Ascension Day – evening
Thursday 30th May 2019
Ascension Day – evening
Acts 1.1-11
Luke 24. 44-53
Revd Preb Maureen Hobbs
The priest and poet Malcolm Guite has written of this day….
We saw his light break through the cloud of glory
Whilst we were rooted still in time and place,
As earth became a part of heaven’s story
And heaven opened to his human face.
We saw him go and yet we were not parted,
He took us with him to the heart of things,
The heart that broke for all the broken-hearted
Is whole and heaven-centred now, and sings;
Sings in the strength that rises out of weakness,
Sings through the clouds that veil him from our sight,
Whilst we ourselves become his cloud of witness
And sing the waning darkness into light;
His light in us, and ours in him concealed,
Which all creation waits to see revealed.
Sounding the Seasons ©2012
Ascension is always a bit of a challenge to preacher and member of the congregation alike. It is easy to see why we need to celebrate Easter Sunday – the wonder of resurrection; the defeat of death; the coming of hope into the human world.
And Pentecost is a fitting end to the Season of Easter – the moment when the Spirit descends and the birth of the Church as we understand it.
But Ascension sits a little uneasily just before that moment.
We have heard the argument that unless Jesus does finally go and leave his disciples to carry on without his physical presence among them, then the Holy Spirit doesn’t stand a chance. But still it is hard to imagine the disciples on their way back from Bethany – praising God and singing – feeling great joy when they have just seen their Lord and Master; Friend and Teacher for the very last time. It is counter intuitive. We know how hard it is to part from loved ones – why would they feel differently?
But Scripture tells us God is gone up with a merry shout! – OK, I know that is an OT reference to God entering the Holy of Holies in the Temple, rather than Jesus ascending to be with God in heaven, but it is a sentence that is frequently heard on this day. Not least in the anthems we sing!
But I think the point we need to grasp is not about the divinity of Jesus on a day like this, but his humanity. This day is worth celebrating because this is the day – as Malcolm puts it – when earth becomes a part of heaven’s story. Heaven is opened to his human face…. and therefore to ours too!
How does it feel to realise that you are already living in heaven?
Oh, I know that with the interminable Brexit situation and all the political upheaval in Westminster and Brussels, it doesn’t feel much like it at present. But that is just Satan’s way of distracting us from the far more important truth – We are already in heaven because Jesus is there before us! “He took us with him to the heart of things”.
In all our flawed condition with our indecision, cruelty, insensitivity and selfishness, but also with our generosity of spirit, our humour, our poetry and our science and creativity we are caught up into the heavenly realm and awarded a place with Christ beside God.
So the next time you become angry, or feel broken-hearted at some fresh inhumanity, just remember my favourite quotation from the letters of St Paul.
I am sure that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord
Romans 8. 38,39
Ascension is the moment when Jesus departs the earth, and yet remains for ever in our hearts as we remain in his.
His light in us, and ours in him, concealed.
Can we perhaps try to live as though we know we have already arrived in heaven? God and humanity have gone up with a merry shout – so let the Christ light shine out! Amen.