“ . . . for Christ’s death, resurrection and ascension . . .”

Tomorrow, May 9th, is the 40th day after Easter and the day the Church remembers Christ’s final earthly appearance.  It is also the “red-headed step-child” of the Christian calendar, as it is a very important feast day that most people forget about unless they go to “The Church of the Ascension."
Indeed, Jesus’ ascension is the final act in the drama of his life and death.  As we heard in the Gospel lesson on Sunday, Jesus told his disciples he had to leave in order for the Spirit to come.  But the leaving he was talking about was not his death, but his ascension into heaven, so that he could be everywhere at once and not confined by a physical body. 
I must confess to some heretical thoughts about the Ascension, which is usually depicted in dramatic flowing robes, beams of light washing over the form of Christ and the faithful looking up in awe and wonder.  Artisans never seem to depict (though a couple cartoonists probably have) the next scene –a bunch of people starting up into empty space wondering what to do next.  I can see the cartoon caption, “Great exit.  Now what?” Fortunately two men in white robes appear (the same two from the resurrection scene in the Gospel of Luke?) ask them what they are looking at, helping break the spell of complacency that allows the disciples to move onward. 
What is perhaps even more fascinating is that this happens before the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost.  The best was yet to come, and while Jesus told them about it, they had no understanding of it.  In some ways, I think the disciples’ return to Jerusalem in the midst of uncertainty, confusing, loss and grief is perhaps one of the most Christian actions in the Bible.  They step forward in faith, not fully knowing what the future held, but willing to meet God in the midst of it.
While we have the advantage of knowing the power and purpose of the Holy Spirit, it doesn’t necessarily make it any easier to take those steps in faith.  What is important is that we do take those steps, even if we realize at some point they are in the wrong direction.  God will show us that, so we can correct our course and follow where we are being led, to do the work God has given us to do. 
Happy Ascension Day!  May you purposefully step out in faith today and always.

 

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