Parents, how long did it take you to learn that you should never ask a child, “What’s that?” when referring to one of his or her drawings?  I have received a lot of drawings from my children and from some of the children of this church.  I love it when a child brings me a picture that they have drawn during worship, but I learned very early that one should never ask a child, “What’s that?”  For one thing, it can hurt a child’s feelings for you to not recognize what they worked so hard on.  For another thing, it can make you look very foolish for you not to be able to see the obvious.   Therefore, the proper thing to say when perplexed by a primary piece of art is, “Tell me about this picture.”

Among the first things I noticed when I walked into this sanctuary were the windows.  Last year I had the chance to focus on the stories of the Rose window and the windows on the east side of the sanctuary.  Last week I began to reflect on the stories on the west side of the sanctuary, beginning with the Resurrection Window.  Today we come to the window that evoked the most curiosity from me, and I would guess it has intrigued many of you.  I have to admit when I first saw this window I wondered, “What is the Phoenix doing in the stories about Jesus that fill this sanctuary?”  The Phoenix is a bird described in Greek, Indian, and Egyptian mythologies.  It supposedly lives about 500-1,000 years and when its life is almost over it builds a nest and is burned.  From this charred nest a new phoenix emerges living as long as its predecessor.  It’s an interesting story of a magical creature, but why is it here in the sanctuary?  Or should I say, “Tell me about this picture”?

Then I started to look closer.  There is not a nest under the bird, but an olive branch in his beak.  The bird is not the mythical phoenix, but a recognizable dove, and the fire is not consuming the bird, but seems to be a response to the rising dove.  I was glad to get hold of a copy of a booklet written in the 70’s that describes these windows.  Emma Gay pointed out in this book three prominent symbols: the dove, the olive branch, and the fire.  The dove, a symbol of peace and forgiveness and harmony is rising, reminding us of the ascension of Christ.  The olive branch comes from a tree known for providing rest and promoting health. The flame is the promised presence of God appearing as tongues of fire over those gathered together at Pentecost. 

It’s a curious window that is simply named, The Ascension Window.  It was donated by Dona C. Carnes in honor of her two brothers, William J. Coulter and Walter Coulter, Texas A&M class of 1895.  That in itself is quite a story, but I invite to focus on the story in the window.  It is based on a passage found in Acts 1 where Jesus makes his last of many Resurrection appearances to his followers.  Hear now the Word of the Lord:

⁶So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, is this the time when you will restore the kingdom to Israel?” ⁷He replied, “It is not for you to know the times or periods that the Father has set by his own authority. ⁸But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” ⁹When he had said this, as they were watching, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. ¹⁰While he was going and they were gazing up toward heaven, suddenly two men in white robes stood by them. ¹¹They said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up toward heaven? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.”

This is the word of God for the people of God.  In this passage Luke recorded for his readers the final commission of Christ.  

Tell me about this picture.  It’s a fascinating story: a story about predictions, purpose, and a promise.
 

The Ascension warns us about predictions

The disciples were not going to let go of the notion of an earthly restoration of the kingdom of Israel.  Despite the frequent proclamations of Jesus before his crucifixion that his kingdom was not of this world, as well as the very fact of his death, the disciples simply could not shift their paradigm of the Messiah setting up shop on earth in Jerusalem as a political kingdom.  In fact, the word translated “restore” means “to return to its former state”.  I have to believe that Jesus rolled his eyes with this question of the disciples, “Lord, is this the time when you will restore the kingdom to Israel?”  John Calvin wrote nearly 500 years ago, “There as many errors in this question as words.”  He pointed out that the verb restore is wrong, because it does not look for a kingdom that transcends the political and territorial characteristics of our world.  The noun Israel is wrong because this is only a small piece of God’s intended redeemed world.  The adverb, “now” or “this the time” reveals that they were expecting an immediate establishment of a kingdom.  The Greek word for time in this sentence is “chronos”, where we get our word chronological.  They are wondering if this is the next chronological event, the next thing on God’s schedule.  F.F. Bruce wrote, “This is the last flicker of their former burning expectation of an imminent theocracy with themselves as its chief executives.”  They wanted to know when.

Fortunately, we know.  I have seen it for the last couple of years, perhaps you have too.  The end of the world is December 21, 2012.  There’s even a website devoted to this that lets us know that we only have 1342 days, 3 hours, 8 minutes, and 41 seconds.   Apparently, December 21, 2012 is the last day of the 5,125 year Mesoamerican long count calendar.  There is also some kind of unique alignment of the earth, sun, and the center of the Milky Way on that same day.  So, there are hundreds, perhaps thousands who have subscribed to the belief that the world will come to an end on December 21, 2012.  Jesus said in his final earthly address to his disciples, “It is not for you to know the times or periods that the Father has set by his own authority.”  This is God’s secret and it is not for us to know or spend a lot of time trying to figure out.  By the way, there are two Greek words used to talk about time, one I already mentioned is chronos, the other is kairos, the appointed time or date, it is about being in the right place at the right time. Jesus used both of these words to emphasize that this is God’s secret, don’t worry about it. 

Tell me about this picture?  The ascension is a picture that warns us about predictions.
 

