Sunday
05/24/20 - Sidney UMC
Sermon Title: “Ascension
and Us”
Old Testament
Scripture: Psalm 68:1-10, 32-35
New Testament
Scripture: Acts 1:6-14
Gospel Lesson: John
17:1-11
Today is Memorial Day Sunday, Ascension Sunday, Heritage Sunday, and the
Seventh Sunday of Easter. Did you get all that!
So, today is seven Sundays after Jesus
rose from the dead on that first Easter Sunday, as we are in this season of
Easter, until next Sunday. Next Sunday, May 31st, is Pentecost
Sunday. Next Sunday is the Sunday that we generally all wear red, as we celebrate
the movement of the Holy Spirit, and the birth of the Christian Church on
Pentecost.
The United Methodist Church celebrates
Heritage Sunday, this Sunday May 24th. According to the United
Methodist Church http://www.gcah.org/resources/heritage-sunday it says:
“Heritage Sunday shall be
observed on Aldersgate Day (May 24), or the Sunday preceding that date. The day
provides an opportunity for reflection on heritage, celebration of where the
Church has been, how it understands itself as it shapes us today, and the meaning
of Christian conferencing. Heritage Sunday calls the Church to remember the
past by committing itself to the continuing call of God” (http://www.gcah.org/resources/heritage-sunday).
So today the United Methodist Church celebrates the history
of the Methodist Movement, and our heritage as Methodists.
Today is also Ascension Sunday, which is the day that Jesus
Christ our Lord ascended into heaven. Jesus ascends to sit at the right hand of
God the Father, until returns to earth one day in glory. The actual Ascension
Day was this past Thursday May 21st, as we see this once again in
our reading for this morning from Acts 1:6-14.
Along with those three other things that this Sunday is, it
is also Memorial Day Sunday. I call today Memorial Day Sunday, as it is the day
before Memorial Day. While the other three things that are this Sunday are important,
I decided to focus more centrally this morning on Christ’s Ascension and Memorial
Day. Therefore, my sermon is called, “Ascension and Us.”
Tomorrow on Memorial Day, many of us know that we normally have
parades, that we celebrate the five branches of the armed services, etc. Unfortunately,
we will not have parades here tomorrow, or big barbeques, or many of the things
that we are accustomed to. We can still do some of this, but in extremely
limited ways.
I need to tell you that as a pastor who’s step-father is
retired from the United States Air Force, as a pastor that has congregation
members that are veterans, I am grieved that we cannot honor in person this
morning those who have or are serving in the armed forces. Memorial Day is all about
those who have died while serving in the armed forces, but it is always good to
honor all those who have served. We are congregation that is proud and blessed
to have a World War II veteran, Vietnam War Veterans, other veterans, and others
who have served. We have folks that have served with distinction, and were
awarded metals for there service, bravery, and valor. To those people, and to
the people here related to those people, I am sorry that we cannot be here in
person. Know though that we honor those who have served, and on Memorial Day,
those who never made it home.
Before getting into this sermon more fully, I want to give you
more information on what Memorial Day is. Here is one source that I researched
that says:
“Memorial Day (previously
but now seldom called Decoration Day) is a federal
holiday in the United States for honoring and mourning the
military personnel who had died while serving in the United States Armed Forces.
The holiday is now observed on the last Monday of May, having been observed on
May 30 from 1868 to 1970. Many people visit cemeteries and memorials on
Memorial Day to honor and mourn those who had died in military service. Many
volunteers place an American flag on each grave in national cemeteries.
Memorial Day is considered the unofficial start of summer in the United States, while Labor Day marks the unofficial start of Autumn on the
first Monday of September” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memorial_Day).
Tomorrow
is a federal holiday, and if schools were in session, they would be closed.
Some have tomorrow off from work, and but tomorrow is not just a day off. Tomorrow
is a day that we are called to remember the sacrifice shouldered by so many men
and women who died in military service. Again, it is also a good opportunity as
well, for us to honor all who did or have service in the armed forces. So, to
all who are or have served in one of the five branches of the United States Armed
Forces, that you for your service to our country.
With
this said, once again my sermon title for this morning is called “Ascension and
Us.” The actual of Ascension of Jesus Christ is discussed in many places in the
Bible, but this morning we are given once again, our reading from Acts 1:6-14.
In this scripture from the Book of the Acts of the Apostles, or Acts, Jesus
ascends to heaven. Once again Acts 1:9-11 says:
“When he had said this,
as they were watching, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their
sight. While he was going and they were gazing up toward heaven, suddenly two
men in white robes stood by them. They said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand
looking up toward heaven? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into
heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.” (Acts 1:9-11, NRSV).
Christ’s Ascension happens early in the first chapter of
the Book of Acts, and before this, the scripture discusses the promise of the
Holy Spirit coming soon. Jesus’ disciples still do not fully understand who he
is, his gospel, or their mission. Next Sunday, May 31st, on the Day
of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit will move in a mighty way. On this day, the
Apostles, the early followers of Christ, will be filled with God’s wisdom,
love, knowledge, Spirit, and fire. Finally, they will then connect the dots
more fully, and more fully understand who Jesus was and is, and what their
mission on earth is. On Pentecost Sunday, the Christian Church is born, and the
disciples go forth loving, preach, healing, and forgiving.
All throughout Jesus’ teachings in the gospels, Jesus tells
his followers of his coming death, resurrection, and even his ascension and return.
