Sermon preached on the Sunday before the Ascension at St. Andrew's Church of Scotland, Rome.

For those of us who worship or work in international settings in this Eternal City, we might have had to come to terms with not forming long-lasting relations with people here as they come and go. In the beginning, that might make us a bit upset, think of young people or students losing their friends or co-workers. That is the nature of a big international city. Back at my church down the hill, every couple of years we see an entirely different chore group of young adults. Having to say goodbye becomes sadly natural to us. 

Over the course of a year or a few months, you get to know people who might become friends and lovers, perhaps these relationships are formed so quickly because one is aware of the fleeting nature of their time here. In a way, that reminds us of the intensity of Christ’s life while here on earth. Indeed, that’s what happens when your days are numbered.

We all went through that. Only a couple of years ago, I met one of my best friends at church, and we bonded over lockdown, as he helped us with church services at All Saints’. It all seems like yesterday, and yet… he’s now been gone for two years and is in his final year of university in Scotland. 

We are still friends though, we write to each other and we are also planning to meet again soon. Time goes on, but for sure, Rome prepares us for goodbyes very well. That doesn’t mean losing someone is easy, especially at the time of death. Only recently, came Easter, with its positive message of a brighter dawn, and every time we forget about it. This is normal, it is our human nature. We inevitably miss those who brought a sparkle of joy in our short lives. Distance, time or ultimately death, remain strong adversaries.

You may have noticed from today’s hymns and readings that we are still very much in the Easter Season, the resurrection message is still very much strong. 

The gates of hell have been burst open and death has no more dominion over us - Christ’s mission of salvation has been accomplished. 

Jesus has become incarnate in human form, he has died as a human and his human body was the first to come back from the dead. Now we are in this odd, surreal time during which Jesus is on earth for but a very short time. In a way, the Lenten expectation is less hard on us, because we know Jesus will inevitably come back in honor, glory and triumph, but now things are different - the readings are beginning to show us that Christ is going to ascend into heaven, into a more definite state of unknowing expectation, an expectation that lasts to this day and perhaps tomorrow. 

Christ is also beginning to warn us that he is not going to leave us alone as he is rising to a higher state: I have said these things to you while I am still with you. But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything and remind you of all that I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. 

He is leaving us, his people in the good hands of the unending and ever-loving power of the Trinity; Father, Son and Holy Spirit. He continues: Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid. You heard me say to you, ‘I am going away, and I am coming to you.’ If you loved me, you would rejoice that I am going to the Father, because the Father is greater than I. And now I have told you this before it occurs, so that when it does occur you may believe. 

Next Thursday, the Church commemorates the Ascension of Christ, the day upon which, according to Scripture, our Lord and Savior went up to heaven to be reunited again with the Father and the Spirit, ever three and ever one. 

Jesus, knowing his disciples and the weakness of human nature deeply, did not forget to remind us all that he would be coming again. He not only reassured us that he would be with us again, but he also asked of us not to forget his message of love. It is by having faith that the Almighty God would be by our side. 

It is by belief that we can carry the resurrection message forward. The Ascension of Christ, after the forty days of Easter, allows us to relive that message and to carry it forth throughout the world. This is only one more occasion to do so. Jesus is telling us, his children, that we are good enough to walk on our legs and do good, much as he taught us during his time on earth. We have become his disciples and saints, and much like a young child, we can decide whether to follow our mentor’s steps and grow up, or to make mistakes, and wait for another Easter. 

The Lord has gone up with a merry voice and the sound of a trump. The psalm appointed for today in the Anglican Book of Common Prayer for morning prayer is one of my favourites, Psalm 93: The Lord is King, and hath put on glorious apparel : the Lord hath put on his apparel, and girded himself with strength. He hath made the round world so sure : that it cannot be moved. Ever since the world began hath thy seat been prepared : thou art from everlasting. Thy testimonies, O Lord, are very sure : holiness becometh thine house for ever. 

We say that Christ has ascended into heaven, or as I like to say went back to his dwelling, not to become "more godly and less human", not to distance himself from us - but to be close to each and everyone of us, through prayer and faith. Something which would have been harder if he would have still been with us physically. 

That doesn’t make goodbyes less difficult, or at least perceived goodbyes… every good Christian knows we will see our beloved ones back in heaven, that doesn’t mean it’s easy to say goodbye temporarily.

Being away from those we have loved for a long time is always painful. We need their warmth, that is why sometimes we might struggle with our faith. It is easy to give up when we think our Lord is far away or seemingly unreachable. 

As when we lose a friend, companion or relative, in our race against time, we will inevitably mourn our losses. Sometimes, a letter, a message, a phone call or an old photograph can remind us of seemingly happier times - reliving the old times or a good memory is not the same but it can bring back some strong emotions through the lenses of nostalgia. 

This is all natural, but we mustn’t allow ourselves to treat our relationship with God in the same manner. While we wait to see our dear ones once again, we have to celebrate our relationship with an ever-living and ever-present God which is very much alive at all times. We meet God on a Sunday, and his Spirit is there, we meet God at the beach or in the woods, and his Spirit is there - Christ accompanies us through all the joys of struggles of our lives here, even when it does not seem so. 

As I preached before, we might just try and seek his presence. Even when we don’t feel that connection, we must remain assured that it is by faith in his mighty power and love that all our dreams and longings will come true; from the nostalgia of a particular person, place or time, to that unknown need we have for finally coming to know the awesome strength of the throne of grace with his infinite love and the joy everlasting. The Easter message carries on. 

What I came to notice recently, is that our society is quick to find and describe what is “evil”, “ah, something bad happened, evil exists in the world” - but we are not as swift in saying, “ah, something good has happened, God is in that!”. 

The other day, I was walking down the Coliseum and there was a social experiment going on, someone dropped a wallet to see who would pick it up, while hordes of seemingly alright people passed by, it was one who seemed less wealthy, who returned it. Why can’t we associate good acts such as this with God? 

God is good, the fact that he is now with the Father and the Holy Spirit is not the end, but only the beginning of a long story of salvation that one day will see all his saints reunited with him and each other, in body and soul. 

Christ has ascended into heaven to be with us, to guide us, to protect us, with the might of the Father, and the intercession of the ever-present wind of the Spirit.

Do not fear, the gates of the tomb have already been burst open. Christ is born, Christ has ascended; God, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit is with us now and for ever, waiting for us all and all the saints at the pearly gates, we are never alone, time is but a fleeting sensation: Ye choirs of new Jerusalem, Your sweetest notes employ, The Paschal victory to hymn, In strains of holy joy.