The Life of Christ as Mystical Rhythm

 7 Easter Cycle  A      May 28, 2017
Acts 1:6-14        Ps. 68  
1 Peter 4:12-14; 5:6-11   John 17:1-11       

Lectionary Link

What happened in  the second and third generation of Christians?  Probably the same thing that happens in any social movement that gains success.  People start to worry about keeping the past events of the origin of the movement alive and well.  Will our children know about Jesus?  Will our children know about Peter and Paul?  Will our children know why the Christian church happened?  The early followers of Jesus adopted a lifestyle and that lifestyle became adapted to the lives of people living in the Roman Empire.

How does one guarantee that the lifestyle of Jesus gets preserved?  Cultural practices and institutions arise to preserve.  The writings of the New Testament are evidence of the church becoming an institution.  Written words last longer than oral tradition; they are preserved in a visible form.  Oral traditions are lost as people die.  Oral traditions are not very precise because stories get slightly changed as they are told in new places and new situations.  But when something is written down, it has a different kind of permanency.  Successful early churches became institutions.  Institutions have programs to teach their mission.  The mission of the church was to transform lives through mystical encounter with the Risen Christ.  The Gospels were writings to teach the mysticism of the rhythm of the life of Jesus Christ.

St. Paul did not see Jesus but he had a mystical experience of Christ and in his experience he believed that he attained an identity with Jesus Christ.  He believed that the life of Christ had been born within him, he believed that he shared in the ministry of Christ, he believed that he was crucified with Christ, he believed that he was raised with Christ, he believed that he had ascended with Christ and was made to sit in heavenly places.  This was the mystical poetry of the language of identity with Christ which is found in the writings of St. Paul.

After the writings of St. Paul about his mystical experience with the Risen Christ, the successful Christian churches, wrote the Gospels.  The Gospels were more permanent than oral tradition in preserving a narrative of the life of Jesus.  But the narrative of the life of Jesus also was presented as a way of teaching the mystical identity with Jesus Christ.  The Gospels are mystical manuals for getting into rhythms with the kinds of activity of Christ in our lives.

Jesus is born in Bethlehem.  Christ is born in us.  Jesus was baptized and he was declared God's beloved son.  We are baptized as celebration of our being children of God.  Jesus ministered and taught.  St. Paul said that he had the "mind of Christ" and so he ministered and taught.  We minister and teach because we believe that we share in the ministry of Christ.  Jesus died on the cross.  Paul said that he was crucified with Christ.  The power of the death of Christ is visualized as spiritual practice of dying to what is unworthy in us.  Jesus rose from the dead and appeared in various ways to his followers.  Jesus still becomes apparent to us,  inside of us and outside of us because we have an awareness of his presence to us.  Jesus Ascended. The appearances of Risen Christ diminished to one final appearance; the appearance of him ascending and leaving the visible world.  What does Jesus do in his ascended and invisible life?  He prays for us.  He intercedes for the life of the world. St. Paul believed that he had been raised and was seated in heavenly places with Christ.  The Ascension of Christ, means that Christ has returned to the invisible life and his original place of glory.  The early Christians believed that the church was successful because Christ had been raised and returned to a place of glory.

Today, we have a long prayer of Jesus which was an oracle event in the community which wrote the Gospel of John.  The early church believed that Jesus was a person of prayer.  They also believed that the church entered into the ministry of the prayer of Jesus because the presence of Christ is in us praying for the life situations that we find ourselves in.

How does the intercession of the invisible Christ work?  I think the intercession of Christ is a beacon of love which is inviting and luring us to be loving and kind.  In a world where God permits so much freedom, what can God do in the midst of the freedom that is allowed in our world?

A loving God, can send out beacons of love to all to persuade us that good is better than evil.

If a loving God will not force this world to be good, what can a loving God do?  A loving God uses persuasion to invite us to use our freedom to be good.  What is an expression of divine persuasion?

Prayer is the highest form of divine persuasion.  In prayer we get involved with the lure of God coaxing the people of this world to be kind and loving.

You and I today are called to get into the rhythm of the life of Jesus.  Christ is born in us.  Christ ministers and teaches in and through us.  We have been crucified with Christ in having been given power to die to what is unworthy in our lives.  We have been risen with Christ to realize the life of the eternal Spirit with us.  We have ascended with Christ because we have been asked to pray that God's will to be done on earth as it is done in the parallel realm of heaven.

