Be Alert! United Methodist Disaster Response

Friday, May 24, 2013

By Thomas Kemper*

Photo courtesy Oklahoma Conference

Concern for those in distress after calamities is rooted in both Old and New Testaments. Rabbi Myrna Matsa reminds us that being a holy people means caring for people and the earth, and leaving the world a better place. Jesus, who was steeped in Jewish wisdom, spells out in Matthew 25 the duty disciples have to those who are in need.  Assisting communities and people affected by disaster is one way we follow Jesus Christ.
As with the bridesmaids who needed to bring extra oil in Matthew’s parable of the wedding guests, we must be ready when God calls us to respond to human need.  The message is: “Be alert.”The United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR), along with other public and private agencies, is constantly on alert. We were already in touch with the Oklahoma Conference leadership following Monday’s tornado in Shawnee and continued to connect with them on Tuesday following the tornado in Moore.In the name of Jesus, when disaster strikes, we provide emergency food, water, shelter, and medical care, and begin the harrowing process of clean up. In Oklahoma we have:     •    Worked with the conference’s Office of Mission to begin to determine the resources that will be needed for recovery.     •    Shipped relief supplies including cleaning buckets and bedding kits from UMCOR Sager Brown in Baldwin, Louisiana. The UMCOR depot stands ready to send additional relief kits as requested.Additional needs are likely to surface following the emergency phase. We will remain in contact with the conference’s Office of Mission to sort out the resources that will be needed for long-term recovery. These are likely to include training and expertise in long-term disaster case management—UMCOR is a recognized leader in providing this crucial training—as well as encouraging volunteers for rebuilding through UMVIM .

Photo courtesy Oklahoma Conference

As Methodists go about the work of disaster relief and rebuilding, we are guided by strong theological themes from our Wesleyan heritage. Here are a few:     •    The disaster response of the church and its members is an expression of faith, a confirmation of discipleship, and a witness to love for neighbors worldwide. But we do not distribute cleaning buckets and rebuild homes with the intention of converting others; rather, we do so as the practice of a theology of presence that requires few words.     •    All people need God’s grace. Helpers in disaster are not superior to those being helped. Responders act with humility and not for the sake of feeling good about helping others.      •    We work in collaboration with other religious groups and public and private sectors in response, partnerships that recognize the fullness and wholeness of God’s creation; we work with others to restore and preserve.     •    We allow God to work through us, serving others in both humility and confidence. We realize that everyone needs and has access to God’s grace.Every annual conference in the United States has trained disaster response teams, and this network is primed for its work in Oklahoma. Equipping these teams is a matter of both practical and theological importance in being alert.Read more about the theology of disaster relief and rehabilitation.* Thomas Kemper is the General Secretary of the United Methodist General Board of Global Ministries. UMCOR is part of Global Ministries. Compelled by Christ to be a voice of conscience on behalf of the people called Methodist, UMCOR works globally to alleviate human suffering and advance hope and healing. Gifts to support US Disaster Response to the devastating tornadoes can be made online.Photos:Top: Students and church members work together to unload UMCOR relief supplies at Moore First United Methodist Church in Moore, Oklahoma, in the days following a devastating tornado.  Courtesy Oklahoma Conference.Middle: Bedding kits and other supplies will be distributed among families and individuals living in temporary shelters. Courtesy Oklahoma Conference.Below: Some of the 400 shovels that were shipped from UMCOR Sager Brown Depot. The shipment also included bedding kits, nine generators, hundreds of push-brooms, and other much-needed relief supplies. Courtesy Oklahoma Conference.


The devastating tornadoes that wiped out much of Moore, Oklahoma, as well as the dozens of tornadoes in several states early this week call Christians to put into practice our best theology of compassion and action.

Photo courtesy Oklahoma Conference

     •    Offered the conference all available UMCOR resources, including emergency funds, relief supplies,
and training in early response and spiritual and emotional care.

May 26, 2013 Sermon by Pastor Peggy Ray

Justice and Judgment

The basic message of our Scriptures today is that the Father (Creator), Son (the Word) and the Holy Spirit (Wisdom in the Old Testament; The Spirit of Truth in the New Testament) existed at Creation. The Bible story begins with a Triune God. A Triune God who, for love and love alone, created the universe; who, for love and love alone, kept calling the Israelites back as often as they wandered; and who, for love and love alone became one of us and showed us how disciples would live in this world, empowered and guided by the Holy Spirit. Jesus’ story is first and foremost about the love of God for every single one of us—an incredible, beautiful, limitless love for everybody, everywhere.

