Grace, mercy and peace be unto you from God our Father, and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, Amen. The text for this Ascension Sunday message is the text of that event as written by St. Luke in the 1st chapter of the book of Acts, versus 6-11, which reads as follows.
So when they had come together, they asked him, "Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?" He said to them, "It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth." And when he had said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes, and said, "Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven." So far our text.
Today is a very special Sunday in the church year. Did you realize that in just one more week, the first half of the year, what we call the festival half, which began way back in Advent, will be over. And after that we head straight into that long second half of the church year, when each Sunday is marked off as so many Sunday's after Pentecost. And with these last two festival Sundays, where today we celebrate the ascension of our Lord, and next Sunday, the coming of the Holy Spirit on the disciples on at Pentecost, we bring to a fitting close the events surrounding the life, ministry, and saving work of Jesus.
Today, on Ascension Sunday, we close the chapter on Jesus' earthly life. It certainly must have been a bitter-sweet event for the disciples, as they watched their Lord depart from their presence. Despite his assuring words that he would one day return, it could not have been easy for them to watch the one they had given themselves over to with all of their hearts, disappear into the clouds. Little did these men imagine the critical importance of the event they were witnessing. Nor could they in their wildest dreams imagine the life changing event that was now just a few days away.
Personally, I think that Ascension Day is the most overlooked festival of the Church year. You might say that it's the Rodney Dangerfield of Church festivals. It just gets no respect. The mere fact that most churches don't even celebrate Ascension Day is certainly evidence of that lack of respect.
Maybe the problem is that the world hasn't commercialized Ascension Day. I mean, did you see any Ascension Day sales in the paper this past week? Have you been invited to any Ascension Day parties? Did you put up an Ascension Day tree or hang Ascension lights or have an Ascension egg hunt? No? Me neither! But that's actually good. Because that means that we don't have to be distracted from the real meaning of Ascension Day. Instead we can turn our attention to the one person who is worthy of our glory and praise. So today, let's worship our risen and ascended Lord. And our text this morning gives us three good reasons to worship the Lord - He promises his Holy Spirit, He rules over all things, and He Will one day return in Glory.
Our text covers the period from Jesus' resurrection to his visible return to God's right hand. In the days leading up to his departure from the earth, Jesus gave his disciples a number of instructions. He tells them, for example, "Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit."
With these words, Jesus is promising to give his Apostles a special, visible outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Now this promise of course was fulfilled on Pentecost Day, which we will celebrate next Sunday, the day when the Holy Spirit came upon the disciples with visible tongues of fire and they were given the ability to spontaneously speak in different languages. Notice the affect that Jesus says that the Holy Spirit will have on them. He tells them, "You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes to you; and you will be my witnesses in all Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth."
My friends, isn't the same thing true for you and me today? God still pours out his Holy Spirit on us - maybe not in tongues of fire on our heads, as he did at that first Pentecost, but he still comes to us through his Word and in the sacraments. And it is the Spirit that gives us the ability to be Jesus' witnesses, that is, to say to friends and strangers alike, "This is what Jesus did for me. He's given me forgiveness of sins, and peace and yes, a purpose to my life." Jesus ascension reminds us that he has not left us behind so that we can sit around twiddling our thumbs or worse yet, so that we can live for our own selfish desires, but rather he has left in order that we can now be his witnesses, and we can witness as people who have been filled with the Holy Spirit.
Now, let's recognize that as we seek to carry out God's plan for our lives, things won't always go the way we want them to. As a matter of fact, there are going to be times when things go exactly the opposite of what we had planned or what we had hoped for. And it's at times like these that we need to remember the second reason we worship an Ascended Lord. We Worship our Lord - because He rules all things.
In the first chapter of the Epistle to the church in Ephesus, the Apostle Paul speaks about what Jesus, our Ascended Lord, is doing for us today. Paul here writes, "God raised (Jesus) from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms. And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church." Think about what that means. It means that God the Father has placed everything under the control of God the Son. And now God the Son is controlling all things for the good of the church, that is, for the good of all Christians. St Paul says the same thing when he writes to the Romans, "In all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose."
So what does that mean in real life? Let me give you an example. About 2 years ago, my mother was sitting on the sofa in her home in Nebraska watching TV when without warning she slumped to her side. Unable to arouse her, her cousin (and lifelong friend) called the next door neighbor, a member of their church, who immediately called "911". The paramedics came and took her to the emergency room and reported that she was now stable. But my mother was not stable. Unbeknownst to them, she had suffered a massive stroke. She lay there in the hospital, in a coma, and within 48 hours, she had died. As you might expect, the news came as quite a shock to all of us. One day, she's alive and well, and within two short days, she's gone. How does a person cope with something like that? I can testify to you that there is only one way. By recognizing that we have an ascended Lord who is ruling all things for the good of the church. If Jesus, in his infinite wisdom and power, decides to allow one of my loved ones to pass from this valley of tears, if he chooses to spare him or her from future suffering, from the natural deterioration of mind and body, then I'll allow him to do that. I'll trust his time table. I'll trust that he is controlling all things for the good of my mother, and my family, and yes, for my own good too.
