Today’s service is led by the Revd Andy Braunston
Welcome
Hello and welcome to worship. Today we celebrate the Ascension – which actually fell on Thursday but, like many churches, we observe the festival today. Ascension draws us to the end of the Easter stories where Jesus hands over his work to his friends – friends who include you and me. My name is Andy Braunston and the work the good Lord has given me is to serve as the United Reformed Church’s Minister for Digital Worship. I undertake this role from the beautiful island country of Orkney off mainland Scotland’s far north coast. So, with trepidation about the work given to us, we come to worship.
Call to Worship
Come and worship the One who raised Jesus from the dead! Hail the day that sees him rise! Come and worship Jesus, now beyond our mortal sight! Hail the day that sees him rise! Come and worship the Holy Spirit, who raises our hearts to heaven! Hail the day that sees him rise!
Hymn Hail the Day that Sees Him Rise
Charles Wesley (1739) public domain Sung by St John’s Episcopal Church, Boulder, CO, Virtual Choir
Hail the day that sees him rise, Alleluia!
To his throne above the skies; Alleluia!
Christ, the Lamb for sinners given, Alleluia!
Enters now the highest heaven. Alleluia!
There for him high triumph waits, Alleluia!
Lift your heads, eternal gates, Alleluia!
He hath conquered death and sin, Alleluia!
Take the King of Glory in, Alleluia!
See, he lifts his hands above, Alleluia!
See, he shows the prints of love, Alleluia!
Hark, his gracious lips bestow, Alleluia!
Blessings on his Church below, Alleluia!
Lord, beyond our mortal sight, Alleluia!
Raise our hearts to reach thy height, Alleluia!
There thy face unclouded see, Alleluia!
Find our heaven of heavens in thee, Alleluia!
Prayers of Approach, Confession and Grace
O Most High, we celebrate today the transitions of life,
the change from Spring to Summer,
the move from Jesus’ work to the Church’s,
the requirement for us to change from wearing a napkin,
to putting on the apron and rolling up our sleeves, and we thank You.
Risen Lord Jesus, we celebrate today the transitions of life,
Your tangible presence becoming the intangible breath of the Holy Spirit,
the immediacy of Your teaching
to the hesitant ways we put it into practice,
the certainty of Your call
to the doubts we have in responding.
Forgive us, good Lord, when we resist the transitions of life,
when we refuse to follow when You call,
when we prefer safe stability to the insecurity in being Your disciples.
Forgive us, and give us time to change.
Most Holy Spirit, we celebrate today the transitions of life,
the fire of Your love warming our hearts when we are wintry and cold,
the perfume of Your presence overpowering the stench of selfishness,
the energy of Your message,
driving us out to utter Your uncontainable word, and we thank You.
Assure us of Your love, O God,
give us the strength to forgive others,
and the courage to forgive ourselves,
that we may change and grow with You,
in all the transitions that come our way. Amen.
Introduction
In our first reading from Acts we see the transition from Jesus’ work to the Church’s. The tangible presence of Jesus with his disciples gives way to the intangible power of the Holy Spirit who will, as we shall see next week, drive out the disciples to proclaim the Gospel. Our Psalm is a call to rejoice and praise the God who reigns, and who all other rulers must acknowledge the God who has ascended. In our reading from Ephesians we see how Paul sees the ascension as key to Jesus’ resurrection and exaltation by God.
Prayer for Illumination
Open our minds to the Scriptures for us, Lord Jesus,
as once you did for your friends,
that we may understand paradox and power,
the stories told by faith and science,
and, above all, you as enfleshed truth. Amen.
Reading St Luke 24: 44-53
Then Jesus said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you – that everything written about me in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms must be fulfilled.” Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures, and he said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Messiah is to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day and that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. And see, I am sending upon you what my Father promised, so stay here in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.” Then he led them out as far as Bethany, and, lifting up his hands, he blessed them. While he was blessing them, he withdrew from them and was carried up into heaven. And they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and they were continually in the temple blessing God.