The Bible doesn’t try to define, describe or prove what God is like. It simply tells a long complicated story of God's love affair with one particular people, the Israelites, which becomes the model of God's relationship with all people. Jesus opened up that Jewish story to include all of humanity. Working through the Holy Spirit, the disciples continued to extend the story to all non-Jewish peoples.

The Bible is the story of a God who has been looking for partners since the beginning, people who will take seriously their God-given responsibility to care for the earth and each other in loving and sustainable ways. In the midst of the Biblical story, there are a few statements about who God is and what God wants from us. One of those is Micah 6:8  He has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God. The demand of God for justice is so central that any other responses to God are empty or diminished if they exist without it (Amos 5:21-24; Mic. 6:6-8).  This is what Micah 6:8 (repeat) truly says. The Biblical God is the sure defender of the poor and the oppressed (Jer. 9:23-24; Ps. 10:17-18).  The focus is upon the oppressed, with particular attention given to specific groups, such as the poor, widows, the fatherless, slaves, resident aliens, wage earners, and those with physical infirmities (Job 29:12-17; Ps. 146:7-9; Mal 3:5).

Since the justice of God is characterized by special regard for the poor and the weak, a corresponding special regard for the poor and the weak is demanded of God’s people. In the Bible, basic needs are basic rights. At the same time, justice goes beyond just caring for physical needs. Justice is the means for the creation of community and the preservation of the people in it (Lev. 25:35-36; Job 24:5; Ps. 107:36; Luke 7:29-30).  Justice is central to God's story. Justice — in its various forms — is mentioned over 200 times in the Scriptures. It's not optional, it's required.  We are commanded to seek justice. (-Eugene Cho).

As I read the Gospels, I see Jesus as a young man wandering around Galilee, Samaria and Judea totally present in each moment, continually aware of the persons around him – so aware that he could feel a woman touch the edge of his cloak. Over and over, with each person he encounters, Jesus is moved by compassion to respond to their need – to turn water into wine for a friend’s wedding, to stop a woman’s continual flow of blood, to heal a blind man, to raise a friend from the dead.  The point is not that Jesus had these powers, but that he was always moved by compassion to meet the need of person after person he encountered.

Despite Jesus’ acceptance of so many different persons, there was one group that he continually railed against – the Pharisees--, or as the Gospel of Matthew usually puts it, “teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites!” In Matthew 16:5-12, Jesus tells his disciples to beware of the teachings of the Pharisees. The Pharisees were the most devout of Jews. They believed if the Jewish people were only completely faithful to God, totally pure, God would restore the Jewish nation. They’d started out on the right track; they wanted to live for God. But keeping the law became an end in itself. They forgot that the law was meant to draw them closer to God and to each other.

So why was Jesus so adamantly opposed to those Jewish persons who were most faithfully trying to follow the teachings of Moses? In Matthew 5:17, Jesus says:  17“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. It is not the Pharisees’ careful observance of the Law of Moses that Jesus is railing against. It is the way they observe the law. The Pharisees see non-Jews as pagans, enemies. To their fellow Jews, they are judgmental, self-righteousness, and hypocritical.  

Unfortunately, we Christians seem more like the Pharisees Jesus railed against than followers of Jesus Christ. Aren’t we as guilty as the Pharisees of claiming the right to speak for God? In Matthew 23:16-17, Jesus says,  “ Woe to you, blind guides!  You say, ‘If anyone swears by the temple, it means nothing; but if anyone swears by the gold of the temple, he is bound by his oath.’  You blind fools!  Which is greater:  the gold, or the temple that makes the gold sacred?”)  We Christians say, (The Bible says John 14:6 “I am the way and the truth and the light.  No one comes to the Father except through me.” ) means that only Christians are saved.  Can’t you just see Jesus saying, You blind fools!  Who will be saved?  The Christian who proclaims loudly his faith in the Bible or the non-Christian who lives according to my example?   

