Great Joy in Clouds of Unknowing
- David Potter
- May 22, 2023
- 5 min read
Sermon for Ascension Day
This morning we celebrate the feast of the Ascension. Our readings direct us to this grand moment that concludes Jesus’ physical ministry on earth.
Now, for just a brief moment, imagine yourself in this scene. Gathered alongside the other disciples, this miraculous moment unfolds before you. Jesus offers his final words with a promise and a parting blessing—and then he vanishes into a cloud... And that’s it. How would you respond?
Would you stand in stunned silence? Would it be completely bewildering? I wonder what might it evoke in you? Would it make you anxious, perhaps even fearful? Or would it fill you with “great joy”?
Surprisingly, gladness is the response of the disciples. When they continue on from this place of Jesus’ departure, the disciples reenter their lives filled with something different, something new. An overcoming levity moves through their spirit and they cannot help but offer worship to God.
At first though—as we see in the opening to the Book of Acts—it would seem Jesus’ followers will yet again miss the point... It comes as no surprise that they ask, yet again: “Lord, is this the time when you will restore the kingdom to Israel?”
Much like children asking from the back of a minivan “Are we there yet!?” this is far from the first time the question has come up. Throughout their journey alongside Jesus, the disciples consistently miss the plot.
Whether it’s Jesus’ glorious transfiguration on a mountaintop or his triumphal entry into Jerusalem on a humble donkey, they can’t see what’s really going on and they remain fixated on their preconceived expectations.
Even after Jesus makes physical appearances following his resurrection, their impulse is still to lock themselves in a room, fearfully sheltering in place and protecting themselves from the dangers of the world outside.
But something different happens this time... The Ascension of Jesus is a catalyst moment in their lives.
A similar defining moment takes place in one of my favorite novels, Big Fish. Throughout the story we learn of the many fantastical experiences of the books protagonist, Edward Bloom. It seems Edward has experienced in his life just about every grand adventure imaginable.
Edward’s story really takes off when as a young boy he encounters an old woman with a magical glass eye. As the local legend in his small town goes, anyone who looks into the eye will see a vision of their future death. So, daring one another, Edward and a friend gaze into the eye and are filled with knowledge of how their lives will end.
Now, for the friend, this revelation is terrifying: knowing how his story ends consumes him with anxiety and fear. In contrast, from that moment on Edward volunteers for one heroic and death-defying activity after another—each time responding to others worry with an unconcerned shrug, saying “this isn’t how I go.”
Edward’s vision brings freedom and fills him with an unwavering zest for life.
For the disciples, witnessing Jesus’ ascension forever changes their lives. As they watch Jesus ascend into heaven right before their very eyes, a revelation grabs ahold of them. Far more than just intellectual understanding, it is a truth they know deep within their being—and it shapes who they will become.
In his final moments, Jesus again explains to his followers all that they have witnessed. And with this renewed understanding of the story, he then invites them to take their place in its ongoing telling. The very same miraculous power they have seen at work through Jesus is now promised to them; Jesus blesses them with power from high, and then he departs.
Now, as we know, all that has been promised to them has not yet come. Soon the Holy Spirit will descend upon them and the Church will be birthed into being—but we’re not at Pentecost yet.
The narrative is still climbing—and much remains unknown.
At this point, there is really no lack of reasons why Jesus’ followers might be totally consumed by familiar anxieties. There is much about the road ahead they can’t see. But nonetheless they offer the whole of their lives to God.
This revelation they hold onto shapes their experience of the in-between time before Pentecost. And as they continue to wait for the fulfillment of all that they have long hoped, unlike so many instances before, this time they do so with an unwavering trust.
So, it would be reasonable to ask ourselves here: just what is it they saw in that cloud that takes their beloved Jesus away?
As they behold the resurrected body of Jesus ascend into heaven, the disciples experience the Incarnation come to its full culmination.
In his fourth century theological reflection on the meaning of the incarnation, St. Gregory of Nazianzus writes: “What is not assumed has not been healed; but that which is united to the Godhead is saved.”
What Gregory suggests is that 1) in Jesus embodying flesh, all of human nature is restored; 2) In Jesus entering the fullest depths of suffering, all of humanity’s wounds can know healing; 3) And in Jesus confronting violence with deep abiding love, our world can be made whole.
With his ascension all that Jesus accomplished in his physical ministry on earth is no longer bound to the finitude of human life. It transcends all of time and space—or as our Book of Common Prayer puts it, “Jesus took our human nature into heaven where he now reigns with the Father and intercedes for us.”
And as Christ’s resurrected and fully material body returns to the eternal realm of God, so too does humanity’s hope for restoration and wholeness.
It is no wonder that this mystical experience fills the disciples with a gladness that spills out from them. The restoration they have longed for has finally arrived. And in catching a glimpse of it, they begin to see the scope of God’s redemptive work—and it is much larger than they’d ever imagined.
Now, how they respond in this moment makes all the difference, though... If Jesus’ followers simply move on, this revelation would remain little more than a point of metaphysical intrigue. But if they stay and wait—relinquishing control and letting go of preconceived expectations—they will be remade into the body of Christ on earth. Friends, this is how God’s work unfolds in our own lives...
As each of us gaze into our own clouds of unknowing, we are met there with an invitation. I cannot know with any certainty what waits in that place for you or this community—because faithfulness in our lives looks different for each of us. But what I can share with deep certitude though is that this is where the soil of new life is tended.
As any student graduating this weekend surely knows all-too-well, the process of becoming doesn’t happen overnight. Completions and new beginnings follow those times we lingered long enough in the in-between with faithful devotion.
Transformation is a process. It is unpredictable and all-too-often it would seem it is especially inefficient. In the wise words of Mary Oliver though, “things take the time they take.”
And lest we forget, the experience of the disciples reminds us that “great joy” exists even in the present. It does not wait in some distant future beyond the circumstances of life. No matter how much we continue to long to see in our lives or in the world, God meets us in each moment—inviting us into deep gladness.
So, while practicing great joy, may the mysterious and transformative work of the Incarnation continue to shape each of our lives.
Amen.