Ascension Thursday

It's Ascension Thursday! Did you spend last night trying to tightly close your eyes in hopes that you'd fall asleep so that it would get here sooner? Did you wake up to your Ascension Basket filled to the brim with colorful grass, chocolates, and candies? Did you have a favorite Ascension gift under your Ascension Tree? Are you dreading tomorrow that you'll have to go back to work after the holiday and that on Saturday you will have to pull down your Ascension lights and put away those Ascension lawn ornaments. And after months the radio will go back to playing Top 40 hits after two months of Ascension themed only songs.

Ascension Thursday is not a glamorous holiday, well not in pop culture and in the malls and grocery stores. I imagine nonbelievers probably don't know it's a holiday in the church and I wonder actually how many people who hear about it know what it is or what transpired. It's understandable why Christmas is as popular as it is, our promised Messiah has finally come into the world! Not to mention Santa and snow and presents. Easter is the fulfilment of scripture and Jesus has been raised from the dead. And there's the bunnies and eggs. Good Friday, even without characters and gifts is a big holiday in that sin is forgiven. But Ascension is kind of overlooked. It's a Thursday in a normal school and work week and if you don't plan correctly you'll be in the middle of dinner realizing you've probably missed church. But it's basically just a midweek service anyway. It's not like Maundy Thursday with the Lord's Supper being served.

What if I told you we got presents though? Would you be a little more excited, would maybe nonbelievers glom on and start asking for some presents too? We get a lot of presents on Ascension Thursday, probably more than we deserve. The first gift we get is a Heavenly ruler who rules for our sake. Think about how much you hear people complain about a politician. They look our for businesses, or an interest group, the rich, the poor or some other group of people that we don't fit into. We have a ruler who's main concern is us. (Ephesians 1-20-22) When I says He looks out for us, I mean literally you and then also myself and many more. Jesus has been given all authority of the Heavenly Father and that's why terms like friend, brother, father are almost more befitting than king when we use this gift. Our president has my country's best interest in mind whether I agree with him at times or not, and he's been given this authority through God, but I've still yet to meet a president who knows how many hairs I have in my scalp no less my name.

Another gift is that Christ intercedes for us, that is, letting us go directly to God with our thoughts and prayers. (Romans 8:34) And through Jesus, our prayers are answered.(John 16:23) So apart from taking our prayers straight to the source, we have countless gifts through answered prayers and blessings because Jesus is there at God's right hand saying, "Do this, on my behalf."

And the the big gift, saved for last, the one that doesn't fit under the Ascension tree? Jesus has prepared a home for us. (John 14:2-3) A literally physical Ascension Thursday gift. Something you will be able to touch and see. A room in His Father's House. When we go to our new home, not only do we get living quarters, but there will be feasts, friends, and Jesus.

So now let's celebrate Ascension Thursday just like we would any other holiday. With excitement and zeal. Let's set our heart on the angels promise of Jesus' return. (Colossians 3:1) We don't need to take off work, put together a dinner and hit the shopping malls weeks before. But we can share what this day means to us. We can look forward to and be thankful for the gifts that come with it. Lastly, we can take some time out of our day and make a special point to recall what happened 40 days after that first Easter.