The Festival of the Ascension of our Lord, 05/13/2010

Sermon on Luke 24:44-53, by David M. Wendel

"Lift Up Your Hearts to the Ascended Lord!"

Then (Jesus) said to them, "These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you--that everything written about me in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms must be fulfilled." [45] Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures, [46] and he said to them, "Thus it is written, that the Messiah is to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day, [47] and that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. [48] You are witnesses of these things. [49] And see, I am sending upon you what my Father promised; so stay here in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high."

[50] Then he led them out as far as Bethany, and, lifting up his hands, he blessed them. [51] While he was blessing them, he withdrew from them and was carried up into heaven. [52] And they worshiped him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy; [53] and they were continually in the temple blessing God.

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

The Reality of Loss and Grief

Is there anything so difficult, so painful, so emotional in life, as being at the side of a loved one, at the moment of their death? That moment may bring a certain relief-for the dying and the grieving; it may bring release from suffering; it may be welcome, in a way-and yet, it's always a time of great loss, as we see our loved one, mother, father, brother, sister, son, or daughter, relative or friend, leave this world-to be with us no more, in this life. I don't remember being with anyone, in all my years of ministry, who wasn't brought to tears, at that moment. Regardless the situation, regardless the age of the person who is dying, regardless the struggle they might've had toward the end, still, when the moment of departure comes, tears well up inside, as we think about the times we had together, and what this beloved one meant to us, and how we will no longer be together, in this life. And as time passes, we gain perspective, and the grieving gets easier, and we get used to the loss. But at the moment of death, we usually only feel, an emptiness, and a hole where our loved one had been.

The Death/Departure of Jesus

Today, we celebrate our Lord's departure from this world, as we hear, in fact, two accounts of His ascension-both written by St. Luke-the first, the earliest in his gospel, and the second in his Acts of the Apostles. And we hear how the Lord led his disciples out as far as Bethany, on the slope of the Mount of Olives, and lifting up his hands, he blessed them, and while he was blessing them, he was lifted up-he withdrew from them and was carried up into heaven, up, up, further and further, until finally, the clouds obscured him from sight. And this was a departure that was surely not unlike the times when we lose a loved one in death. Jesus, the disciples' companion and friend and teacher and Savior, had been with them through great difficulties and trials, He had preached to them, and eaten with them, and worked miracles in their midst, and indeed, they had lost Him once, already-on Good Friday, only to receive Him again, on Easter Sunday, a blessed resurrection that assuaged their grief and assured them that this Jesus of theirs was truly, Lord of death and life. But now that they had Jesus back, how much more difficult to let Him go again! How difficult to watch your loved one slip away, not in the grasp of death, but away, into the heavens, accompanied by angels, hidden by the clouds! And yet, Luke gives no indication of sorrow or sadness. Luke says nothing about the disciples collapsing with tears of grief. Rather, Luke tells us, "While he was blessing them, Jesus withdrew from them, and was carried up into heaven, and they worshiped him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy! Now, that's a little hard to understand, isn't it? It's a bit difficult to get our minds around, given our experience of loss and grief, and how we respond when a loved one is taken from us-even if they're being taken up into heaven. And though St. Luke's description doesn't mean there were absolutely no tears shed upon Jesus' ascension, the point Luke makes is that this was not a time for sorrow and mourning-this was not a time for morbid moping. Instead, what does Luke tell us about the disciple's response to the ascension of their Lord?

They Worshiped Him

First, and most importantly, Luke tells us, "they worshiped Him." Now, it's significant that this is the first and only time when the disciples, or anyone "worshiped" Jesus. The only other time the word is used in the entire Gospel of Luke is when Satan is tempting Jesus in the wilderness to fall down and worship him, Satan. And Jesus responds by saying, "worship the Lord your God and serve only Him." Here, Jesus makes it clear that only God is to be worshiped, not man, not the devil, no one and nothing else. Which puts an exclamation mark on the fact that here, at the moment of the ascension, the disciples now "worshiped Jesus". Before this, they weren't sure, they wouldn't have felt comfortable worshiping Jesus, because still, they saw him as a man, a creature not unlike themselves. One worshiped only God, and it was blasphemous to worship any other. But now, after Jesus had opened their minds to understand the scriptures, that the Messiah was to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in His name to all nations-now, it all made sense to them, and they saw Jesus as the Messiah, the anointed one, the Savior, and the ascension was the crowning event of Jesus' messiahship, so that seeing Him ascend to His heavenly glory, seeing Him ascend to take His rightful place, at the right hand of the Father, meant that now, they would, they could worship Jesus as Lord and God, without blaspheming, or sinning-because now, they perceived Jesus as both God and man; now they understood Jesus as Son of God, who became incarnate specifically, precisely, to give His life as a ransom on the cross, so that having been crucified, He might also be resurrected, to be the Living Lord-finally to be taken up into heaven, as St. Paul writes in our second lesson from Ephesians, "to be seated at the Father's right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age, but also in the age to come, putting all things under his feet, making him the head over all things for the Church..."

