Faith and Ascension

Luke 24:44-53
24:44 Then he said to them, "These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you--that everything written about me in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms must be fulfilled."
24:45 Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures, 24:46 and he said to them, "Thus it is written, that the Messiah is to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day, 24:47 and that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem.
24:48 You are witnesses of these things. 24:49 And see, I am sending upon you what my Father promised; so stay here in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high." 24:50 Then he led them out as far as Bethany, and, lifting up his hands, he blessed them. 24:51 While he was blessing them, he withdrew from them and was carried up into heaven. 24:52 And they worshiped him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy; 24:53 and they were continually in the temple blessing God.


I've spent this week thinking over the theme of all of this week's readings about the Ascension. I had nothing. I even typed up a post about how I had nothing and wrestling with those moments went  t he Bible just doesn't speak to me. When I'm not moved by the words I read, and how that's always a trying moment for my faith, because I've always been raised to believe the Bible should speak to us, and while it usually does, when it doesn't, the silence is deafening.

That post was sarcastic, a little bitter,  a little sad, and also contained some cliche' cynical commentary about Jesus leaving us having to have faith, because having Him still on the Earth providing absolute proof would just be too easy.

That's when it hit me. The Ascension is about faith. Not in the cynical way I was thinking, though. Not in the, "God's going to remove the proof so you have to have faith in Him" way, although there is a hint of that. No, the Ascension is about faith of a different kind. It's about Jesus having faith in us. The Ascension is the moment when Daddy Jesus, having ran with us on our bike halfway up the driveway, releases us to let us try to find our own balance. He's guided us, told us how to do things, and now we have to keep going. Just like the dad with the bike, Jesus hasn't gone far, and we can still feel the balance He imparted on us. He still yells encouragement, and will help us get up if we fall. Still, the opportunity for us to ride free is still there. He's giving us the chance to stand on our own.

So, this Ascension Week, remember, Jesus Ascended because He had faith in us to handle matters down here. I hope we can live up to His trust in us. I'm pretty sure we can, because I believe in Him, and if He believes in me, then I guess it's about time I started believing in me as well.