In Matthew’s gospel, before Jesus ascends, he tells them, very simply, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations.” He urges them to baptize, to teach, to carry on the work that he has begun. But his first direction is so clear: “Go.” The world is waiting. Act on what I have taught you.
And the reading from Acts even challenges them. As they have watched him disappear into the clouds, two men ask them: “Men of Galilee, why are you standing there looking at the sky?”
The apostles were not supposed to spend their time staring nostalgically at the stars. There was work to be done. They left the mountain, went into the city, and prepared for the phenomenal mission that was about to start – the spreading of the gospel to every corner of the world.
It is tempting on this feast of the Ascension to experience it the way the apostles did, to gaze into the heavens and to ponder the clouds and to pray over the miracle of this great moment. It is tempting that we also just sit around discussing the renewed hope during the visit of Pope Benedict to our land.
But Christ’s words to his apostles are words to us all. “Go.” The world will not be converted on a mountaintop. The message will not be spread in the clouds. It will happen in the streets and the synagogues, in public squares and private homes, in books and newspapers and media of all kinds. It needs to be lived in the world.
Pope Benedict also tells us to go and to be constantly alert for the signs of the presence of God’s kingdom in this world, and work for its growth in every sector of society. It means facing the challenges of present and future with confidence in Christ’s victory and a commitment to extending his reign. It means not losing heart in the face of resistance, adversity and scandal. It means overcoming every separation between faith and life, and countering false gospels of freedom and happiness. It also means rejecting a false dichotomy between faith and political life, since, there is no human activity – even in secular affairs – which can be withdrawn from God’s dominion”. It means working to enrich our society and culture with the beauty and truth of the Gospel, and never losing sight of that great hope which gives meaning and value to all the other hopes which inspire our lives.
Let us also be on guard that people within our ranks can also be stumbling block to the realization of God’s kingdom. There are temptations of that can destroy the whole essence of our ministry in the church and in our society. Listening to Paul in his letter to the Ephesians today,
Power, promise, and presence take center stage in our celebration of the Lord’s ascension today. That power, referred to by the letter to the Ephesians as “the surpassing greatness of his power for us who believe, in accord with the exercise of his great might, which he worked in Christ, raising him from the dead and seating him at his right hand in the heavens.
That power, however, is born of a promise. It is not power for its own sake bestowed on oneself; not worldly and political power; not military might, nor power that accrues from a deep need to lord it over others, but a power proffered from above – a power for a purpose.
This power from above becomes prophecy – the power to proclaim: “teach them to observe all that I have commanded you.” This divinely bestowed power also becomes priestly: “baptize them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.” This power from God also becomes kingly: “make disciples of all nations.” This power shines out, and is summed up, in powerful presence: “And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age.” (Mt 28:16-20). This power is mediated for us by one mediator; “All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me.”
Lastly, this power has as indispensable element, a clear purpose: “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations.” It is power, not only with a purpose. It is power meant to be for service, designed by the heavenly giver to be at the service of his saving presence, at the service of what commentators call “the great commission,” ultimately, at the service of Christ’s prophet hood, priesthood, and kingship.In a timely coincidence, the feast of the Ascension falls this year on the feast of St. Joseph the Worker. A lot of us this morning will leave this church and go to work. We have trains to catch and meetings to attend and cranky bosses to deal with and deadlines to meet. But there is other work to be done, too. Perhaps today’s scripture can serve to remind us of the great work of God that all of us are charged with carrying out – the work of living the gospel both in our hearts, and in the world. How will we fulfill that beautiful work today? How will we transform it into a prayer? How will we heed Christ’s order to “go”? How will we make the ordinary tasks transcend – and ascend? How can we raise our lives to God?
So, do not stay too long on the mountain. The Kingdom of God is waiting to be spread. Sooner or later, we all must turn our eyes from the heavens, and direct them to the earth, and walk back into the world.
Sooner or later, we have to go and make disciples of all nations.
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