The Feast of Ascension

Last year, the Feast of the Ascension was one of the first weekday Masses I enjoyed here at Emmanuel. I believe Fr Fred celebrated; I remember that I preached. I asked the congregation and choir to remember something from our Gospel reading: the final image the disciples had of Jesus. Whatever we remember about the Ascension of Christ, we should always have in mind that image. Christ going into heaven with his hands lifted in blessing. That blessing and prayer remain for us. 

I’d like you to remember that still. But this year, indulge me in having some other thoughts about the Ascension, which relate to Christ’s presence and departure, his remaining with us and our rising with him.

Throughout the liturgy tonight, these themes recur in different ways. Our collect acknowledges that Christ has ascended “far above the heavens.” In it, we also prayed for “faith to perceive” that Christ “abides with his Church on earth.” Similarly, the reading from Acts narrates Christ’s ascension and hiddenness – “a cloud took him out of their sight” – while emphasizing his continued activity on earth, his teaching, and his sending of the Holy Spirit. So it goes through many biblical texts about the Ascension and many historic sermons. 

Christ is enthroned far above all things; Christ is also the Head of his body, the Church. Christ is at God’s right hand; Christ is everywhere, filling all things. Christ has withdrawn from the disciples; Christ is sending upon them what the Father has promised. 

Is he here? Is he not? 

In thinking about these things this week, my mind drifted in a silly way to the Clash’s classic song “Should I stay or Should I go” on the 1981 album Combat Rock. I’m not sure the voice of Christ dwells in the lyrics of Mick Jones. But here goes nothing:

Darling, you’ve got to let me know
Should I stay, or should I go?
If you say that you are mine
I'll be here till the end of time…

If I go, there will be trouble
And if I stay, it will be double
So come on and let me know
Should I stay or should I go?

Silly, I know. But the contrast is interesting. Christ did not ask us whether he should stay or go; his abiding with us is not dependent on our consent (“If you say that you are mine”). He went, and he remains. 

If I go there will be trouble, well that’s been true in the history of the Church, but why don’t we just say “Here ends the lesson from the Clash.”

More seriously, I thought it might be helpful to talk through some of the ways that Christ is present here on earth, as well as what it meant for him to ascend into heaven. 

I’ll start with some basics. Christ is risen from the dead. We know this; we’ve been saying it for weeks. What do we really mean? 

First of all, we are saying that the incarnation of the Son of God did not end at the Cross. He did not beat a hasty retreat to heaven, leaving his human body destroyed and in the grave. No. God’s Son went down to death, went down into the depths and proclaimed his victory in the grave; he then was raised in the fullness of human perfection, flesh, bones, soul, rising and made immortal; he took that same nature to the right hand of God. The cross did not end the union between God and humanity. Death did not break it; nor did the resurrection or ascension. There was no abandonment of the body, only its transformation and exaltation.

A second part of what Ascension means: Christ has been raised in power. One of the fundamental aspects of the incarnation is that the Son of God went about among us in great humility: he ate, he drank, he grew tired, he could be beaten, he could be killed. None of that is true now. Jesus of Nazareth has gone from humility to glory; he was invested visibly with power beyond all others. Our modern church is sometimes uncomfortable with this language, and it has become the preserve of scary people online: “Ortho-bros,” “trad caths,” and the like. But the conviction that Christ is filled with power now is part of the origin of the Church. If he’s not the king of the angels, we shouldn’t be worshipping him. If he’s not reigning in heaven, let’s stop asking him to hear our prayers and intercede for us in the heavenly places. Still, the humility and the power go together. 

Well, that’s a little on the exaltation involved in the Ascension. How is Christ with us today? How do we have faith to perceive that he remains?

I could cheat a little here. There’s a position associated with some branches of Lutheranism that simply says, the Letter to the Ephesians tells us that Christ ascended into heaven and fills all things, so that’s all we need to say about that. “He’s here, he’s there, he’s everywhere,” like Roy Kent in Ted Lasso, all over the soccer field.

But, I think it’s nice to be more specific. 

By the Spirit, Christ is present throughout his body, the Church. When we minister to one another, it is like a single organism or person. We are members one of another; we need each other. Christ is our Head and perhaps there are some hands and feet here, some eyes, some ears. This is true as we serve one another and worship together. It’s also true in every interaction. Christ is so present in us by the Holy Spirit, that it is like the soul animating the body. My soul is no less present in these hands than in the eyes, the heart, the mind. And present in every action. 

So it is with Christ. When we clean the Great Hall together, when we eat, when we laugh, when we help, when we lament, when we argue, when we reconcile, it is as the Body of Christ. 

Christ remains with us, too, in his mysteries. I mean of course those central sacramental actions we all acknowledge: baptism, confirmation, Eucharist, ordination, marriage, confession, holy unction. Christ is surely present in the baptismal waters, as we are united with him. Christ is surely present as we receive Communion. It is why we bow, genuflect, or kneel in holy silence -- to receive the Body and Blood of Christ. But Christ is present also in the Holy Cross, in the images we make of him, in those Scriptural figures where we suddenly see him. When we read the story of the sacrifice of Isaac, when we recall the parting of the Red Sea, when we remember Elijah’s ascension into heaven, and we see Christ in these stories – it is not just our imagination. It is Jesus showing himself to us through all of sacred history.

Let me name just one more way Christ is with us. That is as our companion in our labors. In Matthew 28, when he assures the disciples he is with them to the end of the age, it is as he gives them the command to go into all the world, to baptize and teach all nations. In the Acts of the Apostles, the disciples receive the Spirit as they follow his command to wait in Jerusalem to become empowered as his witnesses. In Luke 24, his presence is assured as he opens the disciples’ minds to understand the Scriptures and to proclaim forgiveness to all people – and as they worship him and go to the temple. 

His presence follows those who do his will, who share in his mission, who enter the same path of service he trod. Do you want to feel the presence of Christ? Follow his commands: preach, testify, pray, read and understand holy Scripture. You will find him there. 

In another sermon I might say something about how Christ is present in creation or in the stranger or in our sufferings or…many other things. Another time. Another year.

For now, let us give thanks, that Christ has risen from the dead, that he has ascended far above every power and authority, that he remains with us until the end of time, that he gives us this community in which to know and love him, that he has given us a Gospel to proclaim, a mission to fulfill.