When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak on his own, but will speak whatever he hears, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, because he will take what is mine and declare it to you. John 16:13-14

It is Pentecost Sunday! The Day of the Holy Spirit. Sometimes in the New Testament, the apostles refer to this same Spirit as the Spirit of Jesus. According to the gospel of John, Jesus said that The Holy Spirit would come to reveal the nature and ministry of Jesus to the world.

We are accustomed to this idea and accept it without any question. Most of us have heard these teachings since we were young. Maybe we do not realize how all this is very confusing. All it takes is a clever atheist to point this out to us.

Jesus was in the flesh and blood here on earth. Then He died on the Cross. His disciples believed everything had ended with his death. We know the story. Then He rose from the dead. Death was no longer an obstacle. He overcame the greatest enemy of all living things. At this point, the disciples must have been relieved. Their Lord was back with them again. Unfortunately, He left them once more in a very dramatic fashion and this time for good. We have a feast day for this in our liturgical calendar. Sometimes this day passes by so quickly and quietly that we do not have time to think about it. It is the Feast of the Ascension. We say it in our Creed. He ascended into the heavens and is seated at the right hand of the Father. Jesus claimed that it was necessary for him to leave, so that the Holy Spirit could come and teach about Him. However, He was there in person. He could have stayed and cleared up many things. Maybe He could have remained and helped organize the church. Then the church would not have spilt over organizational issues. It could have saved years of fighting against heresy. Not to mention, the witch hunts etc. However, this was not the plan of the gospel. Apparently it was necessary for Jesus to ascend into the heavens because Jesus is the savior of the world. He does not belong to the church. He belongs to the world.

Some of you might already know this; Muslims also believe that Jesus ascended into the heavens. They also believe that He will return. However, they have a logical explanation for why Jesus ascended. In Islamic teachings, Jesus was not crucified. Some other person suffered that fate by mistake or rather, God created a confusion among His persecutors and the wrong person was apprehended. Then Jesus ascended into heavens to escape these wicked people. Obviously, this is not the Christian doctrine. Jesus, according to the gospels, never runs away from the world. He confronted and challenged the world. He never allowed the world to dictate His actions. He never allowed the circumstances and situations to influence His decisions. He stood above this world.

When the gospel tells us Jesus ascended to the heavens, there is an important message communicated here. Some preachers like to jump right to the Second Coming whenever the ascension is mentioned. However, we have a liturgical season dedicated to this subject. It is the season of Advent. The Feast of Ascension tells a different story. Jesus ascended to the heavens to liberate us. He wanted to liberate the early disciples from their limited views of the Saviour. The first Christians were Jewish. They had a Jewish idea of the Messiah. They believed that Jesus came strictly for the Jewish nation and therefore, it was important that He was physically present on the land of the Jewish nation. In their thinking, only their nation was relevant and the ministry of the Messiah was limited to their nation.

They could not fathom the relevance of the life and ministry of Jesus beyond their tiny community. When Jesus ascended to the heavens, He revealed that He was not restricted to one nation. He belonged to all people who sought something eternal in the midst of all things temporal. In each country, people believed that they would find this something. The Jewish people sought for the Messiah. In India, this messianic figure can be identified with Krishna in some circles. Then, there is Buddha. I am sure that there are many more who seek for something or someone whose message is eternal and life giving. Many of them look towards the heavens for the answer. For the ancients, the heavens are where eternal answers are found. There are vestiges of this conviction still present in modern people. In almost very big city, you will find people trying construct the tallest building in the world. They do it to draw attention to themselves. They are convinced that their attempt to reach the skies will prove their relevance to the rest of the world. Jesus did not construct a tower to reach the heavens. He was taken up. He belongs to the heavens. He stays there as a symbol and standard for all peoples. No doubt, many do not want Him to be there. They would rather have their symbols of power to dominate the skies.

Recently, someone asked me if our church believes in the rapture. The modern Anglican church is so diverse and complex that it is impossible to speak for it as a whole. Historically speaking, the church did not believe in it. Not just our church but almost all the historic churches. We preach a gospel of life. The doctrine of rapture is about escaping trial and tribulations in some cases or even leaving this world. However, trials and tribulations are part of life. Jesus faced trials and tribulations and brought forth something new and everlasting from them. The followers of Jesus should not seek to escape troubles nor sufferings. We look to the sky and see a Lord who faced all the chaos and troubles the world threw at Him. He endured hatred and bitterness and He responded with Love. He ascended to the heavens without any resentment towards those who murdered Him. He was free from all the things which restrict our lives here on earth. He revealed that His Life is the Way for all peoples because all peoples, regardless of their culture, religion and nation, want to be liberated from their restricted world dominated by hatred and resentment.

The salvation of Jesus liberates our hearts and minds. It frees us from the restrictive mindset of this world. It liberates us from looking through the eyes of nihilism and hopelessness. Jesus creates life and a new order in the midst of chaos. He went to the skies to let us know that He is giving us this power and authority to follow in His footsteps. Most importantly, He is lifted up unto the heavens to be the standard for all people. He is the standard for us to live a life in harmony with God. He is the way we can discover true and abundant life. He is the Truth which will overcome ignorance and hatred where it is spreading like a deadly disease in this world. He is a high standard. There is a temptation for us to look to others who have lower standards and claim access to the heavens. Usually the signs of these false messiahs are clear. Their attempts always result in confusion and lies.

Jesus is there high up in the heavens. He is not there to help us escape reality. He is there to remind us that it is possible to conquer the chaos surrounding us. However, we need to help. This is why we have this special day. The Day of the Holy Spirit. It is a Spirit who liberates us from ourselves. It liberates us from our restrictive mindset. The Holy Spirit came to enrich our lives and open doors for us to listen and understand others who seek something more concrete and real in this disordered world. It is a Spirit giving us the courage to say Yes to life and No to nihilism and death. Most importantly, it is the Spirit who gives us the power to recognize the Presence of Jesus transforming us to become more like Him. This is what is means to be spirit filled. We become more like Jesus and confront this world without fear nor resentment. We engage in this world without being drawn into its web of hatred and discord. The Holy Spirit is here to transform us. However, not everyone waits on this Spirit. Many would rather keep Jesus in the closet somewhere and take Him out whenever they need Him and then hide Him away. This Jesus does not exist. Only those who have the courage to look up to see Jesus ascended into the heavens will welcome the Holy Spirit to transform them to become like Him. Therefore, let us look up to the One and Only Saviour exalted in the heavens to learn how to live our lives fully engaged in this world. Let us receive His Holy Spirit giving us the power and wisdom to do this in His Holy Name.