Feast of the Ascension
Acts 1:1-11
Psalm 47
Ephesians 1:15-23
Luke 24:44-53
Of all the principal feasts of the Episcopal Church, The Feast of the Ascension is the most obscure and least observed. Part of this has to do with timing: because Ascension Day falls forty days after Easter Sunday, it will always fall on a Thursday. Unlike All Saints' Day, it is also not transferable to a Sunday, except for churches named after the Ascension. It also falls just before two other principal feasts that are observed on Sundays—Pentecost and Trinity Sunday.
As I planned this evening's service, it also occurred to me that another reason for this feast's relative obscurity may be the lack of distinct traditions associated with it. We don't have a special liturgy for this feast. When I researched church traditions related to the Ascension, I found exactly one. Some churches in Britain still observe the Ascension by having their service on the roof of the church. While it would make for a memorable service if I tried preaching tonight while rappelling down the roof of St. Luke's, I'm not sure how well I'd stick the landing.
We don't even have different accounts of the Ascension in the other three Gospels. Matthew and John vaguely allude to the events of the Ascension, while Mark doesn't mention it at all. Luke alone records this astonishing event, and he does so twice: first at the end of his Gospel and once again at the very beginning of Acts. Today might be the only day in the church year when we can read the first lesson as the continuation of the Gospel lesson. I encourage you to do exactly that, paying particular attention to the words of Jesus in both accounts.
The visual spectacle of the Ascension was a crucial element for early believers reading Luke's account. None of Jesus' disciples had seen his resurrection. Only two of them had even seen his transfiguration. But here, gathered in Bethany, all of Jesus' disciples got to witness an indisputable display of his divine nature and his messianic mandate. After all, Christ's Ascension to heaven is only possible if he is the Son of God.
The last chapter of Matthew, which alludes to the Ascension, concludes with these final words from Jesus: "And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age." Nearly 20 years ago, when I first joined the Episcopal Church, my grandmother gave me a gift. It was a medallion of St. Michael the Archangel. It was the last gift she gave me before she passed away. I wore it every day. About six or seven years ago, when I was still in the Army and stationed in Italy, the metal loop connecting the medallion to its chain broke. I put both the chain and the medallion in a safe place where they wouldn't be lost before I could get a new loop. Unfortunately, when I put something in a "safe place," I often eventually forget what happened to it. This all happened right around the time I was separating from the Army and preparing to go home. Eventually, I became convinced that I must have lost it in the move. I have regretted its loss ever since.
Then, about a week or two ago, as I was emptying my wallet and looking for a card, I found the medallion in a small pocket that I never use. I was astonished and thrilled at finding it, of course. But underneath that, there was an overwhelming sense of connection, relief, and self-forgiveness. I hadn't lost it. Not really. It had still been with me every day, hidden in my wallet, even when I didn't know it.
Modern Christians already presuppose the messianic nature of Jesus Christ, so this visual spectacle of the Ascension loses a lot of its revelatory significance for us. But for the disciples and us, the words of Jesus in Luke and Acts help answer the question of how Jesus remains with us, even when it seems as though he is long gone.
In Luke, Jesus says, "' These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you—that everything written about me in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms must be fulfilled.' Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures, and he said to them, 'Thus it is written, that the Messiah is to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. And see, I am sending upon you what my Father promised; so stay here in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.'" Jesus first gives them context for the messianic display they are about to see. Then, he opens their minds to understand how his life on earth has fulfilled the scriptures. Finally, he gives them a hint of what is to come next: as witnesses to the scripture being fulfilled, they will receive power from him to bear this witness far and wide.
In Acts, Jesus provides the disciples with a bit more detail: "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." He emphasizes again that the role of his followers is about to undergo a fundamental change: they are no longer passively learning at Christ's feet; they are about to become witnesses to what they have seen and teachers of what Christ has proclaimed. But they weren't expected to do it all on their own after Jesus ascended. Just as Christ opened their minds to understand him as the fulfillment of scripture, he also opened their hearts to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit, which would descend upon them on the day of Pentecost.
The story of the Ascension serves as our bridge between the end of Christ's time on earth and the beginning of the Church. It reinforces the connection between Christ and the Holy Spirit. But it also reminds us that by the grace of the Holy Spirit, Jesus is still here with us tonight. He is with us every day, even to the end of the age. Amen.