Ascension Moved?

The usual pattern of the first half of the Liturgical Church Year, that which represents God's Sacrament in Jesus Christ runs like this: JESUS' BIRTH.....JESUS' BAPTISM.....JESUS' MINISTRY IN GALILEE.....JESUS' TRIP TO JERUSALEM.....JESUS' CRUCIFIXION.....JESUS' RESURRECTION.....JESUS' POST-RESURRECTION APPEARANCES.....JESUS' ASCENSION.

Not all of the accounts follow this formula, and not all of them include the same major events in the same order, but in the Revised Common Lectionary, this is the pattern. For instance, the Gospel According to Mark lacks birth narrative and, in its authentic form, post-Resurrection appearances. John includes no birth narrative, but does include post-Resurrection appearances. Most poignantly, in John's Gospel, the line between Jesus' ministry in Galilee and Jesus in Jerusalem is blurred. In fact, it is this point that leads tradition to conclude that Jesus' earthly ministry lasts three years instead of the one that is suggested in the Synoptics (Matthew, Mark, and Luke).

I have been a faithful student of the Revised Common Lectionary for thirty years of active ministry, one that works tirelessly in depicting its rhythms, fluid focuses, inner-workings, and particular Gospel interpretations. But there is one thing about the story of Jesus that does not seem to me to make great sense for the first half of the Liturgical Church Year. One particular chapter of the Jesus story seems rather contrary to the Gospel of God in Jesus Christ.

Jesus arrived in the usual way, at birth. At some point in his young adulthood, Jesus was baptized. This Baptism, not a ritual for the forgiveness of sins but a powerful expression of God's power now granted him, Jesus began his human restoration ministry in Galilee. After several meaningful experiences that called him to a ministry of greater scope, Jesus set off to Jerusalem. He encountered there the Temple and Roman authorities and called the hypocrisy of both power structures to accountability beyond their own focus. As a result, Jesus was killed. Three days later, his corpse disappeared from the tomb. The claim was made that Jesus was Resurrected. Jesus appeared to his followers, though the number of appearances, the audience, and the timing of those post-Resurrection appearances differs significantly. This post-Resurrection stage lasted for forty days.

At the end of Jesus' forty day series of post-Resurrection appearances, Jesus ascended to the Father, where, we are told, he sits at the right hand of God, the Father Almighty.

The story begins with Jesus' birth and ends with his ascension. He comes and goes. Therein lies the pivotal problem that I have with the story of God's Sacrament in the first half of the Revised Common Lectionary and the Liturgical Church Year. Why does Jesus leave? Why does he ascend? If his post-Resurrection appearance is a spiritual event in the life of his followers, if it serves as the incubation period of the Church that would be born in his name, why did Jesus have to leave it? The story seems to be in the way of God's ongoing Sacrament.

Perhaps that is the precise point of the ascension. In order to provide for the Church that will be born in his name, perhaps it is vital and necessary that he depart. If Jesus is around, after all, who will labor in his stead? If Jesus remains, the Church to which he is core might simply adore and worship him. The point of the Church is not adoration in worship, however. The point of the Church is to engage in the human reclamation and restoration project that Jesus began in Galilee and perfected in Jerusalem. It is to move from adoration in worship to action that represents him in the world...on the streets.

So, I conclude that Jesus' ascension belongs, theologically, to the second half of the Liturgical Church Year and the Revised Common Lectionary. It is a necessary component of the Church's sacramental work. Without ascension, the followers of Jesus sit in awe of him, but do little in his name. With ascension, the followers of Jesus shape their ministries and missions in his name, according to his example, in his stead. The Church becomes vital to the ongoing spirit of Jesus Christ, and only so far as the Church represents him is Jesus still with us.

Therefore, I move that we organize the Liturgical Church Year and the Revised Common Lectionary with the Ascension of Jesus Christ in the second half instead of the first. All in favor?