Lift us up to the place where our Saviour Jesus Christ has gone before
The feasts of Ascension and Pentecost are not only closely connected to each other chronologically, but also theologically. Jesus returns to heaven because His saving work here on earth as the God made perfect Man has been gloriously completed on Easter Day – but because He can no longer be physically present with us, with all the human limitations of time and space which that humanity entails, He sends the Holy Spirit to bridge the gap. Now we have a God on the move, able to go anywhere and do anything, both in the hearts and lives of those who believe in Jesus and those who do not yet believe.
Ascension reminds us that even while the Indian variant of Coronavirus is ravaging the sub-continent, war flares up in the Holy Land between Jews and the Arabs and our economy feels the debilitating effects of the long shut-down, Jesus is firmly seated on His throne, reigning supreme over earth as well as heaven, even though at times this may be hard for us mere mortals to understand. It does us no harm to acknowledge this conundrum, which seems for so many people a barrier to their giving proper consideration to our Christian faith.
The angels made an important announcement to the Apostles as they stood gazing into the sky as their Lord was lifted out of their sight. He will one day return to take physical and personal possession of the world He created and redeemed. He must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet. Jesus Himself told us to watch out for the signs of the times. As we look at the godless, immoral and confused state of the entire world today, we can see that this historic moment is drawing ever closer. Maranatha – come Lord Jesus!
However, Jesus knew that His departure would upset His Apostles for the moment, but the coming of the Holy Spirit so soon after His Ascension, changed all that. He became for them – and for us – the ever-living presence of God in our hearts, gently but unmistakeably moving us away from everything in our lives that offends Him and moving us quietly towards the good that comes with obeying His commands. And this Holy Spirit is God’s down payment of the full salvation that still awaits us and the proof that we are actually in His hands and on track for heaven. That is why He is called the Comforter.
How right our Church of England is to give us a whole twelve months in which to compartmentalise, digest and celebrate all the great moments of our Lord’s life here on earth and the exemplary careers of His Apostles and saints. Yet the strange contradiction is that the great feast of the complete God – Father, Son and Holy Spirit - Trinity Sunday – is not now celebrated with the enthusiasm it deserves. Moving the main ordination day of the Church year from Trinity to Michaelmas has certainly not helped.
Christians who do not know the Church’s calendar are much the poorer for not following this creative and helpful discipline. - incredibly this includes some who call themselves Anglicans !
