In the Name of God:  Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  Amen.

Have ya ever heard of the word ‘Gnostic’?  The Greek word is ‘gnosis’ and it means ‘knowledge’ . . . and the term Gnostic has come to be used to identify people who thought that they possessed a special kind of knowledge.  Back in the very early days of the church, after it became clear that Jesus wasn’t gonna come RIGHT back . . . that the world wasn’t gonna end in a coupla days, people were trying to figure out just what was goin’ on with this Jesus guy:  Was he REALLY God?  Was he really human?  Was he something in between?  Had he always been God, or was he born a human and ADOPTED by God?  Lots of doctrine and dogma that we take for granted – if we think about it at all – had to be thought through. During this period there were various groups of people who came to be called Gnostics because they believed that salvation was achieved through a special knowledge given to a special group of people.  There were actually a variety of different Gnostic groups, with a variety of beliefs . . . but, let’s not get too side-tracked by scholarly issues.  We can talk about that later. . . .

In any event, one belief that you can find among Gnostic groups is that the physical world is evil . . . the physical world is the realm of corruption and error.  And so these folks thought of the god who created the material world as evil . . . they taught that the creator God described in the Old Testament was a wicked god.  You see, they believed that there is a greater god beyond the creator god.  And because they were certain that all material things are wicked and awful, they taught that truth and salvation could be found only through escape from the body.  And this escape could be found only through a special, saving knowledge, given by Jesus, and revealed to a few special people . . . the elect.

A few years ago, there was a flurry of publicity about something called The Gospel of Judas . . . some of you may remember this.  This so-called Gospel didn’t really teach us anything new, but it sure got a lot of attention . . . for a while.  What it seems to be saying is that the other disciples of Jesus were ignorant, and didn’t understand the truth . . . they were not part of the true elect . . . they were too caught up in the physical world.  Only Judas “got it” and attended to spiritual knowledge.  So, according to THIS Gospel, Judas is the “special” disciple with “special” knowledge . . . receiving “special” teaching from Jesus.  Jesus knows that Judas is going to betray him and approves of it.  Because, you see, from this Gospel’s point of view, all that will die when Jesus dies is the APPEARANCE of Jesus’ humanity.  Remember, the entire physical world is evil . . . so, as these people thought, there’s no way that Jesus could have been human.  His humanity was an illusion . . . a ruse.

This is actually a well-known Gnostic belief . . . the fancy word for it is “Docetism” . . . but basically, as I’ve just mentioned, the belief was that Jesus wasn’t really a human being, he wasn’t fully a man, he only APPEARED to be human . . . so, what died on the cross was simply an illusion.  From this point of view, Judas the betrayer is really Judas the benefactor because he helps to free the divine from its wicked shell.

Now, what does all THIS have to do with the feast of the Ascension?  Well, have you ever seen a painting or sculpture of the Ascension?  I’ve joked about this in years past . . . sometimes Jesus is flying into heaven on a cloud, like it’s a flying carpet . . . sometimes you see a crowd of people staring up at the sky, and at the top of the picture a couple of feet sticking out of a cloud . . . the last thing that’s seen of Jesus before he disappears completely into heaven.  (The dangling feet pictures are my favorite.)  What these representations are showing is that Jesus’ BODY went up into heaven . . . not just some illusion or dream of a body . . . but his actual body.  Now, here’s another place where we could get sidetracked by all sorts of interesting questions . . . questions like:  DID Jesus’ body REALLY go up to heaven?  But let’s not get sidetracked by that now. 

Perhaps it surprises you that I’m suggesting that a conversation about what actually happened when Jesus left his disciples for the last time is off the point.  If it does surprise you, then remember that the people who reported these events, Matthew, Luke, and John, were not themselves particularly interested in what actually happened.  Given the way that we 21^st century Americans think, that may be hard to believe . . . but it’s true.  The evangelists were not particularly interested in the FACTS of these events . . . as much as we wish they had been . . . what they DO desperately care about is the MEANING of these events.

So what’s the meaning of the Ascension?  Well . . . there, of course, are many facets to this . . . but let’s focus on just one this evening.  For the authors of our texts and for many in the early Church, a crucial meaning of the Ascension is that in this event Christ takes humanity into heaven.  It’s not just a special, divine part of Jesus that joins his Father in heaven . . . it’s ALL of him . . . including his humanness.  AND in taking his humanity into heaven, he also takes ours. 

You know, we hear a lot from the Gospel of John in the Easter season . . . and we’re probably all familiar with the passages where Jesus goes on and on about the Father being in him as he is in us and we are in him . . . ya ever really thought about that?  It’s not just a bunch of mumbo jumbo.  Jesus MEANT it . . . and STILL means it!  His disciples EXPERIENCED it in the Resurrection and Ascension.  They EXPERIENCED Jesus dwelling within them, and themselves dwelling in Jesus . . . and they EXPERIENCED through Jesus a direct connection with the Father . . . union with God.  They tasted the Kingdom of God.  And they were transformed.  They were, in a way, real participants in the Ascension.

We are too.  We are participants in the Ascension.  That’s what I mean when I say that Jesus took our humanity into heaven.  I wonder what would happen if we truly believed this? 

You know, each of us is a little bit of a Gnostic.  To some degree, we probably all think of there being a definite division between the physical and spiritual.  And, we probably all think of the physical as being somewhat inferior to the spiritual.  Think of the last time you had an upset stomach or a really bad headache . . . the physical world didn’t seem so great then, did it?  Actually, we often think of ourselves as being separate from our bodies . . . this is most obvious when something goes wrong . . . when a knee gives out, or a tooth hurts.  We then think of our knee or our tooth as being troublesome or difficult . . . we don’t think of these appendages as being US.  I may live in this body, but it’s not really ME . . . me, my identity, my sense of self is somewhere else . . . in my thoughts, and dreams, and knowledge. . . .  If we carry this way of thinking to it’s extreme, we come to a place where there’s a definite division between the physical and the spiritual . . . and the physical is gonna end up being thought of as wicked and the spiritual as divine.  And then we’re ready to fall for something like The Gospel of Judas or some other Gnostic idea as gospel truth.

But what if we took the feast of the Ascension more to heart?  What if we prayed that the Holy Spirit help us to live into the truth of our existence . . . the truth that Jesus was – is – both fully human and fully divine . . . the truth that our full humanity – BOTH the physical and the spiritual – are taken into heaven by Jesus . . . the truth that, in Christ, we are united to God . . . fully united, body and soul?  What if we tried to live into this?  How differently would we treat our own bodies?  How differently would we treat each other?  How seriously would we consider the physical wellbeing of our brothers and sisters?  And the rest of creation?  If the physical world is not evil but good, as God the Creator tells us over and over again in the Old Testament, with what care and concern would we treat our environment?

That’s my prayer for us this evening:  that we really try to take the meaning of the Ascension to heart . . . that we really grasp the holiness of our bodies . . . and of creation . . . and that we live into this truth.

Amen.

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