Sermon for May 24, 2020

Sermon for May 24, 2020

Today is Ascension Sunday, that is, the end of the Easter season, and next week we will embark upon the season of Pentecost.  As we focus on the story of the Ascension this Sunday, my hope is that we come to understand more, what the Ascension of Jesus means to our faith.

Now it is interesting to note that, in Luke’s gospel which we read this morning, Jesus ascended to his Father on the same day as His resurrection, whereas in Luke’s companion volume, that is, the Book of Acts, Luke records that Jesus’ ascended to heaven 40 days after His resurrection. Certainly there is a similarity in the description of the Ascension in both books – but why does Luke record two very different timings?  It is a question, but, like faith itself, the Ascension has always been shrouded in elements of intrigue and mystery.

 But, what is more, the Ascenson has always been central Christian belief and confession.  The early church included it in all of its ancient creeds, including the one that I suspect many of us know the best, that is, the Apostles Creed, which reads:

On the third day he rose again from the dead.
He ascended to heaven
 and is seated at the right hand of God the Father almighty.
From there he will come to judge the living and the dead.

Well, all this said, how do we make sense of this event?  How does it “plug into” our understanding of Christ and deepen our faith and trust in Him?

The Rev. Stephen Fetter a minister with UCofC  makes a interesting comment

He says: … if you trust that the Earth is spinning like a tennis ball in flight (not something Luke would ever have dreamed of!), then a person rising … could end up at a very different part of the cosmos, depending on the time of day….miss His destination.

Now, of course, I doubt that neither Luke nor the ancient creed writers were very concerned or preoccupied about aerial trajectories. But the story of the Ascension is not really about how Jesus got to heaven; what direction to fly to find the pearly gates and that sort of thing.  NO!!! The story of the Ascension is one in which the disciples and the church came to know Jesus differently.

What is really important here is that for the first time Luke says the disciples “worshipped” Jesus as Saviour and Lord.  Prior to the Ascension, Jesus was teacher, guide, and companion; but nobody in Luke’s gospel ever thought of him as an entity of worship. This story marks Jesus’ “ascension” in the minds and hearts of his disciples and followers from teacher to Lord.

“The Nurturing Place” is a day care center in Jersey City. Barbara Lundblad Professor Emeritus of Preaching Union Theological Seminary New York, writes that few people would have heard of it if Anna Quindlen had not done a feature on the place for her newspaper column. The center, run by Roman Catholic sisters, welcomes and nurtures homeless children whose natural families are broken or simply unknown.  One day the sisters took the children in their care to the Jersey shore. The 3 and 4 year olds scrambled up the sandy dunes, falling and giggling their way to the top of what must have seemed like mountains to their little legs. When they got to the top, they could hardly believe their eyes: water as far as they could see -- more water than they had ever seen. They slid down the dunes and ran to the ocean’s edge. They chased the waves that teased their toes. Then they went off for a picnic in a nearby park. After lunch they begged to go back to the dunes. One little boy named Freddie outran the rest and climbed his way to the top. He looked out, then turned to the others and shouted, “It’s still there!”¹

In Freddie’s short life, so much had disappeared -- even the ocean could disappear over lunch. We’re older and wise enough to know the ocean is there even when we’re not looking. But we’re not so sure about other things. We may feel a bit like the poet who said:  that are time in life when you discover that “ … you live in a different place though you have never moved.” We’re scrambling up the sandy dunes, trying to find a place that will hold.

Can you think of a time when you have not felt spiritually grounded, in sinking sand, without traction, feeling  spiritually homeless and hopeless. What was it like for you? What changed? What brought you home?

Some believers think of Jesus’ ascension like an excuse for Jesus’ absence: because He ascended, or left, that Jesus is gone. And although the idea applies simply to Jesus’ physical body, it tends to be associated with broader implications about the divine presence: since Jesus “ascended into heaven,” we on earth remain “left behind.” (Bummer.)

Not at all.

What the ascension of Jesus in Luke-Acts signifies has far less to do with geography (Where Jesus is) than with his exaltation (Who Jesus is). Jesus’ ascension firmly establishes him as the Lord and Messiah, exalted at God’s right hand in ways not merely physical. Three such examples of the many in scripture include:                                                                          Acts 5:31  ³¹ God exalted him to his own right hand as Prince and Savior that he might bring Israel to repentance and forgive their sins.                   

Acts 3:26 ²⁶ When God raised up his servant, he sent him first to you to bless you by turning each of you from your wicked ways.”

Acts 10:40 

⁴⁰ but God raised him from the dead on the third day and caused him to be seen.

 (Acts 2:22-36; 3:26; 5:31; 10:40; 13:31-38; cf. 3:21).

 In short, the ascension of Jesus speaks volumes about who Jesus is, without confining Him.
The ascension will always remain a mystery, for it attempts to put into words what is beyond words and to describe what is beyond description. But that something such should happen was essential. It was unthinkable that the appearances of Jesus should grow fewer and fewer until finally they petered out. That would have effectively wrecked the faith of humankind. There had to come a day of dividing when the Jesus of earth finally became the Christ of heaven. But to the disciples the ascension was clearly 3 things.
(i) It was an ending to the days when their faith was in a flesh and blood divine/human being who was with them in the flesh. Now they were linked to someone who was forever independent of space and time.
(ii) Equally it was a new beginning. The disciples did not leave the place of Jesus Ascension despairing; but with great joy, because now they knew that they had a King; a Master; a Saviour and a true Friend from whom nothing could separate them.  As the Apostle Paul puts it, "For I am sure that nothing--nothing in life or death--can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 8:38-39.)
(iii) And thirdly, and perhaps the most important of all, the Ascension gave the disciples the certainty and knowledge that the person they knew and loved on earth, would also be there to greet them in heaven; in the life beyond. To die is not to be cast out into the abyss; into darkness and despair -- it is to go to be with Jesus Himself; to be found in fullest community/communion with Him.
With Jesus ascension, the focus of the disciples as students and followers ends and they assume and step out in their new role as leaders and teachers of the Word – that is, the Ascension marks a passing of the torch so-to-speak.
I am sure many of us today can identify with the position of the disciples in the gospel reading today.  Do we not face a similar situation in our own daily lives?  With students not returning this school year, has not our role as parents and caregivers also assumed more teacher/educator responsibilities?  We may indeed find this new situation challenging and we may feel ill equipped to assume it, but, of course, we know how important it is for the future of our young people.  And so it is that we do what we can to teach, encourage and foster learning.  But, in these and all changing and uncertain times, we can be reassured as the disciples are at Jesus Ascension, and so we know we are not alone. The very presence, the Spirit of God is truly with us, always and forever, a gift we will expressly celebrate next week on Pentecost. At that time, we will also partake in the Sacrament of Holy Communion.  We hope you will join us.