On Thursday the 25th of May the church commemorates Ascension Day. Which is the commemoration of the ascension of Christ into Heaven and occurs on the Thursday 40 days after Easter. Ascension Day is one of the more overlooked holidays of the Christian calendar. It doesn’t fall on a Sunday; there are no disciplines of preparation ahead of time or rites of celebration on the day to usher it in. Fewer and fewer churches remember it, let alone hold Thursday services. It’s no wonder so many people forget about it.
Not all of us know what Ascension Day is so according to the accounts in the Gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles, Jesus appeared to many of his disciples during the 40 days following his resurrection. On the 40th day, he came again to the Apostles and led them out to the Mount of Olives where he instructed them to wait in Jerusalem for the promise of the Holy Spirit. Then, as they were watching, he ascended into clouds. As they continued to watch, two angels appeared and declared to them that, just as he ascended, Jesus would return in glory.
For many Christians, Ascension Day’s meaning provides a sense of hope that the glorious and triumphant return of Christ is near. It is a reminder of the Kingdom of God within their hearts, and of the ever-present Spirit of God, watching over and protecting them as they spread the light of Jesus’ truth throughout the world.
I think it’s worth retaining and remembering because Ascension Day reminds us that we cannot limit God. For while God came to us in the flesh in the person of Jesus, Jesus ‘ascension reminds us that we can’t restrict God to any one place. Jesus’ ascension, then, isn’t about his leaving his disciples, us, the world but rather is about the simultaneous confession that God has chosen to be located in our physical world so that God may be accessible to us, and God refuses to be limited even to those important places.
No building, no people, no book, no religion, even, can limit God’s ability to be accessible to others. The whole Circuit meets here at Sea Point Methodist, the service starts at 19h00 pm and we will be celebrating Holy Communion together. I call upon as many of us as possibly who are able to join and attend the service.
See you on Thursday