Ascensiontide is a season that evokes a sense of loneliness. We find the disciples gazing upward and learning that their Lord, their Master, and their Savior, whom they followed and learned, is the true King who has ascended on high. These men do not weep, and neither should we. Instead, these men heeded the angelic message that Christ shall return just as He ascended in His Advent. Therefore, the disciples were of good cheer, “And they worshipped him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy: and were continually in the temple, praising and blessing God. Amen.” (Luke 24:52–53, KJV).

We too should rejoice this Ascensiontide, for our Lord leaves us not comfortless. Indeed, as we prayed today, “O God the King of glory, who hast exalted thine only Son Jesus Christ with great triumph unto thy kingdom in heaven: We beseech thee, leave us not comfortless; but send to us thine Holy Ghost to comfort us, and exalt us unto the same place whither our Saviour Christ is gone before, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Ghost, one God, world without end. Amen” (Collect of the Day).

The season has changed. The joy of Eastertide and Christ’s resurrection is paused by the reality sinking into each disciple: Christ Jesus has ascended. No more do they see Him face to face. Christ gave them a mission – to “Go” into all the earth and the pagan gentile nations, but before they are to “Go,” Jesus first instructs them to wait.

Waiting is the hardest part, is it not? The worst instruction a child can receive is to wait. Alas, even we adult children of God, if we are honest, recoil internally when we hear the instruction, “wait.” On the eve of battle, when the troops are amassed and the eyes of the soldiers are on their captain, they each die moment by moment inside as they await the word to advance.

Alleluia! not as orphans

are we left in sorrow now;

Alleluia! he is near us,

faith believes, nor questions how:

though the cloud from sight received him,

when the forty days were o’er,

shall our hearts forget his promise,

“I am with you evermore”?

However, our King beckons His disciples to wait until they are properly equipped for the mission He sends them upon. Our Lord has physically left His disciples and they have returned to a moment in time when they do not have their Lord with them. Yet, they shall not be left as orphans, but soon shall receive the divine gift of love, glory, and sanctification that only God can provide: the Holy Ghost indwelling and abiding within them.

Perhaps you find yourself waiting this Ascensiontide. You sit between two seasons – rejoicing in Christ’s resurrection, and concerned about what Christ is calling you into next. You know His will, for He told us before His Ascension, “go.” However, perhaps the second must frustrating instruction besides “wait,” is the unknown journey the Lord is leading you into by telling you to “go.”

This brief changing of seasons is a time to pause and reflect. Make use after your Rogationtide sojourning around the parish and “Wait on the Lord: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the Lord.” (Psalm 27:14, KJV). This is the time to consider the lilies of the field, or in my case, the hydrangeas in bloom. Pause and feel the warmth in your bones as summer advances upon us. Listen to the sound of cicadas orchestrating the prelude to our battle hymn that takes the nations who rage by storm. Do not let a season of interlude become a season of uncertainty and anxiety. Yea, “the king of glory” now “has exalted thine only Son Jesus Christ with great triumph unto thy kingdom in heaven” in preparation for the Acts of His Apostles. The Father and the Son “leave us not comfortless” but is giving us space to pause and await the season of Pentecost (Collect of the Day).

The Lord God Almighty leaves us not comfortless nor as orphans in sorrow nor despair. Christ told His disciples before His death and resurrection that, “when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me: 27 and ye also shall bear witness, because ye have been with me from the beginning.” (Gospel lesson, John 15:26–27 KJV). The Lord’s encouragement that they would receive the very Holy Spirit of God brings comfort, for the Comforter is coming. Jesus sends the Spirit “from the Father” and the Holy Spirit is revealed to be “the Spirit of truth,” just as Christ Jesus is “the Way, the Truth, and the Life.” The Spirit is also revealed as one bears witness about the Son, and not Himself, for “he shall testify of me.” This helps the Church to discern the spirits and to realize the Holy Spirit is moving only when He is testifying of Christ our Lord. Finally, Christ tells His disciples that this giving of the Holy Spirit shall comfort the comfortless so that “ye also shall bear witness, because ye have been with me from the beginning.”

Therefore, it is only prudent and wise that our Lord commissioned the disciples with the Great Commission and then promised to give them the Spirit of Truth so they could withstand the assaults of the evil one.

Alleluia! Bread of Heaven,

thou on earth our food, our stay!

Alleluia! here the sinful

flee to thee from day to day:

Intercessor, friend of sinners,

earth’s Redeemer, plead for me,

where the songs of all the sinless

sweep across the crystal sea.

Indeed assaults from the devil and his minions shall come, but the Comforter shall prepare us when the trial is at hand. Christ foretold His disciples the price of their discipleship: “These things have I spoken unto you, that ye should not be offended. They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service. And these things will they do unto you, because they have not known the Father, nor me. But these things have I told you, that when the time shall come, ye may remember that I told you of them. And these things I said not unto you at the beginning, because I was with you.” (Gospel lesson, John 16:1–4, KJV).