We Worship Him, Too

This Jesus is now worthy of worship, as He is no longer Jesus of Nazareth, but the Son of the Almighty, sitting in all His proper glory, at the right hand of the Father. And Luke invites us to see in those first disciples, the model for our discipleship-that our first task in life, is to worship our Ascended Lord. We sometimes forget that we were created for no other purpose, than to worship the Lord our God and serve only Him. We often get so caught up with our daily occupations and pre-occupations, with our hobbies and interests, as well as our troubles and trials, that we neglect to fall on our knees and worship Him who has been raised to sit in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, with a name that is above every name that is named. You have no other priority in life, but to worship Him, who left His throne in heaven, to take on our flesh, to be one of us, so that through His incarnation, He might share in our humanity, but that through His ascension, we might share in His divinity-because Jesus was taken into heaven, not just in His spiritual, divine being, but clearly, together with His earthly, human flesh. So that in the ascension, we see not just Jesus being lifted up into heaven, but ourselves-our humanity-our flesh and blood.

The Ascension is Jesus' Crowning Glory, and Ours

The ascension is not just the crowning glory of Jesus' earthly life and ministry, but it is the crowning glory of our lives, as we see and imagine, and are promised in His ascension, that we, too, will be taken up into heaven with Him...that we, too, have the hope and promise of eternal life, with Him, and with the Father, in the heavenly places. Which is why, though we grieve and mourn the loss of loved ones here; though we shed tears when we lose a loved one here on earth-ultimately, finally, we see our loved ones, not dead and buried in a stone cold tomb-not dust and ashes blown away with the wind-but we see them, in the arms of Jesus, being taken up into heaven, welcomed by angels. When our loved ones die, we may see, first, dark, troubled clouds that obscure our sight. But the ascension of our Lord gives us eyes to see that above the clouds, beyond the firmament, our loved ones who have died in the Lord, are in His presence, in His care and keeping, in a place of light and warmth and yes, glory! Whatever happens after death, whatever the actual process of dying, and transitioning to eternal life-the Gospel message is unmistakable, those who die in the Lord are in His hands-are in His care and keeping, forever. So that death and grief and sorrow, can be taken up, lifted up, with our loved ones, into heavenly joy.

The Ascension is a Sursum Corda

This is why Pope Benedict XVI says the ascension of our Lord "is a sursum corda-an invitation to lift up our hearts-a movement toward the above into which we are called." At the Lord's Supper, the presiding minister speaks that invitation, saying, "Lift up your hearts", and the response is, "we lift them up to the Lord." I hope we are indeed, lifting our hearts, up to the Lord who has ascended and even now is seated in heaven. I hope we are indeed, lifting up our hearts, to the Lord, who is our hope and our salvation, and our life and our peace, and yes, our joy-joy, in spite of loss and loneliness and struggle and trial. Which brings us to the second response Luke indicates for disciples who live on this side of Christ's ascension-we are to return to Jerusalem with great joy, being continually in the temple blessing God.

We Return With Joy

Like the apostles, we are to return. We are not to remain here, but to return to our homes, because spreading the gospel, and proclaiming repentance and forgiveness in Jesus' name, is to begin at home. This is why Jesus commissioned the disciples, telling them to begin from Jerusalem. We too are to be witnesses, and the Spirit is given to empower us for this task and this ministry. But we return to this work, we begin our task, not in sorrow or grief, but with joy-indeed, with great joy! Leo the Great wrote, "the ascension of Christ is our elevation. Let us exult, dearly beloved, with worthy joy and be glad with a holy thanksgiving. Today, we not only are established as possessors of paradise, but we have even penetrated the heights of the heavens in Christ." This is our joy in death, but also our joy in life, that Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior, sits at the right hand of God the Father. This is our joy in death, but also in life, that because our Lord Jesus Christ has ascended, we, too, will be taken up into heaven. So let us exult, dearly beloved, with worthy joy, and be glad with a holy thanksgiving. Sursum corda! Lift up your hearts to the Lord, and let your lives be lifted up-as we worship and praise, our ascended Lord, Jesus Christ!

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Rev. Dr. David M. Wendel
Saint Luke's, Colorado Springs
E-Mail: pr-wendel@saintlukes-cs.org

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