Ascension 2019

Time marches relentlessly on, my friends, and today, we reach another important milestone in the Church calendar:  the Ascension of the Lord.

We can reflect upon this from several different perspectives, but there are two in particular which I want to look at this morning. One is from the point of view of Jesus, and the other is from the perspective of His disciples.

For Jesus, His ascension marks the culmination of His earthly ministry, where, in a sense, His works and teaching are done. Now, by way of completion, He is going back to His Father, just as He told His disciples He would.

For the disciples, there is a sort of double-edged sword here.  On the one hand, everything that Jesus told them He would do has come true, and they can be reassured by this message. But on the other hand, you could forgive the disciples for feeling somewhat daunted, because for them Jesus’ ascension marks the point where, for them, the work really begins.

From now on, it will be down to them to take responsibility and step up to the plate, as it were. They will need to use that knowledge which Christ shared with them in His ministry, and share His message with everyone they meet, whoever and wherever they are. If the disciples did feel daunted, you can understand why. I bet anyone faced with such a task would feel that way.

You could even argue that the disciples would need that slight element of apprehension in order to persevere and keep their minds on the task in hand.

However, as this morning’s reading from Luke’s Gospel tells us, they can take comfort from the fact that while Jesus withdraws and departs from them, they see Him being carried up into Heaven, exactly as He told them He would be.

“Then, He led them out as far as Bethany, and, lifting up His hands, He blessed them.  While He was blessing them, He withdrew from them, and was carried up into Heaven”.

Since the disciples have been constantly at Jesus’ side during His earthly ministry, it might be expected that His final parting from them is a time of sadness and great despair.  Instead, as is often the case with Our Lord and His followers, the real situation is totally different. We are told that they are all filled with joy and are continually in the Temple, praising God.

Therein lies the challenge for us too, my friends. Today, we too are Jesus’ disciples and that means we need to take responsibility for carrying on the work which Jesus began. It is our turn to pass on the message of the Gospel and provide a Christlike example in the way we live out our everyday lives.

If we feel daunted by the task, that’s fine, because it is a huge task to take on. However, we can feel reassured that we will not be alone. As Jesus withdrew from His disciples He blessed them, and soon, when Pentecost comes, He will bless us with the Holy Spirit too.

Although Jesus is hidden from our sight, He is with us in every aspect of our daily lives, guiding us and strengthening us. Far from being left alone, the power of His blessing gives us the strength and ability to carry on His work both here and now.

And with this reassurance in mind, it is time for us to be bold. May we go from this place with confidence in our risen and ascended Lord, who guides, protects, empowers and enables us to live out our lives in His service and the service of others: in our church, in our communities and also the wider world. It is our risen, ascended and glorified Lord who makes all of this possible.

Those of you who know me well will know my sermons often feature references to various gems of the choral music repertoire, both old and new. This morning is no exception, though I must admit I had almost forgotten about this one myself. Thankfully, with a little nudge, it has come back into my head. Thank you, Lord!

Today, I leave you with words from the offertory motet for the Ascension of the Lord. There are many different settings of this, but the one which springs to mind this morning was composed by Peter Phillips and dates from the 16th century , during the Renaissance period. If you get the opportunity to listen to it, it’s lively, a lot of fun and well worth it.

The words are: “Ascendit Deus in Jubilatione” which, translated, means: “God has ascended with Jubilation”.

Today is not a day of despair at the thought of Jesus being parted from us. Instead, it is a day of great hope for us and we should share in that jubilation too.

AMEN