Renewed emphasis upon the Ascension is “for such a time as this” (Esther 4:14). The church no longer has a privileged place in American society. It’s not hard to find discrimination against practicing our Christian faith. Media pushes morality that is not Judeo-Christian. “Selfies” are all about me, not you. In this society, new and scary for many of us, Ascension takes us back to the future.
Something profound happened in the fourth century A.D. Before the fourth century, there was widespread discrimination and persecution against Christians. “For two hundred and fifty years from Nero to Constantine to be a Christian was in itself a capital crime, always liable to the severest penalty, even when the law was not enforced” (Gregory Dix, “The Shape of the Liturgy,” 145). Living under threat of death, what we today call the “church calendar” was a simple thing with one main purpose: Looking ahead to the return of Jesus Christ to rescue His followers from their sufferings and danger.
But under Emperor Constantine in the fourth century, Christianity first became legitimate and then became the official religion of the empire, a “strange new partnership between church and state” (Douglas Farrow, “Ascension and Ecclesia,” 115). That relationship is called “Christendom.” Although America has the “separation of church and state,” we’ve had a cozy relationship with the prevailing public culture. That profound change also changed the church calendar. Things weren't quite so bad any more for Christians. The Christian worship that had been yearning for the coming of Jesus became instead a remembrance of historical events and saints. Pastor says, “Today we remember…” fill in the blank.
Moving the Ascension out of its relative obscurity can unite us in looking to the future, to Jesus’ return and all that He will bring us. Ascension Day services and Ascension awareness throughout the year can help us “recover something of the significance of the primitive liturgical cycle, which was essentially eschatological, its festivals proclaiming and manifesting the fact of Redemption and representing the inauguration of the world to come, rather than a series of historical facts” (J.G. Davies, “He Ascended into Heaven,” 56). Back to the future; “For such a time as this!”