Feet

Acts 1:3-11

There’s a picture in my head that I once saw – an artist’s representation of the Ascension.

There’s a group of people standing still and craning their necks as they look upward.  When you follow their gaze, you glimpse a pair of feet – ankles to toes – just disappearing into a cloud.

It’s a picture that has always made me laugh.  Feet sticking out of a cloud just seem funny to me.

But it’s a very, very important picture for the church.

Those dusty feet, dangling oddly out of a cloud on their way up, are all about what God has done for us. 

When Jesus ascends, his living, breathing, resurrected and very human body goes straight to God – to live and breathe and reign with God, as part of God, always and forever.  

From that moment on, our humanity belongs in heaven.  Our flesh and blood, our toes and hair – and all the bits in between – belong to heaven.  Our messy, imperfect humanity is holy, now and forever.

Disappearing into a cloud, those feet are the memorable sign that it really happens – that Jesus was here, and that our human nature is welcome and at home in the presence of God.

And it still makes me laugh.  I don’t think God minds when we laugh at joyful news.

There are other feet in that picture, too.  The feet of the disciples, firmly planted on the earth while their eyes follow the clouds of heaven.

It’s the original “left behind” moment, and this “left behind” is a mission and a blessing.  Jesus told his disciples that his going away was part of God’s promise to send the Holy Spirit.

If Jesus doesn’t go, we don’t become the church.  We’re just people following Jesus around.  Jesus leaves so that we become the Christ in the world, receiving the power of the Holy Spirit, witnesses to the ends of the earth.

If Jesus doesn’t ascend, we don’t have the unity of God’s Spirit binding us together across oceans and races and different worship styles.  If Jesus doesn’t ascend, we don’t have the diversity of the ends of the earth.

For me, the Ascension is about feet. Our feet carry good news and miracles from here to everywhere.  And Jesus’ feet: flesh and bone, maybe still a little dusty, carry humanity into heaven, today and forever.

So today, look up at the clouds.

And look at your feet.

It’s okay if you laugh.  God knows it’s a day for joy.

Preached at the ecumenical Ascension celebration led by the Lombard/Villa Park Religious Leaders group: Sunday June 5, 2011