Sidney UMC - Memorial Day Sunday/Ascension Sunday/7th Sunday of Easter - 05/29/22 - Sermon - “Carried Up Into Heaven!”

Sunday 05/29/22 - Sidney UMC 

Sermon Title: “Carried Up Into Heaven!”                                           

Old Testament Scripture: Psalm 47                                       

New Testament Scripture: Ephesians 1:15-23

Gospel Lesson: Luke 24:44-53

          In the past two weeks, between the mass shooting at the Buffalo Tops Supermarket, and the mass shooting at the Elementary School in Texas, 31 people have been killed, and more counting the wounded. The United States is not at war with another country, even so we are aiding the Ukrainian Army to fight the Russian Army, as are our NATO or North Atlantic Treaty Organization allies.

          For those of us that have seen the horrors of the Buffalo and the Texas mass shootings on television, and the horrors of the war in Ukraine on television, we know that war, killing, and violence are awful. In fact, the United Methodist Church is against war and believes that war is incompatible with Christian teaching.

          Throughout history however, war and violence has happened, and likely it will unfortunately continue to happen. We can create more laws, more restrictions, and more rules, but we also have to look at ourselves. We all, I included, have to grapple with and repent of own sin. We can have laws, we can have regulations, and restrictions, which we need some of, but we also have to try to live like Jesus. We need to teach our children how to live, how to love, and how to treat others. We also need to address the mental health crisis that is affecting many people in this country. So, it is not a one or the other, it is both and. Laws and legislation have no meaning if people will not follow them. We have to be changed spiritually, so that laws and legislation have a chance of working.

          My stepfather Mike Therio retired from the United States Air Force National Guard as an E-7 or a Master Sergeant. Mike retired as a Chaplain’s Assistant, or a military pastor, or sorts. He is a man of God, and like me does not like war. My stepfather, like me, does not like violence. Yet, we have police departments and a military to protect the people of our country. The history of our country is not perfect, as we all know, but until Jesus Christ returns, we will always have sin on this earth. Can we make Sidney and the world much better, however? Sure, we can, but we are naïve if we think that we can make the world perfect. Through Christ, we can make it much better, but we also have to be transformed through Jesus Christ our Lord. The church is called to shine light, hope, love, and mercy, so that the community and the world can be transformed. Yet, we all, I included, still need grace and forgiveness.

          So, hear me clearly, laws, legislation, and some regulations are good, but we need to be changed through Jesus Christ. We cannot fully legislate morality. With this said, today in part we are celebrating Memorial Day Sunday. We are not celebrating war, but I am declaring unapologetically that freedom is not free. I am declaring that men and women from this country died in the armed services. Whether we think a certain war was just or not, it is right and a good thing to honor those who have served. Since we live in a fallen and a broken world, violence happens, and unfortunately wars happen to. Soldiers are sometimes drafted or sometimes volunteer. Sometimes they are wounded, scarred for life, or even die. I am proud to be the pastor of church that honors those who serve, have served, and those who paid the ultimate price in serving. As the slogan goes, “All game some, some gave all.” So, for those who serve in the armed forces presently, have served in the armed forces, or are with the Lord and did not make it home while serving in the armed forces, we honor you and your service today, tomorrow, and always.

           As I have also said, honoring our men and women who served in the armed services is something that every country does. It must be unimaginable for a family to lose child, a husband, a wife, an uncle, a parent, etc. in the armed forces. It must be hard to lose them in any capacity. Every time I have the privilege of officiating a military burial, I get to see the flag folded, the knee bent, and the flag presented. I also remember the first time that I went to Washington D.C., and I saw that great wall of the names of those men and women who never came home from the war in Vietnam. So many names. Some of these men and women are still declared missing. The families never got the body or the remains of there loved one back. All that remains then, is a named etched on that wall in Washington D.C. At our Veteran’s Park here in Sidney, we have a terrific display that honors all of the people that served in the armed forces from Sidney. They deserve are respect.

          With this said, here is the question that I have for us all to think about this morning. This is the question, if someone dies in a foreign war, or while in the armed services in general, who remembers them? Who tells their story? Who retells the story about who they were, what they did, and why they had to be so brave? As I have said many times in this church my friends, we stand in a line of heroes, and we stand on the shoulders of giants. Ever placard, every name on a stained-glass window in this church, is more than just a name. These are our brothers and sisters in faith that have gone before us.

          I cannot imagine what is like to be President Volodymyr Zelensky in Ukraine, but the Russian Army invaded his country. President Zelensky, our president, and our NATO allies tried to stop the Russian President Vladimir Putin from invading Ukraine, but he did anyway. What were the Ukrainians to do? Sit and be killed? Become slaves of another country? Or defend their freedom, there land, and the weak and the innocent?