What the ascension of Christ means for you and me is the entry into the life of prayer.  We are raised to be in heavenly places with Christ and we are joined with Christ to persuade this world to choose love and kindness.

Today, you and are called to the life of prayer.  Why?  We want our minds and our words to be expressive of desiring the very best for our world.  We in our prayer honor the profound freedom that is in this world. In our prayers we are teaching ourselves to accept ourselves as children of God since Jesus asked that we might be one with the Father.  With prayer we actually practice a living relationship with God.  With prayer, we enter into God loving desire to coax everyone living under the conditions of freedom, to make the choice of goodness, kindness, love and justice.

Let us honor the ascension of Christ today, by entering into the ministry of prayer which we share with Christ.  Amen.

Sunday School, May 28, 2017 7 Easter A

Sunday School, May 28, 2017     7 Easter A

Theme:

Jesus Prayed

Have a discussion about what prayer means.  Discuss communication and relationship.

The longest prayer of Jesus in the Gospel is found in the 17 chapter of John.

Who did Jesus pray to?

His Father

Why did Jesus pray?

Prayer is talking and we talk to the people that we want to know.  Talking is how we express our relationship.

What did Jesus pray about?

He prayed for his disciple.  He prayed that his disciples might have the same close relationship with God as Father as he did.

What is prayer?

Prayer is an important indication of our belief in God.  We talk to those whom we believe to exist.  And we have special conversation with our friends.

Jesus prayed and so should we.

What does the Ascension mean?

The Ascension means that we believe that after Jesus Rose again, he went to the parallel place of heaven.  This this place we believe that Christ still prays for us and with us.  When we pray we want to join our prayers with the prayers that Jesus offers for us.

Sermon

  What are some of most important things that happen in a baby’s that let us know that the baby is growing up?  What about when the baby starts eating cereal and vegetables?  What about when the baby starts to shows some teeth?  What about when a baby starts to crawl? What about when a baby starts to walk?  And one of the most special things is when a baby starts to talk.  And what is the first word that a baby says?  Well all fathers know…a baby’s first word is Da Da.  Or at least that is what we hear.  Moms and brothers and sisters and grandparents may hear something else.

  And why is it important that a baby talks?  Because we can know our baby and our children better when they talk.  When a baby cannot talk and is just crying; we don’t always know why a baby is crying?  Is a baby tired, or hungry, or sick or does he need his diaper changed or is the baby just sad?

  But when a baby and child can talk, we can ask the baby what she wants.  We can ask her if she has a tummy ache.  And when a child can talk we can know more about a child.  So when a child talks to us

it is a great thing for us.

  Did you know that God likes us to talk too?  And when we talk to God, we call that prayer.

  Jesus was God’s Son.  And Jesus talked to God, his Father.  And we have read a part of the prayer of Jesus to his Father today.

  Jesus talked with his Father about things that made him happy.  He thanked his Father.  And he asked for some special favors from God for his friends.

  Your mom and dad and family are very happy when you talk to them.  When you tell them how you feel.  When you tell them that you love them.  When you ask for help.  When you thank them.  When you tell them about the fun you are having.  When you tell them why you are sad.

  God is our Father too.  And God likes for us to talk to him.  When we talk to God with our prayers, we a growing up in the big family of God.  When we talk to God with our prayers, we are showing that we are a part of this large family of God.  And if we act like we are member of this big family of God, then we will treat everyone as a special brother and sister.

  Just as our parents are happy when we first started talking to them.  So God is happy when we talk to him.  That is what Jesus showed when he prayed to God his Father.

  We come to church on Sunday to prayer together and talk to God.  And we do this to remember that we can talk to God anywhere.  We don’t have to be in church to prayer.  We come to church to remember to pray.

  Can you remember to prayer?  Talk to God.  If you do that you can be sure that God is very happy to hear and listen to you.  Amen.

St. John the Divine Episcopal Church

17740 Peak Avenue, Morgan Hill, CA 95037

Family Service with Holy Eucharist

May 28, 2017: The Seventh Sunday of Easter

Gathering Songs: Hallelu, Hallelujah!;  Majesty!, Father, I Adore You; Awesome God   

Liturgist: Alleluia, Christ is Risen.

