Where is Jesus now?

Here's the sermon I shared at St Catherine’s Wickford for Ascension Day:

Where is Jesus now?
Not here!
Jesus has left the building,
left the earth.
The last we saw of him
was the soles of his feet
as he ascended to heaven.

Where is Jesus now?
No longer God with us,
now God in heaven.
Distant,
removed,
out of our league.

What is he like?
We do not know –
we cannot see him!
What does he say?
We do not know –
we cannot hear him.
What is he to us?
We do not know –
he is not with us.

Where is Jesus now?
Here in body.
Here in what body?
The body of his people.
In the diverse,
differing,
fallible,
forgiven folk
who follow him
forming
his body on earth,
becoming his hands and feet,
his eyes, ears, mouth
on earth.

Where is Jesus now?
Here in Spirit.
Here in what Spirit?
The Spirit of love,
joy, peace
and hope.
The Spirit that
animates his body
into acts of service
and words of love.

Who are we
to be where
Jesus is now?
Only the struggling,
the failing,
the falling.
Only those calling out
for the Spirit’s
empowering.

Where are we
who are where
Jesus is now?
Only a fragment –
the minutest part -
of the glorious whole
that is his body
on earth.

How do we feel
to be where
Jesus is now?
Affirmed and humbled,
gifted and graced,
on top of the world
and
put in our place.

What does it mean
to be where
Jesus is now?
Like children
becoming adult
to grow up into him,
together
becoming him.
Each playing
our part
in the whole
that is Jesus,
Emmanuel,
God with us.

Jesus has returned to God in order to give us his Spirit and the Spirit’s gifts. He does this because he loves us. To him each of us, despite our failings, is a special child of his with unique abilities given to us by God and a unique part that only we can play in the body of Christ, the Church. As we each play our part working together with each other we show each other and the world what Jesus is like and come to know him better as a result.

For this to happen, we need to know Jesus and receive his Spirit, know ourselves and our giftings, and know each other and the part that each one of us plays in the body of Christ, the Church. Which of these needs to happen in your life at this moment in time?

If you are wanting to know Jesus for yourself and to receive his Spirit, then simply ask him now. Here and now, in the silence of your own heart and mind, tell him that that is what you want.

Maybe you are thinking that you are good for nothing, without gifts and abilities. Jesus knows you better than that. He created with a unique combination of gifts that only you can use in his service. Ask him now to share that knowledge with you and then begin to act on it.

Maybe your need is to know those around you better - to understand their gifts and to know the part that they play in the body of Christ so that you can be more effective in supporting and working with them. Why not speak to someone you don’t normally talk to after this service and find out all you can about them?

As we finish, can you hold your hands out, palms upwards and look at your hands and the hands of your neighbour. The hands you are looking at now are Jesus’ hands because he works through his people. As you look, think for a moment of all the ways in which these hands can work and care for others in this Church and outside the Church building in our community and pray silently for that to happen … 

Jesus says:

“I am going to send you what my Father has promised.”

“You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses to the ends of the earth.”

“You have been clothed with power from on high.”

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Christ Triumphant, Ever Reigning.