Although the Goliaths of our lives taunt us day by day, reinforcements are on the way. Our David goes before us to defeat Goliath and to embolden us to strike down the enemies of God: sin, death, and the devil. Take comfort, for soon the armor of God shall envelop you and the Spirit of God shall enliven you, for the Lord in a week hence shall “send to us thy Holy Ghost to comfort us.”

Comfort.

Sweet, unspeakable comfort shall be at rest in our hearts for the Comforter comes to bring us good cheer and the right arms to do battle against the demonic. The Holy Comforter not only brings peace but He shall also “exalt us unto the same place whither our Saviour Christ is gone before” (Collect of the Day).

How shall the Holy Ghost work within us? Why Christ our Lord tells us, “when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me: and ye also shall bear witness, because ye have been with me from the beginning” (Gospel lesson, John 15:26–27, KJV). Christian, by faith not only are you justified but you are sanctified in the Spirit to receive the truth of Christ that will develop and open you into a budding flower that bears witness of the sweet and savoring nectar of freedom in Christ.

The strengthening and empowering of the Holy Ghost is a blessed reality for all who in faith are grafted into Christ by baptism and anointed and knighted to take up arms in their confirmation against the evil one. We are enrolled into a war, and although we know the ending, this does not give us the right to be slothful nor lazy. After all, “the end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer.” (Epistle lesson, 1 Peter 4:7, KJV). These are sobering times we live in, therefore, let us keep the watch and pray diligently.

Yes, let us pray that we may faithfully “not be ashamed to confess the faith of Christ crucified, and manfully to fight under his banner, against sin, the world, and the devil; and to continue Christ’s faithful soldier and servant unto his life’s end” (Public Baptism of Infants, 1662 Book of Common Prayer). As soldiers of the Lord, we have a march ahead of us, a battle to be fought, and a victory to enter into. Less you think this hyperbole, listen to our Lord’s words: “These things have I spoken unto you, that ye should not be offended. They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service” (Gospel lesson, John 16:1–2, KJV). Our Lord Jesus tells us not in order to scare us, but to demonstrate the reality is we cannot do anything apart from Him. Hence, He does not desert us, He sends His Holy Ghost to kindle our hearts aflame for the Father’s will. Christ shall not desert, therefore we have no need to fear when the time of trial comes. “But these things have I told you, that when the time shall come, ye may remember that I told you of them” (John 15:16:4, KJV).

Alleluia! King eternal,

thee the Lord of lords we own:

Alleluia! born of Mary,

earth thy footstool, heaven thy throne:

thou within the veil hast entered,

robed in flesh, our great High Priest:

thou on earth both Priest and Victim

in the eucharistic feast.

This Ascensiontide, look to your fellow parishioner as you pray for the Lord’s calling in your life. Find the single parent and serve them. Seek the under and unemployed and meet their needs. Bolster and uplift the household of faith, for we are called to minister to one another and to all those lost sheep in our cities, our towns, and on our street. “And above all things have fervent charity among yourselves: for charity shall cover the multitude of sins” (1 Peter 4:8, KJV).

Start simply and “Use hospitality one to another without grudging” (1 Peter 4:9, KJV). Invite those whom you do not know well within the Church to sit a spell, as we say down South, and bar-be-que for them. Feed the strangers within the church and make them strangers no more for they are fellow sojourners along the Way. Feed the neighbors whom you have not met, and over the cold glass of lemonade sweat out the sin of inhospitality amongst new friends. Christ shall provide avenues for you to share about how you have encountered Him in your own life, and it shall open roads to Damascus for sinners needing salvation.

Let not your youth, nor your newness in the faith dissuade you from using the gift God has given you. Neither let the years of negligence keep a long-time Christian from being an impactful Christian. “As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God” (1 Peter 4:10, KJV).

As the summer campfires roar, “Let us now praise famous men, and our fathers that begot us” over hot dogs and s’mores. (Ecclesiasticus 44:1, KJV). Let us tell the young of saints of old. Whether on vacation at the beach, enjoying the ballpark, or awaiting the night’s fireworks, let us wait this Ascensiontide but be ready.

Ready for the fight, ready for the battle, ready for the calling our Lord Christ is putting us to glorify God’s perfect plan. May we not be hasty in our speech, but “If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God” (1 Peter 4:11, KJV). The Holy Ghost cometh, therefore, “if any man minister, let him do it as of the ability which God giveth” (Id). The time is near, “the end of all things is at hand,” so now is the time to “put on the whole armour of God” by grasping the shield of faith, adjust the belt of truth, tighten the helmet of salvation, and grasp the sword of the Spirit so you may be ready for the coming charge against the gates of hell.

Pentecost nears. The river Jordan is in sight. The time draws nigh for the waters to part, the Church to charge, and for Jericho’s walls to crumble. Whatever may be your gifts from God, use them, and use them well so “that God in all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom be praise and dominion for ever and ever. Amen” (1 Peter 4:11, KJV).

Alleluia! sing to Jesus!

his the scepter his the throne;

Alleluia! his the triumph,

his the victory alone;

Hark! the songs of holy Zion

thunder like a mighty flood;

Jesus out of every nation

hath redeemed us by his blood.

Leave Us Not Comfortless – The Sunday after Ascension Day

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