Up, Up and Away! … Hello Hump Day Readers! Today is a very important day in Christianity, but sadly, it gets little press. It is Ascension Day. Forty days after Jesus rose from the grave, another miracle marked the completion of Jesus’ earthly ministry: the Ascension. This episode doesn’t get as much attention as Jesus’ birth, crucifixion, or resurrection. Christmas and Easter are major cultural events, even outside of Christian circles. But for many Christians, Ascension Day passes by with hardly a murmur of recognition or excitement. Why is that?

Maybe it’s because the Ascension seems a little strange. A man floating into the sky, never to be seen again…what’s this all about? But remember, this is the same man who was born to a virgin, calmed storms with a word, rose from the dead, and who, post-resurrection, could pass through walls and locked doors. Let’s be honest—disappearing into the sky is sort of par for the course given that kind of context!

One theologian’s thought about why Ascension Day slips away without thought is that is it somewhat anticlimactic. It doesn’t have “the press” of the Christmas story or the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ. Jesus is now alive among the people but then he leaves. That seems to be the “drop-off” of any curiosity and wonder for most Christians. Few churches even celebrated Ascension or teach about it. Yet, the Ascension of Jesus is not just a guy who goes up into the sky. It has a meaning for us and shame on us if we don’t realize that!

Remember in Acts where Jesus presented himself alive and spoke about matters concerning the Kingdom of God? No doubt the atmosphere had to be anticipation—what was Jesus going to do next?! The hopes of the Apostles were no longer dashed because Jesus was alive. And for them, this meant the Messiah would do it—kick out Rome and give Israel its rightful title. In a way they were right, but not in the way they thought it would happen.

Instead, Jesus signaled that his plans for the kingdom were even bigger and better than what they were imagining. He told them: “You are not permitted to know the times or periods that the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the farthest parts of the earth.”

And then, in a total turn, and before their very eyes Jesus physically floated up into the sky, disappearing from their view into the clouds. Can you just hear the words, “Now what?” How long they stood there staring we don’t know but it must have been a while because two angels showed up bringing their gaze from the sky back to earth, saying: “Why do you stand here looking up into the sky? This same Jesus who has been taken up from you into heaven will come back in the same way you saw him go into heaven.”

You can imagine the confusion. Yet, to their credit, they stayed in Jerusalem—waiting just as Jesus told them to do. Soon the Holy Spirit was poured out in an unprecedented and incredible way on God’s people. The church was born and here we are. And that is why Ascension should be important to every believer in Christ. The Ascension reminds us of the kind of hope we have in Jesus. It also reveals the scope of God’s kingdom. To sum it up, the Ascension tells us that we have a part to play! When Jesus rose up into the sky to meet his Father in the heavenly realms, he closed one chapter of his ministry and opened a new chapter—the ongoing ministry of the church through the power of the Holy Spirit—our part to play until Jesus returns again.

Jesus wasn’t abandoning us, he was making room for a deeper and broader sense of God’s mission in the world and he wanted his beloved children to take on this mission. That’s how much Jesus loves us and gives us all that we need to accomplish the mission. So, my challenge to us and especially the Church is “Why are you not accepting the Ascension’s invitation to continue the work and ministry of Jesus during his temporary absence? Why do you not teach on the Ascension and let us know the hope and confidence Jesus puts in us to continue the mission?” How sad it is that the “high holidays” of the Christian life are front and center, but yet some of the most important ones that don’t have gifts, trees, bunnies, or holidays with time off, are glossed over?

Friends, Jesus has a job for us and the Ascension gives us the hope to do the job. I’m thinking this hurts Jesus’ heart when we pay little attention to Ascension. We need to make a change about Ascension and Pentecost, too. We may not get gifts or a few days off, but we will be filled with hope and a grace-filled renewal to continue the mission Jesus called us to. Our world needs the love of Christ, let’s get out there and do our job. AMEN.