The Forgotten Feast

The Ascension and The Scouring of the Shire

How do you feel about the Scouring of the Shire? This is the penultimate chapter of The Lord of the Rings in which the Hobbits come back to the Shire to find it under the thumb of Saruman and Wormtongue. It’s an Orwellian nightmare of jobsworths, ruffians and snitchers. Frodo, Sam, Merry and Pippin join forces with Tom Cotton and his family to throw off the Orwellian oppressors and collaborators and MtSGA (Make the Shire Great Again).

The chapter is entirely absent from Peter Jackson’s movie trilogy. This causes some to argue that Jackson never really understood the books to begin with.

I’m rather torn on this one. The classic ‘hero’s journey’ would suggest a story beginning with Frodo in the Shire should end with the demonstration of his personal inner transformation in that place. I could go on about external and internal quests but to do so would be as turgid as the very last chapter of The Lord of the Rings which is rather hard work.

One has to accept that a skirmish in the Shire is cinematically underwhelming when it follows the epic Battle of Minas Tirith and the destruction of the Ring itself. The Scouring of the Shire would make a cracking little movie in its own right. I’m surprised there hasn’t been one given how they squeezed three movies out of The Hobbit.

In the spirit of the Scouring of the Shire, then, let me welcome you to the Ascension, an overlooked and often forgotten Principal Feast in the Church of England’s liturgical calendar.

What is the Ascension?

Being a Principal Feast in the Church of England, we will find its origin in the Bible. The Ascension is an event, marking the end of Jesus’ earthly ministry. After Jesus rose from the dead at the Resurrection, it would be tempting to think that there is nothing more to see here. Christ has defeated death itself, and Satan’s place in the fiery lake of Mount Doom is certain.

But whoa there. Hold your four horses of the Apocalypse. There is a period of forty days after the resurrection when Christ remains on earth. Matthew, Luke and John chronicle appearances of the Risen Christ to his disciples, arguably the most famous being the scene with ‘Doubting’ Thomas in the locked room.

There were many other appearances as summarised by Paul in 1 Corinthians 15:

For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,  and that he appeared to Cephas, and then to the Twelve. After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born. (1 Corinthians 15:3-8)

Note the column inches being given to Jesus’s resurrection appearances and this section being called ‘of first importance’.  And then he ascends into heaven, according to Luke in his gospel:

 When he had led them out to the vicinity of Bethany, he lifted up his hands and blessed them. While he was blessing them, he left them and was taken up into heaven. Then they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy. And they stayed continually at the temple, praising God. (Luke 23:50-53)

And we know that that is not the end of the story. Luke has a sequel which begins,

In my former book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach  until the day he was taken up to heaven… (Acts 1:1-2)

Jesus’s ascension is even one line of a fairly short confession of faith: The Apostles’ Creed which states that Jesus Christ:

ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of God the Father almighty

This is the Apostles saying the Creed depicted in c. 1300. (see source). And who is it saying the words about the Ascension? Our old friend, James the Less.

The Ascension sounds important. Theologically, it is. It means that Jesus Christ, the firstborn among the new creation remains in human form, even in heaven, pointing to a new future glorified body for those who are in Christ. Being embodied remains forever noble and glorious and we, as his emissaries, continue the work of building His Church and proclaiming His kingdom, knowing that Jesus still fully represents us as our Advocate and High Priest. And we haven’t even mentioned how Elijah ascends to heaven at the end of his ministry.

Celebrating the Ascension

Centuries ago, some churches used ropes and wires to hoist up a cross in the church, so that Christ ascends into heaven that way. This all stopped at the Reformation. The hoisting of a cross is not ideal but it’s better than our current practice, which is to ignore the Ascension completely.

Why do we not celebrate the Ascension of Jesus Christ? Some would say it is because it falls on a Thursday and, frankly, we’re all a bit busy. I would argue that people have been ‘a bit busy’ throughout history. One makes time for what’s important.

We have the option of celebrating the Ascension on Sunday, sometimes called ‘Ascension Sunday’. But the moment has passed. He’s gone. Elvis has left the building.

Talking of buildings, here’s a rarity: a Church of England Church of the Ascension. I was passing by this week, so I went in and took some pics and vids. I knocked this together and made a short video on Instagram.

What Do I Do Now?

So, this Ascension Day, why not at least stand up and say the Apostle’s Creed? And then read the penultimate chapter of The Return of the King and note how Frodo and friends must fight to proclaim the victory in a land that has already been won. Unfortunately, when we do that work as Christians, we don’t have magical Elven chainmail. But we do have something – or someone – far better: the Holy Spirit, but that’s one for Pentecost next time.

Practically Perfectly Protestant?

What is a Protestant? And why don’t I feel very Protestant? Am I Evangelical? Anglican? Reformed? For the Cooper and Cary podcast, I had words with fellow blogger and all round good egg, Rhys Laverty, where we also talked about The Rest is History’s take on Luther and point out a few glaring omissions.

Check out Rhys’s New Albion blog here: