What is Jesus Doing Now?

Many people who visit here are still puzzled as to why we say words together in church. Some even suspect we might not be that spiritual because we write out prayers! I could say a lot about this but I will mostly just say that it comes down to the old myth and the new myth of freedom. (How is that for muddying the already muddy waters?) Historically the view of freedom was that the closer you followed a particular form, the freer you were. Every endeavor has a form—sports, music, vocations, etc. Freedom in this way of thinking was on the other side of death - of subjecting your body and mind to rigorous discipline until there was mastery. The virtuoso is free, as is the superstar athlete or the surgeon who can with precision cut you open and heal you. None of these got where they were with their craft by “doing their on thing when they felt like it.”The new myth is just to do your own thing, freedom is sort of being spontaneous, with no stings attached—no rules, no forms. So if you look at worship in all its various forms it usually follows the old myth or the new myth. We tend to follow the old way of thinking and so we have forms that over time become familiar—we script our worship. That is why we have a time every Sunday to profess what we believe. Now we could all just say what we believe about God at the same time I suppose. It would be weird and chaotic, but it might be heart felt. But how much better to have ancient words, words filled with meaning and passion that we all say together. The Creed is to the “holy nation” (the church) what our Pledge of Allegiance is to our earthly nation.It can become routine, or lose the meaning, and thus we often need to reflect on what we do, why we do it, and what it means. This week we are talking about the Ascension of Jesus into Heaven. It really is a big deal. While the birth, death, and resurrection of Jesus have big Holy Days of Remembrance—Christmas, Good Friday, and Easter, the Ascension of Jesus doesn’t really get the same press. (I know there is an Ascension Sunday, but we don’t really make it a big deal.) But should it? Come Sunday, I am going to argue that if the work of Jesus in the various parts of birth, death, and resurrection are like a bomb—the thing that denotes it and makes it all go viral and cosmic—is the Ascension.There it is, hope to see you this Sunday,Blessings,Jim