The Ascension declares to us a purpose

Rather than waiting and watching for the restoration of an earthly kingdom long gone by, the disciples were to be praying and working toward the purpose that God had given them, “You will be my witnesses,” Jesus said.  They were also assured of the power to do this, “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you.”  Those two words assure us of what our lives are to be about.  We are to be witnesses of Jesus - his life, death, resurrection, and ascension.  We are to carry out that mission with the power of the Holy Spirit.  That word power is “dunamis”, dynamite.  This dynamite explodes on the Day of Pentecost when the fire comes down and ignites the church to bear witness of Christ’s resurrection.  Peter proclaims, people repent, and the church multiplies.  The fire inspired and empowered them.

My brother, Kris, is one of the hardest working men I know.  He builds homes, repairs anything that’s broken, and is the one that people call when they need a handyman.  He apparently got a double portion of the Mr. Fix It gene – his portion and mine.  However, there was a saying about my brother, Kris while we were growing up.  Our mom used to say, “The one thing about Kris is that you have to light a fire under him to get him to do anything.  But,” she added, “Once you light that fire no one works harder or for a longer time.”  Kris would have made a great disciple.  This seems to be the case with them.  They bickered about who would be the greatest in the Kingdom, who would get the best seats at the Table, and when the kingdom of Israel would be restored.  However, once they got the fire, the power of the Holy Spirit, under them they were unstoppable.

Contrast that to an article that was the cover story for last week’s Newsweek magazine entitled, “The End of Christian America” by Jon Meachem.  I read the 5,000 word article with great interest.  The article cited that the number of Americans who claim to have no religious affiliation has nearly doubled since 1990, from 8% to 15%.  The article attempts to offer some consolation, but the consolation was more unsettling than the statistic, “This is not to say that the Christian God is dead, but that he is less of a force in American politics and culture than at any other time in recent memory.”  Really, “God is less of a force”?  That does not sound like the power of God.  Perhaps certain Christians have less influence in American politics than in the past, but I am quite certain that God is no less of a force.  In that same Newsweek edition there is a related article, “One Nation under God?”  It claimed, “The percentage of Americans who think faith will help answer all or most of the country's current problems dipped to a historic low of 48 percent, down from 64 percent in 1994.” 

Obviously, there is a shift going on in America where the church is getting older and the numbers are getting fewer.  My question related to this is a hard one, “Have we lost the power or the purpose given at the ascension?”  Do we take seriously our purpose as a church to be Christ’s witnesses? Do we have at our core a desire to represent Jesus everywhere we go, or are among those of whom Ghandi spoke when conversing with E. Stanley Jones, “I love your Christ. It's just that so many of you Christians are so unlike your Christ.”  What would it look like for us to receive the purpose and power offered at the ascension?  Tell me about this picture.  The ascension is a picture that warns us about predictions and a picture that declares to us a purpose.
 

The Ascension offers us a promise

After Jesus offered the purpose for the church – to be his witnesses – he ascended into heaven in a cloud.  Do you remember the stories of the Tabernacle and the Moses going up the mountain?  There was frequently a cloud, associated with the glory of God, it was referred to as the Shekinah, the glory of God.  In fact, the Shekinah hovered over the Israelites in the desert as a cloud in the day and a pillar of fire in the night.  Now we see the glory of God coming down and taking Jesus to heaven.  Can you imagine what the disciples’ response was?  They stood there with their mouths open wide and two men in white robes greeted them and said in essence, “What are you waiting for?  He ascended and we will come back.  Now it’s time to get to work.”  This is not abandonment, this is a promise.  You are going to be fine.  You need no prediction, you have a purpose, and you have a promise of Christ’s return – get to work.

I mentioned earlier that I was at a planning retreat this week with some other pastors.  Our retreat was in Eupora, Mississippi, about 120 miles northeast of Jackson.  It was a wonderful little town of about 2,000 residents.  All of their schools were on one property, just above that property to the north and on a little hill, was the city cemetery.  I walked up to the cemetery and discovered that just down the east slope of the cemetery is the high school football field.  The football field stretches from east to west.  That means the west zone of the football field is a cemetery – talk about season ticket holders!  As I stood on the cemetery hill I looked to the north and saw the city baseball complex.  What this means is that every student in school, every football player on the field, every baseball player on the diamond is looking at a continual reminder of mortality.  It is if there was a prominent billboard shouting out, “This is not going to last forever! You will graduate; you will play your last game.”  The men in white said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up toward heaven? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.”  This is our promise, let us live accordingly.

Tell me about this picture.  The ascension is a picture that offers to us a promise.  So I started walking through this cemetery and reading some of the tombstones.  I found both purpose and promise.  Dora Bentley who lived from 1855-1933 has on her tombstone, “She died as she lived – trusting in the Lord.”  Mrs. W. A. Kent 1872-1905 had a marker that promised, “She shall awake in the likeness of Christ.”  S. J. Hightower (1867-1936) proclaimed, “Earth has no sorrow that heaven cannot heal.”  These were people of promise.

Tell me about this picture.  It’s a curious picture that we find in this window, but when you listen to the story you discover a warning against predictions, a declaration of purpose, and an offer of promise.  Now, church, it’s time to get to work.  Amen.