200521 Ascension of our Lord Order of Service
Sermon manuscript:
I didn’t grow up going to Ascension services. You probably
didn’t either. They weren’t offered in the church where I grew up. The first
time I ever went to an Ascension service was when I was in seminary. Up to that
point I hadn’t really thought much about Christ’s ascension into heaven. It was
just a line in the creed: “He ascended into heaven.” It was kind of a raw
historical fact, but I was at a bit of a loss as to the significance of it.
This goes to show something about our regular church
services. We easily take them for granted. With the repetition every year of
the same Sundays, the same festivals, it can seem like just a matter of course.
Long time Christians probably aren’t blown away by all kinds of new information
when they come to a church service. Maybe there is only one or two things at
most that they might learn from a service. But those things add up over the
years. Christians slowly but thoroughly learn the meaning of the Christian
festivals over the years. This was at least part of why I didn’t know what to
make of Christ’s ascending into heaven.
In fact, to be honest, I think I secretly thought the
ascension wasn’t too good of an idea. It seemed to me that we Christians would
be better off if Jesus had stuck around. It seemed to me that it would be
easier for people to believe in him if they could see him. So the ascension almost
seemed to be something that should be mourned rather than celebrated.
But this is thinking in a rather earthly way. This is
thinking about the successfulness of one’s congregation or church body. This is
the hankering after earthly power and success—wanting the excitement that comes
with being with a large crowd of people. Jesus was not interested in this kind
of thing. If he were interested in making a big and powerful movement, then he
would have done a lot of things differently than he did.
True success for the Christian church is not a matter of
accumulating big followings, big offerings, putting yourself on the map. The
Christian church is not a building or an organization. The Christian church is
solely made up of people. The Christian church is the communion of saints. The Christian Church consists of people who
follow the voice of the Good Shepherd. They are born again by the water and the
Holy Spirit in baptism. Their old evil heart is being sanctified by the power
of the Holy Spirit so that they no longer cling to evil lusts, but rather to
love God and one’s neighbor. As holy people, as saints, they are on their way
to the promised land to live together with God.
There will be no Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod in heaven.
There will be no bureaucracies or church officials. There will be no pastors in
heaven. There will only be one Pastor, or Shepherd, and that is Jesus. He will
lead us, his sheep. He will shelter us with his presence so that we will hunger
no more, neither thirst anymore, the sun shall not strike us nor any scorching
heat, for the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be our Shepherd. He will lead
us to springs of living water. And God will wipe away every tear from our eyes.
So if you think of the successfulness of the Christian
Church as getting bigger and bigger, as getting more and more powerful, more
and more persuasive, then Jesus’s ascension isn’t good news. The Christian
Church’s message would be more acceptable to our reason if Jesus had stuck
around. But this is not what the true
Christian Church is. The true Christian Church is made up of believers, not
visible, powerful, earthly institutions. And if you believe in Jesus, then the
Ascension is, indeed, something to celebrate.
This is, first of all, something to celebrate as far as
Jesus is concerned. Then, secondly, it is something that we celebrate as his
disciples. It is something to celebrate as far as Jesus is concerned because he
has finished his course on earth. The Son came down from the Father, was born
of the Virgin Mary, and accomplished the redemption of sinners with his holy,
precious blood and his innocent suffering and death. He rose triumphant over
death on Easter morning. Death is something that would otherwise hold us in its
eternal grip if Jesus had not defeated it for us. Having done all things well,
now the Lord Jesus Christ is going back to the Father from whom he came.
During this Easter season we sing, “This is the feast of
victory for our God.” In a way this is more appropriate for Jesus’s ascension
than it is even for Easter. The reason why he ascends is because his work of
salvation is complete. His course on earth is done. Now he reigns and rules
over his spiritual kingdom at the right hand of God. He reigns and rules by the
Word and Sacraments through which people believe in him by the power of the
Holy Spirit. This is the feast of victory for Jesus.
Realize, though, that with every victory there is a judgment
that is rendered. There are winners, and there are losers. The winners are
vindicated. The losers are revealed for what they really are. So it is also
when we speak of Jesus’s victory. Jesus is vindicated. There were some people
who thought that he was a blasphemer. Some people thought that he was a fraud.
Some people thought that he was destructive to the Church and the Jewish cause.
Folks at the cross wagged their head at him and said, “If you really are the
Christ, then come down from that cross. Then we’ll believe you.” When Jesus
didn’t do this they scorned him as a miserable fool. But he was not a fool. He
rose from the dead. He ascended into heaven. He will come again, in even more
power and glory, to bring to light how things really are.
The ascension is Jesus’s victory. It is a victory for us as
his disciples too. This is a bit of a strange way of speaking for us—that it is
our victory—because we don’t seem to be involved in Jesus’s ascension. But Christians
do not make their own way. They follow after their master. That is what it
means to be a disciple. Jesus’s victories become our victories as we follow
after him. Therefore, Jesus’s victory over death is ours. Jesus’s resurrection
is ours. Jesus’s ascension and life together with almighty God is ours.
Christians are also vindicated in their way of life. Just as
Jesus was judged as being deluded by thinking he was Son of God while he was
dying on the cross, so also people think it is foolish to work at being a
Christian. There is no shortage of people who think that it is a waste of time
to hear God’s Word or receive his Sacraments. They know of many diversions that
they could do that offer more pleasure. They also regard it as foolish to
pursue the sacrificial and humble life that is ours as Christians when we love
God and our neighbor. They say that if you want to get ahead in this life, then
you have to look out for yourself. Nobody gives it to you, you have to take it.
Fight for every dollar and cent, every trophy and reward, and make yourself
glorious. If you don’t do this, then you are some kind of loser.
Working your tail off for your own glory actually works
pretty well for this earthly life. If that common saying is true—that you only
have one life to live—then why would you deprive yourself of anything, why
should you suffer, why should you love anybody but yourself? But the ascension
vindicates a different way of life. What is life all about? It is all about our
Creator who has loved us, and therefore sent his Son to redeem us. He also
sanctifies us, so that we begin to love God and our neighbor instead of only
loving ourselves. The one who is truly glorious is not someone rich and the
famous, but the one who loves, sacrifices, and suffers. These are folks that
are like Jesus. They are a spitting image of their master.
This will all become clear when Jesus returns on the clouds
to judge the living and the dead. People whom the world has no time for—humble
people, people who just do their job quietly, who work at loving and
serving—these people will have more glory than the rich and the famous for they
have lived better lives. They have lived better lives because the best life
that anybody can lead is the one that is shown to us by Jesus—the life of love.
Jesus’s ascension, therefore, is important and relevant for
us. It shows us the way to go. We do not live like the world, which does not
know what the good life is. We follow after Jesus, preaching repentance and the
forgiveness of sins in his name. Jesus is victorious and glorious as he
ascends, and we will be too if we do not give up. We continue on our pilgrim
way, misunderstood by the world, but known by our Savior.
But while we make our pilgrim way, Jesus has not left us as orphans.
He has sent his Holy Spirit. He gives us many gifts. For example, tonight he
offers us Christ’s body to eat and his blood to drink. We have not been able to
receive this gift very easily lately. It is food for the journey to heaven. The
world cannot understand how it helps in the least, but Jesus tells us that it
works. It increases our faith in him and helps us to fervently love one
another. This is exactly what we, in the Christian Church, need more than
anything.
It is good to rejoice tonight. This is the feast of victory
for our God. It is the feast of victory also for you. Jesus is drawing you to
himself in heaven. Follow after him.
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