Hymn Clap Your Hands, All You Nations (Psalm 47)
Greg Scheer © GIA Publications 2009, OneLicence A-734713. Sung by the Church of the Servant Choir
Clap your hands, all you nations shout to God.
Clap your hands, all you nations shout to God.
Clap your hands, all you nations shout to God.
All you nations sing a song to the Lord most high.
Lord most high, reigning over all the earth.
Lord most high, reigning over all the earth.
Lord most high, reigning over all the earth.
Every nation praises God with a joyful shout.
With a shout, God has gone up with a shout.
With a shout, God has gone up with a shout.
With a shout, God has gone up with a shout.
Songs and shouts and trumpet blasts praise the King of kings.
King of kings, nations bow before his throne.
King of kings, nations bow before his throne.
King of kings, nations bow before his throne.
Sing a song of praise to God. Sing and clap your hands.
Reading Ephesians 1:15-23
I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, and for this reason I do not cease to give thanks for you as I remember you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation as you come to know him, so that, with the eyes of your heart enlightened, you may perceive what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance among the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power for us who believe, according to the working of his great power. God put this power to work in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the age to come. And he has put all things under his feet and has made him the head over all things for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.
Sermon
Ascension is not a feast which attracts many traditions; unlike Christmas there’s no great family gathering and enjoyment of traditional food. Unlike Easter there’s no chocolate or roast lamb. There’s no tradition of presents or seeing family and friends. In the UK it’s generally ignored by wider society though in Europe it is normally a holiday leading into a long weekend which at least preserves a sense of the feast happening. Whilst, socially, there’s little or no meaning theologically this event is central in drawing Jesus’ earthly ministry to a close and passing his work on to the Church. Jesus self-emptying to become flesh is now complete as he has returned, wounded yet healed, to the Father. There’s been a transition from Jesus to the Church; of course we might prefer if he’d kept on doing the work Himself! Transitions can be difficult but full of opportunity and, today, we remember that transition from Jesus to the Church and the part we must play. In our first reading from Acts, the author makes clear that the transition from Jesus to the Church is now taking place.
We read the Book of Acts and might be tempted to draw comparisons between our own congregations and the ones described in this early Christian book. At first we might think there’s a world of difference between the ancient world and ours (and there is, of course) but there are lots of connections.
One of the differences between our world and that of the New Testament is our understanding of the earth and the heavens. In the ancient world, and for much of the Church’s history, the earth was seen at the centre of creation. The Sun, Moon, and stars were all thought to revolve around us. For Jesus, then, to “go up” made sense. It was mysterious but not inconceivable that Jesus was “up there” looking down on us. Medieval art would depict Jesus rising through the clouds into the heavens; the famous ceramic of Jesus’ feet just pointing through the clouds in the ceiling of the Ascension Chapel in Walsingham shows this idea most clearly. Jesus rises into the clouds into Heaven which is above the earth. Now we know that the earth spins round the sun, not the other way round, and that earth and the moon both spin; we’re one of millions and millions of planets and they, like us, circle around their stars. We are not fixed in time and space but move around the Sun taking a year to do so. The idea of Heaven being just above the earth is debunked; we now know of space and vacuum, star and satellite. We no longer think of Jesus suspended above us looking down like a Greek god above the clouds. Instead of seeing the Ascension as a triumph over the force of gravity we should link it to the Resurrection and see it as a triumph over the evil and destruction that separates us from God. Sin, not gravity, must be overcome.
So whilst we look at the ancient world and see links with ours we also realise that Jesus going to be with the Father might not be described now in the way that the author of Luke-Acts did. The result, however, is the same – the transition from Jesus to the Church. Jesus, risen and ascended, sends the Holy Spirit to be the guide and goal of Christians.
Our Psalm today has God’s people being reminded of what God has done for them and being urged to offer their praise and thanksgiving. Memory is the keystone of liturgy. We have God’s sovereignty undergirding our praise. God’s sovereignty is a clear theme of Ascension with the idea of Jesus returning to God to be enthroned in glory, triumphant over sin and death. Yet just as the cosmology of the ancient world is different to ours, belief in God’s sovereignty is tempered by the reality of human evil. God’s power seems always to be attacked by forces which fight against goodness and grace. The resurrection is the ultimate proof of God’s sovereignty yet the effects of the resurrection slowly and gently ripple through time as the not-yet-here Kingdom breaks through into our world. Sin and death are vanquished but still struggle on, with devastating power, until the Kingdom finally comes.
