Summary: Explores the tension in our lives generated by the absence of Christ after his Ascension. There is, however encouragement and hope for us, both in the "already" of our present salvation and in the "not yet" of the coming consummation at Christ’s Return.

The Real Absence of Christ

Part #1 For Ascension and Pentecost 2001

Acts 1:1-11

1 In my former book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach

2 until the day he was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles he had chosen. 3 After his suffering, he showed himself to these men and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God. 4 On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: "Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. 5 For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit."

6 So when they met together, they asked him, "Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?" 7 He said to them: "It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."

9 After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight. 10 They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. 11 "Men of Galilee," they said, "why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven."

INTRO. THE LONGING OF ALL OUR HEARTS

6 So when they met together, they asked him, "Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?"

It has become an easy thing to ridicule the disciples for their question at this point. You may have even heard sermons to this effect. The response to the question is, "Silly Hebrew, Jesus came to establish a spiritual kingdom, not an earthly kingdom." The underlying premise of course is, "After all he has done, do you still want something more?"

I think this response, however is a little too callous and dismissive of the underlying hope that was radiating in the disciples’ hearts. The Scriptures had taught them that when Messiah came, he would eliminate the oppression and suffering of his people and establish the rule and reign of God. Evil and death would be defeated and God himself would reign over his people in justice, righteousness and peace.

In asking if Jesus was going to restore the kingdom, the disciples were basically asking if it was now time to realize the full benefits of the coming of the Messiah. They were asking are you going to work everything out now?

Now before you criticize those aspirations I want you to really get in touch with your own feelings of suffering and helplessness. If I asked,

"Where is it that life is hurting you?"

or

"What in your life would you ask God to change if you had the chance?"

Would that help you identify with the longings and aspirations of the disciples?

The fact is that we suffer and experience misery, helplessness, and sin to a greater or lesser degree in every aspect of our lives. Wouldn’t it be wonderful to have world peace and an end to injustice? Wouldn’t it be wonderful to not have to deal with the pain of your arthritis? Wouldn’t it be incredible not to have to feel lonely or insecure or oppressed by the weight of your circumstances?

We have spoken about the resurrection power of Christ in the last couple of weeks and how that power manifests itself in the forgiveness of sins, the restoration of friendship with God, and surprising transformations in our lives, but how do you deal with what remains undone?

THE NORMAL CHRISTIAN LIFE: "ALREADY" AND "NOT YET"

6 So when they met together, they asked him, "Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?" 7 He said to them: "It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority.

9 After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight. 10 They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them.

How does Jesus answer their question? Not yet.

The passage tells us that Christ was then received into heaven and was hidden from their sight. They stood, amazed and bewildered at the heavens looking for the Christ that was no longer present but absent.

If you are not yet a Christian but are wondering what it might look like for you to cross the line of faith and live as a disciple of Jesus, this image of the disciples looking toward heaven might be the best picture of what it feels like to live as a Christian. With the Ascension of Christ into heaven his disciples are forced to grapple with the tension created by the difference between things as they are and things as the should be. Let me give you to categories to think in: "already" and "not yet."

This is what I mean. At the time of this saying as verses 1-5 of this passage say, Jesus had suffered, died and had been resurrected. According to the Bible, this act has been received by God as the sufficient payment for all you have done to offend God. Jesus’ resurrection means that death has been defeated and his ascension in this chapter means that God has received Jesus back to himself and has declared his job done. All of this has "already" been accomplished.

The full flowering and universal benefit of this redemption has, however, "not yet" fully appeared. Although Christ has already defeated death we still suffer from sickness and die. Death does not have the ultimate power in that we do not die forever, but I am sure that you will agree that it is still powerful.

This is true for us morally as well. Christ has defeated the power of sin in our lives and has set us free from the domination of self-destructive and evil desires, but we still feel their pull. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, talk to a friend about his attempts to break a particularly stubborn bad habit.

ENCOURAGEMENT IN ALREADY. . .HOPE FOR NOT YET

8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."

9 After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight. 10 They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. 11 "Men of Galilee," they said, "why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven."

The question of when Christ will consummate his work

in us and in the world is a question that has teeth and the absence of Christ would bring us to despair if we could not apprehend its meaning.

Hope for us in the "already": The presence of the Holy Spirit sustains our faith and empowers us to live out the benefits of his work with hope and creativity.

The promise of the Holy Spirit is that our faith and hope are sustained because Christ is yet present with us and it is he who enables us to bear witness of his work in us and with us.

Hope for us in the "not yet": The two men in white offer God’s word of hope to the disciples who are looking intently into heaven: Jesus Christ will come again and consummate the work that he has begun restore the Kingdom rule and reign of God to his people.

CONC. HIS ASCENSION ASSURES US OF OUR OWN

The Ascension is the link between the first Advent and the second Advent of Jesus.

The Ascension also is the link that makes it possible to reconcile the tension of the "already" and "not yet" The Ascension assures us that Christ has completed his work and he is approved by God.

We have a real flesh and blood human being in the presence of God over whom sin and death have no power and the fact that he is victorious guarantees that we who have been united to him will share in his victory not merely in the realm of the "already" but fully in the "not yet".

Thomas Merton: "The truth is I am far from the being the monk or the cleric that I ought to be. My life is a great mess and tangle of half-conscious subterfuges [strategies] to evade grace and duty. I have done all things badly. I have thrown away great opportunities. My infidelity to Christ, instead of making me shudder, drives me to throw myself all the more blindly on his mercy. How could I dare to go to the altar [church] and say Mass [minister] after the way I have treated my other obligations in the past two or three years? . . .

And yet I can go to the altar with confidence and great joy and know that my Mass [ministry] is going to make a tremendous difference to the happiness and salvation of the world, not only in spite of the fact that it is my Mass, but even because it is my Mass, that is, because of the special mercy of Christ to those who have nothing to offer, nothing except weakness and misery and sin. And on the feast day of my own "Ascension" when I am taken into heaven, I shall sing, "I have given you glory."

From: Thomas Merton, Entering the Silence : Becoming a Monk & Writer (The Journals of Thomas Merton, Vol. 2) San Francisco: Harper San Francisco, 1997)