The Ascension of Jesus

So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, is this the time when you will restore the kingdom to Israel?” He replied, “It is not for you to know the times or periods that the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” When he had said this, as they were watching, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. While he was going and they were gazing up toward heaven, suddenly two men in white robes stood by them. They said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up toward heaven? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.” (Acts 1:6–11)

40 days since Easter
40 days since we applauded Jesus’ sacrifice
then hauled him out of the tomb
and got on with our lives
40 days that Jesus has walked beside us
offering us myriad glimpses
of his Risen presence
It was the Risen Christ who sat on the bridge
holding out his cup for a coin
and then took our hand
and looked into our eyes
and said thank you
as we glanced his way
and gave him some change.
It was the Risen Christ
who sat between us
as a colleague unloaded
and processed
the costliness of her work
and rediscovered her inner wisdom
and strength
to carry on serving.
It was the Risen Christ
who dried our tears
and stoked our anger
and determination
as we tramped the beach
imploring, beseeching God
to show us how
to serve authentically
in an institution
that is besieged
by power struggles
and injustice.
It was the Risen Christ…
It IS the Risen Christ
The Risen, Ascended Christ
who continues to penetrate
our consciousness
in our every day
looking into our eyes
through the eyes of all whom we encounter
reminding us of his teaching
imploring us to love
and willing us
to go and be disciples.

(Liz Crumlish Ascension 2019)

Note that Liz will be preaching at our Eucharist at 9:30am on 29 May. You will be welcome … and able to talk to her about her blog over coffee. And do read her challenging 2022 Ascension Day blog at this link.

On Sunday the focus of our readings was the Good Shepherd, with Psalm 23 both read and sung and complementary readings from Revelation and John’s Gospel. The prayer of preparation suggested by dailyLectio.net had been:

God of comfort and compassion, through Jesus, your Son, you lead us to the water of life and the table of your bounty. May we who have received the tender love of our Good Shepherd be strengthened by your grace to care for your flock. Amen.

An important and often-overlooked way of caring for the flock was the subject of Deacon Lynda Wright’s talk about her work with the Mental Health Community Chaplaincy, and the importance of listening.

Nowadays, as fewer people have church or faith connections or friends who they trust to share with, it’s increasingly hard for them to know where to go when things are getting them down, or they’re struggling with loss or illness or the breakdown of a relationship, or life isn’t making sense for them. As Lynda continues in her blog:

… They go to the GP because they are hurting, but the GP often knows that the problem is not a physical one which they can treat, but an emotional one. So they refer to this Listening Service, where individuals are enabled to explore the kind of issues named above.

People do need to talk. It is not uncommon for an individual to say at the end of the session, ‘Thank you so much, that has been so helpful’, when the Listener feels they have done very little – just listened! Of course, they have created a welcoming, non-judgmental, safe space, where the individual felt safe to share their story, their struggles and anxieties and where they could explore the questions they were living with.

… Our Listeners are skilled volunteers … they don’t counsel – they listen and often this is all the individual needs. In training we say, ‘There is not a problem to be fixed, but an individual to accompany.’

We’re sharing this because this week is Mental Health Awareness Week, whose 2022 focus is on loneliness. Feelings of isolation are common among older folk, but can affect people of all ages, and having someone there to listen – really listen – can help them cope. And being available to listen is something that we can all offer …

Photo by Priscilla Du Preez on Unsplash.

Our thoughts last Sunday – Remembrance Sunday – were led by Adrian Masson, whose reflections were inspired by some of the poetry at the core of the Act of Remembrance that had formed the first part of our service.

Adrian spoke of his personal experiences … “the outcomes of conflict are hugely stressful, sometimes horrific and difficult to comprehend. When I was at sea I belonged to the Naval Christian Fellowship [whose watchword was] the text from Proverbs 3:5 ‘Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding’ – a verse I often had to remind myself of as events in the South Atlantic and the Gulf unfolded.”

He went on to reflect on the way that “war waged against the civilian population …has become as much a part of modern warfare as the conflict on the front-line.” “… we should also reflect on the breadth of mankind who have been, and are still being, affected by the horrors of war.”

His final thought was about us, as “those living the tomorrow for which others gave their lives. And we are fighting many battles, but thankfully at the moment ones that challenge us in different ways. As the events of the last two weeks have acutely reminded us, we live on a planet that desperately needs our love and care if it is to serve the tomorrows of our children and our children’s children as well it has served us. We live in a world that increasingly creates military, political and religious tensions and these are very real. Others are drawing up the strategies and plans of combat of which we, maybe unwittingly, are a part. So perhaps we are now the soldiers in the trenches of a very different battlefield but still have an important role to play.

