Today we continue on in "Mandate to Difference" by Walter Brueggemann.
Think back with me to what the church celebrates as the Ascension of Jesus... The ascension refers to the poetic, imaginative claim of the church that the risen Jesus has "gone up" to share power and honor and glory and majesty with God. It is a claim made in our creed that "he ascended into heaven and sitteth on the right hand of God the father almighty.
As Brueggemann will point out there is nothing scientific about this claim - in fact it is prescientific. It is a claim and an affirmation of the position Jesus now holds in our lives. Is he gone? No. Jesus is completely available for all - always - in every place. This position is one that bring to mind who we are and the life we have been invited to share each day. For me, another way of saying that is to remember the simple creed, "Jesus is Lord." Lord of a way...Lord of a life...Lord of a contrary vision that is not going to fall in line with the grand visions of nations and kings and presidents. We are talking about the Lord of Love and the Prince of Peace. When we come within the availability of that Reign, we are indeed living within something other than the dominant culture. Brueggemann takes the poetic imagery of the ascension and ties it to the imagery of Psalm 68 and the ascent to power of God into a recognizable position among the cultures of that day. It makes me think of the procession at the beginning of worship. We stand, we sing, we turn to the cross as it is carried at the front of a procession, we carry banners, we dress in robes, we are reminded of the grandeur and power of our God in Christ, Jesus, in the middle of all of us ordinary folk. All of that stuff -the robes...he banners...the singing...the procession itself - is all a part of the poetic imagery that is meant to lift us up to see the image of the Christ as Lord of All with us and calling us and always present.
Connection: Remember, poetic imagination does not need to be scientifically proven. It cannot be. Rather, within these images we are lifted up to face whatever will come to us because we can see beyond the appearances of all things to the power that makes all things come to life. Therefore, we can act contrary to the norms of society. We can be the children of this available God - even now.
In all time and in ever place, O God, you are graciously present to receive us into your Reign. As we walk within that domain, we find encouragement in the many stories of your love for us through the ages and how, even now, you preside over a new life into which we are invited to leap....for Joy. Amen.
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