The excitement of the Preakness in Baltimore yesterday reminds me of a gambler who saw a priest blessing longshot horses on the forehead, and each longshot won its race.
The gambler rushed to the ATM and withdrew all his savings for the last race. But this time, the priest blessed the eyes, ears, and hooves of the “old nag.” The gambler bet all he had. The horse came in last.
The shocked gambler asked the priest what happened. The priest answered, “I guess you can’t tell the difference between a simple blessing and the last rites.” I was giving the horse the last rites.
Death, resurrection, ascension and pentecost are all aspects of the passage of Jesus from this earthy life into a new, transformed, heavenly reality. This passage of Jesus anticipates our own future.
The ascension which we celebrate today marks Jesus’ final leave-taking from the disciples, so something new can happen: the descent of the Spirit of God on Pentecost. Yes, the living Christ continues among us ever active through the Spirit.
The author of the Book of the Acts flat out indicates that Luke's Gospel and the Acts of the Apostles are a two-volume work. The Gospel is about Jesus; the Acts about early Christianity.
The ascension, connecting Luke and Acts, signals the close of Jesus’ earthly ministry and heralds the beginning of the Church’s ministry: proclaiming the Good News that Jesus Christ is alive.
Paul in his letter to the Christian community at Ephesus prays that we will grow in wisdom and enlightenment so that we will see more clearly God’s saving work. Jesus is indeed the “head” of the “body,” the Church, the people of God. And we with our multi talents are called to build up this body.
In the Gospel according to Mark, Jesus tells his disciples in every age to be persons with a mission, a purpose: to proclaim the Gospel to every creature. We are now the “hands and feet and eyes and ears and voice” of the Living Christ until He comes again in glory at the end time to transform this universe into a new, indescribable reality.
The living Christ has created new relationships for us—with God and with one another. In light of this, I would like to pose three questions:
What make us feel alive? What does it mean to be alive in this new relationship with Christ? How really alive in Christ are we?
First, what makes us feel alive? Gazing upward at the sky? Experiencing the awesomeness of the Grand Canyon or Niagara Falls? Watching a space shuttle lift off? Singing? Holding a baby? Accomplishing a challenging task? These and many more can make us feel alive. So what energizes us?
Next question: what does it mean to be alive in Christ? We have been gifted with God’s triune life in baptism, our initiation into a community of disciples. In early Christianity, candidates for baptism were often immersed in a pool of water. Stepping down into the water and emerging symbolized a dying to self-centeredness and rising to a new other-centered life.
The rite of baptism makes us alive in Christ. At birth, we lack God’s triune life. The Book of Genesis informs us in the beginning, man and woman had friendship with God and each other. But somehow they lost that friendship, they “hid” from God.
God became flesh in Jesus. God through the crucified and risen Christ by the power of the Spirit re-established our friendship, connected us to the living Christ. Through baptism we enter this community and we are alive in Christ. The triune God abides in us and we abide in the triune God.
And the third question is: How really alive in Christ are we? The Spirit of God is within us, to bring about the design of the triune God. That Spirit calls us to continue the saving work of Jesus Christ until He comes again in glory. The Spirit empowers us to be instruments of faith, hope, love, forgiveness, compassion, truth, fairness, hospitality, fidelity, responsibility and self-discipline.
In May, many of us hear about commencement speeches. The best advice I ever heard in a speech is this:
The quality of our life and our soul’s destiny will be measured by our character: going the extra mile to help someone in need; helping a child realize their potential; being faithful in our relationships and responsibilities; working for the common good; trusting always in a good and compassionate God who is ever near to us and who will guide us safely home.
If we follow that advice, we indeed will be continuing the saving work of Jesus Christ.
