Stretching Visions

                In a few weeks our calendar will shift from the Season of Easter to Ordinary time.   Come Pentecost Sunday,  we will have spent 50 days celebrating the good news of our resurrected Lord.  With this transition comes a fresh focus on the church and its mission. Where will the Spirit guide us in the coming year?  Chinese Christian leader Watchman Nee suggested that  “The cross grants us position, the Holy Spirit gives us experience”. In fact, the gift of Pentecost allows us to put our faith in action with the help of God. How will the Spirit open our hearts to new possibilities? More importantly, how might this year be different?

In preparation for the final weeks of Easter, I came across an interesting exercise for the Ascension of the Lord celebration. It was part of a fuller service developed by Chris Thorpe from his book Apprentices and Eyewitnesses: Creative Liturgies for Incarnational Worship: Lent, Holy Week and Easter entitled “Stretching Our Vision”.  The purpose of this exercise is to help us widen our understanding of the church and faith and move from constraint to a greater freedom. The ultimate goal is to let go of our limitations as a way of seeing God’s greater purpose in us and for all of his creation. 

The gift of the Spirit calls us to continue what Jesus started. Acts 1: 8 “…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.”  According to Philip Browing Helsel,  ascension creates the shape of the church as enabled by the Holy Spirit:

“The ascension marks our the shape of the church that is called and equipped to act as witness. Through forgiveness of sins, sharing at the Table, and the calling to repentance, the risen Lord prepares the church for its key activities, fostering joy even in the midst of trauma.”

Browning Helsel goes on to explain that in the early English church, this time of year was celebrated by beating the boundary rocks of the church, giving it a new shape for the future. 

  This past year we have experienced a lot of newness within our church community. Moving to a new location, sharing space with new friends, and building bridges in a new community does have its challenges. Fortunately, you have carried this newness with patience and grace. As we move into ordinary time, we may want to consider how Jesus is helping us mold into something new. The gifts of the Ascension and Pentecost not only remind us of our purpose in mission,  but also instills in us the understanding that change and growth are part of our life of God and to not  be afraid when we are called to experience something new. 

I encourage you to consider how you can widen your vision of the living church and your role within it. Author David Mathis explains, “The ascension reminds us that Christianity is not only a historical faith, but a faith of the present and future. Jesus is, right now, in glorified humanity on the throne of the universe, wielding as the God-man ‘All authority in heaven and on Earth’. He's is not just our suffering servant who came and died and rose triumphant, but our actively ruling, actively conquering king.” What might we need to change or let go so we can work with Jesus and  witness to his presence in the world today? 

Rev. Julie Sterling