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The Ascension of Our Lord, 05/29/2014
Sermon on Luke 24:44-53, by Pari R. Bailey
Luke 24: 44-53, NRSV Jesus said to his disciples, "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." Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures, 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, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. 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."
Then he led them out as far as Bethany, and, lifting up his hands, he blessed them. While he was blessing them, he withdrew from them and was carried up into heaven. And they worshiped him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy; and they were continually in the temple blessing God.
There are a lot of celebrations going on this week. Confirmation will be finished for the year this Wednesday. This is the last week of school in many places, and come Friday there will be a big sigh of relief and celebrating. Graduates are preparing for their final days in high school and college and planning celebrations of their achievements.
We also celebrate liturgically today something that we confess in the Creed nearly every Sunday-the Ascension, or the "going up" of Christ. Forty days after his resurrection, Jesus was taken up into heaven, ascended back to his Father. We say in the Creeds: "he ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again to judge the living and the dead." It's a day to celebrate. The Scriptures tell us that the disciples were filled with great joy today.
But what are we celebrating? What caused the disciples to feel such magnificent joy that they were continually at worship in the temple, every day blessing God? At first glance, it seems odd to be celebrating a departure. After all, when he ascended into heaven, Jesus left this world to return to his Father. Some might think that that would be a time of sadness for the disciples, a time of loss of their master and friend. Jesus left just as his disciples were starting to get his message, starting to understand what all this was about. Why the joy and praise?
It can't have been just for the miracle of Jesus bodily rising up into the clouds. We don't just gather today to celebrate some spectacular event, a last special effect in the life of Jesus. There's got to be something more. In the account of the Ascension in Acts, the story is a little more detailed and gives us some more clues as to what is going on here. Luke and Acts are part of the same book. The same author wrote them both, so it's natural that, writing to his friend Theophilus, Luke would give some more details about this wonderful event. The clouds take Jesus up into heaven, and the disciples stand staring, with their mouths open, until two angels dressed in white robes suddenly appear and ask them what they're doing, looking up into heaven. The angels tell the disciples that Jesus will come again the same way he went: on the clouds, coming down out of heaven to his people on earth.
That is certainly cause for celebration. Our Lord, who has ascended back to his Father, will come again one day. Every eye will see him, the book of Revelation says. He will come again on the clouds, and when that happens, we will know the end has come. "He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom will have no end," says the Nicene Creed. Satan will be destroyed, and we will live with God forever in heaven. Christ has ascended into heaven to rule all things, to have dominion over all heaven and earth, even death and hell. He is victorious, and one day will come again to separate sin, death and the devil from his people forever.
But that's not the whole story. Think back to earlier in the Acts lesson. Jesus says to his disciples, "you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be my witnesses to the end of the earth." In verse 5, Jesus tells his disciples that before many days are up, they will be baptized with the Holy Spirit, the Spirit which has been promised them by the Father. He tells them to wait in Jerusalem until the Spirit has come.
Not only was Jesus ascending to heaven to take dominion over all the earth as God's Son, but he wasn't actually leaving at all! Instead, he was bodily ascending into heaven, to take his place at God's right hand, so that he could be on earth in a new way-in the power and presence of the Holy Spirit. It's true, Jesus is no longer a man on earth, but he is still present here: in the bread and wine of the Holy Eucharist, in the forgiveness of sins, in the waters of Baptism, in the preached Word. No longer is Christ's body and presence tied only to one time and one place--namely, Palestine 2,000 years ago. Now, Christ is everywhere. The Holy Spirit is the presence of the resurrected Christ over the whole world. The Spirit has come to be our Advocate and guide, comforting us, giving us faith, teaching our hearts and reminding us of all Jesus has done and is doing. Jesus himself now sits before the throne of his Father and continues to intercede for the world.
By ascending into heaven, Jesus sealed his work on the cross and paved the way for all of us, also, to ascend to heaven with him on the last day. He who descended into hell, also ascended into heaven. The one who descended to the dead, also arose alive. So it shall be with us. That is cause for great joy! Ascension joy! Not only Christ's ascension, but through him, ours, too. The one who today ascends into heaven, will descend from there one last time to take us home with him, rising up on the clouds, through ranks and ranks of angels to the home of God.
But you and I live in the between-time. Jesus has not yet come again to take us home. We are not seated at the right hand of the Father yet. We live here on this earth, still in the middle of work and grief and trouble. We cannot see Jesus Christ with our eyes. We cannot talk with him in the way in which the disciples did.
Our faith is not strengthened by the living, breathing person of Jesus Christ that we can touch with our hands, but we are certainly part of his body on earth, the Church. We hope for things that we cannot see. Things which have been promised to us by the one who never lies, the one who sent his Spirit as a guarantee for his Church.
Jesus' earthly ministry was concluded forty days after his resurrection, but his mission goes on, through us, his Church. Ten days after Jesus ascended into heaven, the Holy Spirit came upon the disciples with tongues of fire and a mighty wind at Pentecost. That same Spirit is in each of us, strengthening and renewing us, calling us through the Gospel, gathering us into places where we can bless God and be blessed by him, enlightening us with his gifts, sanctifying us and keeping us in the true faith. The Spirit forgives our sins, brings forth a new creation from our old selves day after day. The Spirit makes us witnesses to the risen Christ. Witnesses in Judea and Samaria, and in the towns here--Belview, Echo, Redwood.
So let's not stand around gazing into space. We live in the assurance and promise that our Risen and Ascended Lord will come again from heaven. We know our future and who holds it and us. No, let us now continue the ministry of Christ on earth, gathering in his temples to worship and bless him, witnessing to his power, baptized with water and the Spirit for service in God's world. We are not left orphaned. We are not abandoned. We are blessed by our Lord as the disciples were blessed. The Spirit is with us, and Christ will come again, exactly as the disciples saw him go. When he does, we also will ascend, the final glory in our redemption. Amen.