People: The Lord is Risen Indeed.  Alleluia.

Liturgist:  Oh God, Our hearts are open to you.

And you know us and we can hide nothing from you.

Prepare our hearts and our minds to love you and worship you.

Through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

Song: Hallelu, Halleluah  (Christian Children’s Songbook,   # 84)

Hallelu, hallelu, hallelu, hallelujah, Praise ye the Lord.

Hallelu, hallelu, hallelu, hallelujah, Praise ye the Lord.

Praise ye the Lord!  Hallelujah!  Praise ye the Lord!  Hallelujah! 

Praise ye the Lord!  Hallelujah!  Praise ye the Lord!

Liturgist:         The Lord be with you.

People:            And also with you.

Liturgist:  Let us pray

O God, the King of glory, you have exalted your only Son Jesus Christ with great triumph to your kingdom in heaven: Do not leave us comfortless, but send us your Holy Spirit to strengthen us, and exalt us to that place where our Savior Christ has gone before; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, in glory everlasting.  Amen.

First Litany of Praise: Chant: Alleluia

O God, you are Great!  Alleluia

O God, you have made us! Alleluia

O God, you have made yourself known to us!  Alleluia

O God, you have provided us with us a Savior!  Alleluia

O God, you have given us a Christian family!  Alleluia

O God, you have forgiven our sins!  Alleluia

O God, you brought your Son Jesus back from the dead!  Alleluia

A reading from the First Letter of Peter

Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, so that he may exalt you in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him, because he cares for you. Discipline yourselves, keep alert.

Liturgist: The Word of the Lord

People: Thanks be to God

Liturgist: Let us read together from Psalm 68

But let the righteous be glad and rejoice before God; * let them also be merry and joyful.

 

Sing to God, sing praises to his Name; exalt him who rides upon the heavens; * YAHWEH is his Name, rejoice before him!

Litany Phrase: Thanks be to God! (chanted)

Litanist:

For the good earth, for our food and clothing. Thanks be to God!

For our families and friends. Thanks be to God!

For the talents and gifts that you have given to us. Thanks be to God!

For this day of worship. Thanks be to God!

For health and for a good night’s sleep. Thanks be to God!

For work and for play. Thanks be to God!

For teaching and for learning. Thanks be to God!

For the happy events of our lives. Thanks be to God!

For the celebration of the birthdays and anniversaries of our friends and parish family.

   Thanks be to God!

Liturgist:         The Holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to John

People:            Glory to you, Lord Christ.

Jesus looked up to heaven and said, "Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son so that the Son may glorify you, since you have given him authority over all people, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. And this is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. I glorified you on earth by finishing the work that you gave me to do. So now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had in your presence before the world existed.  "I have made your name known to those whom you gave me from the world. They were yours, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. Now they know that everything you have given me is from you; for the words that you gave to me I have given to them, and they have received them and know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me. I am asking on their behalf; I am not asking on behalf of the world, but on behalf of those whom you gave me, because they are yours. All mine are yours, and yours are mine; and I have been glorified in them. And now I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one, as we are one. "

Liturgist:         The Gospel of the Lord.

People:            Praise to you, Lord Christ.

Sermon – Father Phil

Children’s Creed

We did not make ourselves, so we believe that God the Father is the maker of the world.

Since God is so great and we are so small,

We believe God came into our world and was born as Jesus, son of the Virgin Mary.

We need God’s help and we believe that God saved us by the life, death and

     resurrection of Jesus Christ.

We believe that God is present with us now as the Holy Spirit.

We believe that we are baptized into God’s family the Church where everyone is

     welcome.

We believe that Christ is kind and fair.

We believe that we have a future in knowing Jesus Christ.

And since we all must die, we believe that God will preserve us forever.  Amen.

Litany Phrase: Christ, have mercy.

For fighting and war to cease in our world. Christ, have mercy.

For peace on earth and good will towards all. Christ, have mercy.

For the safety of all who travel. Christ, have mercy.

For jobs for all who need them. Christ, have mercy.

For care of those who are growing old. Christ, have mercy.

