Happy Ascension Day!

While Jesus was blessing the disciples, he withdrew from them and was carried up into heaven. And they worshiped him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy; and they were continually in the temple blessing God. [Luke 51-53]
Tomorrow, Thursday May 14th, will be 40 days after Easter (in this instance of liturgical counting, Sundays are included, unlike the 40 days of Lent, when Sundays are not included).  This is the day when the Church remembers Jesus the Christ’s final moments as a corporeal being on Earth before he ascended into heaven; hence it is called Ascension Day.  After being resurrected, Jesus appeared to his disciples (the 11 as well as others) in order for them to understand truly the seismic shift that occurred in the world. Rather than seeking revenge or retribution for being abandoned to die on the cross, the Christ comes with messages of love, healing and reconciliation to be shared with all people.  Jesus tells his disciples that their work has only just begun. 
We spend a lot of time on the beginnings of stories. The birth narrative of Jesus in the Gospel of Luke is the most detailed of the gospels. Conversely, the end of this Gospel feels unfinished, almost dangling in mid air (forgive the image!). That’s because it is; the Book of Acts is the second part of the entire story and both parts need to be read as one. 
But let’s pause and look at how Luke end’s his Gospel.  While Jesus is blessing the crowd, he is bodily drawn up to heaven. It offers us the image of Christ offering a continuous blessing over all God’s kingdom forever and always.  We are not told the action ends, nor do I think it does – it is part of what the ascended Christ does at the right hand of God, offering us endless blessings.  Similarly, the nascent Church, upon returning from this event goes to their place of worship where they, too, offer continuous blessings to God for all that God has done for them – “on earth as it is in heaven.” This is an expression of God’s agapé, God’s self-emptying love, where neither party ever becomes empty because both are always giving in order to full the other up. 
On the earthly side, these blessings allow us to continue Jesus’ mission of love, healing and reconciliation.  Even when the work is difficult and discouraging, we are reminded of this story, knowing we are always being blessed.  On the heavenly side, these blessings confirm the deep relationship between Creator and creation – Yahweh is our God and we are Yahweh’s people.
I do think the timing of Ascension Day is important.  There are still 10 more days in the festive season of Easter.  Ten more days to contemplate all that has happened and how that will impact how are will continue.  A bit more time to miss what we had, celebrate Christ’s victory and discern what will be next.  Then it is time to get going!
In Christ,

Rev. Valerie+

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