Ascension Day Is Coming – Let’s Celebrate

We celebrate Ascension day on May 21st, 2020. What on earth is this you may ask? This is not a celebration that I grew up with, nor is it one that I have taken much notice of. It is not a celebration that most of us outside liturgical churches have ever heard of or ever really celebrated, but it is very important and I would highly recommend that you consider incorporating it into your worship cycle.

This is the fortieth day after Easter Sunday and we are celebrating the ascension of Christ into heaven. The day is also and, in some ways more importantly, a celebration of  the new creation that Jesus’ resurrection brought into being.  What beautiful imagery to carry with us for the rest of the season until Pentecost (May 24th). It seems such an appropriate celebration for those of us who are interested in sustainability and creation care.

Ascension day is a day of hope and promise. Jesus has ascended into heaven but we are not abandoned. Jesus has ascended into heaven but there is still much to do as we await his return. Jesus has ascended into heaven and a new world has begun but there is still injustice, oppression, suffering and death that needs to be overcome. Jesus stands beside God the creator as our cheerleader, our advocate, encouraging us to enter the world with his spirit blazing within us.

Last year I wrote this litany which I am reposting here because it gives me encouragement and strength to believe that God is bringing a new world into being. I find that reading a litany like this aloud really resonates in my inner being and increases my faith for the journey ahead.

Because Jesus ascended  and sits at the right hand of God,

a new world has broken into ours –

a world in which justice does come for the poor,

freedom comes for the prisoners,

and healing for the sick.

Because Jesus ascended  and sits at the right hand of God,

 a new community has been formed –

a community that loves and cares for all members,

a family that welcomes all who are abandoned and rejected,

a place where all find a place of belonging.

Because Jesus ascended  and sits at the right hand of God,

a new creation has begun – 

all that was distorted is being restored,

all that is corrupted is being renewed,

all that was broken is being made whole.

Because Jesus ascended  and sits at the right hand of God,

God’s new world has begun.