Think about the roller coaster ride of Jesus’ disciples. He was everything they hoped Messiah would be and as they prepared for him to claim and earthly throne in Jerusalem, they saw him crucified and buried in a tomb. Three days later they found the had returned to life and for forty days shared meals, laughed and cried with them, and took time to fish and watch sunsets and sunrises with his closest friends. Then came a day when He needed to leave this earthly journey and they would again, no longer see his physical presence. What would happen next?
Let’s think about it this way: How long did it take after Christmas decorations were put away did it take for us to lose the joy and glow of that season and move back into our normal routines? Out of sight, out of mind! Right? All the effort that went into making Christmas special was quickly forgotten when the props and visual aids of that season were out of sight. Well, this day of Jesus withdrawing his visible presence from their midst was like putting Christmas decorations away. Instantly their world changed.
We understand such times of transition when what we are used to looks different and life goes back to what it was before. We have all had similar moments of up and down and being turned around. We move from joy to sorrow or sorrow to joy, over and over again. It isn’t easy but it is the stuff of life and the entire reason for Jesus’ entrance and exit was to take care of the normal stuff of life. It is all about the love of God and the patience with which faith enables us to endure and embrace what we cannot understand or fully explain.
Luke began his Gospel with heavenly angels announcing heaven had come to earth in the form of a baby in a manger. Angels sang. Shepherds ran. Mary and Joseph rejoiced in their miracle baby. What great visual reminders to remind of this most important moment in time.
Luke ended his Gospel as the resurrected disappeared into heaven. Out of sight, things appeared to be just as they were before it all started in Bethlehem. The disciples had to feel even more at a loss than our children when Christmas decorations are put away! More than simply missing Jesus’ visible presence they had lost their most important visual prop to remind them of God’s announcement of a new age.
They were caught off guard. They had felt the same emptiness when Jesus died, thinking they would never see Jesus again. Then he was back in front of them and life they celebrated returning to daily classroom sessions with Jesus. Then he was gone from their sight, again! Ascension is difficult to comprehend, with nothing for certain except Jesus’ visible presence ended. How confused they must have been.
We experience similar moments at the death of people we love, or when a best friend moves away. We gradually forget the feelings we were so used to when such changes are forced upon our lives. Out of sight … out of mind. Right? Well … are you sure?
Remember giving up training wheels and the fear that followed? Yet, over time you learned to ride by yourself. Life is so full of such moments. As we struggle with daily life, we are left with attempting to visualize the loving arms and helping hands of Jesus whom we cannot see. At the death of loved ones, we are like the disciples when Jesus disappeared. When we lose sight of what we are used to, our first thought is not the joy Christmas. As comfortable props and visual aids disappear, we stand like disciples at the Ascension with mouths wide open as we wonder what we will do next.
Luke continued his message in the book of Acts with the appearance of two new props. Two me dressed in white shared a surprising message. “He will return in the same way.” Think about that! He will come back, and it will be like Christmas and Easter all over again! The heavens will open, angels will sing, and God will visibly be present in the form of Jesus! More important than a rational explanation of the Ascension is to know what it means and why it happened. There is no way shepherds at the manger could fully comprehend what they observed, but when they left the manger, they told everyone what they had seen and heard! They did the best they could, and did so without training wheels, or classroom preparations.
Jesus’ message to his disciples of every age is that we are the new props, visual aids, and witnesses of God’s love. Like those first disciples we are the Christmas ornaments, the empty cross and tomb, and the hands and feet of the risen Christ. We might feel timid or unprepared, yet Jesus reminds us he will help even if we cannot see him!
That might not sound like what Jesus’ disciples really wanted, but as they learned to wash feet and tell the stories Jesus told, he was alive in their hearts and lives. Then and now, as hearts are opened in prayer, as we share the meal of the kingdom, and forgive as we have been forgiven, we feel his presence and are gifted with his peace. Like shepherds who ran from the manger, our women who ran from the empty tomb, disciples change the world as we carry the image of Jesus in hearts and lives and are unafraid to let others know the peace and joy he brings.
As my dad neared the end of his earthly life, he didn’t talk. He seemed distant. Conversations were impossible. But every time I walked into his room, he looked up and said “Hi Tim.” He remembered me! And that is what I will always remember. Although I will never see Dad on this earth again, I will never forget. It isn’t the same as Christmas, and yet it is, as the loving presence of my Dad will always be, and I will have no trouble sharing memories and the gift of his life. In a more perfect way, this is the message of Jesus’ Ascension. That day was no different than Easter as disciples found no body in the tomb and were asked, “Why seek life in the place of death?” After his Ascension they were asked, why are you gazing at where he was? Celebrate where he is now! He will never leave you or abandon you.
I love my Dad more than I can express, yet it was easy to take that love for granted when I knew I could always see him. And when I couldn’t, just as happens for all of us, there was emptiness and grief, followed by remembering what his love was all about. That reality continues to touch and change me, and in doing so, allows me to be more for those I love than I could on my own. And better yet, when I see Jesus, I will see my dad again as well. But there is no reason not to feel the joy of that love as I wait.
If Christmas decorations were always visible, they would not be as special as when the suddenly reappear! Just knowing they are nearby is a simple way of remembering even if we can’t see Jesus; we can still feel the warmth of his love, his message for us to wash feet, and the peace of knowing he will never leave us alone. He is with us, embracing, protecting, guiding, and leading. He simply withdrew his visible presence from one time and place to be physically present in every time and place and life!
Life is like that, and we are blessed to walk through it with Jesus physically at our side!
Christmas hasn’t been taken away but has taken on a new shape and joy for the whole world. Jesus is out of sight, yes! But with us still. And Jesus never told disciples to simply sit and remember, but to be and do for others what he has done for us! We are now his hands and feet, his witnesses, and his visual aids. We are blessed to become the body of Christ so through us others will feel his presence and know his love.
Such is the power and gift of our lives of faith. Out of sight, out of mind? No way, never! Not with Jesus at our side!