{"id":1655,"date":"2018-05-13T09:44:19","date_gmt":"2018-05-13T09:44:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pattinghamchurch.org.uk\/web\/?page_id=1655"},"modified":"2018-05-13T09:44:19","modified_gmt":"2018-05-13T09:44:19","slug":"sermon-10th-may-2018","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.pattinghamchurch.org.uk\/web\/information\/sermons\/sermon-10th-may-2018\/","title":{"rendered":"Sermon – 10th May 2018"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sermons index<\/a><\/p>\n

Ascension Day<\/h1>\n
\n

Thursday 10th May 2018<\/h3>\n

Ascension Day
\n
\nActs 1.1-11
\nLuke 24. 44-53<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Revd Preb Maureen Hobbs<\/p>\n

\n

\"Maureen\u201cLove you to the moon and back!\u201d<\/em> … How many of us have used this expression as a term of endearment and reassurance to our loved ones? You will see it on cards, and balloons and plaques in fashionable gift shops.<\/p>\n

Well God goes one better than that today \u2013 He loves us to Heaven and down to Hell \u2013 and back.<\/p>\n

A few years ago there was a rather endearing animated cartoon called Up! How many people saw it? It centred on a grumpy old man called Carl.<\/p>\n

But Carl hadn\u2019t always been that way. When he was young he had idolized an explorer who travelled in search of a place called Paradise Falls in South America and who had disappeared on one of his trips, never to be seen again.<\/p>\n

Carl\u2019s wife \u2013 who starts as his childhood sweetheart \u2013 made him promise before her death, that one day he himself would travel in search of the missing explorer. Time passes, and \u2013 when he is about to be forcibly moved to a retirement home as his neighbourhood is being \u201credeveloped\u201d \u2013 he gets very depressed. But then he hits on the idea of buying thousands of inflated toy balloons, and tying them to his house, turning it into a sort of airship.<\/p>\n

Then a new character enters the story \u2013 Russell \u2013 a particularly inept and annoying Boy Scout, hoping to gain points for his badge by doing good deeds for the elderly. Carl resents Russell\u2019s interference, but somehow they are both in the house when it floats into the air and sails off towards Paradise Falls.<\/p>\n

After many adventures they eventually become friends. The story is a kind of metaphor about how, when people are feeling down, they can rise above their troubles with the help of good friends and think on higher things.<\/p>\n

Our speech \u2013 not to mention sermons! – would be greatly impoverished without the use of metaphors. In fact we can hardly say anything memorable without using them \u2013 they aren\u2019t add-ons, but go to the very heart of our communication. And references to UP and DOWN are very common among them.<\/p>\n

We speak of being \u201cdown in the dumps\u201d as opposed to \u201chaving our spirits uplifted\u201d.<\/p>\n

We \u201cWake up\u201d and talk of being \u201cearly to rise\u201d \u2013 inferring that in the daytime wakefulness is better than sleep.<\/p>\n

\u201cS\/He has people working under them\u201d and \u201cgetting on top of the situation\u201d suggest that being in control is something to aim for.<\/p>\n

And contrast \u201ca low trick\u201d, \u201cthat is beneath me\u201d, and \u201cunderhand\u201d as opposed to \u201cupstanding\u201d, \u201chigh standards\u201d and \u201chigh minded\u201d to suggest that virtue is better.<\/p>\n

The Bible too makes much use of metaphor \u2013 and many suggest that going up is better than going down. \u201cGod is gone up with a merry noise\u201d; \u201dlet God arise and let his enemies be scattered\u201d; \u201cmine horn shall be exalted like the horn of the unicorn.\u201d<\/p>\n

Which all goes to explain why the high point of Jesus\u2019 time on earth is called the Ascension, and which we celebrate today. That doesn\u2019t mean that heaven has to be physically situated so many thousand feet up in the sky; it is a metaphor, implying that Jesus has gone to a higher form of existence.<\/p>\n

It is right that we should identify with him in his suffering and death, but we must also be one with him in his triumphant passing into God\u2019s kingdom. Christianity is a religion of joy \u2013 (though you might never guess it at times!)<\/p>\n

And this has much to teach us about our attitude to pain. We are not like the Christian Scientists who say that pain does not exist. Yes, it does, we have plenty of evidence, sadly, for that, and it is very serious. But if we remember that Jesus shared our pain, so that we may be raised with him to eternal joy and happiness, we shall endure pain with a more positive attitude and trust in God\u2019s loving presence with us, to support us through the pain and either heal us, or take us to a life of eternal happiness. And a positive attitude in the brain can definitely speed up the process of healing in other body parts.<\/p>\n

Christ came down to earth at Christmas. In doing so, he became human \u2013 fully and completely. And he has been through hell and back for our sakes; but because he identified with us, we must identify with him also in his triumph and exaltation. Remember that Jesus has raised us with him to the very presence of God, who is above all things. We do not need to tie any balloons to our houses to \u201crise up\u201d in the metaphorical sense. Only believe. Amen.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sermons index Ascension Day Thursday 10th May 2018 Ascension Day Acts 1.1-11 Luke 24. 44-53 Revd Preb Maureen Hobbs \u201cLove you to the moon and back!\u201d … How many of us have used this expression as a term of endearment and reassurance to our loved ones? You will see it on cards, and balloons and … <\/p>\n

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