Ascension Sunday

Psalm: Psalm 47 or Psalm 93

Acts: Acts 1:1-11

Gospel: Luke 24:44-53

Epistle: Ephesians 1:15-23

Today is Ascension Sunday! In case that needs defining, the Ascension of Jesus is when, after his resurrection, Jesus ascended into heaven to be with the Father. Traditionally, this is always celebrated on a Thursday, 40 days after Easter. (Acts 1:3) The moment of the Ascension is only directly recounted in Acts ch. 1, although Luke briefly states that Jesus was carried into heaven at the end of his Gospel. But despite the sparsity of direct references, the event is taken for granted in Jesus' later depictions in the New Testament as sitting beside the Father in heaven. Indeed, no other text gives any other explanation for Jesus return to heaven other than the one Luke offers.

So, why do we celebrate the Ascension in the Church Calendar? And a follow up question is why is it basically ignored in Evangelical churches today? The first answer is that we celebrate the Ascension because it was a crucial moment in Jesus' life. The Church Calendar follows the life of Christ and this is his final earthly physical presence before he goes to heaven, so it needs to be recognized in the Calendar. But importantly, the Ascension also has theological and historical significance. The Ascension is mentioned in the Nicean Creed, "...[Jesus] ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father." As the first and most ecumenical of the creeds, we should definitely consider its words important and honor them. And again, as was mentioned the New Testament assumes from the earliest times that this Ascension was a historical event in Christ’s life.

Theological, the Ascension brings up a lot of themes that may not get much sermon time, but are nonetheless important. For example, Christ is no longer physically present on earth but has gone on to prepare a place for us. (John 14:2) Of course, to say he is no longer physically present, implies that Jesus was indeed physically and actually a human body. We cannot forget the physicality of Jesus--Jesus was truly God and Truly man. Christ's Ascension also paved the way for the Spirit to come, which Christ says will be to our advantage. (John 16:7) We celebrate the Spirit the coming upon the Church next week at Pentecost and the Ascension is naturally celebrated before Pentecost Sunday because it paved the way for the Spirit’s arrival. Christ's presence sitting by the Father also signifies that his atoning work is completed. Hebrews says, "but He, having offered one sacrifice for sins, for all time, sat down at the right hand of God." (10:12) Finally, in his role at the right hand of the Father, Jesus is our intercessor before the Father on our behalf.

There are plenty of valid reasons to celebrate and recognize the Ascension in our services. The more difficult question is why don't evangelicals typically celebrate it. I looked the Ascension up in the Global Wesleyan Dictionary of Theology (Beacon Hill Press, 2013) and there isn't even an entry there! But I think the main reason Evangelicals reject the Ascension, and many things for that matter, is because they are deemed to be  too"Catholic." Ascension has the sound and feel of being to ritualistic or high-churchy, so we just ignore it and move on. We don’t want to be tied down to having to celebrating the Ascension or Pentecost on those Sundays prescribed by the Christian Calendar, we want to give room for the Spirit to work. But by ignoring them, we are missing vital moments in the life of Christ and the early church, and an important time to tackle some difficult, but crucial, theological themes.

I hope this Sunday and this week as we move into Pentecost and then Ordinary Time that we all take some time to reflect on the life of Christ and the Holy Spirit that has been given to us as we await his return.

Grace and Peace.