Don’t look up hoping you’ll find Jesus in the last place you saw him. Look around, out, and in to the Holy Spirit sending you out to be Jesus in the world

Vicar Natalie Wussler
Day of Ascension
Text: Act 1:1-11; Psalm 47; Ephesians 1:15-23; Luke 24:44-53

Beloved in Christ, grace to you, and peace in the name of the Father, and of the + Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

“Why do you stand looking up toward heaven?” 

That’s what the angels ask the apostles as they look toward heaven, staring at the place they last saw Jesus before he disappeared into a cloud. And it’s a jarring question. Jesus just… left. Their beloved friend and teacher, the one who turned their lives upside-down, who healed and welcomed sinners, the one they just saw die and rise was gone… AGAIN! What else could they do but bend their necks and strain their eyes to catch a final look at their risen and ascending friend? 

And it’s easy to understand why–because, if we’re honest, we look up, too. 

We look up, to find Jesus where we last saw him. We look up, searching for that same feeling, that same comfort, that same certainty, that same closeness we once did. We look up, wishing for our faith to feel easy and joyful again. We look up, hoping that maybe it’ll make the pain, the confusion, and the doubt go away. And maybe if we could find Jesus where we last saw him, life wouldn’t be so hard.

And even though we know that because of the ascension, Jesus fills everything and everyone and sends us out, even though we know that Pentacost is coming, even though we’ve heard stories of saints who stayed faithful to God despite all odds, and even though we’ve maybe even felt God’s presence in our own lives, we all still look up.

And if anyone knows about looking up, it’s me.

In the summer before my senior year, I felt broken. My junior year was full of heartache in my relationships and in my faith. I arrived at a Christian summer camp that I had worked at the summer before in serious need of Jesus. I was desperate for a faith that felt simple and easily joyful like it was the summer before. But instead my faith was easily breakable. I was easily breakable.

I kept looking up asking “where are you Jesus? Why do I feel so empty?” And one day I sat with the camp nurse and told her everything, and she just held me, cried with me, and prayed with me. She didn’t make the pain go away, but Jesus showed up in her arms as they held me, in the tears we cried together, and in prayers she prayed over me.

She showed me that Jesus was not up in the clouds, buried deep in my happy memories and my shallow hopes. No–Jesus is present, active, and responsive even in the hardest moments. And Jesus is never leaving.

And her love for me felt a lot like what the angels say to the apostles, “Why do you stand looking up toward heaven?” which, to me, sounds a lot like: “Don’t look up. He’s not there anymore.”

And that’s an invitation to you and to me
To get your head of the clouds and back onto earth
To see and join into where Jesus is now

And just like the apostles, who could no longer rely on Jesus’ audible voice to answer their questions or give them comfort
Just like they had to figure out where Jesus was now and how to be Jesus in the world,
We can’t rely on where Jesus was to see where Jesus is now.
We need to be brave and curious to look for Jesus in new ways.

Because, on Ascension Day, Jesus wasn’t gone. Jesus didn’t ascend into heaven and go somewhere we could never find him. Jesus ascended to heaven so he could be more present than ever. Jesus is no longer confined to a person, place, time, or memory. Jesus fills the world and walks beside you and beside me every step of our journeys. The risen and ascended Christ is the one in whom we live and move and have our being, as Paul says later in Acts. That means wherever you are, you’re known, you’re loved, you’re held by the one who holds all things together. And no matter where you go, Jesus is there–in your tears and your joy, in your questioning and your confidence, and in the voice of someone who says, “I see you. You’re not alone in this.”

And at the ascension, you and I and people all over the world throughout history are sent out to be the fullness of Christ’s presence in the world right now.  It’s how someone offering you a shoulder to cry on or an ear to listen can feel like the presence of Jesus–because it is. And it’s how you become Jesus for someone else when you do the same, because the ascended Christ fills you and reigns within your heart. It’s the same spirit, but through your hands, your feet, your voice. It’s how in every meal we share, in every hand we hold out to someone in need, in every table we widen, in every cry of the oppressed, in this community gathered to worship, in the bread and the cup given for us, in our tears, and in our doubts, in you, and in me, whenever we act in love, Jesus is still teaching and revealing new things, still healing, still calling, still sending. It’s how we become Jesus’ ministry of hope and healing, and then we become the ones gently whispering to those around us “don’t look up. Jesus isn’t there. Jesus is here.”

So beloved, on this Ascension Day, hear this:

Don’t look up…Instead,

Look out–to the world that Christ sends you into. Look out for the places where Christ is still healing and feeding and teaching.

Look in–for the Holy Spirit who lives in you and fills you.

Look around–to the community of believers who remind you, like the angels remind the apostles, that Jesus is still here.

And maybe that’s why the apostles left the Mount of Olives in joy, praising God that day–

Because they had confidence that Jesus isn’t just in some heavenly realm far away, Jesus isn’t just in our memories. Jesus is right here, reigning in our hearts, sending the holy spirit to fill us and sending friends to remind us to look out, in, and around, not up. Sending us to be the healing presence of the risen and ascended Christ.

In the name of the Father, and of the + Son, and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

The Holy Spirit has a vocation to walk alongside you to help and assist you. And to do the same for the whole creation and all people.