In Luke 11:42, Jesus says, “But woe to you Pharisees! for you tithe mint, rue and every herb, and neglect justice and the love of God.” (Doesn’t that remind you of Micah 6:8)  Both the Old and New Testament are clear, if we love God, we will desire justice and give to the poor. We will love people just for being human, no matter how different they are from us.

But justice is hard!  Justice is not to the advantage of everyone in the community. So if decisions are made only on the basis of self-interest, the self-interests of the powerful (injustice) will prevail. You mean you want me to operate against my self interest? To love the poor as much as I love myself? Boy, that would change our budgets!  Then we would have to give not just what we can do without but what is truly needed by the poor.

Justice is also hard because it requires us to see things from perspectives other than our own. That means we have to be willing to encounter others who have different perspectives.  We have to spend enough time with them to hear their stories.  That means we have to listen rather than preach--to listen long enough to understand where they’re coming from and then to be willing to meet their needs rather than judge them.

Lastly, justice is hard because we have to be willing to admit of the possibility that we are wrong! Jesus teaches Judge not that ye be not also judged.  So I won’t say these as judgments, just as questions.  What if you don’t have to call yourself a Christian to receive God’s grace and forgiveness?  What if the sins God can’t forgive are the sins that destroy community—violence, exploitation of the weak and the vulnerable, prejudice, injustice.  What if God’s grace absolves us of all individual sins but not of our cooperation with the principalities and powers that create injustice. After all, Jesus did tell the Pharisees, Woe to you! For you are like graves which are not seen, and men walk over them without knowing it. (Luke 11:44)

As Pope Francis said last Wednesday, "The Lord has redeemed all of us, all of us, all of us, not just Catholics. Everyone!” ‘Father, the atheists?’ Even the atheists. Everyone! We cannot limit God. No people, no book, no religion, even, can limit God’s ability to respond to others. God created every one of us in God’s image and likeness.  God loves all of his creation.  God seeks to be in relationship with all of his creation and to guide each of us to become the person we were created to be.

All that we have comes from God. God has provided everything we need to live a good life here on Earth. If there are those who do not have everything they need, it is because we tolerate the evil of injustice, a sin for which we need to seek forgiveness.  

Prayers for Oklahoma

Bishop Hagiya:

Prayers for Oklahoma

Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

I would ask you for prayers and support in light of the devastating tornadoes that have caused so much damage in Oklahoma. Please keep the people and organizations that have lost so much in your prayers. In speaking with Bishop Robert Hayes (Resident Bishop of Oklahoma), he remarked that none of the UMC churches were effected by the tornadoes, but some of their members have lost everything. Many of our Oklahoma churches are providing direct care for the survivors.

United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) is on scene and providing their exceptional services. Please visit the UMCOR website for the latest information on how you can contribute to our connectional response. Let us continue to be in prayer, and donate generously for relief.

Joining you in prayer,

Bishop Grant Hagiya
The Greater Northwest Area
(Alaska, Pacific Northwest, Oregon-Idaho)

Scriptures for next Sunday--May 26, 2013

Psalm 8 


1 O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is thy name in all the earth! Thou whose glory above the heavens is chanted 2 by the mouth of babes and infants, thou hast founded a bulwark because of thy foes, to still the enemy and the avenger. 3 When I look at thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars which thou hast established; 4 what is man that thou art mindful of him, and the son of man that thou dost care for him? 5 Yet thou hast made him little less than God, and dost crown him with glory and honor. 6 Thou hast given him dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet, 7 all sheep and oxen, and also the beasts of the field, 8 the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea, whatever passes along the paths of the sea. 9 O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is thy name in all the earth!

Proverbs 8:1-4, 22-31
1 Does not wisdom call, does not understanding raise her voice? 2 On the heights beside the way, in the paths she takes her stand; 3 beside the gates in front of the town, at the entrance of the portals she cries aloud: 4 "To you, O men, I call, and my cry is to the sons of men."
22 The LORD created me at the beginning of his work, the first of his acts of old. 23 Ages ago I was set up, at the first, before the beginning of the earth. 24 When there were no depths I was brought forth, when there were no springs abounding with water. 25 Before the mountains had been shaped, before the hills, I was brought forth; 26 before he had made the earth with its fields, or the first of the dust of the world. 27 When he established the heavens, I was there, when he drew a circle on the face of the deep, 28 when he made firm the skies above, when he established the fountains of the deep, 29 when he assigned to the sea its limit, so that the waters might not transgress his command, when he marked out the foundations of the earth, 30 then I was beside him, like a master workman; and I was daily his delight, rejoicing before him always, 31 rejoicing in his inhabited world and delighting in the sons of men.