For the safety, health and nutrition of all the children in our world. Christ, have mercy.

For the well-being of our families and friends. Christ, have mercy.

For the good health of those we know to be ill. Christ, have mercy.

For the remembrance of those who have died. Christ, have mercy.

For the forgiveness of all of our sins. Christ, have mercy.

Youth Liturgist:          The Peace of the Lord be always with you.

People:                        And also with you.

Song during the preparation of the Altar and the receiving of an offering

Offertory Song: Majesty, (Renew # 63)

Majesty, worship His majesty.  Unto Jesus be all glory, honor, and praise. 

Majesty, kingdom authority flow from His throne unto His own;

His anthem raise. 

So, exalt, lift up on high the name of Jesus. 

Magnify, come glorify Christ Jesus the King. 

Majesty, worship His Majesty; Jesus who died,

now glorified, King of all kings.

                           

Doxology

Praise God from whom all blessings flow. Praise Him, all creatures here below.

Praise Him above, ye heavenly host. Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.

Prologue to the Eucharist

Jesus said, “Let the children come to me, for to them belong the kingdom of heaven.”

All become members of a family by birth or adoption.

Baptism is a celebration of our birth into the family of God.

A family meal gathers and sustains each human family.

The Holy Eucharist is the special meal that Jesus gave to his friends to keep us together as the family of Christ.

The Lord be with you

And also with you.

Lift up your hearts

We lift them to the Lord.

Let us give thanks to God.

It is right to give God thanks and praise.

It is very good and right to give thanks, because God made us, Jesus redeemed us and the Holy Spirit dwells in our hearts.  Therefore with Angels and Archangels and all of the world that we see and don’t see, we forever sing this hymn of praise:

Holy, Holy, Holy (Intoned)

Holy, Holy, Holy Lord, God of Power and Might.  Heav’n and earth are full of your glory.

Hosanna in the highest.  Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. 

Hosanna in the highest. Hosanna in the Highest.

(All may gather around the altar)

Our grateful praise we offer to you God, our Creator;

You have made us in your image

And you gave us many men and women of faith to help us to live by faith:

Adam and Eve, Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebekah, Jacob and Rachael.

And then you gave us your Son, Jesus, born of Mary, nurtured by Joseph

And he called us to be sons and daughters of God.

Your Son called us to live better lives and he gave us this Holy Meal so that when we eat

  the bread and drink the wine, we can  know that the Presence of Christ is as near to us as  

  this food and drink  that becomes a part of us.

And so, Father, we bring you these gifts of bread and wine. Bless and sanctify them by your Holy Spirit to be for your people the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ our Lord.  Sanctify us by your Holy Spirit so that we may love God and our neighbor.

On the night when Jesus was betrayed he took bread, said the blessing, broke the bread, and gave it to his friends, and said, "Take, eat: This is my Body, which is given for you. Do this for the remembrance of me."

After supper, Jesus took the cup of wine, gave thanks, and said, "Drink this, all of you. This is my Blood of the new Covenant, which is shed for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins. Whenever you drink it, do this for the remembrance of me."

Father, we now celebrate the memorial of your Son. When we eat this holy Meal of Bread and Wine, we are telling the entire world about the life, death and resurrection of Christ and that his presence will be with us in our future.

Let this holy meal keep us together as friends who share a special relationship because of your Son Jesus Christ.  May we forever live with praise to God to whom we belong as sons and daughters.

By Christ, and with Christ, and in Christ, in the unity of the Holy Spirit all honor and glory

 is yours, Almighty Father, now and for ever. AMEN.

And now as our Savior Christ has taught us, we now sing,

Our Father: (Renew # 180, West Indian Lord’s Prayer)

Our Father who art in heaven:  Hallowed be thy name.

Thy Kingdom come, Thy Will be done: Hallowed be thy name.

Done on earth as it is in heaven: Hallowed be thy name.

Give us this day our daily bread: Hallowed be thy name.

And forgive us all our debts: Hallowed be thy name.

As we forgive our debtors: Hallowed be thy name.

Lead us not into temptation: Hallowed be thy name.

But deliver us from evil: Hallowed be thy name.

Thine is the kingdom, power, and glory: Hallowed be thy name.

Forever and ever: Hallowed be thy name.

