The remedy for unprofitable spiritual stargazing lies in a Christian theology of history, an understanding of the order of events in the divine programme. First, Jesus returned to heaven (Ascension). Secondly, the Holy Spirit came (Pentecost). Thirdly, the church goes out to witness (Mission). Fourthly, Jesus will come back (Parousia). Whenever we forget one of these events, or put them in the wrong sequence, confusion reigns. We need especially to remember that between the ascension and the Parousia, the disappearance and the reappearance of Jesus, there stretches a period of unknown length which is to be filled with the church’s world-wide, Spirit-empowered witness to him. We need to hear the implied message of the angels: ‘You have seen him go. You will see him come. But between that going and coming there must be another. The Spirit must come, and you must go—into the world for Christ.’

–John R W Stott, The Message of Acts:To the ends of the earth (Downers Grove, Il.: InterVarsity Academic, 1990), p.2

Almighty God,
fill us with a holy joy;
teach us how to thank you
with reverence & love
on account of the #ascension of #Christ your Son.
You have raised us up with him:
where he, the head, has preceded us in glory,
there we, the body, are called in hope#PrayeroftheDay #FeastDay pic.twitter.com/MvLOotVn2L

— PrayeroftheChurch (@Neddamred) May 9, 2024

Ascension theology turns at this point to the Eucharist, for in celebrating the eucharist the church professes to know how the divine presents itself in our time, and how the question of faithfulness is posed. Eucharistically, the church acknowledges that Jesus has heard and has answered the upward call; that, like Moses, he has ascended into that impenetrable cloud overhanging the mountain. Down below, rumours of glory emanate from the elders, but the master himself is nowhere to be seen. He is no longer with his people in the same way he used to be. Yet he is with them, in the Spirit.

–Douglas Farrow, Ascension Theology (New York: T and T Clark, 2011), p. 64

Today is the Feast of the Ascension. This woodcut depicts Christ departing the temporal world, leaving behind only footprints among his followers. The image comes from Bonaventure's Meditationes vitae Christi (Wynkyn de Worde, 1525) Shelf mark: [ZZ]1525.1 #Ascension #AscensionDay pic.twitter.com/TFKsp3HjNp

— LambethPalaceLibrary (@lampallib) May 9, 2024

Additionally, early Christians were not, as is commonly assumed, bound to a three-tier vision of the universe, i.e., heaven, hell, and earth.

[W]hen the Bible speaks of heaven and earth it is not talking about two localities related to each other within the same space-time continuum or about a nonphysical world contrasted with a physical one but about two different kinds of what we call space, two different kinds of what we call matter, and also quite possibly (though this does not necessarily follow from the other two) two different kinds of what we call time.

So heaven and earth, understood in this way, are two dimensions of the same reality. They “interlock and intersect in a whole variety of ways even while they retain, for the moment at least, their separate identities and roles.” Combine this with the doctrine of the ascension and we do not have a Jesus who floats up into a heaven “up there” but disappears into a reality we cannot yet see. Because heaven and earth are not yet joined Jesus is physically absent from us. At the same time he is present with us through the Holy Spirit and the sacraments, linkages where the two realities meet in the present age.

Read it all.

Today is Ascension Day, which comes 40 days after Easter Day and celebrates Jesus' ascension into Heaven

Image: C15th depiction of the Ascension in a section of the East Window in St Mary Magdalene Church, Newark. Photo by Jules & Jenny, CC BY 2.0 Deed, via Wikimedia Commons pic.twitter.com/xDQW5BGpMA

— The Anglican Church in St Petersburg (@anglicanspb) May 9, 2024

Grant, we pray, almighty God,
that as we believe your only-begotten Son our Lord Jesus Christ
to have ascended into the heavens,
so we in heart and mind may also ascend
and with him continually dwell;
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
Amen.

Today's art: Passion series: Ascension – Rembrandt Harmensz. van Rijn https://t.co/vX5HtR8e6B pic.twitter.com/yi7pt4mWRL

— Art and the Bible (@artbible) May 9, 2024

One thing this poem does have in common with the ‘Advent lyrics’ of Christ I is that it’s an extraordinarily sophisticated theological meditation on its Biblical theme, rendered in the traditional language of Anglo-Saxon poetry but drawing on learned interpretations of the subject by the Church Fathers. The poem begins by describing the delight of the angels at Christ’s return to heaven, contrasting their joy with the grief of the disciples at parting from Christ, and giving his words of comfort to his followers:…

“Rejoice in your hearts! I will never leave you;
I will always remain with you in love,
and give you strength and dwell with you
for ever and ever, so that through my grace
you will never want for anything good…
I will dwell with you
from henceforth as a comforter, and keep you in peace,
a steadfast strength in every place.”

Read it all.

'So the beautiful bird ventured into flight.
Now he sought the home of the angels above,
that glorious country, bold and strong in power.'

An Anglo-Saxon poem on the Ascension: https://t.co/MfwI6d6GOC pic.twitter.com/3qKnU9Rann

— Eleanor Parker (@ClerkofOxford) May 9, 2024

O Almighty God, who by thy holy apostle hast taught us to set our affection on things above: Grant us so to labour in this life as ever to be mindful of our citizenship in those heavenly places whither our Saviour Christ is gone before; to whom with thee, O Father, and thee, O Holy Ghost, be all honour and glory, world without end.

Today is Ascension Day, 40 days after Easter, when we celebrate Christ’s ascension to heaven at the end of his ministry on earth

We are holding the Eucharist for Ascension Day at 17:30. All are welcome to join.

📷: Martin Cook pic.twitter.com/FTPlNnMkHJ

— Salisbury Cathedral (@SalisburyCath) May 9, 2024

As I looked,

thrones were placed
and one that was ancient of days took his seat;
his raiment was white as snow,
and the hair of his head like pure wool;
his throne was fiery flames,
its wheels were burning fire.
A stream of fire issued
and came forth from before him;
a thousand thousands served him,
and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him;
the court sat in judgment,
and the books were opened.

I looked then because of the sound of the great words which the horn was speaking. And as I looked, the beast was slain, and its body destroyed and given over to be burned with fire. As for the rest of the beasts, their dominion was taken away, but their lives were prolonged for a season and a time. I saw in the night visions,

and behold, with the clouds of heaven
there came one like a son of man,
and he came to the Ancient of Days
and was presented before him.
And to him was given dominion
and glory and kingdom,
that all peoples, nations, and languages
should serve him;
his dominion is an everlasting dominion,
which shall not pass away,
and his kingdom one
that shall not be destroyed.

–Daniel 7:9-14

Today is the feast of the Ascension. At East Harling, Norfolk, late 15th Century glass shows Mary and the disciples watching Christ carried up to heaven by angels, leaving his footprints on the mountain top and just his nail-scarred feet in view.

East Harling:… pic.twitter.com/RYWQpbHapP

— Simon Knott (@SimoninSuffolk) May 9, 2024