SERMON for EASTER DAY 2013 What Do You See

DIALOGUE FOR ASCENSION SUNDAY | 1 June 2014

1 How I hate leaving people behind – saying goodbye! I always say to myself, “I’m not going to cry” but I always feel bad when people go.

2 Leaving places behind can be hard too. All those memories that are somehow bound up with those particular buildings, those rooms. Every time I move house I find myself saying, “that’s the last time I’ll do that here…” I know it’s ridiculous but, as the song says, breaking up is always hard to do…

1 There is a poem by an Israeli soldier which is often read at funerals. It talks about the sadness that comes when someone dies. The poem describes death as being a bit like when a ship leaves the quayside and sets sail – little by little it gets smaller and smaller until it eventually hits the horizon and disappears altogether. When someone dies they vanish from sight; we have to let them go.

2 Which is what the disciples felt on Good Friday. Watching Jesus die was ‘the end’; it was completely horrible. But when Jesus ascended into heaven the disciples were as happy as Larry, running back to the Temple, full of hope, singing themselves hoarse. They didn’t feel the same at all.

1 So what was the difference? Jesus was still leaving them behind? 2 But this time they were better prepared. Jesus still had a lot of explaining to do but they now knew there were two ways to understand what ‘glory’ was about.

1 Well there wasn’t much glory about the Cross was there? You couldn’t get a much nastier way to die than that.

2 But isn’t that the point? Glory is not just about something fantastic - something beautiful or successful. The disciple had to learn that the Cross was glorious too—the sign of how much God loved us, so that even his death was full of ‘glory’.

1 But surely we think of the Resurrection as being the really glorious event in Jesus’ life - when he was able to come and be with his friends again?

2 How does that poem by the Israeli soldier end?

1 The second half talks about how there is another group of people waiting for the ship to arrive. As they look at the horizon they see the ship getting bigger and bigger until it is able to tie up on the quay where the are.

2 And what do you think is the message of the poem? 1 That when we die there are people waiting for us in heaven?

2 Yes - and that you can’t have that happy homecoming unless the person had gone through the sadness of death, and all the letting go that comes with it.

1 That still doesn’t explain why the disciples were so happy to see Jesus go the second time! Why weren’t they upset all over again?

2 Because Jesus said that he wasn't really leaving.

1 But he was! One minute he was there and the next he was heading for the clouds. He was either there or he wasn’t!

2 That’s another part of the way God shows us his glory. We all agree that God’s glory could be seen when Jesus rose from the dead because that was a fantastically happy event. We might even learn to accept that Good Friday showed God’s glory because it showed Jesus doing exactly what his Father asked him to do, even though it cost him his life.

1 So how does the Ascension fit in?

2 Because of what you said earlier. The disciples were happy to see Jesus go. 1 But why were they?

2 Because Jesus said that all the things they had come to trust about him - his love, his wisdom and his ability to make good things happen - didn’t depend any longer on him being there physically. From now on the glory of God could be revealed here, there or anywhere … whenever the Spirit of God was working in the hearts and minds of his friends.

1 So what you are saying is - that the glory of God can also be seen at the Ascension because Jesus wasn't actually leaving the disciples because his Spirit would be with them wherever they went.

2 Just like the memory of those we love lives on in us after they die. But instead of us just having a warm, cosy feeling about the people we miss, Jesus is offering us his power to do everything that he was able to do - wherever we are. ..

1 Which is just a bit scary if you ask me…