Surprised by Hope - Christ's Ascension

I have summarized some of N.T. Wright's comments on Christ's Ascension from his book, Suprised by Hope, Rethinking Heaven, the Ressurection, and the Mission of the Church. I thought his comments were insightful and got me thinking about the importance of Christ's ascension.

Comments from chapter 7 Jesus, Heaven, and New Creation on The Ascension.

We can’t only believe that Jesus was raised from the dead but closely linked to this is his ascension into heaven. You can’t confuse one with the other or assume they are the same thing. They are linked but they are different.

Luke is the only gospel writer that tells the story of Christ’s ascension. And he mentions is twice, once at the end of Luke and then again at the beginning of Acts. As if to say (and this is me, not Wright) that Christ’s ascension serves as the end of one era and the beginning of another.

Recent writings have revealed that when the church has ignored or misunderstood the ascension a lot of other teachings and practices go wrong. There are two directions that the church has gone in its understanding of the ascension. One is flat literalism; the other modernistic skepticism.

How should we think about the ascension?
• It is that the ascension demands that we think differently about how the whole cosmos is, so to speak, put together and that we also think differently about the church and about salvation.
• Heaven and earth are not different locations within the same continuum of space and matter. They are to different dimensions of God’s good creation. Heaven relates to earth tangentially so that one who is in heaven can be present simultaneously anywhere and everywhere on earth: the ascension means that Jesus is available and accessible, without people having travel to a particular spot on earth to find him. Second, heaven is, as it were the control room of earth. Jesus said, “All authority has been given me to me, in heaven and on earth.”
• Jesus is in heaven in a human (resurrected) body. Some people believe that Jesus was divine, stopped being divine (his earthly mission) and became divine again (his ascension). It is because we have a Platonic view of heaven as a “spiritual” no material place so that the idea of a solid body being not only present but also thoroughly at home there seems like a category mistake.
• Jesus is in charge not only in heaven but on earth. Not just in the future, but now. The church’s message is that we announce that there is a new sheriff in town. And things will start to be different.
• There is a danger that when the church ignores or downplays the ascension that it (the church) fills the vacuum. Jesus more or less becomes indentified with the church instead of being in heaven ruling over and above the church, sometimes against the church, and speaking to the church. The church instead of presenting Jesus as Lord and itself as the world’s servant sees itself linked directly with the presence of Jesus. So that its structures, practices, leadership, buildings and liturgy become identified with Him. What do you get when this happens?
1. Insolence of office on the one hand
2. The despair of late middle ages on the other as people realize that it doesn’t work.

Quoting N.T. Wright : “Only when we grasp firmly that the church is not Jesus and Jesus is not the church – when we grasp, in other words, the truth of the ascension, that the one who is indeed present with us by the Spirit is also the Lord over against us, the one who tells Mary Magdalene not to cling to him – only then are we rescued form both hollow triumphalism and shallow despair.
Conversely, only when we grasp and celebrate the fact that Jesus has gone on ahead of us into God’s space, God’s new world, and is both already ruling the rebellious present world as its rightful Lord and also interceding for us at the Father’s right hand – when we grasp and celebrate, in other words, what the ascension tells us about Jesus’ continuing human work in the present – are we rescued from a wrong view of world history and equipped for the task of justice in the present.”

With the resurrected Jesus in heaven we begin to see the trinity in a new light. The resurrected Jesus is still distinct from while indentified with God the Father on one hand and the Spirit on the other hand.

This is me: Once we understand the ascension and the work of Christ, and our work in connection to his, once we see that we are not Jesus, but that we are to declare his rule, then will appreciate and understand better the return that was promised in Acts 1:11. We will not see it as our goal to leave this earth and make heaven our home, but with pray with fervency, the kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Then the Spirit and the bride in unison will say come.

Stewardship II - Sphere of Responsibility

2 Corinthians 10:13 - But we will not boast beyond our measure, but within the measure of the sphere which God apportioned to us as a measure, to reach even as far as you.

Ephesians 4:7 - But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ's gift.

Luke 16:10-11 - One who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much, and one who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much. If then you have not been faithful in the unrighteous wealth, who will entrust to you true riches.

One aspect of understanding stewardship is the recognition of the area, or sphere of responsibility, that has been given to us, learning how to be faithful in that area, and then wait for God to increase that sphere.

Definitions
The word sphere in the Bible means rule, standard, by implication a boundary. It is not just a boundary but it is an area given to us to steward. Everything within (or fills or will fill) that sphere God has asked us to steward, everything outside of it, belongs to someone else.

The word measure means a limited portion or to portion out. The idea is like different cup sizes. you have 1/4 cup, 1/2 cup, or 1 cup. Contents might be the same but the measure is different.

Both words, sphere and measure, have a similar focus. God has measured out a sphere and has asked us to be faithful within that sphere. Growth (internally & externally) will bring an expansion of that sphere and increased measure to meet those challenges.

Our Natural Growth
We can understand this concept better if we look at what takes place in our natural lives. From birth up to a certain age our sphere of responsibility will be limited. It might include picking up toys to keeping our room clean. As we get older our responsibilities should grow to include maybe mowing the lawn, doing dishes, cleaning the house, holding a part-time job. The older we get, the more mature we become (hopefully), we should see an increase in our internal and external capacities. Schooling, jobs, and family add to the increased responsibilities and expansion and growth in our sphere of influence. By contrast, we wouldn't expect a newborn to clean their room, nor would we expect a teenager to keep a fulltime job running a segment of large company.

