Jesus Tags His Disciples
This is the message I shared on 5/17 with God's people at St. Timothy, Bemus Point and St. Mark, Mayville. The gospel text is Luke 24:44-53 . What is Ascension and why are we celebrating it? Jesus' ascension to the Father is basically the conclusion of Easter. The ascension both closes the period of Jesus' ministry on earth and opens the period of the church's mission. It is like God is saying, "Tag--you're it! Now you're me in the world." This important feast is often overlooked in the American Protestant church. The irony is, this is the third pillar of the Christian faith. Christ became incarnate, Christ died and rose from the dead and Christ ascended into heaven. We confess these every week in the Creed. The Feast of the Ascension is always on a Thursday, right before the last Sunday of Easter. If it is not observed on Thursday, we can observe it on the following Sunday, as we are doing today. Many times it is skipped altoget...