Ascension Day: 1^st May

Preacher: Chris Green

Readings: Acts 1, 1-11

Thank you Judith Rose for asking me to give this brief address- a Thought for the Day, as you put it.

Ascension is a festival celebrated in many different ways in different places. At Rodney Stoke we had a 7 a.m. service on top of the tower of St. Leonard’s. This morning it was lovely- we could see St. Andrew’s, as well as St. Mary’s, Wedmore, clearly in the morning sun. I had a vision of folk all over the land, climbing up church towers ancient and modern to offer hymns and prayers under the open sky.

In the New Testament, we mainly connect the Ascension with the passage from the Acts of the Apostles that we heard earlier. But it is also mentioned in the gospels and in some of the Epistles. And it is an article of the Creeds. It is obviously important- but what exactly does it mean?

Well contrary to the imagination of many children in primary schools and Sunday clubs, I don’t think it is about Jesus floating away from the surface of the earth. This image has made for some lovely medieval stained glass windows and Renaissance paintings, but I personally find it rather a distraction!

No, to use the picture language from our hymns, it is first of all about “Christ Triumphant Ever Reigning”- the Jesus who was crucified for embodying God’s love on Earth taking the place of highest honour at God’s right hand in Heaven. To put it another way- Jesus is Lord, and the supposed rulers of this world- whether Caesar, George Bush, or Gordon Brown- are not. So the Ascension is most simply a statement of Christian values in a world at odds with God’s Kingdom.

But secondly, and perhaps not quite so obviously, I think that Ascension is about letting go. Jesus their Lord is letting his disciples go- and they are having to let him go. He was parted from their sight- they did not see him on Earth any more. Why did this have to be?

The theological explanation is that Jesus had to ascend to the Father before he could send his Holy Spirit. I think I need a more down-to-earth image to help me grasp this idea.

I don’t know how many of you have taught a child to ride a bicycle. I have more than once- but it is my god-daughter who sticks in my mind. I remember running behind her, holding on to the saddle as she pedalled- with her shouting to me ‘don’t let go!’- and then after a bit, she was still cycling, still shouting, but I had let go! It was that magical moment when the child discovers that she or he can ride a bicycle without anyone holding on.

Ascension marks the moment when Jesus let go of the disciples, and they had to keep going on their own- or rather, with his Spirit, working within them. And like my goddaughter, they needed Jesus’ absence (in the physical sense) to discover that they were able to do so. And ever since, this has been true for his followers- Jesus is risen, ascended, glorified- but now we are the body of Christ, here on earth.

For those of us in St. Andrews, Draycott and Rodney Stoke, just starting our search for a new vicar, I wonder if there is a special message for us. There is a temptation to expect someone else to keep us upright, travelling forward. Sometimes it takes the absence of a leader before people will be able to realise their own talents and resources. So let us look on our interregnum as an opportunity to explore our own hidden talents!

I wish you all a very happy Ascension tide!