Theophilus
Ascension Thursday
By: Rev. Dr. Beverly Bingle
May 16, 2021
Today’s readings show very clearly what the scriptures are NOT.
They are NOT a biography of Jesus.
I like the way Fr. Roger Karban put it:
“If we celebrate today’s feast
knowing Jesus’ ascension was one among several ways
to surface the implications of Jesus’ resurrection,
we’re correctly looking at this celebration
from a biblical point of view.
If, on the other hand, we think our LITURGICAL chronology
accurately conveys HISTORICAL chronology,
we’d best sign up for a course in Scripture 101
as soon as possible.”
People who were eventually called Christians,
whether they were known as “apostles” or “disciples”
or “followers of the way,” remembered him
and passed along stories about him for a few decades
before they gradually wrote them down.
The main point of what was written down and passed on
was not historical and not biographical;
it was theological.
It's about God,
and God revealed to us
in Jesus.
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The first reading from Acts of the Apostles
says that, after the resurrection,
Jesus spent 40 DAYS teaching the disciples,
eating with them, rejoicing.
Then he got them together
where they saw him carried into the clouds.
But the same author also wrote the Gospel according to Luke,
where Jesus rises from the dead on Sunday morning,
talks with his disciples,
and ascends on that same night.
Not 40 days... but less than 24 hours.
And the ending of today’s gospel has an even stranger history.
The first version ended with verse 8,
the scene of the frightened women
running from the empty tomb and not telling anybody.
What we heard today is part
of what scholars label “The Longer Ending,”
one of at least four different endings to Mark’s gospel
that were circulated over many decades,
with revisions well into the 2nd century.
So the stories about Jesus’ ascension
are full of contradictions and discrepancies,
and we don’t have to go through any convoluted attempts
to make them match.
In our very different 21st century culture,
our task is to look for the heart of the message,
the timeless truth that speaks
to the needs and blessings of OUR day.
___________________________________
Our first reading from the Acts of the Apostles
is addressed to Theophilus, and that’s us.
Theophilus means “lover of God,” and that’s who we are.
Jesus says we who love God
will give witness to his way
to the very ends of the earth.
The second reading from Ephesians tells us
that we, and everyone else who follows Jesus’ way,
are graced and gifted,
equipped for service in the community.
And Mark’s gospel has Jesus telling us
to “go out into all the world and proclaim the good news”
that the reign of God is here and now.
Following those instructions in 1st century culture
meant bowing to God, not to Caesar.
It meant living simply and sharing extras.
It meant standing up to power and violence with love and peace.
We are subject to the same evils in our time,
called to walk away from idols,
called to remember that everyone is really our neighbor,
with us in God’s family.
For us, it’s loving our neighbor
instead of money or power.
It’s working to make the whole world better,
not doing everything for our own benefit.
___________________________________
So you look at our troubled world, and you make a choice.
You are graced and gifted.
You go to the world proclaiming with your life
the good news
that the reign of God is at hand.
You give witness to God with us, God in us, God among us.
Each one of you is a Theophilus, a lover of God!
Amen!