May 14, 2026
The Feast of the Ascension
The Rev. Dr. Elaine Ellis Thomas
St. John’s Episcopal Church, Essex, CT
Acts 1:1-11 ~ Psalm 93 ~ Ephesians 1:15-23 ~ Luke 24:44-53
Ascension feels a bit different this year. The readings of Jesus leaving his disciples for the last time sound a bit different this year. The shifting sand on which the disciples have stood for the past forty days and on which we seem to stand, too, has finally given way. Their friend died a brutal death. Then he rose from the dead and appeared to them over the next few weeks, and now he’s leaving for good, taken beyond the clouds into heaven. They could be forgiven had they scattered and gone back to Galilee where the predictability of life would have provided a soul-soothing balm.
But that’s not what they did. They returned to Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives “with great joy” (24:52) and went to the temple where they spent their time in worship, presumably until the time that they were “clothed with power from on high” (24:49).
There is a story about the Ascension told by the ancient desert father, Abba Sayah, that, or so he claimed, went all the way back to the disciples. And periodically I pull this story out when I need to be reminded of who and whose I am, and that we are not left comfortless or alone, just as Jesus promised the disciples in Sunday’s gospel reading from John 14. No matter what is swirling around us, we can, with great joy, come together in community and in worship as we discern what it is God might be calling us to today.
This is the Abba Sayah Ascension story I want to share with you:
As the gospels tell us, after forty days of resurrection appearances, Jesus knew it was time to leave his disciples – his mother, his brothers and sisters, all his companions in the Way. It was hard to say goodbye, but he knew that the time had come. After all, he was the Truth and we humans can only take so much of that.
So, Jesus called them all together on the mountain top and made his farewells. It was a tearful moment. Mary was crying. John was crying. Jesus was crying. Even Peter, the immovable rock, was reaching for his handkerchief.
They knew that Jesus had said he would always be with them. But they also knew it wasn’t going to be the same. There would be no more breakfasts by the seashore, no more late-night discussions around the campfire, no more unexpected jugs of wine…and so they wept. Jesus was sad too, but he was glad to be returning to his Father, and he knew it was all part of the plan. And so, hebegan to ascend.
As Abba Sayah told the story, as Jesus began to rise, slowly and gracefully into the air, John just couldn’t bear it. He grabbed hold of Jesus’ right leg and refused to let go.
“John?” said Jesus, “What are you doing?”
And John shouted back, “If you won’t stay with us, then I’m coming too.”
Jesus calmly continued to rise, hoping that John would let go. But he didn’t. And then, to make matters worse, Mary suddenly jumped up and grabbed hold of Jesus’ other leg.
“I’m coming too,” she shouted.
By now, Jesus’ big exit had obviously been ruined, but he looked up into heaven, and called out:
“Okay, Father… what do I do now?” And a voice came out of the clouds, deep and loud like the rumbling of thunder in the distance.
“Ascend!” the voice said.
“Ascend?” Jesus asked
“Ascend!” the voice replied.
So Jesus continued to rise through the air, with John and Mary holding on until they too were lifted off the ground.
But the other disciples couldn’t bear to be left behind either, so they too jumped on board…and within moments there was this pyramid of people hanging in the middle of the sky. Jesus at the top. John and Mary next. The apostles hanging on below. Quite a sight, if anyone had been watching…
And then – what was this? Suddenly all kinds of people were appearing out of nowhere…friends and neighbors from around Galilee, people who’d heard Jesus’ stories, people whom he had healed, people who just knew that he was something special.
Young and old, men, women, children, Jews and Gentiles…a huge crowd – and they too refused to be left behind…So, they made a grab for the last pair of ankles and hung on for dear life. One way and another there was quite a kerfuffle -people squealing “Wait for me” – then startled yelps as they felt themselves seized by the ankle -and above it all the voice of God calling out, “Ascend!”
But all of a sudden, from the bottom of the pyramid, there came the piping voice of a small child.
“Wait!” he shrilled, “I’ve lost my dog! Wait for me”
“I can’t wait,” Jesus called back, “I don’t know how this thing works.”
But the little boy wasn’t going to be left behind, and he was determined his dog was coming with him. So, still holding on with one hand, he grabbed hold of a tree with the other, and held on with all his might.
For a moment, the whole pyramid stopped dead in the air – Jesus pulling upwards, and the little boy holding on to the tree, scanning the horizon for his lost dog. But Jesus couldn’t stop. The ascension had begun, and God was pulling him back up to heaven.
At first it looked as if the tree would uproot itself. But then the tree held on, and it started to pull the ground up with it. Sort of like when you pull a rug up in the middle, the soil itself started moving up into the sky. And hundreds of miles away, where the soil met the oceans, the oceans held on. And where the oceans met the shores, the shores held on. All of it held on, like there was no tomorrow.
To cut a short story long: Jesus DIDascend to heaven, He went back to his natural habitat, living permanently in the presence of God’s endless love and care and wholeness and laughter.
But, as Abba Sayah tells it, he pulled all of creation – the whole kit and caboodle – everything that ever was or is or ever will be – he pulled it all up into heaven with him.[1]
In a few minutes, we’ll gather at this table which we call a foretaste of that heavenly banquet, and if Abba Sayah and the others are to be believed, the ascension of Christ means that we already dwell in the presence of God. It means that the work of the resurrection continues until everyone knows that all of creation has been pulled up into heaven, that this is where God dwells. Jesus came down from heaven, was born as one of us, and in rising to heaven again, invites us into the divine dance of love and reconciliation, here and now. We continue that work in the world, praying that it will finally be “on earth as it is in heaven.”
[1] http://goodinparts.blogspot.com/2008/05/once-upon-time.html