Aren’t you glad the holiday is over? I mean Ascension Day, like Easter, came so early this year! But now that the Ascension cards have been sent, the Ascension gifts exchanged, the Ascension dinner enjoyed we can all relax and look forward to the after Ascension Day sales at Deer Park and Woodfield. I seem to be getting some strange looks! You mean you didn’t celebrate the Ascension of Jesus on Thursday? Well, I guess I am not all that surprised. The Ascension, this fortieth day after Easter which marks the Risen Lord’s leaving this earthly realm on a cloud to return to his place at the right hand of the Father, is a tough holiday to market commercially. In fact, it is not all that easy to get a hold of theologically. Perhaps, you thought you were listening to an old Star Trek episode as I read our lesson from Acts, something of the “beam me up, Scotty,” experience.

And add to the mystery, the fact that only Luke among the N.T. writers shows any appreciation for the significance of the Ascension. He tells the story twice, very briefly in his Gospel, and more extensively here in the first chapter of Acts. Mark ignores the Ascension, as does Matthew, John, Paul, and Peter. Yet, in the earliest creeds of the Church, we read the affirmation, “…he ascended into heaven.” All of which leaves us wondering what is Luke attempting to tell us with this strange story. I believe he has something to say to us, something significant for our faith. As we listen to the story, I think that “something” is heard.

It has been forty days since the resurrection. The Risen Lord has been teaching the disciples about this new Kingdom he is establishing. As they gather on this day, once again and for the umpteenth time, the disciples ask the question that seems to consume them: “Lord, is this the time when you will restore the kingdom to Israel?” I understand the question. It is their complete focus, what they long for, what they hope and dream for, what they left everything for. “Are we there yet, Jesus? Is it the time? Will you now restore Israel to its greatness?” Jesus’ answer is sharp, to the point: “It is not for you to know the times or periods that the Father has set by his own authority.” Jesus rejects speculation. There are some things we cannot, even should not, know. The schedule is God’s business not ours. He calls the disciples to get refocused.

There are, however, others things we need to know, other things that are indeed our business, things on which we need to focus. “But you will receive power,” says Jesus, “when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea, and Samaria and to the ends of the earth.” It is a change in focus. Speculation gives way to mission, calculation to demonstration, restoration of the past to transformation of the present. Luke is telling us there is something cosmic going on here, something beyond our earth-bound categories. Ascension means Jesus is not a prisoner of time or space, history or geography. He is Lord of the whole created order. There is no time or place beyond his presence and his liberating love. To this, we are called to witness.

No sooner has the Risen Lord uttered this promise, as they were watching, Luke tells us, “…he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight.” One simple sentence, that’s it. It seems a bit disappointing, doesn’t it? I mean surely Luke could have offered something more dramatic, more exciting, more Spielbergesque. But that is all we get, except for those two guys in white robes. You know, the two that have a habit of showing up at strange happenings to offer an interpretation. So, as the disciples stand looking to heaven, the two men in white robes ask, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up toward heaven? This Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come in the same way you saw him go to heaven.” Again, the call is to refocus. The disciples are called to shift from gazing toward heaven to looking at those around them on earth---that is where their witness is to happen. And the promise that Jesus will return on his own time table, is that which inspires and motivates, strengthens and sustains the witness. It is the lens that gets the disciples focused properly.

As I read Luke’s story, I was reminded of another story from Mark’s Gospel, the one about Jesus healing the blind man. You may remember that Jesus using spit touched the man’s eyes. He asked the man, “Do you see anything?” The man replied, “I see people but they look like trees walking around.” Jesus touched his eyes a second time. This time the man’s eyes were refocused. He now sees everything clearly---people, trees, flowers colors---everything. So Jesus would refocus our sight that may see, everything clearly, as he would have us see.

Such refocusing means that we see Jesus not simply as First Century teacher and prophet, a faithful Jew who suffered and died, one whom God raised and is now safely seated in heaven. Rather, we see Jesus as the Lord of life, all of life, not confined by time or space, one whose liberating and transforming love permeates all of life. We must refocus how we see Jesus. A couple of weeks ago in the aftermath of the first round of the Rev. Jeremiah Wright controversy, I caught part of an interview with a couple of theologians whose names I neither recognized nor remember. The host posed a question which asked, “I thought the church’s business was to save souls and to deal with spiritual matters. Why should preachers speak about political issues?” I was deeply disappointed with the responses of the theologians. One only has to read the Bible to know the host’s assumption was wrong. Read Jeremiah or Amos, Ezekiel or Isaiah, hear Paul or, for that matter Jesus himself, and you will see just how wrong he was. God’s love permeates all of life. The Good news of the Gospel speaks to every aspect of our living. So, the prophets speak the Word to the kings and their policies. Jesus calls his disciples to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, oppose oppression, advocate for the poor---things that have political implications. The Ascension calls us to get refocused. Jesus is the Lord of all aspects of our lives, not simply the Chair of the Department of Religion. His liberating and transforming love, his Gospel, informs and challenges our political and social and economic thought. Let me be as clear as I can. I am not saying Jesus or the Gospel favors a particular political position or ideology or party, as some would have us believe. I am saying that the Gospel, our faith understandings, must be a part of our political thinking and actions. We do not cease being persons of faith when making political decisions. If Jesus is really Lord, as the Ascension proclaims, then he is Lord of all of life. That is what it means to get refocused.

The General Conference of our United Methodist Church ended its 2008 session on Friday. Among the many items of business the Conference acted upon were a number of what were social and political issues, matters such as, a living wage, welfare reform, hate crimes, and torture. Some might say these items do not belong on the Church’s agenda. I hear the Church and the Scriptures saying, “If Jesus is truly Lord, he is Lord of our politics as well, and if we are to be faithful, we must see such issues as concerns in need of our witness.” Several petitions dealt with racism, calling the church to confront the sin and witness to the inclusive love of God in Christ. Calling the Church to make the elimination of racism a priority witness in the next four years, Bishop Violet Fisher of West New York, asked, “What does it mean to open our hearts for the transformation of God’s world and to be the Gospel” I hunch the answer to the Bishop’s question is to get refocused and witness.

I suppose we could stand or sit idly and gaze that what the General Conference said. But that would miss the point. I hear a call to witness, a call echoing the one in Luke’s story. Our focus must shift from gazing toward heaven to earth, to the world in which we live, to those with whom we share life. Christ Jesus promises the power of the Spirit to refocus our sight that we might witness. When you look what will you see? Will you see a child neglected, an older person forgotten, a youth without hope, a couple whose marriage is fragmented---all in need of our witness to a grace that heals. Will you see racism in all its forms, both bold and subtle, violence ignored, oppression tolerated, violence ignored, injustice condoned---all in the name of political expediency, all in need of our witness to the liberating and transforming power of the Gospel. Will you see a church struggling to be faithful, attempting to be good stewards, working to create disciples, yet all the while combating the tendencies to simply do what we have always done, become self satisfied, fearful of change. What will you see? What will you do? The call is to witness; to tell what you have seen and heard as you encounter the presence of the Ascended One.

Come now to the Table at this One’s invitation. Share the bread and the cup in the Name of Him who is the Lord of Life, the One whose gracious love knows no boundary, no border, no barrier. Come and be nourished by that love and have your sight refocused that you may be his witnesses in Barrington, in Illinois, in the United States, and to the ends of the earth. Thanks be to God! Amen!