You know, that whole idea of Jesus controlling all things for my good reminds me of something else I experienced. During my years working at Motorola I had the occasion to fly in and out of airports many times on business trips. Now usually I didn't think anything of landing at an airport. I mean, what do you do? The plan lands and taxies to the terminal and you get off, right? But one time the plane I was on offered me a headset that allowed me to listen to the communication between the tower and all the various planes that were on the runway at that time of the day. Wow, was that ever an eye-opener! I never realized how much was going on behind the scenes. Somebody up there in the tower was watching over all these planes making sure they didn't crash into each other, on the ground or in the air. "Flight #15, Go here! Flight #252, Go over there!" Okay 252, now cross two runways and stop. Okay 15, you're clear to go." And all this time I'm thinking, "My goodness! I never realized all this was happening without me knowing it. Somebody is controlling all these planes. And he's doing it for my good, for my personal safety.
My friends, in a sense, isn't that what our ascended Lord Jesus is doing for us? If you think an air controller has a bird's eye view of the airport, just imagine the view Jesus has sitting at the right hand of God? He's controlling all things for our good. Now does that mean we're all robots, just little puppets on a string, being controlled by the man in the sky? No. God gives us a certain amount of free will (at least for things of this earth) and sometimes we use that God-given free will to rebel against him and to go our own way. And often that can lead to some disastrous crashes, can't it? We end up hurting ourselves and others. But even then, God is still in control. He can use even our rebellion against him to serve a good purpose. For example, think of how he used the sins of Joseph's brothers, when they sold Joseph into slavery, to ultimately provide a home for the entire family of Jacob. Although God never condones sin, in his mercy he can still use sin for a good purpose. That's the confidence you can have, and all because Jesus ascended to the right hand of God.
And yet, there is one more thing that Jesus' ascension means to us today. One more reason to be here worshipping him. And that is found in the words the angels spoke to the disciples as they watched Jesus ascend into heaven. What did they say? "This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven." What does Jesus' ascension mean for our lives today? It means that Jesus will return again, this time in glory.
You can imagine that what the angel told the disciples would have been a pretty important piece of information for them to hear. I mean, here they are, standing around gawking (as an accurate translation of the Greek verb in the text tells us), gazing into the sky, probably wondering, "Great! Now what are we supposed to do?" Maybe even experiencing some first century separation anxiety. Maybe wondering if the last three years had been a total waste of time. Maybe wondering if they would ever see this Jesus again?
And what was the angels' response? Of course you'll see Jesus again. The same Jesus who went into heaven will return in the very same way he went." In other words, he's not gone forever. He's not some guy who makes all kinds of promises, steals your heartfelt devotion, and then skips town the next day, never to be seen or heard from again. No, Jesus will return again, this time in glory.
And when he comes the second time, he's not going to enter this world via the birth canal, like he did the first time. He's not coming again as a helpless little baby. He's going to visibly descend from heaven with all his angels. John describes his vision of Jesus' return for us in Revelation, chapter 1 as follows, "Look, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him." So what does that mean for our lives? Well, for one thing, it means that we can be sure that Jesus hasn't come yet. So when someone like a David Koresh of the Branch Davidians, or Marshal Applewhite of Heaven's Gate, or Jim Jones of the People's Temple, or whoever is the next great false prophet claims that he is in fact Jesus Christ returned to earth, we can say, "Sorry, unless I saw you come down the same way Jesus went up, then I know that you aren't the Christ."
But even more important than how Jesus will return is what he will return to do. Remember what Jesus told his disciples in John chapter 14? He says, "In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me so that you also may be where I am..."
And that's the most important thing that Jesus' ascension means for us, isn't it? Jesus is going away only to come back for us. Now, if I tell my wife that I'm going away for a few days, she may say, "I hate to see you go." But if I say, "the reason I'm going away is to arrange a trip to Hawaii for us, and I promise to come back and take you there with me," well, then, my going away isn't such a bad thing is it? Why? Because she can look forward to something much better in the future.
And my friends, isn't that what we're here to celebrate today? Jesus Christ, whose blood was splattered on a cross to pay for our sins, has been raised to life and has now ascended into heaven and now sits at the right hand of God. And because of his ascension, you can be sure that Jesus will continue to pour out his Holy Spirit though his Word and Sacrament, so that you and I can continue being his witnesses. And you can also be sure that he will continue to control all things for your eternal good and finally you can be sure that he will return in glory to take you to be with him in heaven. Now I don't know about you, but I'd say that those are three pretty good reasons to be here. To be here today worshipping our risen and ascended Lord. Amen.
And may the peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in true faith unto life everlasting. Amen.