This insight should help us when we look at how 1) God works in our lives and 2) how we should focus our training and teaching of our children.

Here are some key points:

1. God has given each of us a sphere of responsibility (personal, family, job, church...). Can you define this? Do you pray for it? Have you defined it for your children?
2. He has given us grace to steward what is within that sphere. I believe God will give us insight and wisdom to respond to and handle all of the challenges associated with stewarding what He has given us. By implication, he has not given us grace to handle what is outside our sphere. That would be the busy body. Or sometimes someone wants to give us a responsibility that God is not giving us. This mostly happens in the form of communication and the pressure we might feel to respond. This can be the work of the enemy to distract us from what is important. Remember Nehemiah.
3. There is an expectation of growth that should take place. Increase, fruitfulness is the expectation. It is based on what was given, not compared to what others have. Remember the parable of the talents.
4. Faithfulness (sticking to it, not giving up) in the small things brings increase. There are two tracks that faithfulness rides on: 1) is character developement (growing in the image of Christ) and 2) Competency (meaning an increase in wisdom, knowledge, and understanding). We will discuss these three at another time. Do not underestimate the value of not giving up!
5. God expects us to act with confidence, grace, and humility within the sphere that he has given us. Shrinking back is what the man with the one talent did. He didn't act, but instead he buried or hid what God gave him. Taking the initiative within our sphere is key to being a faithful steward.
6. We are called to guard and protect what God has given us to steward. The enemy wants to rob, kill, and destroy. We are called to, with God's help, give life to our sphere.
7. Finally, to the degree we are connected to and stay in fellowship with the owner of all things, is the degree to which we see increase and know how to tend to our sphere of responsibility. Remember: We are not the owners, just stewards and the owner, not us, knows best.

The next time we will look more closely at wisdom, understanding, and knowledge.

Stewardship

The idea of stewardship and its implications on how we live has always been at the center of my thinking and, to the best of my abilities, lifestyle and action. It is a word and an idea that has lost its meaning and place within our society and families.
Stewardship is an old word. You don't hear it used often and if someone were to define it, they would struggle to understand its meaning and/or application.

What is stewardship?
The dictionary describes it as:

• A person who manages another's property or financial affairs. one who administers anything as the agent of another or others.
• A person who has charge of the household of another, buying or obtaining food, directing the servants, etc.
• An employee who has charge of the table, wine, servants, etc., in a club, restaurant, or the like.

The Bible's use of the word has a similar meaning. The greek word "oikonomos" is used in the new testament. The word is actually two words, household (oikos) and distributor of law, food etc (nomos).

A steward is given charge of another's possessions and manages those possessions. If it is in the context of the household, they distribute those possessions to other members of the extended family based on the wishes and direction of the owner.

The Bible through several parables and stories expands on the idea of stewardship by providing qualifications for stewardship and how to determine if a steward is succeeding.

It is not Just About Money

Most often when the church has approached the subject of stewardship it usually has been around the giving of money or the raising of funds for a specific project, like a new building. Once those funds were raised they would be distributed to fund the project or activity.

There is, in my view, a broader application and understanding of stewardship that goes beyond the use of, or raising of, money for projects. That broader view encompasses all of life, starting with our own lives (maybe we start with how we keep our bedrooms or how we handle our physical bodies), and growing to include all that has been added to us (children, homes, cars, vocation, finances, spiritual truths) as we get older and mature.

Ownership versus Stewardship
Before I go to far in developing the concept of stewardship I want to mention something that is close to my thinking, that is the idea of ownership versus stewardship. In my thinking the idea of ownership and its implications on how I handle all that has been given me runs contrary to the idea of stewardship.

Let me state at the beginning that I am not opposed to purchasing things (cars, homes, etc.) and owning them. Even though we could make a strong case that when we purchase on credit, we don't really own anything. What I am trying to work through is the underlying thinking behind how an owner thinks about what they have been given versus how a steward thinks.

A steward by definition is working with another's resources, not their own. The center of gravity is not their wishes or desires, but those of the owner. For the owner they are the center. What ever they wish or desire (regardless of the basis from which the desires emerge) become the command.

The steward sees that they are working for someone else not for themselves. So they treat all that has been given them from the perspective of the owner. The owner, works for themselves.

The problem comes when the steward begins to deceive themselves into thinking that they are the owner of all that they have. They see that everything they have is theirs to do with as they please. The center of gravity is now them. It is there wishes and their desires regardless of the basis from which those desires emerge, that serve as the basis for their decisions and actions. Consulting someone else, especially the owner, is not needed. The deceived steward becomes a resource for themselves. It is an inward consultation, not an outward or upward consultation.

I believe, much that has been ruined or harmed in our society and in our own personal lives is the result of taking the position of ownership versus stewardship. Think through this with me for a minute. What is the basis for abortion? Child rearing? Management styles? Leadership qualities? Marriage? Men & Women's roles? Relationships? Money? Homosexuality? Church?

Who determines how we should handle these issues? Us? Society? Experts? God? I could go on and on. When we believe we are the owners, we see ourselves as creators and consequently the tweekers of all that we were meant to steward. Self-gratification and instant gratification rule, the owners ways are to old fashion, out of date, not in keeping with our modern society. In the end we ruin what we were meant to steward.

I will stop here for now, let you think about this. Hopefully I can pick up this thought again in the next couple of weeks.