Ascension Day 2014

The third day, he arose again from the dead. He ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty, from whence he shall come to judge the living and the dead.

In the Apostles Creed,familiar to so many millions, the ascension of Christ to heaven as he waits to come again is just a tiny phrase easy to pass right over. Even the Bible spends little time on describing the event, with only Luke's brief comment including the specific physical act in Acts 1 (http://www.esvbible.org/Acts%201/).

Basic though Christ's ascension may be to the Christian faith, there has been decreasing emphasis on commemorating this event in most churches today. So yesterday I found it very moving to be in one of the most classically beautiful church buildings in our city on Ascension Day.

The edifice is the chapel at Assisi Heights, a convent that is home to many elderly nuns. Many of these women have lived their lives around the world, devoting themselves to mercy bestowed on "the least of these." The event was a brief recital presented by young Suzuki violin and viola students, including two of my grandsons. The selections would be familiar to any person familiar with the standardized Suzuki playbook, with only one having any kind of sacred reference. Apparently the nuns regularly invite groups like this to bring a bit of culture and entertainment into the world of these women who are now limited to the grounds of the convent--or even to their rooms. At the beginning of the recital, the kids' teacher noted that the performance was being broadcast on live circuit TV to many more women now confined to their rooms by the ailments of old age.

The audience in this large space was tiny: parents and a few other friends or relatives of the ten kids who were performing and about twenty or so nuns, some in habits, some not. What was most moving about this tiny group was their actions at the end of the very short program. This was not an able-bodied group. The majority of the women sat in wheelchairs or walkers, while others had canes resting under their seats. Still, when the last strains of Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star faded away, first a handful, then perhaps half of the women struggled to their feet as they continued to clap. It was fascinating to see the faces of children who didn't quite understand just what a standing ovation is and to watch the parents who were also seeing this kind of recognition for their son or daughter's performance for the first time.

So the "concert" was a success. I used my I-Pad to take a very short video of one of the group selections while panning around the building. As might be expected from such a well-designed building, the acoustics were just right for the gentle strings, and the sun lit the stained glass with a perfect glow. Even if  our congregation wasn't having any Ascension Day service, I was at least privileged to be in a building dedicated to worshiping the ascended Lord Jesus.

The setting did lead me to some rather dismal thoughts, however. Was this some kind of metaphor for what the Church has become in the 21st century? The elderly are the ones who have given their entire lives over to serving Christ, while the youth are now devoted to "culture" that is devoid of almost anything sacred? Did any of the kids (or even their parents for that matter) even know what day it was on the Christian calendar? (I'll admit that the assignment of a specific date for commemorating the ascension is only a construct, but it still does give us one day out of 365 to consider the key role Christ's ascension has to do with his whole ministry) Are even the most beautiful and ornate church buildings going to someday just become nice venues for concerts and conferences and talks on world peace or whatever?

But seeing the event in that light is unfair. Outside the building on this beautiful spring day, there were still Christians living out their faith in their actions and interactions and conversations. God's Church will prevail, right up to the time when the ascended Christ returns again, "in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.” (Acts 1:11b, ESV) 

So with joy and gladness, I could go back out into the late afternoon sunshine and thank God, not just for sending his Son to die, rise again, and ascend, but also to provide the ongoing blessings of the Holy Spirit and his Word to guide us until that glorious second ascension, the one we can participate in through his mercy and grace.