Perhaps Ascension is to remind us of the importance of gaining perspective. Rowan Williams, when thinking about the Ascension, made an analogy with turning on a light on a dark morning. At first, in our befuddled sleepiness, all we can see is the light. Then we gradually make out where we are but, as sleep is pushed away we realise we are no longer conscious of the light but on the things it illuminates. Jesus’ resurrection is the light which temporarily blinds us; Ascension is when that light recedes into the background and we are more clearly aware of what is around us.
Right perception is key for Paul in this passage from Ephesians. The Ephesian Church needed to see the world from the perspective of faith which simultaneously sees the world as it is with sin, evil, and death knowing these are all defeated by God’s love and power in Jesus. The Ascension seals the paradox as Jesus life is now bound up with God’s; heaven and earth are bound together in a single continuum so that the love and life of heaven are seen in Christ as the final word on sin and death. God’s power over sin and death is seen, for Paul, in the resurrection and ascension of Jesus.
Like the first Christians in the ancient world, we live in a diverse society with many views, peoples, religion and ideologies finding ways to live well alongside each other and offering differing perspectives on life and the meanings we make. Like the first Christians we wish to hold our Christian faith in ways which are life affirming, gentle, and meaningful. Unlike the first Christians we don’t see God as living above the clouds looking down on us. Unlike the first Christians we realise that this business of being Church is for the long haul; the transition that Ascension marks of Jesus’ work transferring to the Church is one of historic memory. The tangible presence of Jesus became the intangible presence of the Holy Spirit. This can be hard as we have lost the immediacy of the earliest Christians but we have the advantage of 2,000 years of history, reflection and theology to help us now.
So, like the earliest Christians we still live with evil and death, sin and suffering but, like them we know the die is cast, sin and death have been overcome but we wait for the Kingdom to fully break into our world and banish evil forever. The resurrection shows that God is sovereign but, like the believers of old, we must wait for the sovereignty to fully take effect. Until then we point to, and claim, God’s sovereignty but live with the reality of sin and death still being present, casting their shadow, inhibiting life.
So today we celebrate Jesus Ascension and the passing of his ministry onto the Church guided by the Spirit. Jesus is not having a rest; instead, his work now is to intercede for us as we live between two worlds and await the Kingdom. Our great High Priest who, now with the Father, knows our temptations and frailty, and who upholds us up with his prayers enabling us to do is work and await the coming Kingdom. Let’s pray:
Risen and Ascended Lord Jesus,
help us to know Your will,
undertake Your work,
and be guided by Your Spirit,
that, as we wait for Your Kingdom to come,
we see past suffering, evil, and death,
to Your glorious victory. Amen.
Hymn The Head that Once Was Crowned with Thorns
Thomas Kelly (1820) sung by Gareth Moore of the Isle of Man Methodist Church and used with his kind permission.
The head that once was crowned with thorns
is crowned with glory now:
a royal diadem adorns
the mighty Victor’s brow.
The highest place that heaven affords is his,
is his by right,
the King of kings, and Lord of lords,
and heaven’s eternal Light;
The joy of all who dwell above,
the joy of all below,
to whom he manifests his love,
and grants his name to know.
To them the cross, with all its shame,
with all its grace, is given:
their name, an everlasting name,
their joy, the joy of heaven.
They suffer with their Lord below,
they reign with him above;
their profit and their joy to know
the mystery of his love.
The cross he bore is life and health,
though shame and death to him;
his people’s hope, his people’s wealth,
their everlasting theme.
Affirmation of Faith
We believe that Jesus Christ is our advocate with the Most High;
God from God and light from light.
We believe that if Jesus is with the Most High,
then He will take us, His Church, to himself.