John 16:12-15
12 "I have yet many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. 13 When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. 14 He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you. 15 All that the Father has is mine; therefore I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.

Unity In a God Who Delights In Diversity

Sermon for May 19th, 2013

by Pastor Peggy Ray

Unity In a God Who Delights In Diversity

     Isn’t it reassuring to realize that Jesus’ closest followers didn’t “get it” at first, either? Can you feel their anxiety when Jesus talks about the end of his ministry and something yet to come which would change their relationship? They must have sensed some important experience was looming, but they couldn’t understand its significance. They couldn’t "wrap their heads around" the idea of his death or imagine his resurrection.

     Jesus had been their mentor. They even called him rabbi. He had shown them a new way to live, a life based not on status or perfection, but on a self-worth founded on God’s love and values grounded in God’s grace. Jesus accepted them in their imperfect human condition and encouraged them to live a life of simplicity and service.    

     But with news of his coming departure, they must have wondered who would lead them now. Would they return to their old ways and habits? Who would teach them about God?   Jesus’ answer was, “I will pray the Father, and he will give you another Counselor, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth” (John 14:16-17). And still, today, The Holy Spirit is with us to guide our steps, to keep us aware of God’s love, and to steer us toward a life of service. 

     Next to Easter, Pentecost is the most important day in the Christian calendar. From Pentecost on, the good news was no longer held just by a few disciples who had been with Jesus. Now everyone could experience the healing and saving presence of Jesus Christ.

     At Pentecost, wind and fire shook, transformed, and filled the very human and ordinary believers with the divine Spirit of God. And these all-too-human followers boldly spoke in dozens of languages to tell the Good News of God’s love for this world and everything in it. The faithful continue to receive this gift of the Holy Spirit to provide direction, courage, comfort, hope, companionship and peace.

     Since Pentecost, no Christian need ever walk alone, for now God is present with everyone who chooses to welcome this holy presence. It does require a desire to welcome the Holy Spirit and a willingness to pay attention to one’s experience. The nudges of the Holy Spirit are gentle and require a willingness to examine one’s experience and reflect upon it.  

     It doesn't matter, Peter says, if we're sons or daughters, young or old, slave or free; all flesh will be included – which sounds a lot to me like "No matter who you are or where you are on life's journey, you are welcome here. No exceptions." “Who we are" isn't determined by our nationality or race or gender or physical abilities or sexual orientation or status as citizens.  Who we are – children of God, beloved of God, filled with God's Spirit, a new creation – that's what matters. Our hope this morning is for the whole church Jesus loves so well to become the gathering of disciples filled, empowered, and moved by the Holy Spirit.

     John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, has written: "This family praising God together, with the tongues of all the world, was an earnest (like earnest money put down when you buy a house) that the whole world should in due time praise God in their various tongues."  

     The Spirit fosters unity, not division. Pentecost reveals God’s plan to draw the scattered peoples from every corner of the earth into a union of mutual understanding and reciprocity. Now those whose differences seem irresolvable can discover a common source of unity in a God, who delights in diversity, who revels in an immense variety of forms -- whether of snowflakes or human beings.

    

     If we could see the world as God sees the world, would we find it more integrated that we normally suppose?  None of us see the whole. We see only snatches here and there, and our self-interest substantially skews our perspective. Things that are close to us assume exaggerated importance, while the rest we view with cold indifference.  For those in congress  who voted to end food assistance to two million persons, two-thirds of whom are children, this was just a small percentage cut which wouldn’t even be noticed, except of course by those two million persons who will be going hungry and by God who weeps at our hard-hearted indifference.

     It is as if life were a great tapestry, which we face from its wrong side. This gives it the appearance of a maze of knots and threads, which give no sense of the pattern.         So we are dependent on the Holy Spirit to help us infer from the maze on this side of the tapestry the pattern which, on its right side, gives meaning to the whole.  As the beauty and harmony of the design derive from the way its parts are related, the design confers on those parts a significance that we, seeing only scraps of the design, do not normally perceive.  

