So then the Lord Jesus, after he spoke to them, was taken up into heaven and took his seat at the right hand of God. But they went forth and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the word through accompanying signs. —Mark 16:15-20
The Son of God, who for our healing fell, once lifted up, islifted up again, who sank and rose up from the depths of hell; the one who came from heav'n to heav'n ascends.
But all the world is different in his wake: The light from light that could not be put out shines brighter now in every candle flame; our hearts still burn with fire no tears can douse.
For death has been undone, and night is bright, and little loaves a hungry world can fill. Though heav'n on earth is hidden from our sight, yet heav'n is here, for he is with us still.
Now we descend, who watched him going up; now we can take the downward running road and eat the bread and drink the selfsame cup and die and rise and follow still our Lord.
The eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had ordered them. When they saw him, they worshiped, but they doubted. Then Jesus approached and said to them, “All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age.”
Come with us, Lord, down every trail
and walk with us by day and night,
our compass when the stars have failed,
our lantern making dark ways bright.
You send us out into the world
to baptize all things in your name,
but in them all your embers burn
and wait to rise in glorious flame.
And in us, too, your Spirit shines,
a fiery pillar in our hearts.
Within ourselves your road unwinds;
with every step, new mercies start.
Give us the eyes to see your spark
and by its glow to find the way,
that love may guide us in the dark
and lead us into brighter day.
And so with us, within, without,
show us the pathway straight and clear
through night and day, through hope and doubt:
You will not leave us orphaned here.
We're staring at the heavens
to see the Lord's return,
but to the earth we're given,
to serve as he has done:
Not with the wings of angels
or soul's unbodied flame,
but with th hands he made us
to labor in his name.
For Jesus came incarnate
from heaven to the earth:
like ours, his human body;
like ours, his helpless birth.
Though heaven witnessed to him,
his suffering and death,
it's here on earth we knew him
who gave us life and breath.
So let us not stand staring
and watching empty skies,
but let us go forth daring
to witness to the Christ:
our feet in faithful roving,
our hands in mercy's work,
our hearts and minds in loving
God's images on earth.
Say when will you restore us, Lord?
Is this the day? Is it to come?
This timeless hope is hard to hold—
when will you end what you've begun?
When shall the pris'ner be released?
When will the dawn break over us?
We saw you make the blinded see:
When will you make a way for us?
“The hour is not for you to know.”
How can you leave with this untaught?
You say the Father has not told,
but has the Father not forgot?
How long, O Lord? And how can we,
who love you so, survive alone
or hold to what we cannot see
when we have held you for so long?
The locusts eat away our years:
Will you not stay amid this plague?
Will you not wipe away our tears?
O Shepherd Christ, will you not stay?
“I will not leave you orphaned so.”
You disappear into the sky,
and out to all the earth we go
to find where you have stayed behind.
This would work for Ascension, or for the Gospel we had this Sunday for Trinity:
O Christ, you send your servants out
to baptize all the world,
to speak with holy grace and pow'r
the wonders they have heard.,
but send as well your mercy down
into my inner world
to speak into my pain and doubt
yourself, O living Word.
You send us as a living sign
of mercy and of love,
as branches spreading from the vine
they bear the ripeness of.
As in the wide world, so in mine,
O Lord, pour out your love
that I may see your face divine
and tell the world thereof.
You send your servants out to teach,
to turn the world to you
with works of wonder, pow'rs of speech,
and eyes for all that's true.
O Christ, into my heart your reach
to turn myself to you,
and at your feet I hear your preach
as you make me anew.
Left on a hilltop, gazing at the sky,
searching for you, O Christ ascending high.
How can we go and wait the Spirit's fall?
Come back, O Master! Come, O Lord of all!
Yet you have sworn we shall not orphans be,
nor shall the eyes you touched no longer see;
then give us stronger sight to see you still.
Give us your love, our grieving hearts to fill.
Give us your hand to hold as we go on;
give us your light, still breaking with the dawn.
And as we go to speak your name and grace,
give us in all the vision of your face.
Then, when the road we travel find its end,
draw us to follow where you now ascend.
Christ, in your every footstep we would go,
coming at last to know the joy you know.
Send down the Spirit, as you promised, Lord,
that we may share your name with all the world.
Though you have gone, yet with us ever stay;
walk with us into everlasting day.
Christ ascending bodily to heaven prepares the way for us to go bodily to heaven. This is for the tune AURELIA, commonly sung as “The Church’s One Foundation.”
You clothed in flesh your glory;
in glory clothe me, too.
Your body bears a story
where all the tales are true.
So I, your grace imploring
though fading as the dew,
yet hope you are transforming
my form to something new.
This flesh, a helpless infant
and weak before the world,
is feeble as your kindred
who fell to Herod's sword,
yet in its depths is kindled
the embers of your word,
and even as it dwindles
I follow you, oh Lord.
The body must be buried;
the seed must still be sown
then rise alive and carried
from roots that thrive unshown.
Our earth to heaven married;
sheer glory wed to bone,
when we, ever unwearied,
shall dance before your throne.
For the feast of the Ascension tomorrow, to the tune of FULDA (“Oh Sacrament Most Holy”):
Returning to the Father,
Christ sends us to baptize
a world of sons and daughters
as one beneath the skies.
He will not leave us orphans
to work and wait alone,
for Christ in us is working
to bring all to his throne.
We do not know the season;
we did not set the time
when all, at last, receive him
and share his love divine.
He will not leave us....
Await him in the city;
with prayer and patience, wait.
The Spirit coming swiftly
our hearts will new create.
He will not leave us....
And when we have received it,
go forth and bear Christ's name.
'Til all the world believe it,
go boldly and proclaim.
He will not leave us....
Kate Bluett 