We believe that Jesus Christ sent the Holy Spirit
to be our goal and guide who lifts us from gloom to glory.
Offertory
At Ascension Jesus gave the task of proclaiming good news to the poor, freedom for prisoners, sight for the blind, and liberation for the oppressed to His Church. We are the Church and that task is ours; it’s an awesome and terrifying thing to carry on our dear Lord’s work. Yet we try, as best we can, to give our love and our lives to this work. We seek to build the Kingdom with love and kindness, with listening ears and helping hands, with our time and our treasure. And now we give thanks for all that is given – love, kindness, time and treasure:
Accept our gifts, Risen Jesus, as signs of our love for You.
Accept our service, imperfect though it is, that,
in Your good time, Your Kingdom will come,
pain and sorrow will be no more, and you will reign in our midst. Amen.
Hymn Of the Father’s Love Begotten
Aurelius Clemens Prudentius Translators: J. M. Neale & H. W. Baker Public Domain. Sung by Michael Lining Music
Of the Father’s love begotten ere the worlds began to be,
he is Alpha and Omega, he the source, the ending he,
of the things that are, that have been, and that future years shall see,
evermore and evermore.
O that birth for ever blessèd, when the Virgin, full of grace,
by the Spirit’s power conceiving, bore the Saviour of our race,
and the Babe, the world’s Redeemer, first revealed his sacred face,
evermore and evermore.
O Ye heights of heaven, adore him; angel hosts, his praises sing;
powers, dominions bow before him, and extol our God and King;
let no tongue on earth be silent, every voice in concert ring,
evermore and evermore.
Christ, to thee, with God the Father, and, O Holy Ghost, to thee,
hymn and chant and high thanksgiving, and unwearied praises be,
honour, glory and dominion, and eternal victory,
evermore and evermore.
Intercessions
As the people of God commissioned to continue Jesus’ love and ministry, we bring our prayers to the Most High.
Eternal One,
from of old You have ached with love for our world,
showering us with Your loving kindness.
Show that love, now, we pray through Your people;
through our giving and our loving,
our protesting and our praying,
our aching sorrow and our yearning to act;
bless those who govern our world,
that they may be receptive to Your light,
open to Your justice,
and gracious to those with whom they disagree.
God, in your mercy…hear our prayer.
Risen and Ascended One,
You lived amongst us,
experiencing the joys and sorrows of life,
taking into Yourself our human experience,
and now live as wounded healer interceding for us;
give us the grace to show Your love in our daily lives
to those we meet, to those in need,
and to the earth herself,
groaning with eager longing for the new creation to come.
God, in your mercy…hear our prayer.
Most Holy Spirit,
You drive Your people out to serve You in the complexity of our world;
You give us inspiration and energy,
joy and life itself, ensuring we continue the love and life of Jesus,
bless our congregations and our common life in these nations,
that we may serve our communities,
embody love and justice,
speak truth to ourselves and to our world,
and model the Kingdom which is to come.
God, in your mercy…hear our prayer.
Accept our prayers, Eternal Trinity
as we pray as Jesus taught…Our Father…
Holy Communion
Let us celebrate this joyful feast. People will come from east and west and north and south, and sit at table in the kingdom of God and to hear the words of comfort our Saviour Jesus Christ says to all who truly turn to him:
“Come to me, all who labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”
“I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.”
“Anyone who comes to me I will never drive away.”
Let us pray:
Blessed are you, Lord, God of all creation.
Through your goodness we have this bread to offer,
which earth has given and human hands have made.
May it become for us the bread of life.
Blessed be God for ever.
Blessed are you, Lord, God of all creation.
Through your goodness we have this wine to offer,
fruit of the vine and the work of human hands.
May it become for us the cup of salvation.
Blessed be God for ever.
Blessed are you, Lord, God of all creation.
Through your goodness we have ourselves to offer,
fruit of the womb and formed by your love.
May we become your servants in the world.
Blessed be God for ever.
Hear the narrative of the institution of the Lord’s Supper as it is recorded by St Paul.