Pr. Joseph G. Crippen
The Sixth Sunday of Easter, year C
Texts: John 14:23-29, with references to Lamentations 3 and Romans 8

Beloved in Christ, grace to you, and peace in the name of the Father, and of the + Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen

What if God has a vocation, a calling?

We know God calls us to vocations. But is it possible that the Holy and Triune God who made the heavens and the earth is also called ? Only God has the authority to call God, so any vocation God has would somehow come from within the Trinity. This is more mystery than we can know, but we do have a precedent. The Scripture talks of the Father sending the Son, and since the Father and Son are one, as Jesus often says, that sending is from within the Trinity.

And so is this calling. Today Jesus says that the Father is giving us the Holy Spirit. Or, as Jesus names her, “the Advocate.” Somehow, inside the life of the Trinity, the Spirit is called to be with us. Because that word “advocate” is all about calling.

The Greek here is a word we struggle to translate to English.

In your Bible translations you might read “Comforter” or “Counselor” in verse 26. Some translations say “friend” or “helper.” All are aspects of this vocation.

But that it’s a vocation is clear from our current translation, “advocate,” a word English got from Latin, meaning “called to.” The Romans used the word as we still do, as someone who appeared on another’s behalf, or was a mediator, or an intercessor.

But in the original Greek it’s “paraclete,” and that’s the word to cling to. “Paraclete” literally means “called alongside.” A Paraclete is called alongside someone to be of assistance.

That’s our wonder: the Holy Spirit has a calling, a holy vocation, to come alongside you for your help, comfort, aid, counsel. It’s the Spirit’s job, not an optional activity.

Paul says the Spirit is your “called alongside person” as intercessor and mediator.

Just as an advocate in Rome would do those roles, so does the Spirit. Paul tells his Roman congregations in chapter 8 that the Spirit speaks on our behalf before God “with sighs too deep for words.”

The Spirit plumbs the depths of your heart and carries your heart into God’s heart. At all times, but especially when you don’t know what to say to God. The Spirit always knows your fears, your joys, your sorrows, your needs, your thanks. We still pray. But this connection is always flowing even without our words.

And Jesus and others in the Scriptures say it goes the other way, too. The Spirit, alongside you, speaks as God into your heart and mind and spirit, sometimes with sighs too deep for words, too. The Spirit is God’s way to communicate with you, reach you, talk to you, touch you.

One way the Spirit communicates is through the words of Scripture.

In Lamentations, Jeremiah is deep in grief and sorrow over Israel’s ruin. The book aches with pain.

But suddenly in the middle he stops lamenting for a moment and says, “But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, God’s mercies never come to an end.” (3:21-22)

“This I call to mind,” he says. The Holy Spirit spoke those words to Jeremiah. Jeremiah knew the promise of God’s never-ending mercies is written throughout Scripture. But now in his deep need, the Spirit gently called this promise to Jeremiah’s mind. And he found hope. I know, because this same thing has happened to me.

I’ve struggled my whole life with fearing making mistakes. Mostly I feared that if I got things wrong, people would stop loving me, I’d be done. Over my life I’ve learned to trust the love of others and I don’t get too trapped in this anymore.

But I’ve also held that fear about God’s love. And this is where the Spirit has blessed me. More times than I can count, hundreds of times maybe, when I’ve been in fear or anxiety, I’ve heard this word, “Nothing, nothing can separate you from God’s love in Christ.” And I found hope, like Jeremiah. Walking alongside me, the Spirit always knows when I need a reminder and graciously gives it.

Jesus said today that the Spirit will remind you what he said. I’ve found the Spirit takes those reminders from all of Scripture, and they’ve saved my life.

But these aren’t the only ways the Spirit is alongside you.

The Spirit might fill you with an unexpected peace in the midst of turmoil. The Spirit might nudge you to do something, care for someone, say something. The Spirit might be a nagging voice telling you to change direction, go a different way. The Spirit might fill you with joy when you need it or courage when you’re afraid. These are just some of the ways I’ve felt the Spirit help me. Others could tell you about many more.

That’s why we need to be better about witnessing to each other. I don’t normally share my own personal things in sermons, as you know. But I did today because we need to be more bold in telling each other what we’ve known and experienced from God.

When you experience the Spirit’s help, tell someone. If you see the Spirit move in them, name that. We can be such gifts of grace to each if we’re willing to share what we’ve seen and heard and known from the Spirit. We can help each other know this presence.

God has a vocation, to be with you.

Let that sink in. It will change your life. If you want to really know this, find quiet places in your life, times for contemplation. When you can listen and actually hear, with no music or news or internet or phones or anything. If we’re so loud in every moment that we can’t hear ourselves think, how will we hear the Spirit’s voice? Read your Bible, too, so the Spirit has words to remind you of in your need. So: listen, watch, read, wait, trust, and you will know: you are not alone, you have help. God is alongside you.

And Jesus and the Scriptures say God’s Spirit is called alongside everyone, all God’s children, all creatures, the whole creation. That’s the joy. So whatever you fear about the world in these days, whatever anxiety you have about your life, know this: the Holy Spirit is called alongside all of that and she is there, working, loving, inspiring, healing.

That’s the job. That’s what the Holy Spirit is called to do. And it will be done.

In the name of the Father, and of the + Son, and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen