"I Believe in the Resurrection" May 13, 2018

John 17: 1-19 Acts 1: 1-11 There are some passages of Scripture which preach themselves: The Burning Bush, the 10 Commandments, Jesus’ Calling Fishermen, 10 Lepers healed 1 returns thanks. AND THEN there is the Ascension. What are we to do with this, on Mother’s Day? The disciples asked the natural question, “Resurrected, having conquered Death, will you now restore the Kingdom?” but are told that is the wrong question, Only God knows. Ascension is about asking “What do we really believe?” Being a parent is more than biology, there is a question of who you are that you pass on to loved ones. Throughout the last 75 years there has been a Quest for the Historical Jesus, this is at least the 3rd such quest in Christian History. Searching for historic proof, that Jesus actually existed, taught, preached, healed. But there comes a dilemma: Whether our goal is to document existence of the Galilean Rabbi who pointed us toward God, or for witness Jesus is God in human form providing us Salvation? Ironically, the Muslim Koran recognizes Jesus as a Prophet, a man of great wisdom. But Islam believes God is absolutely Sinless, Pure, Divine, Holy; or stated differently, that the World is too corrupt for God to enter in and become one with humanity. Acknowledging Jesus as a Man, Islam describes Mohammed also as a Prophet, but who at Jerusalem was transported to Heaven to receive the Word from God and return to life. Christianity is the only faith believing God loves the world so much to become One with us. Instead of beginning with a Human Person being elevated to Heaven and returning to earth; that God became One with Humanity, and after experiencing life sacrificing everything in death was resurrected to heaven…Not that he returned to Heaven but that there was a resurrection of the body, as means of our salvation. The Apostles’ Creed does not deal with whether Jesus preached the Sermon on the Mount, or whether he told the Parables, or whether he was Baptized by John, or gave us the Sacrament of Communion, or 11th Commandment to Love One Another. The Creed is about the intersection of the Divine and the Human. The Creed does not explain the How or the Why, only the importance of the bond. God Made Heaven and Earth. Life, Reality is not an accident, not the occurrence of fate, God made us. I believe Jesus to be God’s Son, conceived by the Holy Ghost born of Mary, who suffered under the power of the State, died and was buried. He descended to Hell. What a powerful affirmation! “God Suffered”, which not only means God can Feel, but of all feelings God knows anguish and pain, just as every human experiences! And that nothing, not even Hell, or the barriers of the Past that people died before the Historical Jesus of Nazareth came into history, can stop the depth of God’s love. How, Why? Those are material quests; immaterial, over against God became human for us, then died for us, and even death could not stop or prevent God’s love for us. In combination with this, we have this beautiful prayer of Jesus in John’s Gospel. WHY did Jesus not fix all the problems of this world? Why did Jesus not end Poverty, or stop War once and for all? Instead, Jesus prayed for those whom he loved, who had been given to him by God in this life, AND THAT IS WHAT WE DO. We cannot stop all the problems of the world, but we can love and pray for those whom we know. So our responsibility is simply to get to know more people, because God knows people through us! Years ago we had neighbors who were newly weds that had a baby. One afternoon, she came to me in a panic, saying she had tried to feed her baby with a bottle for the first time, and now he was so lethargic and bloated, she wondered if she had given too much! I told her that ultimately it would come out one way or the other, and made her a cup of tea. 30 years ago I had the opportunity of going through the Church to the Soviet Union. But when we arrived all of our arrangements had been cancelled by the State. For Ministers this was no problem, we just contacted the local priests and resurrected plans, but half of the group were Presbyterian Judges and Attorneys promised to see the Court System and talk with Legal Experts. Finally, the last afternoon, when everyone was exhausted, it was announced that we had been given audience with the Highest Appellate Court justice in the Juvenile Court System. The Judges and Attorneys all rallied, and I went along. Without introducing who was whom, we were introduced as American Legal Experts and one Presbyterian Minister. The Official made a speech, and the Judges asked questions, after which the Soviet Judge asked if she could ask a Question? Turning directly to me, she asked, In your church, if a very young girl became pregnant and tried to take her life what would you do? I responded that probably, I would have been the one who married her parents. At her birth, I would have carried her in my arms, committing to pray for and support her. SO Hopefully, because of this relationship, we or her parents would have picked up clues she was planning to take her life, and try to stop her. BUT If we missed it, when it happened, we would rush to go to her home to comfort her parents and honor her life. The Justice snapped that in the USSR this was Illegal, Ministers only preach the Sermons give them, to leave the Pulpit is PROSELTYZING! But the ones suffering were the children. As we said good bye, the Justice stopped and hugged me. Five years later, we had a 14 year old in Confirmation Class, who was Pregnant. A friend described an ancient Wood Cut, a simple print of black ink on white paper, of the Ascension as told this morning. There were the disciples looking up into Heaven, and the strangers in white, and Jesus being resurrected from the experience of this life to be at the right hand of God forevermore. But the most wonderful thing, was that in addition to Jesus being resurrected by God into Heaven… on the ground coming up to the spot, there were footprints! Simple witness that the same Jesus who was the Rabbi, who healed people, and preached the Sermon on the Mount, was God in human form, leaving very real proof of being. In recent months, we have said goodbye to several people whom we loved, but all around us are proofs in us, that they were here, that God was here in their lives. Did they permanently change the world, bringing about restoration of the Kingdom? That is not what they tried to do, but we enjoyed this life together, we loved each other.