In Europe, religious holidays are national holidays, and people get the day off. A few years ago, while living in Germany, I was on my way to an Ascension Day worship service when I noticed men pulling small wagons full of cold beer that they were drinking with friends. (Drinking in public is legal in Germany!) Curious, I asked what the occasion was. They replied, “It’s Ascension Day, and so we are celebrating the fact that we are fathers.” So, in addition to learning that Ascension Day is celebrated as Father’s Day in Germany, the moment taught me something about the reality of how faith is lived.
Jesus’ ascension (Acts 1:1-11) marks a turning point in Scripture. The resurrected Jesus, having assured his disciples, gives them final instructions to “be my witnesses … to the ends of the earth” (8). Despite the assurance that he will return, the disciples’ anxiety about Jesus’ departure leaves them staring at the sky (6-7, 10). To their surprise, two men dressed in white suddenly appear, snapping them out of their gaze and back to reality (11).
It’s up to us to do Christ’s work in the world, not because we don’t believe salvation is God’s work alone but because it is what faithful living is all about.
We find ourselves five months after a contentious election, and many of us still live in the fog of uncertainty and anxiety about daily life. So much seems unchanged: loved ones and communities are divided, people are trying to make ends meet, many live in increased fear of persecution and discrimination, and basic human decency is missing from society’s narrative.
Regardless of whether we felt hope or despair in November, this is clear: like the disciples, we’ve missed something important about how faith is lived. Some have mistaken their trust and involvement in partisan politics as a replacement for righteous living. Others use their piety as an excuse to avoid participating in God’s call to restorative action. Either way, our fixed gaze on such things keeps us from living out Jesus’ call to witness to the ends of the earth.
The book of Acts tells us how the disciples, trusting in Jesus’ promises, were compelled to a life of ministry in the world. The ascension story tells us it didn’t start that way—the disciples needed a wake-up call. Perhaps we need the same—in other words, it’s up to us. It’s up to us to feed the hungry, to tend to the sick, to give voice to those who go unheard, to create places of safety for those who live in fear and of belonging for those who are shunned by society.
It’s up to us to do Christ’s work in the world, not because we don’t believe salvation is God’s work alone but because it is what faithful living is all about. We are in a time when people need a church, not a bunch of sky-gazers trapped in their own anxiety and misplaced trust in worldly institutions. It’s up to us, and that daily call to live faithfully should excite all of us!
