We’ve come to the wonderful feast of the Ascension of Our Lord, which celebrates the journey of the Risen Christ into Heaven. Every time we pray the Nicene Creed, we affirm this truth: “He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father”. For those of us living in the 21st. century this sounds like a myth, Jesus ascends body and soul into heaven, if he ascends body and soul he must be somewhere and what relevance does this have for us in the world today? The key to understanding the ascension is to recover a Jewish sense of heaven and earth. In the western world we are influenced by a Greek way of thinking. Plato spoke about a sharp dichotomy between the material and the spiritual; between a fleeting earth and a permanent heaven. This very much influences our way of thinking. Most of us think for example that the goal of the spiritual life is to escape from the earth, a jailbreak from this body and to live for ever in heaven. But Biblical anthropology is not dualistic. Salvation for the Jews is not an escape of the soul from the body. The resurrection of Jesus is not an escape from his body but an elevation, a transfiguration of the body. For the Jews, Heaven and earth touch, they interpenetrate, they influence each other. When we pray the Our Father, we say thy kingdom come on earth as in Heaven; this is a Jewish prayer. We are not asking God to deliver us from this terrible world. Even though on many occasions over the past couple of weeks we have asked God to deliver us from these severe restrictions. We are praying that earth and heaven might come together. The resurrection of Jesus is the beginning of this process. The first reading today from the Acts tells us how Jesus spoke to his apostles about the kingdom of God. The mission of Jesus was the reconciliation of heaven and earth; this is the mission of the apostles and this in our mission today. What is the vehicle for this process, this mission? The Church that Jesus established. “Do not leave Jerusalem but wait for the Holy Spirit and then you will be my witnesses not only in Jerusalem but in the whole world, you will continue to bring heaven and earth together. The process of heaven and earth coming together has begun and next week we will celebrate the decent of the Holy Spirit. Over these last couple of weeks during this pandemic we have come to appreciate more the values that are important to us, watching out for each other, our family and friends, supporting each other and we are more aware now of our vulnerability and powerlessness. Some of you may know the story of Hal Roach who realised the limitless and powerlessness of human nature when his handicapped son was born. One of Hal’s ambitions was to see his name on billboards in Las Vegas (entertainment centre of the world) but this all changed when his handicapped son was born. He came to realise his dependence on God and the powerlessness of human nature. With the coronavirus we have come to realise our vulnerablity and powerlessness. We as followers of Jesus are called to continue the work He began on earth. Be witnesses to Jesus in your own families, and among your friends. As we emerge from these restrictions, we know that life will never be the same again; remember that everything we do, everything we say, everything we think, may it be a reconciliation of heaven and earth, may it flood the earth and create a a ripple out across the world. And, if enough of us do it, that ripple will grow into a tidal wave. And that tidal wave – empowered by the Holy Spirit – will create a new earth in a way we never dreamed