Amen, amen, amen: Hallowed be thy name.

Amen, amen, amen, amen: Hallowed be thy name.

Breaking of the Bread

Celebrant:       Alleluia.  Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us.

People:            Therefore let us keep the feast.  Alleluia!

Words of Administration

Communion Song: Father I Adore You (Christian Children’s Songbook, # 56)

Father, I adore you, lay my life before you.  How I love you.

Jesus, I adore you, lay my life before you.  How I love you.

Spirit, I adore you, lay my life before you. How I love you.

Post-Communion Prayer

Everlasting God, we have gathered for the meal that Jesus asked us to keep;

We have remembered his words of blessing on the bread and the wine.

And His Presence has been known to us.

We have remembered that we are sons and daughters of God and brothers

    and sisters in Christ.

Send us forth now into our everyday lives remembering that the blessing in the

     bread and wine spreads into each time, place and person in our lives,

As we are ever blessed by you, O Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  Amen.

Closing Song: Awesome God (Renew! # 245).

Our God is an awesome God, he reigns from heaven above. 

With wisdom, power and love, our God is an awesome God.

(Sing three times)

Dismissal:   

Liturgist: Alleluia!  Alleluia!  Let us go forth in the Name of Christ.

People: Thanks be to God!  Alleluia!  Alleluia!

The Ascension as Confession of the Absolute Past of Jesus

 7 Easter Cycle  A      June 5, 2011    

Acts 1:6-14        Ps. 68  

1 Peter 4:12-14; 5:6-11   John 17:1-11               

Lectionary Link

   Today is the Sunday after Ascension Day and it is a time for us to ponder the meaning of the Ascension.  We who hold to the artistic, the aesthetic, the literary meanings of sacred tradition and story can also be hard core scientists at the same time?  Why, because we do not believe that what is meaningful is limited to statements which can be verified by the scientific method.  While believing in the scientific method we also believe that the languages of faith give us meanings and truth not to compete with science but to complement science in filling out the fullness of the human capacity for many kinds of meaning.  The kinds of meanings we derive from the sublime experiences of art and music are further complements in the fullness of human life with the capacity for multiplicity of meanings.  One could define truth as that which is meaningful.

  The fullness of human life but particularly lived through the continuous experience of one person is such that each of us can say about our past life, it is absolute.

  We are not some smoky, cloudy spirit wafting around; we are the fullness of experience funneled through body, soul and spirit to attain an absolute past.

  And the same can be said about Jesus Christ.  Jesus is God attaining particular human experience and becoming a person in a history with an absolute past.  God in Jesus having an absolute past which was attained through all of the occasions of the human experience of Jesus is central to the meaning of Christianity.  It is central to how we take unescapable license to speak about God, who is more than human, in merely human terms.  When we are using human terms to speak about what is more than human or not human we use terms like, God, divine and heavenly.

  Mozart as a human musician was quite a rare person; how does one come to such musical excellence in so many ways at such an early age.  How did it happen that he had an advanced music ability from the very beginning.  Such rarity baffles us even as we speechlessly acknowledge the truth of such rarity.

  Jesus was the same sort of rare person and human speech created sacred story to try artistically to account for this very rare person indeed.

  I would like for us to center upon some meanings of the Ascended Jesus and the post-Ascension Jesus today.

  The Ascension event gives the Sacred Story event of Jesus a kind of ending or significant transition.  Jesus as Word from the Beginning.  Announced by Gabriel to Mary.  Mary Over-Shadowed by the Creating Spirit.  Jesus born in Bethlehem.  A genius in the Temple as a loquacious boy.  Jesus baptized.  Jesus Tempted.  Jesus healing.  Jesus speaking in Wisdom stories.  Jesus walking on water.  Jesus confronting the powerful, the rich and the religious.  Jesus forgiving the stigmatized sinners.  Jesus being a political figure in the religious political discussion of a messiah and son of man.  Jesus hailed as a king by country pilgrims to Jerusalem. Jesus betrayed and denied by friends.  Jesus tried by Pilate.  Jesus died on the cross.  Jesus re-appeared to many people.  Jesus Ascended and left.

