21 May 2020
Acts 1:1-11 Ascension Day Sermon
Passage Acts 1:1-11
Speaker Jamie Read
Service Evening
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Introduction
Pope Callixtus III has a lot to answer for. Most of us won’t have ever heard of him before but he was the person responsible for linking the Feast of the Transfiguration to a date in the year when many of us are on holiday. Of course he had his reasons. In 1456 the Muslim Ottoman ruler, having already captured Constantinople a few years earlier, had decided to expand into Christian Europe. In July his forces came to Belgrade, after which most of central Europe would be at his mercy. However the siege of Belgrade was a turning point. Remarkably the defenders were not only able to resist but ultimately mount a successful counterattack. In recognition of this amazing deliverance, the Pope wanted to make a suitable public statement to express thanks to God. I am sure that there were all sorts of options open to him but in his wisdom he decided to commemorate 6 August as the Feast of the Transfiguration. And so, whilst every Christian knows which date to focus on the birth of Christ or His death and resurrection, most years we will skip past one of the key moments relating to the identity of Christ in the church year … because we’re on holiday.
It’s the same with the ascension of Christ, always on a Thursday ten days before Pentecost, another neglected area in our Christian thinking. But at the very least the Ascension is linked firmly with the Resurrection of Christ. Having been raised from the dead, Jesus then ascends to the Father in order that His Spirit will be poured out, before His eventual return. So at least the ascension features within our biblical framework even if it also languishes slightly on the sidelines.
But the Transfiguration of Christ appears to have no particular tie to any other part of the Church year other than the date allocated by Pope Callixtus III. Of course it can be read and studied at any point in any season. It’s also true that preachers can select from any of the synoptic gospels or even from 2 Peter 1:16-18 in order to feast on its message whenever they desire. Yet, because there is no fixed date other than in the middle of the annual school summer holidays, these passages tend to have no home and the Transfiguration floats around in our consciousness adrift from everything else. As a consequence it can become neglected with the result that we miss out on the wonders of one of the most precious incidents in the gospels.
So, given that the Feast of the Transfiguration is likely to remain linked to 6 August for the foreseeable future I have a suggestion. Why not make a virtue out of this date falling right in the middle of the school holiday season? Why not focus our holiday devotional times with the Lord on the Transfiguration? If we are fortunate enough to have two weeks set aside out of our normal routines, how about spending time feeding from this portion of God’s word in order to be nourished more and more in our appreciation of the Lord Jesus Christ? What about considering the idea of slowing down in our devotional life in order to savour more of the identity of our Lord Jesus Christ so that, rather than rushing from one passage to the next, we linger with one main passage and explore all the hidden depths that we can?
The fourteen brief explorations which follow are designed to bring this neglected area back into focus. Based primarily on Matthew’s version but considering the special insights provided by both Mark and Luke, the aim is to encounter Christ … the same Christ revealed at the Transfiguration! What a blessing it would be for us to return from our holidays not only physically recharged but also spiritually refreshed, having spent time looking at this Jesus. So even if Pope Callixtus III has unwittingly relegated the Transfiguration into a backwater of church life, let us use the opportunity provided by summer holidays and changes in routine to see the prayer of Paul in Ephesians 1:17 answered so that each of us might ‘know Christ better’.
