Ascension Day

(As published in Clarion)

THE ASCENDED LORD GATHERS HIS CHURCH

After Jesus ascended into heaven, the apostles returned to Jerusalem. They gathered in the upper room along with the women, Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers. (Acts 1:12-14)

The ascended Lord was gathering his church.

Just six weeks earlier, things had looked bleak. The crowds had abandoned him. Even his closest disciples had fled. Mark records those bitter words when the soldiers seized Jesus: “And they all forsook him and fled.” The Shepherd was left with no sheep. He died alone—a leader without followers.

After his resurrection, he sought out his scattered flock. Two had left for Emmaus. Mary was weeping in the garden. Judas had taken his own life. Ten disciples cowered behind locked doors. Thomas had disappeared, convinced all hope was lost.

But Christ gathered them again. He sent the two back from Emmaus to Jerusalem to report that they had seen him. He sent Mary to tell the disciples that he had arisen. He appeared to the Eleven. Now, in Acts 1, we see the fruit of his labour. His church is together again, gathered in the upper room, united in prayer.

Luke names them. Peter, who had denied his Lord three times, was there. John and James, the sons of Zebedee, who once vied for the best seats in the kingdom, were there. Thomas, who had doubted that Christ had arisen, was now worshipping his Lord and his God. Matthew, the tax collector, had not returned to his old ways of exploiting his people. Simon the Zealot, once part of a violent revolutionary movement, had come to see that Jesus would establish his kingdom not by the sword, but by the power of God. The other five disciples, of whom we know little, were also there.

Then there were “the women”—the wives of the apostles who were married, as well as Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Susanna, and others who had supported Jesus from their own means. Mary, the mother of Jesus, was also there. She, too, had been gathered in—now worshipping her son as her Lord and God.

Even his own brothers, who had once thought him mad, were there—James, Judas, and Simon. They now believed, and all three would become leaders in the church.

And there were more. Verse 15 tells us that soon the number grew to about 120—men, women, and children.

The ascended Lord had gathered his church.

And he is still gathering today. Across the nations, he continues to build, defend, and preserve his people—his church, chosen for everlasting life. And we believe that we are, and forever shall remain, living members of that church.

 

For personal reflection  

1. How does Jesus’ gathering of his scattered disciples after his resurrection encourage you in your own faith journey?
2. Many of those gathered in the upper room had past failures, doubts, or misconceptions about Jesus. How does this challenge the way we view ourselves and others in the church today?
3. The early church was united in prayer as they waited for the coming of the Holy Spirit. How can we foster that same spirit of prayer and unity in our own churches and communities?

 

An Ascension Hymn

Based on Article 6 of the Apostles' Creed ("... he ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God the Father almighty") and Lord's Days 18 & 19a of the Heidelberg Catechism.

"Our Lord Ascended from the Earth" by George vP

An Ascension Hymn: Christ Went up on High

Christ Went up on High far Above the Sky

(Tune: Genevan 47)

1. Christ went up on high far above the sky.

Satan and his realm he had overwhelmed.

As when he was born so on his return

angels praised the Lord, who all things restored.

Him we see no more yet we him adore

for he rules as King over everything.

2. Christ our nature shared and our pain endured.

He bore all our guilt and his blood was spilt.

He was crucified; as a man he died,

but he rose again evermore to reign.

He, both God and man, sits on heaven's throne.

There he for us pleads, always intercedes.

3. When he did ascend he gave this command:

"You must go and teach, fearlessly must preach

the good news of me and my victory.

In God's triune Name baptize those I claim.

They who will believe shall new life receive.

Cleansed from all their sin they'll be born again."

4. From the Father's throne Christ supplies his own.

He pours out his grace from that heavenly place.

He the Spirit sends who on us descends.

He's our Comforter, our great Counsellor.

Praise the Trinity for his majesty!

Praise the Lord our God! Spread his fame abroad!

George van Popta, 2017.

This ascension hymn is based on a liturgical sequence written by Adam of St. Victor (died 1177). I set it to the Genevan tune for Psalm 47 because Psalm 47 is an ascension Psalm.

You can hear it here:

Christ went up on high far above the sky by George vP

An Ascension Day meditation

Delivered from the muckrake

Set your hearts on things above where Christ is seated at the right hand of God… not on earthly things (Col 3:1,2).

“Oh! deliver me from this muckrake!” So cried Christiana in John Bunyan’s The Pilgrim’s Progress. 

 

Part two of the book describes the pilgrimage of Christian’s wife, Christiania, their four sons, and the maiden neighbour Mercy. After her conversion, Christiania comes across a man with a muckrake who could only look down at the ground. Someone was holding a cælestial crown above his head, offering to give him the crown in exchange for the muckrake. But the man did not look up or notice the crown; instead, he moved around the muck at his feet being careful to rake out the bits of straw and small sticks. 

 

Christiana tells Interpreter she thinks she knows who the man is, “a man of this World.”

Interpreter confirms what Christiana says and explains the vision. The muckrake of worldly man shows his carnal mind. The worldly man would rather pay attention to the straws, sticks and dust at his feet than to the cælestial crown held out to him by Christ. This, continues Interpreter, shows that to some people heaven is but as a fable and that the things they see around them in the world are the only things substantial. Muckraker could only look downwards, for when earthly things begin to exercise power upon men’s minds, hearts are carried away from God. It is at this point that Christiana cries out, “Oh! deliver me from this muckrake.”

In Colossians 3 the Apostle Paul tells us to throw away the muckrake. We are to set our hearts above where Christ is seated at the right hand of God and not on the earthly things.

The church commemorates the ascension of the Lord Jesus Christ on the 40^th day after Easter (this year, May 5^th). Because Christ, with whom we, by faith, have been raised, is in heaven, we need to look away from the earthly things and seek the heavenly things.

One of the earthly things Paul mentions from which we are to look away is greed which he calls idolatry. Greed is lust for more things. We all need things, but we are quick to make the stuff of this life a god. We do well to pray the prayer of Proverbs 30:8, which Christiana added to her plea for deliverance from the muckrake, “Give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread.”

Recently we received a thank-you note from a young couple for the wedding gift we gave them. At the end of the note they wrote, “We know it’s only ‘stuff.’” Yes, only stuff, stuff that will not last forever and so not worth holding on to too tightly.

 In 1 John 2:16,17, John said:

For everything in the world–the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does–comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever.

Do not forget the lesson of the Parable of the Sower. The deceitfulness of wealth can choke the good seed of the Word of God and make it unfruitful. 

 

Keep a very loose hold on the things of this world. Throw away the muckrake and receive, from Christ, the cælestial crown. Keep singing and praying to Christ above:

We revere you, Lord and Saviour;

We implore your grace and love.

Hear our prayers and help us ever

Seek the things that are above (Book of Praise, Hymn 41:2).