Ascension Day
This day is not moveable in the Episcopal Church but it is in the Methodist church and others.Quotes That Make Me Think
"Incarnate Love, Crucified Love, Risen Love, now on the wing for heaven, waiting only those odorous gales which were to waft Him to the skies, goes away in benedictions, that in the character of Glorified, Enthroned Love, He might continue His benedictions, but in yet higher form, until He come again!"
From the Commentary on the Whole Bible (Jamieson, Fausset and Brown, 1871).
"The mission of the church here is nothing less than to go into the world as God?s people, and proclaim a subversive, transforming message about a suffering God who calls anyone without discrimination to respond."
Lectionary Commentary and Preaching Paths (Easter C7), by Dennis Bratcher, at The Christian Resource Institute.
General Resources for Lessons
Prayer
You have glorified your Christ, O God, exalting to your right hand the Son who emptied himself for us in obedience unto death on the cross, and thus have exalted all of us who have been baptized into Christ's death and resurrection. Clothe us now with power from on high, and send us forth as witnesses to the Messiah's resurrection from the dead, that, together with us, all the nations of the world may draw near with confidence to the throne of mercy. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God for ever and ever. Amen.
From Prayers for Sunday and Seasons, Year C, Peter J. Scagnelli, LTP, 1992.
Prayer
You have glorified your Christ, O God, exalting to your right hand the Son who emptied himself for us in obedience unto death on the cross, and thus have exalted all of us who have been baptized into Christ's death and resurrection. Clothe us now with power from on high, and send us forth as witnesses to the Messiah's resurrection from the dead, that, together with us, all the nations of the world may draw near with confidence to the throne of mercy. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God for ever and ever. Amen.
From Prayers for Sunday and Seasons, Year C, Peter J. Scagnelli, LTP, 1992.
Some Thoughts on Luke 24:44-53
Oremus Online NRSV Gospel Text
Resources for the Gospel
Leading up to the passage chosen for Ascension day Luke is telling a very clear story. Jesus prophesied a coming reign of God. The empty tomb shows that the prophet king was telling the truth. The old prophesies made by the greater and lesser prophets of Israel telling about the suffering servant who will come to remake a new Israel are true. This is proved in the resurrection appearances. Jesus himself in life and post resurrection offering a new vision of life lived in the kingdom. He opens their minds to see what they did not see before. The disciples are eyewitnesses to the new reality and they are to ministers interpreting and retelling the story.(Luke Timothy Johnson, Luke, 405)
The disciples will not be left alone. God is sending the Holy Spirit. It cannot come and be fully in the world until he departs. Moses and Elijah who offered a vision of this new reign of God and have been part of the Gospel story throughout are reminders that the power of God is always passed on to the successor. (LTJ, Luke, 406) In these last paragraphs of the Gospel of Luke we see clearly that instead of anointing one with the power and grace of the Holy Spirit, the disciples as a group are to receive the Holy Spirit and pass it on.
These last verses of Luke's Gospel are pregnant with the clarity that we are the inheritors of the good news of salvation. We are to be the inheritors of the vision of a different reign of God. We are the inheritors of God's mission to the poor.We are the inheritors of God's prophetic voice which passes along to others what we have received.
Resources for the Gospel
Leading up to the passage chosen for Ascension day Luke is telling a very clear story. Jesus prophesied a coming reign of God. The empty tomb shows that the prophet king was telling the truth. The old prophesies made by the greater and lesser prophets of Israel telling about the suffering servant who will come to remake a new Israel are true. This is proved in the resurrection appearances. Jesus himself in life and post resurrection offering a new vision of life lived in the kingdom. He opens their minds to see what they did not see before. The disciples are eyewitnesses to the new reality and they are to ministers interpreting and retelling the story.(Luke Timothy Johnson, Luke, 405)
The disciples will not be left alone. God is sending the Holy Spirit. It cannot come and be fully in the world until he departs. Moses and Elijah who offered a vision of this new reign of God and have been part of the Gospel story throughout are reminders that the power of God is always passed on to the successor. (LTJ, Luke, 406) In these last paragraphs of the Gospel of Luke we see clearly that instead of anointing one with the power and grace of the Holy Spirit, the disciples as a group are to receive the Holy Spirit and pass it on.
These last verses of Luke's Gospel are pregnant with the clarity that we are the inheritors of the good news of salvation. We are to be the inheritors of the vision of a different reign of God. We are the inheritors of God's mission to the poor.We are the inheritors of God's prophetic voice which passes along to others what we have received.
Some Thoughts on Ephesians 1:15-23
Resources for the Epistle
Christ has been raised and now is elevated. This particular passage comes after the developed theme of the church as Christ's body. The elevation of Christ emphasizes the themes from Revelation that God has dominion over all and that the church is participating even now the new kingdom. Christ is even now pouring himself into the new emerging Christian community. Together we are even now being drawn towards the fulfillment of God's desire to gather us in. We may in fact live in the not yet like Paul's own little faithful community; but hope is present int he victory o f Christ raising and his elevation into heaven.
Christ has been raised and now is elevated. This particular passage comes after the developed theme of the church as Christ's body. The elevation of Christ emphasizes the themes from Revelation that God has dominion over all and that the church is participating even now the new kingdom. Christ is even now pouring himself into the new emerging Christian community. Together we are even now being drawn towards the fulfillment of God's desire to gather us in. We may in fact live in the not yet like Paul's own little faithful community; but hope is present int he victory o f Christ raising and his elevation into heaven.
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