“Hundreds of years before the birth of Christ, Isaiah wrote to the embattled nation of Israel: ‘So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.’ Isaiah 41:10 (NIV)

“These words would have helped sustain generations of Christians struggling with conflict over the centuries and I hope will sustain us too in whatever struggles lie ahead.”

You can read the whole of Adrian’s address at this link.

This picture of a war memorial in Westbury-on-Trym, was taken in 2005 by Bob Brewer of Bristol: see this link for the original image from which this has been cropped.

Sunday 7 November
A Creed for the Planet

We believe that this is God’s world
and all that lives on it;
we believe that living gratefully
and giving generously are marks of faith.

We believe that all of humanity
should have equal access to the earth’s resources,
and that every individual must now act
to preserve this world
so that the children of tomorrow
will not be burdened
by the mistakes of today.

And so we commit ourselves
to think globally, to trade fairly,
to live responsibly,
and to love this world as God loves it,
who in Christ become one with creation. Amen.

Saturday 6 November
Sabbath for the Planet

Eternal God, give us hearts to understand never to take from creation’s beauty more than we can give, never to destroy wantonly for the furtherance of greed, never to deny to give our hands for the building of earth’s beauty, never to take from her what we cannot use. Give us hearts to understand that to destroy earth’s music is to create confusion, that to wreck her appearance is to blind us to beauty, that to callously pollute her fragrance is to make a house of stench, and that as we care for her, she will care for us. Amen. (U.N. Sabbath Programme)

Friday 5 November
Action for the planet

What, at this moment, does God invite you to do?

• to give thanks for the ways in which you are fed and sustained by the earth?
• to repent for our part in failing to care for the earth as you should?
• to make a positive commitment to renewing the health of the earth’s environment?

You might like to light a candle in response to God’s invitation.

Thursday 4 November
We have sinned

Your wrongdoing has upset nature’s order,
and your sins have kept away her bounty.
The earth lurches like a drunkard;
the sins of its inhabitants weigh heavy on it,
and it falls, to rise no more.

The wages you never paid to those who mowed your fields are crying aloud against you, and the outcry of the reapers has reached the ears of the Lord of Hosts.
(Jeremiah 5: 25; Isaiah 24:20; James 5:4)

God of justice, we have lost our way and exploited your gifts. Have mercy, Lord, have deep mercy.

Wednesday 3 November
Humanity is charged with responsibility

The Lord took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to be the guardian and servant of the earth. … For six years you may sow your fields and prune your vineyards and gather the harvest, but in the seventh year the land is to have a sabbatical rest, a sabbath to the Lord. No land may be sold outright, because the land is mine, and you come to it as aliens and tenants of mine. (Genesis 2:15; Leviticus 25:3–4, 23)

God of the Sabbath, rebalance our lives that we may live in right relationship with our planet, with all living creatures and with You, Creating God. Amen.

Tuesday 2 November
Creation worships its maker

Let the heavens rejoice and the earth be glad;
let the sea resound and everything in it.
Let the fields exult and all that is in them;
let all the trees of the forest shout for joy
before the Lord. (Psalm 96:11–12)

Praise the Lord from the earth, you sea monsters and ocean depths
… all mountains and hills, all fruit trees and cedars,
wild animals and all cattle, creeping things and winged birds. (Psalm 148:7–10)

Creating God, we give you thanks for our place on this earth and for all with whom we share it. Help us to be good stewards of all you have entrusted to us.

Monday 1 November
Creation as a source of wonder

Who supported the sea at its birth …
when I established its bounds,
set its barred doors in place and said,
‘Thus far shall you come and no further’?
Have you gone down to the springs of the sea
or walked in the unfathomable deep?
Have you comprehended the vast expanse of the world?
Whose womb gave birth to the ice,
and who was the mother of the hoar-frost
which lays a stony cover over the waters? (Job 38)

O God our Maker, we give you thanks for the wonder of creation, in all its beauty and variety.
Praise be you O God, maker of all. Amen.

This sequence of daily readings and prayers for contemplation, confession and commitment was compiled by Rev Dr Michael Paterson using materials drawn from a variety of sources, including the Iona Community. You can download a printable version of the whole sequence at this link.