Homily, One Giant Leap
The Feast of the Ascension, 2025
St. Peter’s Episcopal Church
Plant City, FL
The Rev. Derek M Larson, TSSF
Today’s Lectionary Readings:
In the name of God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.
“That’s one small step for man; one giant leap for mankind.”
Those are some of the most well-known words in the English language today. Spoken by Neil Armstrong almost 56 years ago, their etched in our collective memory. When Armstrong stepped onto the surface of the moon, it wasn’t just a technical achievement—it was a collective human moment. It carried the weight and wonder of centuries of dreams and centuries of limits.
In a certain sense, in that first step of Armstrong, we stepped with him. The hopes and striving of the entire human race were there in his boots. Armstrong’s step wasn’t just a personal triumph or even a national one—it was a moment that seemed to reach beyond all borders and boundaries. It told us something new about ourselves: that we could go further than we’d ever gone, that there might be more possibility ahead than we had dared to imagine. That we have a collective future. That humanity could touch the stars.
It certainly was a giant leap for mankind.
Today we celebrate the Feast of the Ascension. The day when we remember that Christ Jesus, at the end of his earthly ministry, was lifted up into heaven before the very eyes of his apostles who looked on from below. And yet this story is not primarily about goodbyes. It is not about departures and separation. It is not a story about being left behind. It is a story about being lifted up.
Because in the Ascension, Jesus is lifted up not for his own sake, but for the sake of humanity. Armstrong’s step carried humanity to the moon; Jesus’ ascension carries humanity into heaven.
In Jesus, God became human. And in the Ascension, that same humanity—our humanity—is taken into the very presence of God. Jesus doesn’t ascend as a ghost, a spirit, or an idea. He ascends in a body. He ascends as Jesus of Nazareth: with hands that had been wounded, feet that had walked dusty roads, a heart that had grieved, laughed, and loved. He ascends fully human—and for that reason, he takes us with him.
The great triumph of the Ascension is that in Christ, human nature is now seated at the right hand of God. Think about that for a moment. In Jesus, a human sits on the throne with God. Heaven is no longer distant or closed off. Through Christ, it has opened its gates to the children of earth.
You and I have a representative on the throne of God. You and I have a brother in heaven on the throne of God. You and I have a teacher, a friend, a lover on the throne of God. Jesus brings more than just his own life into heaven. He brings yours and mine. He brings our fears and failures, our joy and our longing, our tired prayers and fragile hope. He stands at the throne of God not just as himself, but as the firstfruits of a humanity now drawn into glory.
Heaven is not far off. It is closer than we imagine, because one of us is already there.
So what does that mean for us now?
It means you are not forgotten. It means your life—your whole, real, human life—matters profoundly to God. It means that, no matter how small or stuck or broken you feel, your human story has already been caught up into God’s great story. In Christ, you are already there.
Jesus’ one small step into heaven is a giant leap for all of us. A leap that redefines our relationship with God and our relationship with the universe. A leap that gives us hope to believe that this world is not abandoned, but being redeemed. That in the end humanity is not destined to spiral downward, but to rise—because Christ has risen and has taken us with him.
So today, on this feast of the Ascension, let us rejoice. Not because Jesus has left us behind, but because he has gone, for us, ahead. Today we worship and celebrate because Christ is on the throne for his own glory and for ours. Amen.
Thoughts on Faith 