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First
Reading
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Psalm |
Epistle |
Gospel |
Acts 1:1–11 |
Psalm 47:22–30 |
Ephesians 1:15–23 |
Luke 24:44–53
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While the golden age of amusement park carousels was over a century ago, the carousel or merry-go round is still the popular mainstay of most parks and traveling carnivals. Unlike the roller coaster that requires one of a steady stomach and a love of heights, the carousel may be enjoyed by young and old alike. The traditional carousels have continued a legacy handed down from a game of crusader times when young nobility would try to spear suspended rings around a pole, where the riders of the outside horses stretch out their hands to grab brass rings as the carousel spins around. The phrase “grabbing the brass ring” entered our vocabulary meaning to take the opportunity, to stretch and extend oneself to accomplish a worthy goal. Hopefully, most of those graduating up on the hill this morning have taken satisfaction in some way of grabbing the brass ring.
That is also an important lesson to be held up as we celebrate Jesus’ ascension and anticipate celebrating the coming of God’s Spirit to our forbearers of faith. Now in some parishes, on the Sunday after Ascension Day, they give everyone a helium balloon. I’ve even imagined renting a large hot-air balloon, tethering it in the park across the street and at the end of the service letting it sail up through the clouds. Yet on second thought, balloons convey a rather incomplete message. It’s tempting, isn’t it, to picture Jesus standing on the Mount of Olives over looking Jerusalem, waving good-by to his disciples as he rises out of sight? Sort of like the wizard of Oz who, after the magic show is over, waves goodbye to all the little munchkins, and takes off on a solo flight, leaving Dorothy and Toto to hitchhike back to Kansas. But that’s not what Ascension Day is all about. Listen again to the words of today’s lessons: “Don’t leave Jerusalem but wait for the gift of the Holy Spirit. Then you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and to the ends of the earth. .... Thus it is written that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed to all nations. So stay here in the city until you are clothed with power.”
Ascension Day isn’t about God going away, it’s about the Lord sending us out into the world to proclaim the good news, promising to work with us, and promising that the Holy Spirit will confirm the power of the resurrection among us. Staying here, sending and proclaiming, is the dominant theme.
Ascension Day teaches us that’s its Ok to honor the past. To be sure, the early disciples treasured the memories of Jesus as he was, and that’s understandable and perfectly fine. Yet it is also o.k. that Jesus is no longer confined to wearing sandals and eating fish by the shore of Galilee. It’s o.k. that the church is not like it was, for the Risen Lord doesn’t want us to be the church of yesterday, but the church of today. We are not sent into another world, we are sent as disciples into this world.
So while many parishes may still give out balloons, here in Tompkins County, St. John’s offers you something more. Our graphic art department has stapled to each and every bulletin a ticket. May it remind us that on this day, God gives us a ticket to ride, to ride the carousel of all creation, encouraging us each in our own way to reach out to grab the brass ring. Ascension Day proclaims that in Christ, we are not as stranded orphans, but are fully capable of going out and being witnesses to the good news. Ascension Day challenges all the fatalism, all the pessimism, all the passive-aggressive behavior our society is so fond of. Ascension Day says, be your own person, accept responsibility for your actions, and get on with the task. Take your ticket and get up and ride. Stretch your heart, body, and mind. Know that the risen Christ will work with us, and that the Holy Spirit confirms Christ’s enterprise in this world, encourages us to take initiative, and to grab the brass ring of faith and good works,
I offer you this on the Sunday after the Ascension, in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, Alleluia.
