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Ascension of the Lord (May 24, 2020)
Acts 1:1-11; Eph 1:17-23; Mt 28:16-20; Psalm 47:2-3, 6-7, 8-9
The Acts of the Apostles is St. Luke’s sequel to his Gospel. Therefore,
he expands on the Ascension of Jesus in the Acts of the Apostles. The
Ascension takes place 40 days after Jesus’ Resurrection. However, St.
Luke presents to us the Apostles’ need for spiritual growth, after being
taught for six weeks by the resurrected Jesus.
They asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the
kingdom to Israel?” Forty days after the Resurrection, the Apostles are
still looking for a physical kingdom. What about us? Are we still
focusing on God’s physical blessings? Have we come to realize that
many of our physical issues have spiritual roots that need to be
addressed? If there is one thing I realize, it is that our spiritual person
supports our physical person, but the opposite is not possible.
St. Luke, in his Gospel, presented Jesus and how the Father worked in
and through him via the Holy Spirit. Now Jesus tells the Apostles to wait
in Jerusalem for “the promise of the Father. In a few days you will be
baptized with the Holy Spirit.” If someone you trust gave you “a big
promise,” what interior change might you experience? Does a promise
excite our heart to anticipation and expectation?
The Acts of the Apostles presents the ways the Holy Spirit worked in
and through only a few of the Apostles. Basically, the signs that followed
Jesus were now accompanying all the Apostles. My question is: Why
don’t we see these signs accompanying us today? I think the need for
these signs is as great today as it was then. However, I believe we are the
limiting factor. I think we have not yielded ourselves as servants to the
will of Jesus and the guidance of the Holy Spirit as the Apostles did.
I found the following quote this week. I think it says a great deal about
our spiritual perspective.
“If we think of the Holy Spirit . . . as merely a power or influence,
our constant thought will be, ‘How can I get more of the Holy Spirit,’
but if we think of Him in the Biblical way as a Divine Person,
our thought will rather be, ‘How can the Holy Spirit have more of me?’”
-R. A. Torrey
The Easter season is the time of Confirmation. The “stay-at-home
order” has limited the Bishop’s schedule for the last two months. We are
waiting for confirmation to be rescheduled for our youth. Jesus told the
Apostles, “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you.”
Have we asked Jesus to empower us with the Holy Spirit and to become
active in and through us? All we need to do is to ask. The question we
need to answer is: “How can the Holy Spirit have more of me?” Jesus
continued, “You will be my witnesses to the ends of the earth.” This is
our commission also. Yet, how many of us would be considered
missionaries or evangelists, even in a limited way or in our families?
Was Jesus’ Ascension an abandoning of the Apostles and by extension,
us? Bishop Barron, in his message, shared that the Ascension enabled
Jesus to take his position outside our physical limitations in order to lead
his spiritual armies. We generally hear this to mean the angels, but we
too have each been called to fight the spiritual battle. I think we have
quit testing the spiritual warnings and we have been fooled into believing
the enemy does not exist and now we can just sit on the sideline.
I think sometimes we are like the Apostles when they said to Jesus,
“Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?” I
think we are overly concerned about the physical world. Have we
stopped to consider who we are, that we are half flesh and half spirit?
And which half is more important? The last time I checked, my spirit is
more important because it will live eternally. Shouldn’t our concern then
be on all things that are necessary for our salvation and eternal life? The
perspective of the Apostles changed quickly after they received the Holy
Spirit on Pentecost.
St. Paul prays a great prayer for us, “May the eyes of your hearts be
enlightened, that you may know what is the hope that belongs to his call,
what are the riches of glory in his inheritance.” This is all that should
matter in our lives. You might say to me, “That’s easy for you to say.
You’re a deacon.” Keep in mind, that by putting on this collar, the Lord
holds me to a higher standard, because you are looking to me and
expecting me to have something of value for you. What “are the riches
of glory in his inheritance?” St. Paul writes in Ephesians: “You were
sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, which is the first installment of our
inheritance.” The Holy Spirit is the down payment for our eternal life.
God the Father “worked in Christ, raising him from the dead and
seating him at his right hand in the heavens, far above every principality,
authority, power, and dominion, and every name that is named.” Do we
recognize what a powerful advocate we have in Jesus? Jesus has the
position of our defense attorney, at the Father’s right hand. He
experienced everything we will or have suffered. Yet, he has all the
might to support us and defeat our enemies, if we just call on him for
assistance. But, you might argue, he knows everything, including what
I need and how I am being challenged spiritually. Why doesn’t he just
take care of all my problems?
This is where it gets sticky. This is where our freedom, our FreeWill,
enters the picture. Jesus wants to be everything to and for us.
However, this is a father / child relationship. We were created by him and
for him, but he won’t impose himself on us. Jesus and the Father want us
to come willingly to them. However, we like to feel important and to
be in control. Jesus says,
“If you are in control, then I cannot be.”
The Holy Spirit asks us to surrender everything and in return, Jesus and
the Father will provide everything we need.
Do we recognize that “the Name of Jesus” is more powerful than all of
humanity combined? To solve our problems, all we need to do is call on
the Name of Jesus and he will be right there to help us. Yes, we need to
give our lives into the care of Jesus and then we will have life to the full.
Jesus has ascended to heaven. Bishop Barron says, “He is now
governor of the Church. He is now the field general in the battle against
the spiritual enemy.” In baptism, we volunteered as a private in Jesus’
army. In fact, my parents volunteered me when I was seven (7) days old.
In sending His Holy Spirit, Jesus desires to teach us, to train us for battle,
to empower us, to promote us to higher rank, and most of all to reward us
for a job well done. Jesus says, “Come, you who are blessed by my
Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the
creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to
eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and
you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and
you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.” (Matthew 25)
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