The Ascension of the Lord
Scripture Readings
Unchurched as a kid, I had very little idea how to read the Red Letter Bible that my Methodist grandmother gave me when I was around 10 years of age. But, for whatever reason, I was curious. Given my ignorance, I was grateful that my Red Letter Bible meant that I didn’t have to try to figure out what Jesus said.
Of course, I had no idea that the words were printed in red because Louis Klopsch, a late 19th and early 20th century Christian newspaper editor and successful philanthropist, took the words from Jesus in Luke 22:20 (“This that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.”) as an inspiration to produce a Bible in which Jesus’ words were printed in the color of his blood. That connection completely escaped me. I just thought the red print served as something of a highlighter making Jesus’ words stand out.
As I read the Gospels, I confess, I didn’t have (and I knew I wasn’t having) the kind of response I should. I was seriously envious of the apostles. I am sure I am not the first Christian to confess that. They got to hang out with Jesus? They got to hear his very words? They encountered the Son of God? If I’m candid, while I loved my Bible, I also had super immature thoughts like—how am I supposed to follow Jesus when I never met him? I never got to talk with him. I had never spent time with him. They were so lucky, I thought. If only I could have been alive when Jesus walked the Earth! How was I supposed to be like them when my experience of him was completely different? So removed.
As I reflect on this now, I know all this played into my reaction as high school senior to the alter call at Son City (youth ministry at Willow Creek Community Church) when, in a dark YMCA gymnasium, I along with hundreds of other youth were asked to come forward if Jesus had come into our hearts. I had very little idea what the youth pastor meant by that question. What I did know was that, unlike the apostles, Jesus had not seen fit to appear to me post-resurrection and share a word with me. And it turned out that my literal take on that youth pastor’s question had a huge impact on me. Feeling forsaken by Jesus (since I was obviously not worthy of him “coming into my heart”) I left Son City, Willow Creek, and Christian church for a number of years.
What I completely missed was the scene that closes out Luke’s Gospel. Just as Jesus is about to depart from them—to become absent from them—he raised his hands and blessed them. And instead of lamenting his absence from them, they returned to Jerusalem with great joy!
There is so much I might have learned from this story when I was young and trying to make some sense of that Red Letter Bible and that I can learn today. Jesus’ apparent departure and sudden absence from the apostles was not a cause for sadness or disappointment or grief. They responded with great joy. They were going to head off to Jerusalem and spread the Good News.
And that is a lesson to me. What I didn’t realize all those years ago was that just having curiosity about Jesus, just trying to figure out what those red letter words meant, what he was trying to say—that was Jesus coming into my heart. And if that’s true then, like the apostles, the only way to respond is to go forth in joy and show others the grace, forgiveness, and love of our Lord.
-Susan Trollinger