Preached at Evensong - readings are Psalms 24 & 96, Daniel 7:9-14, Matthew 28:16-20
In the name of the Risen and Ascended Lord. Amen.
The first time I went to Israel was in 2012 and I had the opportunity to see so many wonderful and holy sites. But one place we didn’t go was the Chapel of the Ascension on the Mount of Olives. It just wasn’t on our itinerary. So, when I went back in 2020, just about a week before the pandemic began, I told the guide we hired that I wanted to go to see the site of the Ascension. He warned me that there wasn’t much to see and that I’d probably be disappointed. But I insisted – I’ve seen the sites of Jesus’ birth, death, and Resurrection, so I wanted to add the missing Ascension site.
He was right – it was underwhelming. The Chapel of the Ascension is a very small stone building with a glass-covered rock in it. They say that you can see the footprint of Jesus in the rock from where he ascended. I’ve walked along beaches and through the mud before. I know what a footprint looks like, and that wasn’t one.
That experience is a metaphor for how most Christians view the Ascension. For one, it’s always forty days after Easter, meaning it’s always on a Thursday and not as widely celebrated as Sunday feasts. But the bigger reason why the Ascension can be an underwhelming day is that we often misunderstand it. The Ascension isn’t a farewell, it’s a coronation; not a departure, but an enthronement.
The Sunday before Advent begins, usually in late November, the Church celebrates Christ the King Sunday – which is superfluous because if there’s a day on which we should proclaim that Christ is King, it’s today, on the Feast of the Ascension. The Ascension of Jesus isn’t about geography or metaphysics; the question at hand isn’t “where is Jesus?” No, the Ascension is about the sovereignty of the Crucified and Risen Jesus over all things.
What we profess in the Creed and know from Scripture is that this Jesus now sits at the right hand of God. He sits because all has been accomplished – through his Death and Resurrection, the work of love has been fulfilled. And he sits at the right hand of God – the place of power and authority. This is why we can be so audaciously hopeful and confident that all shall be well, because the one who sits on the throne of heaven is the one who loved us beyond the limits of reason or deserving. It’s also why judgment is never something to be feared, because our judge is the one who loved us so much as to endure the worst that humanity could muster. Sitting at the right hand of God is the love that transcends our hopes, sins, and deaths.
We heard the choir chant Psalm 96, which is what scholars call an “enthronement psalm.” There’s no definitive evidence, but some scholars think that there was an annual ritual in the Temple in which the people would gather and reaffirm their fidelity to God, who was be ritually enthroned anew as the God of heaven and earth. Even if that didn’t happen, Psalm 96 praises God as the King of all Creation.
After summoning us to praise, there are at least three things that the psalm mentions that inform our response to the Ascension of Jesus. The first we heard in “Declare his glory among all nations.” Jesus echoes this in his final words that we heard read in Matthew: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations.”
This isn’t about indoctrination or church growth, rather it’s an invitation into the relief of the Gospel, into participating in love that is making all things well. We heard in verse 5 of the psalm, “As for all the gods of the nations, they are but idols.” A more literal translation would be “they are ungods” or “nobodies.” Because Christ reigns over all, we declare this glorious truth to all, the truth that might does not always make right, that moral arc of the universe is weighted towards justice, that we are not defined by our mistakes, that the risk of love is well worth it. The “nations,” a way of referring to those outside the faith, certainly have gods – or priorities that they live by. But one look at the world around us and we see how utterly insufficient the gods of politics, wealth, and self-help are. We declare and testify to a better way, to the way of the living God who reigns on high.
Next, Psalm 96 tells us, “Ascribe to the LORD honor and power.” It’s a call to humility, to remember that honor and power belong to God, and God alone. Jesus sits at the right hand of God, not us. So do well to let Jesus be God with us and God for us. The judgment seat belongs to him, not to us. Thinking in terms of our government, God really is something like a King – sovereign over the executive, legislative, and judicial realms of life. God has not called us to be judges, or enforcement agents, or law-makers over one another. No, as Jesus tells us, “By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, that you love one another.” So, to the previous point, as we go forth into the world, we do so not in judgment, but love.
Lastly, Psalm 96 says “Worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness.” On this point, it’s a call to focus on what is beautiful, instead of ugly. This doesn’t mean that we ignore injustice, but it does mean that we can focus more on what other are doing right, and less on what they are doing wrong. The same wisdom applies to ourselves. It’s a call to slow down and pay attention to the grandeur of the world around us as opposed to rushing from task to task. The world is full of beauty, and enjoying that beauty a way being caught up in the beautiful things Jesus continues to do in our midst.
The Ascension is the announcement of a regime change – no longer do Sin and Death get the last word, no longer is judgment something to fear, no longer do we live in a world of chaotic randomness, but rather we live under the gracious and loving rule of Jesus Christ, who for us and our salvation was crucified, resurrected, and has ascended in order to fill all things with and for love. Amen.
