Sermon for 5/21/23: Ascension of Our Lord (observed)

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Ascended for Us

Acts 1:1-11

 

Alleluia! Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

 

For forty days, Jesus suffered in the wilderness. He endured hardships greater than any other man has ever known or survived. He resisted the temptations that we did not and could not. For forty days, He fought the devil in that barren place. He overcame Satan, “the old evil foe,” simply by not giving in, suffering the abuse and the attacks. And that passive resistance led to His torturous death. Of course, He could have stopped it at any time, but it was necessary for our sake that He endure it all. That was the price of our rebellion. So the devil did his worst. He had his way with Jesus. He raised up the cross of hatred and drove in the nails. He mocked the Lord and heaped abuse on Him. All of that Satan did through men: the apostate vessel Judas; the devil’s willing vassals in the Sanhedrin; his servants in the Roman army; his minions throughout the city.

The Lord of life died. But then He rose! The grave could not hold Him. Satan lost, though he thought he had won. Death is now dead, and life lives! Sinners great and small go free. And then, for forty more days, our Lord walked the earth in His body and soul. He ate with His disciples. He invited Thomas to touch the wounds in His hands and side. But during those forty days, He no longer denied Himself the divine attributes that were rightly His. In that same body born of Mary, He passed through the stone that closed the tomb; He passed through the locked door to the room that held His fearful disciples…for this Man is also God. God comes to us as a Man. This God-Man breathed the Holy Spirit upon His disciples. He gave them the authority to preach, to baptize, to forgive sins. And then, finally, all things being complete, He ascended to the Father as God and Man, forever elevating human nature and opening heaven for us and all believers. He ascended so that we would ascend with Him! In fact, this is why we celebrate the Ascension so fervently: our Lord has gone before us to prepare a place for us, and He goes before us to prepare our way there!

After the Ascension, it was still ten days before the Holy Spirit would rest upon the apostles in tongues of fire. Even when the Spirit had anointed them for this work, it was still not given to them to know the day and the time of the Lord’s choosing. It was given to them to be martyrs, to be witnesses to Christ even unto death. They could not know that the Epistles they would write would be heard and read by billions. They could not know that huge cathedrals would be built in their honor. They could not know that godly parents would call their own sons by their names. They could not know all the good their preaching and their suffering would accomplish. They simply followed in the way of the cross. They lived their lives in frequent hardship. They were rejected by their contemporaries. Most of them, tradition says, were killed for their faith—only John died a natural death, and it wasn’t because the enemies of the Gospel didn’t try to kill him. It was not their place to question why. It was their place to preach. It was their place to make disciples, teaching their hearers everything Jesus taught them. That was their charge. Again, they were to be martyrs, witnesses to Christ even to death.

The kingdom would not be restored to Israel. The Kingdom of God is no longer aligned with any of the nations of this world. His Kingdom is not of this world; that was what Jesus said. Instead, the Gospel calls forth a new Israel. He makes men who hate Him into citizens in His Kingdom of grace. The sons and daughters of generations of unbelievers and despisers are welcomed. He even raises up praise from stones if need be! The holy apostles and their pastor successors were sent to the ends of the earth—to the highways and byways, to the greatest and to the least, to the beloved and the despised, to Jews and to Gentiles alike. The invitation of the Lord is not picky. The apostles were not concerned with strategic planning sessions. There was no vision casting for the future, no programs, no objectives, no websites, no brochures. They just preached and taught. “I planted,” Paul said, “Apollos watered, but God gave the increase.” It didn’t matter if they were simple fishermen like Peter and James and John, or educated Pharisees or tax collectors like Paul and Matthew. They preached and taught and baptized. God did the work.

That Word of God continues to go forth. The Word does what God says it will do, to the amazement of those who preach it. The apostolic Word is breathed out again and again, and the Holy Spirit changes the hearts of those who hear. The Word proclaims the death our Lord died and the life He now lives. And this preaching is the power of God unto salvation. It raises up new people, forgiven by the love of God in Jesus Christ. The Church, a newer and greater Israel, is born.

And you are set free, even while you yet endure the bonds of this fallen creation and suffer under its temptations. You live even though you die—and the great wonder is that you actually live the most and the fullest when you have died. You do not belong here. Your kingdom is not of this world. You, too, will rise and ascend. Our Lord bids you, “Follow Me!” And where He bids, even to heaven, you will go! Alleluia! Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

 

The peace of God which passes all understanding will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus always. Amen.