MOST OF US HAVE NO IDEA WHAT TODAY IS.
Today is the 40th day after Easter.
There are a lot of ’40s in the Bible. 40 years in the wilderness for the Israelites, 40 days in the desert for Jesus, and 40 days between the resurrection and ascension. The number 40 is a time of transition.
Today is what the church calendar calls Ascension Day, or the day described in Acts 1 as the day when Jesus ascends to the heavens.
There are a few things worth noting and mentioning about Jesus’ ascension.
Jesus makes a promise that His Spirit is going to descend on His people. (Acts 1v8)
You will be my witnesses all over the earth, including where you already are. (Acts 1v8)
One day Jesus will come back again in the same sort of way. (Acts 1v11)
In the Western Church, we often miss the power of Ascension Day. It’s completely possible this is the first time you have ever even heard of it! We tend not to observe the church calendar, at least in the Protestant tradition, and because of that, we often do not remember the moments worth remembering from the redemptive story of God.
But what happens when we forget the movement of this story is that our days and our lives end up not being saturated with the story of God as they should be. We fall out of rhythm with how the Church has helped form people into mindful and worshipful followers of Jesus for nearly 2,000 years.
We think that our inadvertent remembering, just like our inadvertent praying, will be enough to keep us close to the story of God.
And if you are anything like me, my mind just cannot help but be overwhelmed by all of the things going on in my day or existing on my to-do list that the reality that Ascension Day is upon us would have slipped through my mind like slime through my fingers, here one moment, but gone the next.
We need the church calendar to help us remember to order our lives around God.
Often without knowing it, we order our lives around something. Our lives are already governed by a calendar; just for a moment, think about the calendar that organizes your life and activities. Do you already have plans for Memorial Day? 4th of July? Thanksgiving Break? Our lives in America are shaped by a calendar, and for most of us, that is a combination of either a school calendar or a civic calendar that informs our lives of special and important moments.
Think of the church calendar like a trellis.
Most of us know what a trellis is, but if you don’t or just need a reminder, a trellis is something that you put behind a plant to help give it guidance and support while the vine grows and spreads out. It’s often made of wood or metal, and we see them in gardens all over the place. If it was not there, the vine or plant would grow sporadically without direction or grow to the point that it would not be able to bear any more weight growing up and would fall to the ground. But a trellis gives it support so it can become a flourishing plant.
Observing the church calendar, just like other spiritual practices, is a trellis for our ordinary lives.
It is meant to regularly put different gospel pieces in front of us as we live out the days that make up the whole of our life with God. It’s a rhythmic, embodied reminder of THE STORY - the good news of Jesus Christ.
It exists to ensure the weight of each day does not overwhelm us down to the ground in a way that could cause us to forget the kingdom of God that we are invited to be a part of.
Ascension Day is about many things, but primarily it is about the enthronement of Jesus at the right hand of the Father.
Today is a day fit for the King.
Today is a day about the kingdom of God.
Today is a day of promise in the present and a day to recall the promise about the future that will surely come to be.
Today is a day about King Jesus, and it should serve us to remember that today we celebrate the bodily ascension of our Lord Jesus Christ.
A verse for Ascension Day:
Acts 2v33 “Exalted to the right hand of God, he has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear.”
A prayer for Ascension Day:
Grant, we pray, Almighty God, that as we believe your only-begotten Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, to have ascended into heaven, so we may also in heart and mind there ascend, and with him continually dwell; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen.
