Sunday
06/02/19 - Sidney UMC
Sermon Title: “Ascended into Heaven”
Old Testament
Scripture: Psalm 47
New Testament
Scripture: Ephesians 1:15-23
Gospel Lesson:
Luke 24:44-53
Today, is
Ascension of the Lord Sunday, and it is also the Seventh Sunday of Easter.
Seven Sundays after Christ rose from the dead, conquering sin, death, and
darkness, offering us new life, new hope, and victory through him.
This past Thursday was Ascension Day or Ascension Thursday,
as the gospels of Mark and Luke, and the Book of Acts speak of Christ’s
Ascension into heaven. This literally means that Christ went up into heaven,
and that he will not be physically present again on earth, until he returns to
earth in his glorious second coming. Since we generally don’t have worship
services on Thursdays though, I am using the lectionary scriptures from
Thursday May 30th for this morning. This is why our prayers in our
bulletins for this morning do not match our scripture readings for this morning.
As far as Ascension Day goes, even further, some Christian
denominations refer to Ascension Day, as a feast day. This is a celebratory day
of worship and feasting, as this past Thursday was the Feast of the Ascension. This
holiday occurs on the Fortieth-Day in the Season of Easter, as 40’s and 7’s are
very significant numbers in the Christian Bible and in the Christian Tradition.
So again, I am using Thursday’s Ascension of the Lord
scriptures in place of the scriptures for this morning.
With all of this said, I have a question for us all to
consider this morning. I think that this is a good question to ask, especially
in light of having a baptism this morning. A baptism of precious young child of
God. So what is this question? This is the question, what does it feel like to
lose your hero? What does it feel like to lose someone that you look up to and that
you think the world of? Further, how do you go on after losing that person?
The Ascension of the Lord story to me, is like losing a
father, a grandfather, a best friend, or losing someone that means the world to
me. How many of you would be lost if certain people in your life were simply
just no longer there?
Imagine for a moment that you were alive and that you knew
Jesus when he walked this earth 2,000 years ago. What would it have been like
to meet Jesus? What would it have been like to see Jesus heal, love, forgive,
feed, restore, and to hear him teach and preach? What would it be like if Jesus
were to just leave at a moment’s notice?
Growing up, I always loved my Grandpa Winkelman. He was a
wild guy. I mean wild! He had an Eighth Grade education, and him and my Grandma
Maryann were two of the most loving, hard-working, and generous people that I
ever met. They lived for years in a small little house. Grandpa was a farmer,
and worked all sorts of jobs, as did my Grandma Winkelman. My Grandpa Harold
was and is a Christian. He went to church, he loved others, he had a great
sense of humor, and he was always there to help others in need. I remember when
he died in August, 2015, I was asked to do the funeral for my own grandfather.
It was a hard for me, but such an honor and a privilege. My grandpa Harold was
a centralizing figure in our extended and crazy family, and then just like
that, he was gone. It left a void, and we as a family had to then figure out how
to move forward.
In our Gospel of Luke reading for this morning, I can
imagine what the disciples were feeling. Let’s look again at the Gospel of Luke
reading for this morning. Starting in chapter 24:44 Jesus says once again:
“Then he 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.” 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” (Lk.
24:44-49, NRSV).
Jesus is reminding the disciples, just who he is, and he is
giving them a greater knowledge and a greater understanding of who he is. He is
telling them also, that he is soon to suffer and die for us and that he will rise
from the dead on third day. Jesus lastly, promises his disciples that the Holy
Spirit would come soon and would reveal even more truth to them. Essentially,
the disciples still don’t fully get it, but they will soon.
This gospel reading and the gospel of Luke itself then ends
once again with Luke 24:50-53, saying of Jesus:
“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” (Lk.
24:50-53, NRSV).
So this is how the gospel of Luke ends. Jesus is officially
physically gone from the earth, until he returns in his second coming. After
Jesus ascends into heaven, the disciples of Jesus once again return to
Jerusalem “with great joy” and “were
continually in the temple blessing God”.
Now I think
that this is a great thing that the disciples were filled with joy and were
blessing God constantly in the temple. I have always wondered though, and maybe
they didn’t, did the disciples ever really miss having Jesus with them
psychically. On the Day of Pentecost, which we will celebrate next Sunday, the Holy
Spirit moved in that Upper Room in Jerusalem, and the disciples finally really
got it. They were ready, preaching, loving, healing, and forgiving. They seemed
unstoppable on the Day of Pentecost, but I wonder though did they ever have sorrow
that the Lord, our savior, the Messiah was no longer physically with them?
It would seem
that at different points that the disciples had struggles, and it would seem to
make sense that they did in fact at times miss having Jesus with them physically.
One of the
great privileges that I have been able to witness as a pastor, is to see
families who are part of the churches that I have served that have four or even
five generations in the church. I have served churches with Great-Great
Grandparents, Great-Grandparents, Grand Parents, Parents, and kids. Like my own
Grandpa Winkelman, I have had the honor and the privilege of officiating the
funerals for some of these people. Like my own family, I saw the mourning, the
suffering, and the struggle, when a central person from a family in what seemed
like an instant, was just gone.
This morning, as part of the Baptismal Covenant for our new
brother in Christ, Alex, we have all agreed to love him, care for him, and be
Christ-like friends and brothers and sisters to him. We hope that the love that
God has given us through Jesus Christ, and that has been given to us through
those that have went before us, can be given to little Alex.
It’s humbling for me to know that I only have two of my
four grandparents still alive here on earth. I know that one day I will have no
grandparents alive here on this earth. I also know that one day I will even
lose my parents. This saddening and humbling realization really connects with
me to this morning’s gospel lesson. Here is how.
When Jesus ascends to heaven in our gospel of Luke reading
for this morning, the disciples are now fully in charge of the church. Sure
they are waiting for the Holy Spirit to move in them next Sunday on Pentecost
to fully understand who Jesus was and what he taught, but now they are in
charge.
When we baptize a person, we are continuing our 2,000 year
Christian tradition of love, hope, mercy, liberty, salvation, and God’s grace
through Jesus Christ. One day, we will be the disciples left behind, and God
will be calling on us, not our grandparents, or our parents, to love, lead, and
be the next generation of God’s people.
Now do I know for certain if the disciples ever had sorrow
about Jesus not being physically present with them? No, I don’t, but I can
imagine that they did at times, as I am sure that we all can.
As we celebrate Christ’s Ascension on this our Ascension Day
Sunday, we should have some joy and we should feel empowered. For we are the
church, we have been given the care of God’s people, and we have been called to
change the world. We are now in charge, under God’s direction. How we lead, how
we love, how we care, how we teach, and how we live, are a reflection of the
love of Christ that has been passed down to us generation after generation.
My hope is, my prayer is, that myself, that you, that
little Alex, one day when all of our heroes are gone, that we will be ready to
take up the mantle of leadership that has been prepared for us. When the grand
parents are gone, when the parents are gone, and we are left to lead and carry
on. Jesus Ascended to Heaven, put his disciples in charge of the church, and
has called us even still today to lead it. I hope and pray that one day when
little Alex is an old man, and when many of us will not physically be here right
now, that his love, his faith, and his caring will lead others, and we, through
God’s love in Jesus Christ, will continue to freely offer it to him. If this
happens, then we have successfully passed on the faith and the love of Jesus
Christ. If this happens, when Christ ascends he is happy know that his church
is indeed in good hands. Happy Ascension Day Sunday and God bless! Amen.
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