NRS Luke 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."
45 Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures, 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, 47 and that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. 48 You are witnesses of these things. 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."
50 Then he led them out as far as Bethany, and, lifting up his hands, he blessed them.
51 While he was blessing them, he withdrew from them and was carried up into heaven. 52 And they worshiped him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy; 53 and they were continually in the temple blessing God.

Today's readings focus on the Ascension of Jesus. The Evangelist Luke tells the story at the end of his gospel, and then begins his second volume, the Acts of the Apostles, by rehearsing the story once more for his sponsor Theophilus. In both accounts Jesus is surrounded by his apostles, and after promising them that they will shortly receive the power of the Holy Spirit, Jesus is then taken up into heaven. In the Acts account, the apostles are standing, looking up to the sky, when two men in white robes hurry them back to Jerusalem with the assurance that Jesus will return one day just as they saw him go. Now seated at God's right hand in the heavenly places, Jesus rules, according to our Ephesians text, as the exalted Lord under whose feet God has subjected the entire universe. No longer confined by time or space to ancient Galilee, Jesus reigns as the living head over all things "for the church," which is, writes Paul, "his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all" (Ephesians 1:23).

Theologians call this a "high Christology." It's an understanding of Christ that is cosmic in scope and universal in power. Of this exalted, ascended Lord there is no praise that is too high, no honor too glorious, no tribute too great. On the other hand: Do you ever wonder what if Jesus had just stayed put? What if Jesus hadn't ascended? What if the risen Jesus were still walking the earth today the way he did for the 40 days following his resurrection?

I can imagine Jesus working out of some kind of international headquarters, perhaps in Jerusalem. Having risen never to die again, we would see him, of course, exactly as his first disciples beheld him. Instead of gathering on Sundays for sermons from people like me, we could have a global video link up and hear directly from Jesus. In controversies we could appeal right to Jesus and he could sort out the true from the false. Jesus would completely eliminate all these fights Christians are constantly getting into over whether he said this, meant that, or did the other. Naturally, Jesus would continue his ministry of healing and making whole, and if somebody had serious questions about God's goodness, or wondered whether God really even existed, they could go see Jesus for themselves. He could show them his wounded hands and side, and if they still had questions, he could visit with them and assure them. Jesus could have his own website. If you couldn't get to Jerusalem, you could e-mail Jesus with your questions or concerns. Wouldn't the world be a lot better off if, instead of sitting at the Father's right hand, Jesus was sitting right now in an office suite overlooking, say, the Mount of Olives?

Just look at all the attention the Pope got on his recent visit to the United States. People lined streets and filled stadiums to see and hear the man Catholics believe to the successor of Peter and the Vicar of Christ, that is, the living representative of Christ on earth. People were buying Pope t-shirts and stickers and tote bags, not to mention keychains, dog tags, and refrigerator magnets. (By the way, you can check that stuff out at www.popevisit2008.com.) So just think what the turn out would be if Christ himself were to visit the States. One little word from Jesus and we'd have these pews packed. And what do you think a stewardship sermon from Jesus would do for our Sunday offerings?

If God's plan of salvation had been to create a worldwide fan club for Jesus, then maybe it would have been better if Christ had not ascended to the Father. If Jesus had come to earth only to stay on earth and form his own cult of personality, including his own killer line of apparel, books, videos, and merchandise, then I suppose the Ascension was a bad idea. But God's plan was not to create flag-wavers or cheerleaders or t-shirt wearers for Jesus. Jesus did not come to earth to be God's celebrity with a big office and an entourage of personal assistants. But instead, God's plan was for the Son of God to be born of a peasant girl, suffer under the power of empire, die on a cross of shame, rise to glory everlasting, and ascend to the Father eternal all in order to found a people who would be his body on earth. In other words, us!

It's not all about me, and it's not all about you, but it is really, as God planned, all about us. Going back to the words I read earlier from Ephesians, Jesus reigns now as the ascended Lord of all creation "for the church," that is, for us to be "his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all." I know; it's incredible. Christ is exalted as the Name above all names for us to be for the world what Jesus was for his first disciples so many centuries ago. For all our fantasies about what it would be like if Christ were still walking the earth today, the Gospel truth is that Christ is still walking the earth today in us. We are now, by Christ's Ascension, the living presence of God. We are the temple of the Holy Spirit. We are the intersection of heaven and earth. We are the exact point where God meets man.

In theological jargon, a high Christology inevitably leads to a high ecclesiology, or understanding of the church. Christ's exaltation exalts Christ's people to be more than just another volunteer organization, to be more than just an assemblage of like-minded individuals, to be more than just a reflection of the world's pride and prejudices. In the words of First Peter that we heard just two weeks ago, we are now, by the mercies of Christ, "a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's own people, in order that [we] may proclaim the mighty acts of him who called [us] out of darkness into his marvelous light" (2:9).

Having been freed by Christ, having been saved by Christ, having been chosen by Christ, Christ has made us to be Christ to this great, suffering world. Christ has made us to be the hands that heal and the ears that hear when the weak cry and the desperate plead. Christ has made us to be the voice that speaks for the poor and that challenges the unjust. Christ has made us to be the answer to the world's quest for meaning and longing for purpose. Christ has made us to be the proof of God's own existence.

In the Acts account of the Ascension the two men in white assure the apostles that Christ will one day return to walk this earth as he did when he was in the flesh. But when he returns, I don't think he's going to be setting up an office or sitting behind a big desk. I don't think he's going to be riding in parades or giving televised speeches. But I'm pretty sure he'll take some time to visit with his church on how we've lived out what he's blessed us (blessed us!) to be.

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