Message for Easter VII – Sunday, June 1, 2025 – Sunday After The Ascension
Brothers and Sisters:
Ascension Day always falls on a Thursday and so is not generally observed by the great majority of our members, so the Sunday after Ascension Day provides us with the best opportunity to focus our attention on this very significant event in the life of Christ. What we know about Jesus influences how we worship Him, so it is not difficult to see how our worship is shaped by the celebration of His Incarnation at Christmas, His Crucifixion on Good Friday, His Resurrection on Easter Day. The question we must now ask is this, “How is our worship today shaped by our understanding of the meaning of the Ascension?” I will share with you just one of the many ways.
It invites us to participate in heavenly worship. We say in the creed, “He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father.” It should come as no surprise therefore that one of the prayers we offer at this time makes the point that because we believe that our Lord Jesus Christ ascended into heaven, so also may we in heart and mind there ascend. The invitation is issued to all our congregations by the President in the Eucharistic Prayer, “Lift up your hearts.” The people respond, “We lift them up to the Lord.” By this liturgical action, this call, and our response, we are expected to transcend the limits of our local church setting and join with angels and archangels and with the saints of every generation in their glorious activity of worship. The Apostle Paul tells us that we are citizens of heaven (Philippians 3:20), and that it is necessary to set our minds on things above, not on things that are on earth (Colossians 3:2) so our worship must have this heavenly dimension where our focus is on God in God’s Triune majesty causing us to cry, “Holy, holy, holy, God of power and might!”
This heavenly worship provides the necessary balance to the earthly aspect of our worship. We assemble in God’s Name and in fellowship with one another. We claim Christ’s promise that He is standing in our midst. We bring before God our concerns, our needs, our agenda, our family, our community, and our world and we seek God’s blessing on all these things. Though these are all very important, they are all about us. We are on the earth and we are on centre stage. Heavenly worship transports us to the courts of heaven, where God’s name, God’s glory, and God’s kingdom become the focus of our attention, God takes the centre stage.
May our worship be enriched as we endeavour to hold the heavenly and earthly aspects together.
Contributed!