Thursday, June 2nd is Ascension Day. So, what exactly is Ascension Day? If that is the question you are asking right about now, rest assured that you are not the first, and will not be the last to ask.
It is important to remember that we are still in the season of Easter–a time of joy and celebration as we enjoy the presence of our Lord and Savior. We are to spend this season remembering that Jesus defeated sin and death and with his Resurrection, we have been brought into life eternal.
But, if we remember Jesus’ words on Easter Sunday, we will recall that Jesus cannot remain with us. He would not allow Mary to hold on to him because he had “not yet ascended to the father” (John 20:17). Jesus reminded his disciples that they could not go with him, yet–but that in his absence he would send an advocate to help them. That advocate is still with us today, and on Pentecost Sunday, we will celebrate it. But for now, we must prepare ourselves for the next difficult step in our faith journey: Christ’s return to God.
That is why, ten days before the start of Pentecost, the Christian calendar recognizes “Ascension Day.” This is the day when Christ’s personal ministry on earth will be completed and he will pass the torch on to his followers as he returns to God. It is a difficult step for us to take because life would be so much easier if we could just turn to Jesus and ask him what he thinks of all our most difficult decisions and actions. But, we will not have that… we will now have something as powerful and as much a part of God as Jesus is, but a little more ethereal and a little less obvious: The Holy Spirit.
Ascension Day allows us to spiritually, emotionally, and mentally prepare ourselves for the coming of the Spirit.
In reading the Ascension Day scriptures (click here for the texts), I can’t help but be reminded of one of my favorite childhood (and adulthood) stories by my hero, Dr. Seuss. The book is The Lorax, a story about a furry creature who fights to save his beloved Truffula trees from the greedy Once-ler. At the end of the book, the last tree falls and the Lorax appears to have lost his home forever. So, he lifts himself up by his own britches and floats away through a hole in the smog. The Lorax, however, did not abandon the Once-ler altogether. He left behind a small ring of stones with the word “unless” written upon them. The young boy who is hearing the story of the Lorax from a remorseful and repentant Once-ler wants to know what “an unless is.” In what I consider to be a classic example of fine literary writing, the Lorax proclaims that, “Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing’s going to get better… it’s not.” With that, the Once-ler bestows his last Truffula tree seed on the young boy who promptly plants it in the center of the ring of stones so that a new, better, and changed world can begin to grow.
I’m convinced Dr. Seuss was relying on his old Sunday School lessons when he penned that story. The world had its greatest defender in Jesus Christ. Jesus knew that someone had to put himself on the line to save us all, and he did just that. He went to the cross with our names written upon his heart. The disciples probably thought that Jesus’ Resurrection was just the beginning–that the three-year earthly ministry had just been a warm up– and in many ways it was. But Jesus’ plans for his disciples and the world would mean he’d have to be lifted away, but he left in our hands the hope of “an unless” and the Holy Spirit brings us the seed we can each plant in the hopes of growing the Kingdom of God.
We are moving through the Christian year. We are rapidly progressing toward Pentecost Sunday (June 12). But we can’t just stumble along blindly. It is up to each of us to understand who we are, to whom we belong, and where we as a people are going. Ascension Day is just one day on our journey, but it is an important one. We will watch Jesus be lifted away, and we will be tempted to stand around gazing at the sky, waiting for his return. But hear the voice of the angels calling to us to get our heads out of the clouds and focused back on doing the work Jesus put before us.
Blessings and Peace,
Pastor Amanda