  Why is it important to have the ascension in sacred story?  It is a way to identify Jesus with the God of the Psalmist who said that God rides in the heavens   After Jesus was gone and no longer seen, it was important to proclaim that Jesus had attained an “other worldly” existence because even while he was with us he was so rare in his words and deeds he was “other worldly.”  But this “other worldly” rare person had a specific, particular and absolute past in the life occasions of Jesus of Nazareth.  And it is important to know that this concrete past of Jesus as a person who had human history is still maintained.  Jesus arose and Jesus ascended and we confess the same for ourselves because we actually believe that we happen as body, mind and soul beings who attain a particular and specific and absolute history in our bodies.   The particular human being can never be said to not have happened.  This is why the sacred story of Jesus is enshrined using the ascension as a way of saying that the life of Jesus is so much a fact of history, it can never be untrue.  And the same can be said for each of us.  The Ascension is the way of affirming the substantiality of actual and particular occasions of human experience.  It is a confession of faith; it is saying, “The life of Jesus was substantial and so is ours.”

  There are people of faith who try to convert sacred story to science and journalistic writing of historical events.  They miss the art of the story, even though I would not doubt their faith in what they think they want to affirm.

  We use sacred story to confess the uniqueness and rarity of Jesus.  We don’t make Jesus unique or rare by trying to assert that the virgin birth, resurrection and ascension are verifiable occasions to hold according to the scientific method.  Remember we never have to defend sacred story in the wrong way by applying the wrong discursive practice to the sacred story language of the Bible.

  Today, we must also speak about the aftermath of the ascension because what we believe about the ascended Jesus is that Jesus is still one who prays and who intercedes.  Jesus assumes all of the suffering of the world as God’s own suffering in his ascended role of the intercessor.

  The seventeenth chapter of John is a very long prayer of Jesus confessing his unity with God his Father but also the unity of the Father and himself with the people of the world.  The life of prayer is the life of the ascended Jesus.  The life of prayer is not the few times we gather in church to say the corporate prayers.  The life of prayer is the expression of the total solidarity of God with us and us with God.

  The only way that we can say that God and us and everyone is winning in this life is to confess this total solidarity with God and with All.  If we are one with God and the all, then we are winning by the very sustaining of everything by God. 

  We only begin to focus on losing and the sometime apparent ascendency of evil when we forget that the free conditions of evil and those who practice evil and are sustained by God, the great one.

  The ascended Jesus is the Jesus who prays and invites us to pray as the expression of God’s solidarity with us and all and our solidarity with God and all.  The ascension of Jesus is a confession that the life of Jesus was absolute in history and cannot be dissolved or vanished.  But it also means that you and I have an absolute past as well and it is significant to believe that our substantiality as people with an absolute past remains forever.

  It may seem like a very subtle and clever philosophical point but the sacred event of the ascension of Jesus means that the experience of Jesus in history was an absolute past and retained as substantial forever.  And we too accept the substantiality of our lives as we ride on the coat tails of the Ascension of Jesus Christ.  Amen.

What kind of elevator is the Ascension?

Lectionary Link

7 Easter Cycle  A      June 5, 2011    

Acts 1:6-14        Ps. 68  

1 Peter 4:12-14; 5:6-11   John 17:1-11               

   Last Thursday was a major feast day of our Lord and there were five people here to celebrate this major feast day.  It was the feast of the Ascension of our Lord, sometimes a forgotten feast between Easter and Pentecost because it occurs on a Thursday and therefore does not get the benefit of Sunday billing.

  It does let preachers off the hook to explain the phenomenon of someone rising into the clouds and going out of sight.  Most of us are not members of the flat earth society and we do not hold to the ancient cosmology of the netherworld, the flat earth, the dome sky and beyond the dome sky, heaven, the abode of God.  Up and down does not mean much for people who live on a globe in a vast universe, though it does mean something for us in simple perceptual relationships.

  As Christians, we are people who re-enact the drama of salvation each year in the cycles of the church seasons which are comprised of events in the lives of God’s people and more particularly, the life of Jesus Christ.  We have an annual teaching curriculum in the presentation of salvation history to focus upon different aspects of our lives of faith.

 We know that in our lives there is much that we do not see nor understand.  That mystery in itself is a continual lure for us to continue to try to know as much as we can.  Today, in our time of scientific knowledge, many have come to find a conflict between the ways in which we know scientifically, and the ways in which we know things through faith.

