Ascension Day, and the Rapture that Wasn’t

“So when the disciples had come together, they asked him, “Lord, is this the time when you will restore the kingdom to Israel?” 7He replied, “It is not for you to know the times or periods that the Father has set by his own authority. 8But you will receive power 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.” 9When he had said this, as they were watching, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. 10While he was going and they were gazing up toward heaven, suddenly two men in white robes stood by them. 11They said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up toward heaven? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.”

– Acts 1:6-11

Well, we know that Jesus didn’t reveal himself on May 21, 2011. But is that what we’re to be primarily waiting for and trying to figure out – the exact date of his final revealing? For those who believe, we believe that Jesus is present each day, and is judging, and blessing, and sustaining us in our lives. We believe this because he is risen from the dead, ascended to the Father, and is sending the the spirit of power among us, the Holy Spirit who rules by love.

On Ascension Day, we remember our risen Lord’s ascension to heaven, the completion of his mission on earth. We long for the day when his kingdom is revealed to all humanity. But as the text above shows, this is not to be our primary focus as we live in him, for as it says in the Gospel of Matthew, “we cannot know the day or the hour” of his revealing. Rather, the risen Jesus has promised us power to be witnesses to his reign of love as we live in our generation. As he has been given power over all things, his power is shown not chiefly in supernatural signs and wonders from the realm of science fiction, but in the lives of his faithful people. Empowered by the promised Holy Spirit, we are called to do the things which he did: controlling self, forgiving others, serving others, healing others, proclaiming God’s victory over sin, death, and evil, and living lives of constant praise to God the Father. In the Holy Communion, which Jesus gave as a constant memorial of his presence among us, we have Jesus’ revealing among us: a sign of the forgiveness of sins in his name, a pledge of the Holy Spirit, and a foretaste of the banquet that awaits us when his rule is revealed to all.

The Death of Osama Bin Laden – the Risen Life of Jesus Christ

The Death of Osama Bin Laden – the Risen Life of Jesus Christ

Sunday night, along with other Americans, I watched as President Obama announced that Al Queda leader Osama Bin Laden had been killed by United States Special Forces, nearly ten years after the cataclysmic attacks of September 11, 2001. All of us were affected by that attack, which was masterminded and ordered by Bin Laden. Those of us with connections to the New York City and Washington areas were affected deeply. Some of us participated in cleanup and counseling efforts at the site, and many of us have visited Ground Zero. Some of the members of our congregation have served in Afghanistan or Iraq, or have had family members or friends who have done so. For some of us, the mere threat of further terrorist attacks has caused us anxiety and worry.

As Christians, we can be thankful that a person who was a threat to the peace of the world has been restrained from doing further harm to innocent people. As Lutherans, we believe that this is the proper function of good government – to promote well-being and defend the innocent. “Good government” is included in Luther’s Small Catechism’s definition of what we pray for in asking God to “give us this day our daily bread.” We can be thankful that the executive branch of our government and the members of our armed forces and intelligence services served with honor, integrity, skill, and courage in pursuing and bringing down a man who had devoted his life to killing not just Americans, but citizens of other nations.

And yet we should not rejoice in the death of Osama Bin Laden. It is unseemly for Christians to rejoice in the death of any person, no matter how much violence or mayhem he or she has caused. I am reminded of a Jewish midrash on the Exodus story, the same Exodus story which was read at our Easter Vigil. According to this commentary on Scripture, the angels rejoiced to see “the Egyptians dead on the seashore,” (Exodus 14:30b), until God stopped them with a word: “We cannot rejoice when my children lie dead.” Although rebels rise up against God, and must either be converted or restrained from doing further evil, war and killing even in self-defense is only a stopgap solution to the problem of evil. The Lutheran tradition has always maintained the right of governments to defend the innocent, and yet our salvation will never come by guns and bullets.

We can rejoice, however, in the saving act of God in Jesus Christ, that whether evil seems to triumph or whether by God’s grace we are protected from its power to kill the body, we are assured that no power of sin, death, or evil can ultimately separate us from God or each other. In the Easter season, let us celebrate no one’s death, but rather rejoice in the continuing life of Jesus among us. When the community of Christ gathers on Sundays and at other times, he comes among us in Word and water, bread and wine, and by the Holy Spirit makes of us his body in the world. Let us rededicate ourselves to the call of God to rejoice in the risen Christ, who will never die, and who will reign forever. Amen