Missed the Ascension?

It was my teenage son, Noah, who made me aware of the fact that I had completely missing Ascension Day last Thursday (May 17). He came out of his youth group on Friday evening and told me about the passage they had studied – Acts 1:1-11. “Yikes!” I thought, “I missed celebrating the Ascension!”

Now is this really a big deal?

On a personal note, it showed me that all the calendars I've been using this year are completely secular. They have no religious holidays on them. So, I need to depend on my church community to track with religious events. This is normally fine except that 1) I had been in the nursery at St. Margaret's for the whole service the week before and hadn't read the bulletin and 2) we decided to go to St. Clement's church in Selkirk on Sunday which had already had a special service for Ascension on Thursday and instead was having a Rogation Sunday (a day to ask for God's mercy and blessing on the seeds that were soon to be planted). Lesson #1: read my bulletin(s)!

But, I do have a bigger question. On a theological level – is it a big deal to miss the Ascension?

To miss celebrating it on a certain day? I don't think so.

To miss it entirely in one's Christian faith? Definitely.

The Ascension of Jesus brings about two very important things that impact us daily.

1. When Jesus ascended into heaven, He took His place at the right hand of the Father. This is a place of power and authority as Ephesians 1:19b-23 says, “That power is like the working of his mighty strength, 20 which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, 21 far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. 22 And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, 23 which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.”
   Our Saviour, the Suffering Servant of Isaiah 53, is the Lord Jesus Christ, the powerful Son of God. He is our Advocate with the Father (1 John 2:1-2). He knows and understands our weaknesses having been tempted on all accounts yet without sin so we can approach God's throne with confidence (Hebrews 4:15-16). I could go on and on but I think you get the idea!
2. Jesus had to leave in order for the Spirit to come. He spoke of the coming of the Spirit in Luke 24:49 and John 16:7. Jesus' time on earth was done. The third Person of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit, was now to come. The disciples didn't know what exactly they were waiting for as they waited for Pentecost (celebrating May 27, by the way!). The pouring out of the Holy Spirit had (and continues to have) a tremendous impact on the Church and each individual Christian. But we can talk about that next week!