It was Julian of Norwich who wrote those inspired words that 'all shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well.' They are words that are particularly poignant tonight because they sum up the transformation in the followers of Jesus that we celebrate on Ascension Day, for on this day strange, as it may seem we celebrate Christ's leaving his disciples.
But his leaving them is not a sombre occasion. It is full of joy and hope and reminds us how their lives had changed, of how they had come to trust in God's ultimate purpose for them and believe that all will indeed be well because Christ will always be with them.
There is a story by Hugh Price Hughes titled, "The City of Everywhere." In this story a man arrives in a city one cold morning. As he gets off the train, he sees that the station is like any other station except for one thing everyone is barefoot. No one wears shoes.
He notices a barefoot cab driver. "Pardon me," he asks the driver, "I was just wondering why you don't wear shoes. Don't you believe in shoes?" "Sure we do," says the driver. "Why don't you wear them?" asks the man.
"Ah, that's the question," the driver replies. "Why don't we wear shoes? Why don't we?"
At the hotel it is the same. The receptionist, porters, everybody is barefoot. In the coffee shop he notices a nice looking gentleman at a table opposite him. He says, "I notice you aren't wearing any shoes. I wonder why? Don't you know about shoes?"
The man replies, "Of course I know about shoes."
"Then why don't you wear them?" asks the stranger.
"Ah, that's the question," says the man. "Why don't we? Why don't we?"
After breakfast he walks out on the street in the snow but every person he sees is barefoot. He asks another man about it, and points out how shoes protect the feet from cold. The man says, "We know about shoes. See that building yonder? That is a shoe manufacturing plant. We are proud of that plant and every week we gather there to hear the man in charge tell about shoes and how wonderful they are."
"Then why don't you wear shoes?" asks the stranger.
"Ah, that's the question," says the man.
Dr. Robert E. Goodrich told this story in his book, What's It All About? Then he asks, "Don't we believe in prayer? Don't we know what prayer could mean to our lives? . . . Of course we do; we know about prayer. Then, why don't we pray? Ah, that's the question. Why don't we pray? . . . Why don't we?"
In Act 5 scene 5 of Shakespeare's Macbeth, the character Macbeth has heard that the queen is dead and he knows his own death is imminent. At this time he delivers his famous soliloquy:
Tomorrow, and tomorrow and tomorrow …..Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage and then is heard no more. It is a tale
Told by an idiot. Full of sound and fury Signifying nothing.
Is Macbeth right? Is life nothing but a shadow having no substance, no meaning? Writers and philosophers since recorded time have tried to answer the question. I don't think any of them have been successful in answering the question to everyone's satisfaction. Someone once said that "Trying to speak about the ultimate reality is like sending a kiss through a messenger." I understand their point: Something of its truth is lost in the translation.
What is the meaning of life? A philosophical question to be sure but this is not only the philosopher's question. It is a genuinely human question and therefore a question that we all ask. It might be a question that is asked in despair or hope, out of cynicism, or out of sincere curiosity and a deep desire to have goals and guidance in life. However we raise the question about the meaning of life, it is our most basic and fundamental question.
The ending of the earthly chapter of Jesus life also meant a new beginning. Luke tells us that the disciples did not leave the scene broken-hearted - they had a definite promise of the soon-to-be-given Holy Spirit. The disciples knew that the Ascension was the completion of the cycle from the incarnation. We have to ask ourselves the question, "Are we redeeming the time until Jesus returns? Are we fulfilling the ministries he had given to the church?" We have been placed where we are for a purpose. The angelic beings asked the disciples "Why do you stand here looking into the sky?" It was the Earth, not the sky, which they should be occupied with - to be witnesses not stargazers! Our calling is not upwards in nostalgia, but outwards in compassion to a lost world that needs Jesus. It’s been well said that:
"At the Ascension Jesus left the Here for the Everywhere;
He left the Time for the Eternal;
He left the First Century to fill All the Centuries."
All shall be well and all shall be well.