05/17/2018
This might belong in the “Why Do We Do That?” category. Today we find ourselves in one of those difficult in between times in the Liturgical calendar.
The Day of the Ascension was a week ago last Thursday. Christ returned to heaven and instructed his disciples to stay in Jerusalem and wait until they received the gift of the promised Holy Spirit (Acts 1). This day the group of wider disciples, about 120 in all, were gathered together in the upper room and constantly at prayer. The Ascension has happened and Jesus is gone. The Holy Spirit has not yet been given, and the disciples do not know when the time will come. In obedience to the word of Jesus, all they can do is wait and pray for the promise of God to be fulfilled. We know what they did not — the Day of Pentecost, which is this Sunday, was God’s appointed time for the Spirit to be poured out.
Why did Jesus have to leave? The Ascension is one of the most significant days of the entire Church year, yet we struggle to understand what the Ascension is about and what difference it makes to us. Today’s devotional from Oswald Chamber’s My Utmost For His Highest is helpful, and I thought I would pass it on:
“From the transfiguration forward— Gethsemane, the Cross, the resurrection— everything is unfamiliar to us. His Cross is the door by which every member of the human race can enter into the life of God; by His resurrection He has the right to give eternal life to anyone, and by His ascension our Lord entered heaven, keeping the door open for humanity.
The transfiguration was completed on the Mount of Ascension. If Jesus had gone to heaven directly from the Mount of Transfiguration, He would have gone alone. He would have been nothing more to us than a glorious Figure. But He turned His back on the glory, and came down from the mountain to identify Himself with fallen humanity.
The ascension is the complete fulfillment of the transfiguration. Our Lord returned to His original glory, but not simply as the Son of God— He returned to His father as the Son of Man as well. There is now freedom of access for anyone straight to the very throne of God because of the ascension of the Son of Man.”
Fishing of a Different Sort
Call it a moment of divine favor or call it mere happenstance, I care not which. Last Thursday, Friday, Saturday, I had a glorious time with my son on our annual backpacking/fly fishing trip.
As we arrived at the river, we passed over a bridge and noticed a large Fish & Wildlife tanker truck stopped on the bridge. I drove over the bridge and continued toward the area we wanted to fish when it hit me: “Wait a minute, what am I doing?” “They just stocked the river.”
I looked for a spot on the road to turn around, and by the time we returned, the truck was gone. The trout were not! There were hundreds of them, right there for the taking. And so we did! It was too easy really, but we didn’t care. We figured it made up for all those times we fished and fished for days with little to show for it.
We did fish other sections of the river, but knew we could always return to that area to find fish. And we ended up gorging ourselves on fat, beautiful trout for three days!
In the past, I have likened fly fishing to reaching other people. I have talked about the importance of “matching the hatch” – of speaking to others about spiritual things in terms that will make sense to them. Our great example of this is Jesus, who said to the fisherman “Follow me and I will show you how to fish for people.”
Last weekend I learned sometimes the catch comes to you, sometimes the catch is right there in front of you. All you have to do is be willing to go, ready to cast your line. It is all God’s work in the end. Sometimes the catch is elusive and hard to find, and great patience is required. Sometimes, the tanker truck has just left and plenty of hungry fish are at your feet. It doesn’t matter much what type of fly or tactics you employ, the fish are ready!
I will admit this is not the type of fly fishing I had in mind, nor is it the type of fishing I enjoy most. What is undeniable is the fact that it worked! We had an abundance of fish. Sometimes, all that is required of us the willingness to give up on our idea of fishing, turn around and give it a shot!
See you Sunday!
-Bill
