Did you catch it?

In the Gospel reading for the 13th Sunday after Pentecost, series B in the 3 year series, there was a line that I caught yesterday. I am sure that I heard it before but it never struck me until I was reading it in worship in the early service here at St. Paul's, Troy. It is John 6:62. The lead up to this is that Jesus is telling the disciples that He is the bread of life. There is the discussion about eating His body and drinking His blood (to which there is the ongoing debate about what He means. I fall on the side of the fence that He is talking about the Lord's Supper. ).  All of this is following the feeding of the 5,000 and the people wanting to make Him the Bread King and the topic of manna in the wilderness. You can get a feel for that when Jesus says, "This is the bread that came down from heaven, not as the fathers ate and died." (John 6:58 ESV).

So what is the verse that struck me? The disciples (not just the 12 but the crowds that had gathered around him) said, "This is a hard saying; who can listen to it." (John 6:60 ESV) It was difficult for them to understand and take hold of what Jesus was saying. Folks today still struggle with the Real Presence of the body and blood of Christ in, with and under the bread and wine in the Supper. There are those who find it difficult to understand and don't really want to listen to it.

Then Jesus says to the disciples, "Do you take offense at this? Then what if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before?" (John 6:61b-62 ESV) What if you saw the Son of Man ascending to heaven, the place He was before? There will be some of those standing there that day who would indeed see Jesus ascend into heaven. How would that be so difficult to accept and understand?

In the ascension we see that Jesus did not come to set up and earthly kingdom but that He ascended to take His place at the right hand of the Father, to that heavenly, eternal kingdom. The disciples continued to look for the worldly Messiah, the One who would set up the earthly kingdom. In Acts, right before the ascension, they even ask Jesus, (as I read it I always think of them asking in breathless anticipation), "Are You going to set up the kingdom now? Are you going to get rid of the Romans? Are you going to make Israel great again?" Yes, I am paraphrasing, but that seems to be the thoughts they were having.

When Jesus doesn't set up an earthly kingdom but instead ascends into heaven, it could have been very confusing for them. Just like they struggled to understand the bread of life discussion, they were going to have to face the ascension discussion. What does it mean? Why did Jesus ascend? Why are the Romans still here?

The ascension, seeing the Son of Man ascending to heaven, would be confusing and difficult thing for them. And I think it is for us too. Today, many churches, and many Christians, don't even think about the ascension and what it means. Ascension Day services, if they are held any longer, tend to be sparsely attended. Folks don't have time for such a service. My opinion? I think it is because we don't understand the ascension. So like other things that are hard to get our mind around, we just ignore it. The whole Real Presence discussion gets pushed off to later since it is difficult and may cause some problems. In the same way, the ascension gets pushed off because it is difficult to understand and may cause so discomfort.

The disciples had no clue what Jesus meant that day when He said this. I often wonder if they thought back to this time when they were in Jerusalem those 10 days between the ascension and Pentecost. John must have had this in his mind for some time because it came out in the writing of this gospel. Maybe he had connected the dots by then, or maybe he hadn't.

Just sitting here thinking on a Monday morning. Blessings on your day.

A new month, a new ramble

A new month. Can you believe it is August? If you are a teacher, like Penny, you probably are very aware that it is August. If you are a student, you are moaning about it being August already. This last weekend, I asked each of our college students when they were heading back. Without fail, it was within the next week and a half to two weeks. They were going to be back at whatever college they are attending, getting ready for another year. Here at St. Paul's, our teachers report back here in this month. With younger kids, school is exciting and uplifting. For older students, there is a bit of dread that comes with it (though they too may be excited but don't want to admit it).

For a pastor, things change. The pastor is busy all summer, whether he is at a church that has a school or not. Things don't stop at a church just because the school is on summer break. There is still plenty going on. With the start of school, this pastor does get busier since not only do I teach confirmation 3 days a week (then after Labor day, the Wednesday class begins), I also begin to lead chapel weekly, and get into each one of the classrooms once a week to teach one of the religion lessons or to read to the preschool classes.

What did you do this summer? Penny and I were talking about that this week. We didn't do the things we wanted to do. Why not? It seemed like there was too much going on. Matthew and Chelsey's wedding. VBS. Doctor of Ministry class. Call to Antioch, IL. We did get a 4 day weekend away this summer. During that time we made it to a Cubs game. That was fun. But we didn't make it to the zoo or the Museum of Transportation. We didn't get to do the Friday drives like we wanted (Friday is my day off). Like you, like your family, there was just too much going on.

This teaches us a lesson. We make our plans but like James writes: Come now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit" - yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring....Instead you ought to say, "If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that."  (James 4:13-15 ESV) Yes, Penny and I approached the summer with the thought, we would like to do this or that. But we also approached it with the thought, "Lord willing, we will do this or that."

Each day, we trust in the Lord. Each day is in His hand. each day is guided by Him. And I thank His holy name that this is the case. He knows much better what my life needs than I do.

Lord, I pray that you will guide me through the month of August, whatever it holds for me and my family. Lord willing, I will do ________________ today. (Fill in the blank.) Lord, I am Your child, lead me.