Sermons at Union Congregational Church
Preached by The Reverend Gail L. Miller, Pastor

May 13, 2018               Celebration of the Ascension

Acts 1:1-11

I think that Ascension Day is a weird day. It is at the same time an important thing and a supernatural thing. It is that part of the drama of Jesus that explains a lot and raises a lot of questions!

As you hear me say to the children frequently – Jesus, even though he didn’t stay dead, and even though he DID show up and spend time with his friends AFTER he’d come back from the dead, is not still walking around on the earth.

That’s because of the Ascension – when he went back to heaven – when he returned to God his Father and our Heavenly Father, and promises to send the Holy Spirit which we’ll celebrate next Sunday – Pentecost Sunday.

Still it’s a funny scene – the disciples out with their Lord – when all of a sudden he is taken up and away, a clouds hides him as he goes, two “men” (angels?) appear asking why they’re staring up into the sky.

In Jerusalem, there is the Church of the Ascension, built upon the place where tradition says this took place. And there is a spot – believed to be THE spot – an indentation in the rock where Jesus stood just before he was taken up.

And you know, when you visit this place, no one stands there looking up anymore! Everyone’s eyes are directed DOWN into this impression – a footprint (though after all these years it is not in the shape of a foot anymore).

And that’s, I believe, as it should be. Because while we’re this side of heaven, this is where we’re going to see Jesus’ footprints. And as we follow Jesus, the best way to stay on track, is to follow in his footprints.

But they are hard to spot these days, given our distance in both time and space from when he was walking around in the flesh. Which is why I’m so glad we have the witness of so many who’ve gone before to show us where he’s been.

After all, Jesus’ footprints are all over the pages of the gospels.

We can see Jesus’ footprints in the wilderness as he faces each temptation under the strain of hunger and thirst.

We see his wet footprints on the jagged rocks along the Galilean Sea as Jesus called his disciples.

We see them northward across the West Bank to sit with the Samaritan woman at the well.

We see his footprints crossing to the other side of the Jericho road to bind up the wounds of the man beaten by robbers.

We see Jesus’ footprints beneath the sycamore tree, where he invited Zaccheus to come down and walk over to his house together for a plate of hummus and pita.

We see the dirty, muddy footprints of Jesus all over the floor of the upper room where he put first his own disciples in washing their feet.

We see the blood-stained footprints going up to Golgotha, loving us to the end.

It’s as if Jesus were leaving behind a road map for us to follow.

From his very first day in the Synagogue in Nazareth, the Holy Spirit moved Jesus in certain directions, not others. He had said it would be so this way in his first sermon when he read from the scroll of Isaiah:
The Spirit has anointed me to bring good news to the poor, sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free.
When Jesus finished that reading, he said, “Today, this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”
This is my road map. This is how I will walk on the earth. Come, follow me.

Why do we stand looking up to heaven, when he’s left his footprints all over the place down here? Where have you seen them?

Have you seen someone resist temptation?
Or be a positive influence on someone else?
Or maybe it was you who offered encouragement to someone facing soul crushing criticism.
Or physically cared for someone in need.
Or perhaps someone surprised you with an act of service or sacrifice.
This is what the footprints of Jesus look like.

I ran across a story this week that has Jesus’ footprints all over it! (www.goodnewsnetwork.org)

Mick Myers is a 67-year-old homeless man in California. Back in November he was panhandling along a highway when Deputy Jacob Swalwell spotted him from his cruiser and pulled over to remind the homeless man that standing alongside a highway was illegal. Instead of issuing a citation, however, Swalwell struck up a conversation with Mick.

He asked Mick for his identification, he said he did not have one. This is often an excuse from people who have warrants or are lying about their name. But Deputy Swalwell got the feeling that Mick was being honest so he asked him a next question, “Why don’t you have ID?”

Well in order to get approved for a California identification card, Mick would have had to show two government-issued forms of identification or proof of residency, and Mick had been homeless for 30 years.

And something moved the officer, Jacob, to help Mick. He spent the next month jumping through bureaucratic hoops to acquire an ID for him. You see Mick had been adopted and had always felt excluded from the family because his adoptive mother so favored his biological siblings. When his adoptive parents died, his siblings wanted nothing more to do with him.

When Jacob finally succeeded in tracking down the 67-year-old’s birth certificate and getting the necessary documents for a state ID, Myers’s story was picked up by dozens of news outlets.

Then, a private investigator named Mark Askins heard about Mick and Jacob’s story and felt inspired to help.

It turns out Mark volunteers for Miracle Messages – an organization that reunites homeless people with their long lost families, and he was so moved by the tragic tale that he started pouring over old ledger books at the County Courthouse for more information. It was there that he found Mick’s birth mother — Polly—and learned that she was still alive.

Polly was only 16 years old when she eloped with a naval officer and moved to the Smokey Mountains in Tennessee. Her marriage, however, turned out to be a grueling disaster. After her child was born, he provided nothing for the family and she was left to fend for herself in a run-down cottage without electricity or running water.

Once Polly had had enough, and was pregnant again, she called her parents and asked them to buy her a train ticket home. Back in the Bay Area, she gave birth to her second child, Mick who was diagnosed with a life-threatening hole in his stomach when he was two.

They couldn’t afford the necessary surgery, so she gave up the baby to a family at the church who could. It’d been 65 years since Polly saw her long-lost son, so when Mark reached out to ask if she would like to see him, she didn’t hesitate to say yes.

Miracle Messages then flew Mick to Polly’s home and the reunion was on. Not only did he finally get to meet his biological mother, he learned that he had dozens of siblings, nieces and nephews who were all excited to meet him.

Polly said that meeting Mick felt as if a piece of her heart had been put back.

“He suddenly discovered he has a family, when he thought he was alone in the world,” she said. “I found one more person to love.”

Footprints of Jesus!

There is an old legend about the Ascension when Jesus arrived in heaven. It is said that the angel Gabriel met him at the gates of the heavenly city.

“Lord, this is a great salvation that you have accomplished during your time on earth! Gabriel said.”

But Jesus only said, “Yes.”

“Well, what plans have you made for carrying on the work, now that you’re back here? How will others know what you have done?” he asked.

“Well, I left Peter and James and John and Martha and Mary to tell their friends, their friends to tell their friends, and so on until the whole world knows. The Holy spirit will help them of course.”

“But Jesus,” Gabriel said, “what if Peter is too busy with his fishing business, or Martha with the housework, or the friends they tell are too distracted and forget to tell their friends? What then?”

Jesus did not answer right away. Then he said in his quiet, confident voice, “I have not made any other plans. I am counting on them.”

What a privilege to be the ones Jesus is counting on!
Amen!