. But stay here until you have been clothed with power from on high.” I know that some of us struggle today. Some of us doubt. Some of us feel lost. But the good news is that Christ promises to us that God has not forgotten about you. God will send you what God has promised – the Holy Spirit who will clothe you with the power of God. God will give you the strength for today and tomorrow. God will give you the power to forgive and reconcile. God will give you the power to testify to the truth. God will give you the power to serve others and make disciples and change the world. And God will give you the power to wait until Christ comes in final victory over death and enjoined by the communion of the saints. No more tears. No more sadness. May God equip us with the power from on high today. Amen.

[1] W. B. Paul Young, Lies We Believe about God, 47.