Sermon Ascension 2006

Read John 17:11b-19

"Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow, creeps in this petty pace from day to day to the last syllable of recorded time, and all our yesterdays have lighted fools the way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle! Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player that struts and frets his hour upon the stage and then is heard no more."

These are the words of Macbeth, one of the most famous speeches in Shakespearean literature. He is standing on the battlements of his castle facing his enemy who have gathered in a siege that will end with Macbeth’s death. The story of Macbeth is the story of an ordinary man possessed by the myth of his own fate. When his evil choices open a road to his destruction, he believes himself incapable of changing, unable to prevent the inevitable. It is a terribly macabre tragedy. For many people it is a defining myth about the meaning of life.

Every one lives by a story. Whether it is a tragedy like Macbeth, or a comedy or an adventure, we take for ourselves meaning from it that defines our choices and us. The story might be some personal experience, some idea or something we have read. Whatever its source, the story takes on enormous importance in our lives. It becomes Myth.

Not in the sense of myth = untrue. A myth has power not because it is factual, although it may well be a real historical event. It has power because we choose to believe in it. Myth does not have to objectively true - verifiable – in order to have power. It merely must be believed. Belief is not about saying “it actually happened” but rather about constructing meaning in reference to what we believe happened.

Take for instance the “American Dream” which many people believe in, even non-Americans. It is perpetuated in movies and everything marketed as America, like cigarettes and VCRs. The idea is simple: even if you are poor, if you have a single opportunity and work hard, you will succeed and you will be wealthy. Will this actually happen? Probably not, but the myth is powerful and drives many people’s lives.

There are also Myths that have as much power and are less easily dismissed. And not all Myths should be dismissed. Humans create meaning from stories. It is our nature. Take for instance any worthwhile movie that has touched your life. Saving Private Ryan or Dead Poet’s Society or Tsotsi. I am sure you have one of your own… It may be “based on a true story” but actually that doesn’t matter. Its factual basis is not important. (Although it may help us to “buy in”.) What is important are the values and human drama portrayed with honesty and devotion. It is the connection with your heart that makes the movie special. The movie may well have helped you find some needed perspective or the energy to change some behaviour. The movie has become Myth.

Our own past experiences can also become Myth. A woman raped at a young age may find the buried nightmare unleashes fear and rage in all her relationships. A past failure predestines every future venture. We live (and die) by these past events, which loom over us. Very often the facts of the event become blurred and it is difficult to recall exactly what happened but the emotional content remains powerful and determining. And while these events we can say actually happened, and movies are primarily fiction, this is just commentary. The weight and power of the Myth is not determined by historical reality, but by imagination and emotion. Sometimes a movie can help heal a past personal trauma; a case of one Myth becoming more important than another – and yet movies “aren’t real life”.

An interesting illustration of the power of Myth comes from our own Bible. I learned about this from Walter Wink’s Engaging the Powers.

When the Israelites were taken to Babylon in the 6th century BCE, they found themselves in a terrifying situation. It is something very difficult for us to understand. Everything that they valued, that was precious to them as a people, had been destroyed. They were in a foreign land with no hope of return, surrounded by a strange and threatening culture. Being in the minority they were inundated by Babylonian ideas.

One of these ideas was the Babylonian myth of creation. In this story, there is a battle between the gods in heaven, which eventually results in the murder, and disembowelment of one the gods. As her innards are spilled in a fit of violence, the earth and humanity come into being from her entrails. It is no wonder that the Babylonian empire accomplished such horrific acts of genocide long before that term was coined, given the story of the their origin. Their myth lent legitimacy to their conquering ways.

In order to combat this pervasive propaganda, the priestly remnant of Israel in exile, wrote the story of Genesis 1. Did creation happen exactly this way? Is it historical? Who knows? But it actually isn’t important…

Read the Babylonian myth of creation next to Genesis 1 and notice the startling contradictions. For the Israelites, creation was organised and sensible. At the end of every day of Gods creative process, God says, “It is good!” Creation is loved and blessed. What a sharp contrast!

These myths present us with a choice. Live by the myth of redemptive violence or embrace the myth of creative love. It is ironic that right now the land that gave birth to these myths is embroiled in a daily struggle between these two myths as the USA continues to occupy Iraq.

When Jesus prayed the prayer in John 17, why did he pray for unity? Knowing that he was about to be taken from the disciples, why not pray that someone else would be inspired to take over from him? Why not request a succession plan from God? Why not even ask for someone to write Jesus’ life story down? Instead he prays for unity: “That they may be one, as we are one.”

The idea of the Body of Christ was a stroke of genius. The idea that the collective group of Jesus’ followers become the very presence of Christ in the world after his Ascension accomplishes two critical tasks for the Jesus Movement. Firstly, it means that Christ remains present to the world, despite the absence of his physical body. Secondly, it means that Jesus followers have a means to learn and continue learning all that Jesus taught. The Word remains flesh.

Unity is a difficult aim, as any study of church history will attest. Coming together across ever kind of prejudice and barrier does not come easily to the human race. But when it happens, when people make the effort to cross those barriers – for the love of Christ – they discover the power of diversity. The Gospel comes to life.

The idea of the “Body of Christ” is surely the most powerful Myth ever created for it holds out the promise of peace on earth, and provides a method for achieving it in the example of Jesus.

The story of Jesus comes as a new myth and shatters our allegiance to every other kind of myth. More than that, it infiltrates the false myths that cripple our future and heals of unhealthy attachment to false identity.

As we celebrate Christ’s return to heaven, let us reflect on our commitment to the extraordinary Myth of the Body of Christ to which we belong and which holds the hope of God and the earth. Where our commitment has lagged, or waned, this is an opportunity to recommit ourselves to living out this Myth more fully. Where some prejudice still lingers, some relationship remains estranged, some injury or failure still rules our lives, let us give ourselves, in daily discipline and rejoicing to the Myth that will save the world.