     I think God gives us glimpses, opportunities to “see through a glass darkly,” just sufficient for us to recognize our longing for God, our need for the Holy Spirit. God is the one who teaches us to hear his voice. We can work on our willingness, but only God can teach us to hear His voice.

     The Spirit is given to bring a unity among those who have seen a new way to live in Christ. We are called to imagine God’s plan for our world--to trust in it, and to live into it. We might be tempted at times to give in to those same impulses we see around us–to build up our defenses, look out for ourselves, find security in our “stuff” and in our sure knowledge that we know best, but this wind of the Spirit – it blows through our lives and it turns things upside down. We want a faith that consoles us, and instead, God challenges our assumptions and opens up our eyes to see things in a new way, opens our hearts to a new creation of possibility and hope. Christians are obliged to be hopeful about the future because our faith is about unexpected resurrections. That’s who we are as the church you know--people of hope!

Scripture Readings for Pentecost--May 19th, 2013

Acts 2:1-21

1 When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place.

2 And suddenly a sound came from heaven like the rush of a mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting.

3 And there appeared to them tongues as of fire, distributed and resting on each one of them.

4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.

5 Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven.

6 And at this sound the multitude came together, and they were bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in his own language.

7 And they were amazed and wondered, saying, "Are not all these who are speaking Galileans?

8 And how is it that we hear, each of us in his own native language?

9 Par'thians and Medes and E'lamites and residents of Mesopota'mia, Judea and Cappado'cia, Pontus and Asia,

10 Phryg'ia and Pamphyl'ia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyre'ne, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes,

11 Cretans and Arabians, we hear them telling in our own tongues the mighty works of God."

12 And all were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, "What does this mean?"

13 But others mocking said, "They are filled with new wine."

14 But Peter, standing with the eleven, lifted up his voice and addressed them, "Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and give ear to my words.

15 For these men are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day;

16 but this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel:

17 'And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams;

18 yea, and on my menservants and my maidservants in those days I will pour out my Spirit; and they shall prophesy.

19 And I will show wonders in the heaven above and signs on the earth beneath, blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke;

20 the sun shall be turned into darkness and the moon into blood, before the day of the Lord comes, the great and manifest day.

21 And it shall be that whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.'

Romans 8:14-17

14 For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. 15 For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the spirit of sonship. When we cry, "Abba! Father!"

16 it is the Spirit himself bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God,

17 and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.

John 14:8-17, 25-27

8 Philip said to him, "Lord, show us the Father, and we shall be satisfied."

9 Jesus said to him, "Have I been with you so long, and yet you do not know me, Philip? He who has seen me has seen the Father; how can you say, 'Show us the Father'?

10 Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own authority; but the Father who dwells in me does his works.

11 Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father in me; or else believe me for the sake of the works themselves.

12 "Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I go to the Father.

13 Whatever you ask in my name, I will do it, that the Father may be glorified in the Son;

14 if you ask anything in my name, I will do it.

15 "If you love me, you will keep my commandments.

16 And I will pray the Father, and he will give you another Counselor, to be with you for ever,

17 even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him; you know him, for he dwells with you, and will be in you.

25 "These things I have spoken to you, while I am still with you.

26 But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.

27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.

Gospel Reading for May 12, 2013

Luke 24:44-53

44 Then he said to them, "These are my words which I spoke to you, while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the law of Moses and the prophets and the psalms must be fulfilled." 45 Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures, 46 and said to them, "Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, 47 and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be preached in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. 48 You are witnesses of these things. 49 And behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you; but stay in the city, until you are clothed with power from on high." 50 Then he led them out as far as Bethany, and lifting up his hands he blessed them. 51 While he blessed them, he parted from them, and was carried up into heaven. 52 And they returned to Jerusalem with great joy, 53 and were continually in the temple blessing God.

Spiritual Reality

Sermon for May 12, 2013

by Pastor Peggy Ray

Spiritual Reality

     There’s a saying I know you’re familiar with, The more we know, the more we realize we don’t know. That wisdom is particularly applicable to our understanding of today’s Scriptures.

