What the Ascension is all about!

7th Sunday in Easter : 8th May 2005

Acts 1.6-14  |  1 Peter 4.12-14, 5.6-11  |  John 17.1-11

Jesus ascends; suffering for the faith; Jesus prays for his disciples

You might be forgiven for not realising this, but the person who wrote most of the new testament was Luke - he contributed a gospel and the Acts of the Apostles - or, as it’s also been known, the Acts of the Holy Spirit! He ends his gospel with the account of the Ascension and he starts the Acts with the account of the Ascension... Why? Why did Luke think it was so significant? Why didn’t he finish his gospel with the resurrection - as Mark & John did, or with a commission to preach the gospel, as Matthew did... Why did he think it so significant?

For the Church Ascension has been an important festival, but it’s also one which has fallen out of popularity - perhaps because people don’t understand it. The Easter season starts with the first mass of Easter as the vigil ends and we celebrate the risen Lord, and 40 days later comes Pentecost - the sending of the Holy Spirit, the birthday of the Church, and just before that is the Ascension.

The Ascension - a three-part story

Despite the unevenness of the time scale the Ascension is the second of three Resurrection experiences.

The first experience is the resurrection itself - the defeat of death, the triumph of good over evil, of light over darkness; the victory of Christ over sin the world and the devil....The second experience is the Ascension (more anon!) and the third and completing part of the Paschal story is Pentecost which we celebrate the Sunday after next, when the Holy Spirit comes to “earth” the reality of the resurrection in our lives day by day - that was the time when the disciples were - to use the words of the post communion prayer we say: sent out in the power of the Spirit to live and work to your praise and glory... But that’s jumping ahead to next week! - meanwhile what’s going on in the Ascension?

All part of growing up...

When I was a teenager somebody once told me that my school days would be the happiest days of my life. At that point I nearly killed myself - I thought “If it doesn’t get any better than this then forget it.. the whole thing stinks...” Growing up can be a real pain... zits... voice breaking.. hair growing in strange places... deodorants... hormones....mood swings...girls... But the people who told me that told me porkie pies... they were wrong and actually the best years very certainly lay ahead.

And growing up is also a very positive thing - becoming independent, making your own decisions, not having to ask your parents or teachers about everything... forming your own views, your own opinions and your own values... exploring your body and your brain as you interact with others and as you come to know yourself.

That’s what the Ascension is all about!

The Ascension is all about a changing relationship between Jesus and his disciples: it was about them growing up.

...and stepping out - independence!

Up until now Jesus had been around with them physically - they had been eating and drinking with him, travelled with him, talked, laughed, joked with him, listened to him, questioned him, prayed with him... For three years he’d been physically there with them. In fact he’d almost wet nursed them. They weren’t the fastest bunch to catch on and they’d had their ups and downs - they’d failed to understand what he was teaching them: they’d made promises they couldn’t keep; they’d tried to be all macho and aggressive at the wrong times; then they’d denied knowing him and they’d run away when the chips were down...

Then after the resurrection Jesus had come back from the dead, he’d taught them, he’d appeared to the disciples; he’d convinced a sceptical Thomas, he’d convinced the disciples on the road to Emmaus, he’d cooked them all breakfast, he’d forgiven Peter - this was great! With a risen Jesus as their leader the world would be theirs! Fancy a leader who couldn’t be killed!

And then - at the Ascension - Jesus is physically leaving.

The disciples won’t have access to him in the same way as before. They can’t ask him what to do every five minutes. They must think for themselves, they must apply his teaching, they must learn to love as he showed them; they must stand on their own feet and do it for themselves.

...but Jesus does not leave us in the lurch

The good news of course is that Jesus promised not to leave them as orphans - he said he would send the Holy Spirit to complete his work, to make Jesus real to the disciples. And that we remember and celebrate next Sunday at Pentecost.

If Jesus had stayed, what would have happened? Jesus would have been limited to one physical place at one historical time... The disciples would never have learnt to grow up, to life a mature Christian life, to think for themselves... they would have stayed as Christian teenagers for ever... what a thought!

But with the Ascension and the coming of the Holy Spirit it was possible for all disciples everywhere to know the presence of Jesus. In this Eucharist in a moment we will invoke the power of the Holy Spirit over bread and wine that it might become for us the body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. He is here! Now, today. And also in a million other locations round the world where communion is being celebrated at this very moment - Jesus is made real.

Why should the Ascension be important now?

The Ascension is an important Christian festival because it’s a rite of passage: it’s a call and a reminder that our faith develops and grows. A Sunday School faith is fine for a Sunday School age: but it’s not much good for when you’re facing exams, or marriage, or divorce or redundancy or retirement or illness...

What might it mean to us at St John’s? Is the Ascension a reminder that Jesus calls us to grow up?... Jesus calls us to apply his teaching, to learn to love, to stand on our own two feet.

What might “growing up in the faith” mean to us?

• It means taking responsibility for our own spiritual development - not being spoon-fed, not expecting that we can function adequately as Christians on an hour on Sunday.

• It means being disciplined in saying our prayers, in reading the scriptures;

• It may mean reading Christian books; joining a housegroup; being encouraged by others and in turn encouraging others.

• It may mean seeking out an older wiser Christian to talk things through - and as an aside I’m always willing to sit with people and talk things through if that would be helpful - but, gifted as I am, I’m not a mind reader: please tell me - I’d rather be told five times than not at all that somebody’s poorly, or would like a visit; I’d rather you asked me to come and sit with you rather than quietly being disappointed that I haven’t come... Growing up and taking responsibility means that we learn to articulate our needs...

• It will mean learning to share our faith with others, to pray for our friends and family, to seek God’s will for our lives.

Freedom to think, grow, follow intelligently and live life to the full

In the CofE we haven’t always been brilliant at helping people to see what mature discipleship might involve... we have rather assumed that by osmosis people would soak up Christian understanding, without having to put in the work.. Sometimes disciples need to be given the permission to grow up and take some decisions for themselves, to explore their faith a little more, to learn to run instead of crawling...

Jesus didn’t leave his disciples because he was bored of them, or had a better offer - he loved them and wanted the best for them. And today as Jesus calls you and me it is because he loves us and wants the best for us - scary as it may sound he’s giving you and me the freedom to think, to grow, to become mature followers so that we may live life to the full...

That’s what the Ascension is all about.

Fr Andrew J Perry
Rector, St John the Evangelist, Pevensey Rd, St Leonards on Sea

Picture Credits on this page

TheBibleRevival.com

FreeFoto.com