The Feast of the Ascension

May the eyes of your hearts be enlightened,

that you may know what is the hope that belongs to his call,
what are the riches of glory
in his inheritance among the holy ones,
and what is the surpassing greatness of his power
for us who believe,
in accord with the exercise of his great might,
which he worked in Christ,
raising him from the dead
and seating him at his right hand in the heavens,
far above every principality, authority, power, and dominion,
and every name that is named
not only in this age but also in the one to come.

That’s a ponderously long sentence! I’m told that, before the invention of violins and trumpets – which are incredibly loud – and long before the invention of amplifiers which can be heard by the deaf, deafen the hearing and wake the dead, when a composer wanted to emphasize a particularly beautiful stretch of music he added more and more notes. Baroque music – for the harpsichord, for instance -- just keeps going and going with those half-notes, quavers and semiquavers.

Saint Paul, who is nothing if not enthralled with the Gospel, piles word on word and phrase on phrase as he blesses his beloved Ephesians. Actually, his Greek blessing is longer than this one; the translators had some pity on us and pared the sentence into several sentences. (Occasionally, Saint Paul was so excited he completely forgot where his sentence was going, to the despair of translators today.)

As we celebrate the Ascension of Jesus, Saint Paul’s blessing carries us aloft. Its subject moves from the favors Christ has bestowed upon us to the majesty we see in Him. Looking at him seated at God’s right hand in the heavens, we lose ourselves in wonder.

But contemplating his glory opens us to the very blessings Paul wished upon us: enlightenment, knowledge, hope, awe and wonder; not to mention generosity, patience, confidence and courage.

The Ascension celebrates an amazing story. Jesus of Nazareth, child of Mary and uncertain parentage, born in poverty and obscurity, homeless, despised, betrayed, crucified, abandoned – has been raised to the right hand of the All-powerful, All-Holy, All-Knowing, All-Merciful, All-Good God. The most despised man in human history is the most beloved of God.

And he has not forgotten where he came from, nor the people who loved him. How many fortunate souls carried aloft by the fickle winds of this world, despise the very people who set them up? They forget the old adage, “Be careful who you step on on the way up, for you will probably meet them again, on the way down.”

As the Hebrew writer reminds us:

Since, then, we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast to our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who in every respect has been tested as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

What a friend we have in Jesus!