Luke 24:44-53

The Ascension of Our Lord | May 26, 2022 | Luke 24:44-53 | Ryan Mills |

⁴⁴[Jesus said to the eleven and those with 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.”⁴⁵Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures, ⁴⁶and he said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Messiah is to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day, ⁴⁷and that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. ⁴⁸You are witnesses of these things. ⁴⁹And 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.”
 ⁵⁰Then he led them out as far as Bethany, and, lifting up his hands, he blessed them. ⁵¹While he was blessing them, he withdrew from them and was carried up into heaven. ⁵²And they worshiped him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy; ⁵³and they were continually in the temple blessing God (Luke 24:44-53, NRSV).

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son +, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.  

I don’t know if you’ve heard the one about the three kids who are sitting on the corner one afternoon, skipping school.  Their local pastor walks by and says, “You can’t skip school, don’t you want to go to heaven?”  “Yes, Father, sorry, Father,” the first two kids say.  But the third kid says, “No way, I don’t want to go to heaven.”  “You don’t want to go to heaven after you die?” asks the pastor.  “Oh, after I die!”  the kid says, “I thought you were getting together a group to go now!”

Well 40 days after Easter we are celebrating today the Ascension of our Lord Jesus into heaven, we are celebrating the good news that not only is Jesus Christ risen indeed, but now he is risen all the way into Heaven, risen all the way back to where the Father is, risen back home where he came from in the first place.  Every Christmas Eve, it seems we can’t wait to hear the story that God’s Son came down to us, that God was born among us here as a real human being, we gather in candlelight and childlike joy to celebrate God with us.  But today is really the climax of Christmas, and the purpose of Easter—that he who once came down to us has also gone back up, God’s Son who came down for us and for our salvation, to live as a real flesh and blood human being, has now gone back up to heaven as a real flesh and blood human being, so that we too can follow where he has gone, and live and reign with him as real human beings, forever.    

         Jesus began his Ascension by reminding the disciples that everything written about him in Scripture had been fulfilled.  He reminded them of his birth among us as a little child. He reminded them of his proclaiming God’s Kingdom, of his teaching, healing, and setting people free from every bond.  He reminded them of his long suffering that Holy Week—his betrayal with a kiss, his agony in the garden, his being nailed up upon the Cross, his bearing there the sins of the world, his final breath, and his quick burial in that new tomb.  And he reminded them of the shock,of  the joy of Easter morning, that he in his own real, warm, body had risen indeed, that death had lost, that life had won, and that because he lives we shall live also, and of the message about him now to be proclaimed to all nations, to everyone of every tribe and race and language under heaven.  A message of repentance, of turning around from our running away from God, of changing our self-focused thinking, of doing a u-turn from our sin and towards his waiting arms, there to hear the total forgiveness of our sins, that no matter what it is for you this morning, no matter what we hold against ourselves, no matter what your conscience convicts you of, that in faith you are forgiven by his blood, that you are loved perfectly, that you are precious in his sight, and that each one of us will be sent this morning into our lives to show and tell and share and live the good news that Christ is risen and risen indeed. 

         But…there’s a shadow side to Ascension, too, isn’t there?  Like the kid in the joke, we aren’t too sure about going to heaven just yet.  Jesus rocketing up to heaven seems a little bit of a puzzle to us, and at worst a little embarrassing. And part of us wonders if we may have actually been left behind, left alone, and been abandoned here by God.  Christ is risen and ascended, great, but we are not yet, and the Lord we love, the one we would long to see is not here anymore in the flesh, not here in the way we would like.  How many times do we go through something difficult, how many times do we struggle, how many times do we find ourselves committing those same old tedious sins over and over again, and in our groans we cry out, “Where are you, Lord?”  “Why are you so far off from my cries?”  Christ being ascended, far off in heaven doesn’t seem so great always–where do our struggles, our weakness, our pain find their answer on Ascension Day?     

         I love our Ascension window here at Trinity on your right side, I don’t know if it’s just age or on purpose, but in it Jesus’ feet look completely real to me, and even a little dirty, like they have walked a mile in each of our shoes, like he knows our paths, our limps, our every stumble.  See, at the Father’s right hand today is Jesus Christ in our flesh, in your flesh—his hands and feet weak, tender, vulnerable, scarred, having undergone and suffered all things.  The body of Jesus is in Heaven at the right hand of the Father now, the body of Jesus is a part of God’s life forever, the heavens and the earth meet today, are joined today, and so your life–your weakness, your needs, your troubles, your trials, your hopes, are there too, always before God’s sight, always a part of him, whenever he looks upon his Son in love he also sees you; and whenever he sees him, God also sees the scars his Son bore for you in love.  Ascension promises us that we are never abandoned, never left behind, but that Christ has taken our bodies home ahead of time, exalted us, shown how eternally precious our human bodies are, shown us the glorious future of this whole creation: to be joined forever to the glory of God, for Christ has gone ahead of us today, now ruling high above all things in order to fill all things with himself.  

Truly, God has raised up his Son today above everything—so whatever you struggle with this week, whatever has its sights on you, whatever you’ve seen in our world this week or this season that has broken your heart, well Christ rules above that too, and they do not get the last word for us.  For Christ has been raised up, he now has death and despair under his thumb, and at the end he will bring all things, and subject all things, under his own gentle and glorious rule.   

         And so, Jesus comforts you today: you are not abandoned, you are not alone, you need not despair, for like a mother who has to rise up and pull back in order to embrace all her children, like a love that must rise above all things in order to fill all things, like a firework that soars up only to shower down light throughout the sky, Jesus has risen up in order to come down to us in his body, even now.  In the body of his church, in you Christian brothers and sisters, in this new family we share in, he comes to us, we know him here.  And in his Word and Sacrament, he is with us, nearer to us than our own breath, closer to us than we were in our mother’s arms, the victorious Lord of all comes to you in gentleness and humility and weakness today.  As my Son once said during an Ascension Bible study, while I was *at length* discussing Jesus’ ascension, he said, “No Daddy, he’s not just in heaven, he’s down here, with us, in our hearts.” With us, in our hearts, yes, and in our hands, and on our tongues, and in our brothers and sisters gathered here with us–Christ is here, just as he has promised-to hold you, to embrace you, to forgive and heal you!    

         For he came down from heaven as a child, so that he might go back to heaven, having also made you and me children of God.  And today he fills us with the promise that one day, with all our loved ones and the whole creation, we will be at home forever with him.  So Happy Ascension Day.  And Alleliua! Christ is risen!         

         And the Peace of God which passes understanding guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

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The Rev. Dr. Ryan Mills

New Haven, ConnecticutPastor@TrinityLutheranNH.org