Sunday, June 1, 2025 - Ascension Sunday
First Congregational Church of Cheshire
© the Rev. Dr. James Campbell
Acts 1:1-11
In the first book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and teach until the day when he was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. After his suffering he presented himself alive to them by many convincing proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God. While staying with them, he ordered them not to leave Jerusalem but to wait there for the promise of the Father. “This,” he said, “is what you have heard from me; for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”
So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, is this the time when you will restore the kingdom to Israel?” He replied, “It is not for you to know the times or periods that the Father has set by his own authority. But 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.” When he had said this, as they were watching, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. While he was going and they were gazing up toward heaven, suddenly two men in white robes stood by them. They 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.”
We organize our whole world around the concepts of up and down; high and low. And, of course, we think of “up” as being the desirable position. We lift our heads when we want to move forward. We “keep our chin (or chins) up” when we’re trying to slog through a difficult time. We climb the ladder of success. We rise through the ranks. And who doesn’t like a rising stock market!
Even in worship, our focus is often up. I stand up here in this lofty pulpit to preach. Sometimes when I pray, I look up. Those of you closest to God, sit up… in the balcony. And the last thing Jesus ever did on this earth was to go up; to ascend into heaven.
Luke is the only writer to mention this fantastical event, and he does so both in his Gospel and in the book of Acts. Besides Luke, the New Testament is silent about this event. Even so, the Ascension of Jesus into heaven is a foundational doctrine of Christian faith. It has its own feast day on May 29, thus our observance today. It is immortalized in words of the Apostle’s Creed: “He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of God the Father Almighty…”
The book of Acts declares that this spectacular event occurred forty days after the Resurrection. And during those forty days, Jesus did his best to prepare his disciples for his departure. And he promised them that, though he himself was leaving, they would not be left all alone. He would send them the Holy Spirit – that is, his own essence to live inside of them - and by extension, inside of us.
But true to form, the disciples didn’t get it. Instead, they wanted to know when Jesus was going to finally kick the Romans to the curb and establish the Kingdom of God. And they wanted to know what offices they would hold in this new government. But Jesus reminded them that no one knows when or how God’s Reign will finally come upon the earth. Instead, they should go to Jerusalem and wait for the promise of the Holy Spirit.
Well, no sooner were these words out of his mouth than Jesus was lifted up and carried away in a cloud. Just before his bottoms of his feet vanished from view, two men in white robes appeared and asked: “What are you looking at?”
Well, that’s an odd question. What else were they supposed to look at as their rabbi floated off into the clouds, like a hot air balloon?
But it was a question with a purpose. Because the question was meant to direct their attention back to where it was actually needed, which was not up in the clouds… but where they lived, on the earth.
And that has been the message of the angels ever since, to refocus all of us when we get too heavenly minded to be any earthly good. And they ask the same question over and over again: “What are you looking at?”
Now, despite the flashiness of the Ascension, with its upward emphasis, a close reading of this passage reveals that much of the action in the story is actually earth-centered. This chapter opens with a reference to all that Jesus did and taught while he was… on the earth. Jesus presented himself alive after the Resurrection… on the earth. “Wait for the promise of the Father,” Jesus said, “in Jerusalem, which is on the earth.” “You will be baptized with the Holy Spirit…” on the earth. And where will the Kingdom of God finally come? Right here, on the earth, just as it is in heaven!
Then the angels conclude their message by saying that Jesus will come again in the same way that they saw him go. And at first glance, that statement seems to give us permission to keep our heads in the clouds. Because if Jesus left by the clouds, then Jesus will come again from up there… somewhere.
That’s one way to see it. But the late Brazilian liberation theologian Vitor Westhelle reads this passage another way. He reminds us that the first time Jesus came to this earth, it wasn’t amongst the clouds of glory but among the poor and forgotten. And that, Westhelle says, is the way Christ will come again. So, if you’re looking for him, look for mangers. And you won’t have to look very far, because mangers are found all over the earth, wherever other mothers don’t have decent homes for their children, or other families are running for their lives from despots, or the poor and the lowly find themselves ignored and abused by those in power.
Tradition say that the Ascension of Jesus happened from the top of the Mount of Olives, with its commanding view of Jerusalem. And you might expect that a grand cathedral would mark the spot of such a momentous occasion. But it doesn’t. Instead, there’s a hospital. And not just any hospital, but one dedicated to the poor and the forgotten.
The Augusta Victoria Hospital, built by German Protestants in the late 19th century, provides specialty care for Palestinians from across the West Bank and Gaza, with cancer treatment, a dialysis unit, and a center for pediatric medicine. As of 2025, it is the sole remaining specialized care unit located anywhere in the West Bank or Gaza Strip. And those dedicated doctors, nurses, orderlies, janitors, and technicians do their earthly work from the very spot where the angels warned us against excessive sky gazing.
On the grounds of the hospital, there is a small church aptly named The Church of the Ascension. The sanctuary features a mosaic of that famed biblical event. Jesus is portrayed on a cloud, above the heads of his disciples. Two angels flank him. But those angels are not looking up at Jesus or at the heavens. Instead, they are looking out at us and wear an expression of bemused judgment, as if to ask: “What are you looking at?
They remind us that the Christian faith is not about escape from the world. It is about the salvation of this world. And that requires of us an ever-deepening engagement with the world, and a good long look at the state of the world.
And you don’t have to look very far, because right here in Cheshire, Connecticut, there are unhoused people. Right here, in our town, there are hungry people. And, yes, here there is overt and systemic racism. And yes, there is still the purposeful demonization of difference. And yes, there is increasing rancor between neighbors.
And so, the angels gaze at us and ask: “What are you looking at? Where is your focus? And what will you do about what you see?”
RSS Feed