Rev Michael D Jenkins May 24, 2020

“Ascension Sunday”

Seventh Sunday of Easter: Acts 1:1-11; Psalm 47; Ephesians 1:15-23; Luke 24:44-53
Opening Prayer: Holy God, we celebrate your presence this day. For the gift of resurrection, we give you thanks and praise. For the gift of your ongoing presence I our lives, we rejoice and sing.
Overwhelm us with your presence here, that we might be overwhelmed with joy. In joyous gratitude, we pray. Amen.
The ascension of Jesus reshapes our disfigured understanding of an ascended life. His ascension is the corrective and antidote to the fragmentation and separation of self-ascension. He is the only authentic and life-giving ascension. Through him we too can live ascended lives. The reality is that we want to live ascended lives. We want to break free from the things that hold us down and rise above it all. We are creatures who more than being earth bound. Let us not distort what ascension and an ascended life means.
Jesus ascension is not about the absence but about his presence. It is not about his leaving but about “the fullness, and relationship must surely be what lie behind the question of men in white, “why do you stand looking up to heaven?”
The ascension is more about letting go than it is reaching and grasping. The question for us is not, “how we ascend?” The question is “what pulls us down?” What do we need to let go of? Is it fear, anger, resentment, self-righteousness, jealously, pride, addiction, lust. Our participation in Jesus’ ascension begins not by looking up but looking within.
The ascension of Jesus completes the resurrection. The resurrection is victory over death.
Dear God,
We can hold the image of the ascension in our hearts, but our hands and spirits must be ready to do the work that you have set before us. You have asked us to live out our Resurrection faith in service, offering peace and justice, hope and healing to all whom we meet. It is easy for us to lift the names of those near and dear to us in prayer in our worship service. I pray that your healing mercies for all who are ill, who mourn, who are lost and alone. We want to rejoice in prayer with those who have received special joys during this week. I offer this prayer to you in the name of our ascended Lord, Jesus Christ. Amen.