There has been a long standing tradition of choirs going on the top of church towers on
Ascension Day, especially in places like Oxford in this country. And I think the idea is for
the whole congregation to feel that they’re uplifted and to try and capture some of the
feeling of Christ ascending into heaven. Though we don’t want to take that in a literal
sense. And here we have been doing it for several years. The choir enjoy very much getting
up early and coming here and doing something that is, to say the least, that little bit unusual.
I wonder how many of you can remember the story of the Snowman and the film, and
that marvellous moment where they take-off. Can you remember it? Suddenly they are airborne,
suddenly they are away and the music captures that tremendous sense of being free. Well,
I want to suggest to you this morning that one of the things that we can hang on to from
the ascension story very usefully, is the sense of flying free. Probably if we look
around at the moment we will see some birds in the air, there are usually swifts around,
and if there aren’t the swifts, there will be other birds, and I hope… oh thank you!
The sense of being free indeed, as not as though I’m going to encourage you to, were
you to look over the parapet, you might feel frightened, but you might feel, also, wouldn’t
it be fantastic if we just take-off and fly! There’s a wonderful poem written about Jesus
called: “The airy Christ”, “The airy Christ” [Stevie Smith], the Christ who is
as light as air and who flies. And I think there is something about our Christian faith
that we want to get hold of, Christ makes us free; makes us feel as though we can fly
through the highest heavens. We are free from all the burdens, and all the things that tie
us down and depress us. We can take-off. So I hope this morning, as we think of Christ’s
ascension that we will hold on to that idea of Christ flying free; flying to the Father;
flying all round; and, encouraging us like the Snowman to fly-off behind him.
Usually the weather is lovely, as it is this morning, although one year we were up there and we
could see the rain clouds coming - so we did rather push through the service fairly quickly.
And once they come down they have a good breakfast and they go off to enjoy the day.