“For I received from the Lord what I also handed on to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took a loaf of bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said,
‘This is my body which is broken for you.
Do this in remembrance of me’.
In the same way he took the cup also, after Supper, saying,
‘This cup is the new covenant in my blood.
Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.’
For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup,
you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.
We offer you thanks, Creator, Saviour, Giver of Life.
From the beginning you have made yourself known:
the heavens proclaim your glory
and the earth sings your praise.
In wisdom you made all that is
and you bless us with earth’s fruitfulness.
You are merciful and gracious, and abounding in love.
Yet from our first days we have disobeyed your will.
Long ago you called to yourself a people
to shine as light to guide all nations to your presence.
You led them to freedom;
you revealed to them your Law
and taught them through your prophets.
Finally you sent your promised Son, Jesus Christ,
who shared our human nature
and understood our weakness.
Born of Mary, he showed forth your love by word and sign.
Therefore with all your people in heaven and on earth
we proclaim the triumphant hymn of your glory:
Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and might,
heaven and earth are full of your glory.
Hosanna in the highest.
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.
Hosanna in the highest.
He sought the unloved and the lost
and welcomed all who came to him;
he taught us lessons of forgiveness
he brought us healing for our sickness,
and showed us how to live according to your will.
For this he was rejected,
for this he endured grief and sorrow,
for this he gave himself up to death upon the Cross.
But you broke the power of sin and death
and raised him to the heights,
that through the blood of his Cross
and by the gift of the Holy Spirit
everything in earth and heaven
might be reconciled to you.
Let us proclaim the mystery of faith:
Christ has died. Christ is risen. Christ will come again.
Come, Creator God: renew the face of the earth;
come, eternal Saviour: remake us in your likeness;
come, Holy Spirit, transform these gifts:
that Christ may be known to us in the breaking of the bread
and that we may be strengthened to serve him in the world.
May we on earth be one with all Christ’s people,
and, when all things are complete, be raised up to be with him,
and with all your faithful servants in the heavenly places,
the homeland which we seek by faith,
and where he reigns in glory, with you,
O Most High, and the Holy Spirit,
one God for ever. Amen.
The bread which we break
is the communion of the body of Christ.
The cup of blessing which we bless
is the communion of the blood of Christ.
Holy things for a holy people.
Only one is holy, the Lord Jesus Christ.
We are made holy in him.
The body and blood of Christ, given for you.
Music for Communion Lord Jesus Christ You Have Come to Us
Patrick Appleford. Sung by Justin Stretch of St Lawrence Church, Chorley. Used with his kind permission.
Post Communion Prayer
God of a love stronger than death,
you have given us new birth into a living hope
through the gift of your Son.
God with us,
like a mother you have fed us with yourself
and strengthened us for journeying ahead.
God of truth and power,
you take our weakness and our sin and refashion us by grace.
Gracious God,
may the love which bids us welcome at this table
gather all your children into one, in your eternal presence,
whole and free at last. Amen.
Hymn All Hail the Power of Jesus’ Name
Edward Perronet (1780) public domain. Sung by the Nairobi East Chorale
All hail the power of Jesus’ Name!
Let angels prostrate fall;
bring forth the royal diadem,
and crown him, crown him,
crown him, crown him Lord of all.
Ye chosen seed of Israel’s race
ye ransomed from the fall,
hail him who saves you by his grace,
and crown him Lord of all,
crown him, crown him Lord of all.
Let every kindred, every tribe,
on this terrestrial ball,
to him all majesty ascribe,
and crown him, crown him,
crown him, crown him Lord of all.
Oh, that with yonder sacred throng,
we at his feet may fall;
join in the everlasting song,
and crown him, crown him,
crown him, crown him Lord of all!
Blessing
People of God, why do you stand looking up towards heaven?
This Jesus will come in the same way as you saw him leave.
So, may the love of the Cross,
the power of the resurrection,
and the mystery of the Ascension,
be with you always.
And the blessing of the Eternal God,
Creator and Sustainer,
Risen and Ascended Lord and Saviour,
Giver of Holiness and Love,
be with you now and always, Amen.