  People of faith may be looking forward to the day when scientists invent a microscope that can present a visualization of “spirit” as the most sub-microscopic particle smaller than neutrons, protons and quarks.  People of faith, may be waiting for a macro-scopic way to travel to the far edge of an expanding universe to provide the biggest picture of all.  It probably will not make much difference for our faith, because as humans we perhaps have to embrace that we know things differently and use language, symbols and expression differently in our different ways of knowing.

  Physicists attempt to give invisible answers for the visible world.  People of faith use more the language of art and love to speak about other parallel realms.

  Whether we live in the world of ancient cosmologies or our own age with a cosmology that will be regarded as primitive by people of the future, to be human is to be possessed with language and with the ability to formulate meaning and asking what is the worth of this world and my life in it.

  On this Ascension Sunday, we contemplate the movement something like an elevator between the parallel universes in the ways of knowing and in the language that we use to find meaning.

In Christian faith, we have inherited the annual drama.  God off stage and unknown, but revealed in Laws, and inspiring prophets and wisdom teachers.  God, occasionally as sending messengers, angels, who make visual, the invisible to indicate the communication between inner world and outer world.  God entering the human stage in the person of Jesus Christ, thus validating the human way of knowing things that are more than human, God exposing human nature as being threatened by the very notion that God could be known in human form,  God in Christ constituting holy friendships on earth to create a community, God in Christ leaving the visible realm to prove that God has never left this visible realm but only needed to awaken people to the closeness of God’s Spirit who could be known intimately to those who could be made aware.

  And so we are a part of this annual presentation of Salvation history and we must each year re-write its compatibility with our own age and with our own lives.

  On this Ascension Sunday, you and I are asked to advance in the art of living in parallel universes.  Up and down are not necessarily just perceptual visual phenomena; up and down are  parallel phenomena of inner realm and outer realm and the ways in which we use words and in the ways that we come to meaning in our lives.  And our lives have many, many meanings.  And what makes them exciting is that we always have more meanings to discover.

  The prominent image that is presented to us of Jesus Christ today is that he prayed to God his Father for his friends.  Here we have Jesus Christ as the chief symbol of one who lived best in both realms; he was a fully divinized human being and so even in his human life, he already lived an ascended life.  His communication between the realms of experience was complete.  And he revealed to us that at the heart of living, life is intensely personal because God is like the best human parent who we can experience as a wonderful friend and mentor for our lives.  That is what Jesus revealed about God.  We, Christians, have wanted to make Jesus so special that we want Jesus to be an only child.  But that is not what Jesus wanted; Jesus revealed God as his mentor Father, so that you and I could know that God is mentoring parent for us and that friendship and relationship and communication is what is at the heart of finding meaning in our lives.

  If we believe that friendship and communication are the highest values of life, perhaps we can survive situations where friendships and communication seem not to be present in this world.  Jesus praying to his Father and wanting his friends to discover this same relationship reveals to us what we regard as most important in our Christian faith.

  Today you and I are invited to pray.  Pray in all of the ways that we can.  Prayer is the art of communication; it can be done alone or in community; with word, song, liturgy, ritual, silence, and our acted deeds in the course of everyday life.   Prayer is the attempt to find our voice in language to work at communication between the various realms of our being; to communicate between our inner lives and our outer world.

  Today on this Ascension Sunday, you and I are ascending and descending with Christ as we try to weave inter-relationship between the realms of our lives.  We are trying to bring concord between our inner realms of desire, hope, and quest for what is ideal, beautiful, perfect and complete and our outer worlds where everything is in some state of becoming, of being developed, of going through rites of passages and phases of abrupt discontinuities.

   Jesus prayed and showed us that we live not in just physical and visual up and down worlds, we live in inner space and outer space and we have words to bring the two together.  And from the realm of where words come, we realize that we are born to seek meaning for our lives.  And the meaning of our life is known as we pray, as we find our voice before God and with each other as we hope for the best meanings of all for ourselves and for each other.  Let us Ascend with Christ today in our prayer; let us find our voice before God so that we can live and speak the Good News, the Gospel of God in Christ.  Amen.