          After the meeting in Munich, Germany in 1938 when Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler told some European leaders that he only wanted the Sudetenland, which is part of the present-day Czech Republic, and nothing else. The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom at the time Neville Chamberlain declared they had achieved “Peace for our time.” A year later however, Hitler invaded Poland, and we had a world war. The world can be a challenging and an unpredictable place, but Jesus Christ is the light of the world.

          When soldiers die then, when they do not return home, who remembers them? There have already been about 30,000 Russian soldiers killed in Ukraine. Who will remember them?

          I want to connect question for Memorial Day, to this Sunday, which is also our Ascension Sunday. This past Thursday was Ascension Day, and some churches like ours celebrate the Ascension of Christ today. This ascension is Jesus ascending into heaven, and we will only see him again in the flesh when he returns in glory.

          We are told once again in our reading for this morning from Psalm 47 to sign and shout to God, for his goodness, as we are all called to do (Ps. 47, NRSV). Even so, a war rages in Ukraine, and two mass shootings have happened in this country in about two-weeks. As Christians we are called to love Jesus and to live differently, so that the world might look more like Christ. When we are filled with God’s love and the hope of Jesus Christ, we are living differently. Friends this is how we change Sidney and the world.

          In our reading from the Apostle Paul’s letter to the Ephesians for this morning, Paul thanks them for there faith in Christ and love of each other. The Apostle Paul prays that God will give the church in Ephesus wisdom and revelation, and reminds them that Jesus ascended into heaven, sits at the right hand of God, is the head of the church, and the ruler of all (Eph. 1:15-23, NRSV).

          In our gospel of Luke reading for this morning once again, Jesus tells his disciples that he is the messiah. He tells them that has fulfilled the scriptural prophecies of old, and Jesus opened their minds to understand the scripture. He reminded them about his resurrection, and to proclaim his gospel to Jerusalem and all the world. Then Jesus said in Luke 24:48:

⁴⁸ You are witnesses of these things (Lk. 24:48, NRSV).

          Jesus was telling the disciples and us, that he was about to ascend to heaven. As a result, he would not be here with us until his second coming. This meant that if the disciples did not tell the world about Jesus, then who would? The gospel would not move forward unless the disciples and us told the world about Jesus. Here we are nearly two-thousand years later because someone told us about Jesus.

          In a comparable way, when I went to Washington D.C. many years ago now, I did not know even one name on the Vietnam War Memorial Wall. It is not that the names where just names, but I did not know who any of them were. Of course, I did not read all of the nearly 60,000 names, but I read a good amount.

          You see, if we are not careful all the names in this church, on the Vietnam, World War II, Korean War, etc. memorials will just be names. What if though, someone continued to tell that story of that soldier who never made it home? What if someone continued to honor that soldier that never got to live a long life, who was made in God’s image, and who otherwise might have had a bright future?

          In same way friends, what if the disciples of Jesus, after he ascended, decided to keep the life of Christ and the gospel of Jesus Christ to themselves? Maybe the disciples would be recorded in history, as certainly Jesus’ was, but would they just be names in history? Would they have no meaning at all?

          Next Sunday on Pentecost Sunday, we will celebrate the Holy Spirit moving in the Upper Room in Jerusalem, and this will be the day that the Christian Church officially begins. Jesus tells the disciples that on that day, the Holy Spirit would fill them, and then they would really get it. On that day they would have the courage, the confidence, and the faith to preach the gospel and the build the church. Nearly two-thousand years later, I have been called by God to tell you and the world about Jesus and his gospel. You have also been called to this mission in different ways to.

          The name and the gospel of Jesus Christ continues, because Jesus said:

⁴⁸ You are witnesses of these things (Lk. 24:48, NRSV).

          Who then tells the story of the young soldier who died in the trenches in 1918 in France? Who tells the story about the sailor who died in the Pearl Harbor attack in 1941? Who tells the story about the US soldier killed in South Korea in 1952? Who tells the story about the soldier in South Vietnam who was killed in the Tet Offensive of 1968? Who tells the story about all of these men and women?

          Jesus said to the disciples this morning before he ascended to heaven:

⁴⁸ You are witnesses of these things (Lk. 24:48, NRSV).

          If the disciples had not started preaching on the on the day of Pentecost next Sunday, none of us would be sitting here today. In the same way, if we stop remembering all of those men and women who served in armed forces and never made it home, then who will remember them? Once again friends, we stand in a line of heroes, and we stand on the shoulders of giants. We do not like war, we hope all war and violence ceases, but until that day, let us honor those who serve, have served, and died while serving in the armed forces, and all those who suit up and protect us every day. Freedom is not free, and we need to honor the sacrifice borne by so many. Happy Memorial Day Sunday, and happy Memorial Day tomorrow. Amen.