Ascension torch relay

Every four years, numerous cities of the world bid to hold the Olympic Games. In their application to the Olympic Committee, the candidate cities must show, amongst other things, that they have the finances, the infrastructure and the right political and economic climate to sustain the games. 

As we have found out here in London, immense planning and organizing goes into hosting the Olympics. One of the immediate tasks that the successful city undertakes is setting up a committee to plan the games. For London 2012, that committee is called LOCOG, the London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games. Among the functions of LOCOG was choosing individuals to carry the Olympic Torch.

Olympic torchbearers carry the torch from city to city, one handing it to the other almost like passing the baton in a relay race. The torch is used to light the Olympic Flame. Individuals chosen to carry the torch are people of accomplishment. They are individuals that the host country is proud to show off. Torchbearers are people that others would want to emulate, they are role models. It is a great honour to be chosen to carry the Olympic Torch.

On Saturday the Olympic torch sets out from Land's End en route to the Olympic Stadium. 8,000 people, aged 12 to 100, will carry it, with the relay visiting over 1,000 towns, cities and villages. Torchbearers will take in Stonehenge and the Giant's Causeway, and the flame will cross Loch Ness and climb Mount Snowden. The flame will be carried through Redbridge on Sunday 22 July.

Christians are also called to be torchbearers. A torchbearer is a person who leads or inspires. We are to carry the torch which, according to the Oxford Dictionary, is something that is lit for illumination. Jesus is the light of the world and we are to carry Him wherever we go. As His children, we are to shine so that those who do not know Him may come to know Him. The Bible says "The message that we have heard from his Son and announce is this: God is light, and there is no darkness at all in him" (1 John 1:5).

Just before his Ascension, Jesus met with the eleven disciples and said to them "Go throughout the whole world and preach the gospel to all people” (Mark 16: 15).This great commission was not only for the disciples but for all of us. It is for everyone who would confess Jesus as Lord and Saviour. We have a mandate to go and preach the Gospel, the Good News of Jesus Christ in every nation of the world. We should be proud carriers of the torch and like Paul we should be quick to declare "I have complete confidence in the gospel; it is God's power to save all who believe, first the Jews and also the Gentiles” (Romans 1:16). 

But this can only happen as we all play our own part in the Body of Christ. At the Ascension, Jesus is passing the torch to us and calling us to be torchbearers. So, it can only happen as we act as Jesus’ hands and feet, his eyes, ears and mouth, his body wherever we are. This is the challenge of the Ascension for us, but this challenge is combined with the promise that Jesus will send his Spirit to us to empower and equip us to be his people by doing what he would have done wherever we are. This is why he says to his disciples, “when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, you will be filled with power, and you will be witnesses for me in Jerusalem, in all of Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1. 8). 

For this reason, the Ascension and Pentecost are intimately linked. The Ascension provides the challenge – “Go, then, to all peoples everywhere and make them my disciples” (Matthew 28. 19) – and Pentecost provides the means - “when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, you will be filled with power, and you will be witnesses for me in Jerusalem, in all of Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

Like the Olympic torchbearers, we are called to pass the torch. It is incumbent upon us as Christians to pass the torch from generation to generation. It is the duty of parents, Christian teachers, pastors, missionaries and all who call themselves Christians to ensure that the torch is passed on. When we hear stories of how people came to know and serve the Lord, for many it was the godly influence of their parents, Sunday school teachers, pastors or friends that drew them to the Lord. "In the same way your light must shine before people, so that they will see the good things you do and praise your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5: 16)

Just as the Olympic flame is lit and everyone can see it, so should it be with us. The Bible says, "You are like light for the whole world. A city built on a hill cannot be hid" (Matthew 5: 14). People ought to look at our life and desire what we have. Christians ought to set the pace for others to follow. May we all take up the torch and carry it proudly and faithfully. Amen.


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Vangelis - Chariots Of Fire.