Even so, since Jesus’s disciples and other early followers did not fully understand
who he was, or exactly when his ascension would take place, they were still
startled and shocked by his Ascension into heaven. In fact, as I just read again
in Acts 1:10, the disciples were certainly shocked by the appearance of two
angels when Jesus Ascended. As one source I researched said of the appearance
of these two angels at Jesus’ Ascension:
“The sudden appearance
of two men standing beside them would have been both frightening and comforting.
These men were angels, sent to comfort them, since they were in a state of shock
after losing their Master. The reason for there being two angels, both here and
at the tomb of Jesus (Luke 24:4), may be that the two witnesses were required
to establish the authenticity of what was said. The angel’s words were of profound
importance to the disciples. They reassured them that they had nothing to worry
about, since Jesus was to come back, and they would see him just as they had
seen him go into heaven (1:11)” (Africa Bible Commentary, pg. 1327).
Even though Jesus had told the disciples and others about
his coming death, resurrection, ascension and return, the disciples were still
startled and scared. Remember not until the Holy Spirit moves in a mighty way
next Sunday on Pentecost Sunday will they really begin to fully understand who
Jesus was and is, what he taught, and what he did for us all.
In the way of unexpected things happening, even when they have
often known the risks and the dangers, sometimes men and women serving in one of
the five branches are our armed services have died suddenly. Sure, there fellow
soldiers probably also knew the risks, but it was still scary and shocking. For
those who have served and have come home, some of them carry deep scares and
wounds over what they have seen and have experienced. Some soldier struggle
with PTSD from there time in the armed services, but some never made it home.
The United Methodist Church believes that war is “incompatible
with scripture,” and I cannot imagine that most people love or even like war.
The reality though is this, we live in a broken and a sinful world. Most
soldiers have a desire to serve, provide for there family, and honor their country
and God. Most soldiers do not get to choose where they serve. Some soldiers are
put in harm’s ways, and some of these same soldiers do not make it home.
I cannot imagine what it is like for a spouse, parents,
kids, friends, or a whole community, to lose someone in the military. Sometimes
historically soldiers would die of illness or an infection, our would die
slowly from a wound or something like this. Many times, though, it happens
quick and unexpectedly. This morning Jesus Ascends to heaven quick and unexpectedly,
and luckily, the disciples have angels present to comfort them.
Sometimes in the history of our country, and in the history
of the world there has been tyranny, genocide, and grave injustices. War has occurred,
and we pray that it will one day cease to exist. With this said though, we live
in a broken, sinful, and a hurting world. Men and women sign up to serve, or
have been drafted, and some did not have the luxury of coming home.
This reality friends, is Memorial Day is all about lives
lost. Memorial Day is about brave men and women who did not have the luxury of
coming home. Brave men and women that saw no parades, and as our video from
this morning said, did not have the opportunity to “become revered” old men and
women. I have heard various opinions of the various wars and engagements that
our country has been in engaged in. Some people supported one war, but maybe
not another. Whatever our personal opinions might be or might not be, when the
chaplain knocks on the door to inform us that our son or daughter was killed in
action or is missing in action, our focus is on them.
What is also true, is that freedom, democracy, and liberty
are born out of struggle. I oppose war to, but I support freedom, democracy,
and liberty, and I realize that they are not free. I realized that in 1776 when
our founders wrote the Declaration of Independence that King George III in England
did not want to give up the thirteen colonies that became this United States of
America. Freedom, democracy, and liberty are not free, and we should remember
this day, and especially tomorrow on Memorial Day the price that is paid
sometimes for freedom.
I truly hope one day that war will cease, that will have worldwide
peace and prosperity. I hope one day that we will have a perfect world, but
this will not fully come to fruition until Jesus Christ our Lord returns.
For as the two angels said at Jesus’ Ascension once again, this
morning:
“This Jesus, who has
been taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go
into heaven.” (Acts 1:11b, NRSV).
Unfortunately, when we lose our loved ones while serving in
the military, they do not return to this earth, like Jesus Christ will return
to earth one day. What do have though is this, we have this day tomorrow,
called Memorial Day. I challenge you all therefore, to put pictures of these
soldiers on social media, tell stories about them, hang your flags, and realize
that great price that was paid for our freedoms. Know that one day, for all who
love Jesus Christ, we will be reunited again.
In our gospel of John reading for this morning, Jesus prays
for his disciples, shortly before he is betrayed, arrested, tried, and crucified.
As part of this prayer, Jesus says starting in John 17:6:
“I have made your name
known to those whom you gave me from the world. They were yours, and you gave
them to me, and they have kept your word. Now they know that everything you
have given me is from you; for the words that you gave to me I have given to
them, and they have received them and know in truth that I came from you; and
they have believed that you sent me. I am asking on their behalf; I am not
asking on behalf of the world, but on behalf of those whom you gave me, because
they are yours. All mine are yours, and yours are mine; and I have been
glorified in them. And now I am no longer in the world, but they are in the
world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them in your name that you
have given me, so that they may be one, as we are one” (Jn. 17:6-11, NRSV).
As Jesus ends this prayer for his
disciples, he knows that soon he will die for us all, be raised from the dead,
and then will Ascend into heaven. Jesus’ disciples are then tasked with telling
the world his gospel, his story, and bringing people, through the power of the
Holy Spirit, to the saving grace of Jesus Christ. On Memorial Day, tomorrow, I believe
that we are tasked with telling the stories and remembering those men and women
who did not make it home, while serving in the armed services.
Today then friends, we celebrate
Christ’s Ascension into heaven, but tomorrow may we honor and remember the
soldiers that did not come home, and the blood that they shed for our freedom, our
liberty, and our country. Tomorrow on Memorial Day may we show them the glory, the
love, and the honor they deserve. Amen.
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