     For several centuries, we, humans, have been operating under the assumption that the universe functions according to physical laws that can be known. Our growing understanding of these physical laws led to great material progress. But it also had some unfortunate consequences. Stories like the Ascension came to be viewed as just too outrageous for educated, modern, cause-and-effect folks to take seriously. They assume that in order for the Ascension to make sense we need to embrace the three-story universe of the Bible. This reminds me of the Soviet-era cosmonaut who returned successfully from a mission in space and declared that he didn’t find God “up there” and thus all religion must be false. If we insist on operating within this framework, then our witness to the Gospel will limp along and have very little impact on others. 

      But, in the last couple of decades, science has moved way beyond the assumption that the universe functions according to the physical laws we know. Scientist now believe that only 4% of the total universe operates according to the laws of our three dimensional world. 96% of the universe is composed of what scientists call “dark” energy (70%) and

“dark” matter (20+%).  All “dark” means is that we know zilch, nada, nothing about 96% of our universe. The universe is far more surprising and mysterious than we previously believed.

     I start with this because when people object to the idea that there is more beyond our tangible, provable-with-hard-evidence observations and experiences of the world, they aren’t taking the entire universe into account. When they assume that faith and science are either/or points of view, they are operating under an outdated understanding of reality as consisting only of our three-dimensional physical world. But string theory suggests the reality is not 3-dimensional but 4, or 5, or even 6 or 7 dimensional.

     In Jesus’ post-resurrection appearances, he enters a room suddenly, without using a door; he appears next to a couple walking together on the road to Emmaus; he cooks breakfast for Peter and his friends by the shore. But he disappears just as suddenly as he appears. Clearly though the resurrected body of Jesus is visible, it demonstrates qualities that are not limited to our three-dimensional reality.

     Imagine! Suppose God exists outside of our three-dimensional reality, outside of time, in a dimension beyond the physical world. If that is true then the description of Jesus’ return to the Father is totally credible. More importantly, We don’t have to choose between science and faith!  Science and faith are no longer either/or.  Science and faith can both agree that there is a reality beyond the three-dimensional world of physical reality. In a 4 or more dimensional world, the Bible’s affirmations that God is beyond all limitations of time and space; God is unchanging and all-powerful; God is majestic and sovereign and eternal; these affirmations make sense. And perhaps the Bible and mystics are right that there is a reality where God reigns, and where God heals and makes all things new again. 

     Jesus had risen from the dead, eaten fish with his disciples, walked with them up to Mount Olivet. Jesus had continued to teach them from the law, the psalms, and the prophets. Suddenly he was lifted up and carried away on the clouds. Going back to glory! Hallelujah! Jesus is Lord. To proclaim Jesus’ ascension is to claim that God has exalted him -- the same Jesus who welcomed the sinners, who suffered and died in shame and rejection by this world -- as Lord and Messiah (2:36). Jesus is God’s promise and plan for the whole world.

     Jesus’ ascension alters our picture of God. God is NOT completely detached from our human experience. The Jesus, who sits at God’s right hand, reveals a God who is vulnerable and approachable, who knows loneliness, betrayal, rejection, thirst, and even death. So, when we turn to God in times of distress or temptation, we are not turning to a God unfamiliar with our struggles. God knows our trials and comforts us.

     Even more importantly, God is here! God is everywhere! God can be found all around you—in each person that touches your life, in every living creature, in the splendor of all Creation.  God is the beauty in a little flower. God is in the warm rays of sun in winter, the radiance of new-fallen snow, and the magnificent design of a snowflake. God is the joy of friendship and the love that thrills the human heart.

    The last few verses of Luke’s Gospel are filled with blessing. Jesus takes his disciples out of the city and blesses them. As he blesses them, he departs. Which is interesting. You’d think that Jesus would finish blessing them and then depart. But Luke says that, “while he was blessing them, he withdrew from them and was carried up into heaven.” Almost as if he just couldn’t stop blessing them. Or that his blessing doesn’t end with his presence, but continues. Or that his blessing of them and all disciples never ends. Jesus’ ascension, then, isn’t about his leaving – his disciples, us, the world – but rather is about God being accessible to us. God is always seeking to break through the locked doors of our lives, anywhere and anytime.