Grace and Mercy and Peace from God our Father and from our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

Transcription

1 Sermon for Ascension Day at Immanuel Lutheran Church, Wichita Text: Acts 1:1-11 by Rev. Clifford Winter Grace and Mercy and Peace from God our Father and from our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. If you go to Israel, you may visit what is called the Mount of Jesus' Ascension...and you'll probably be disappointed. I remember a circular enclosure open to the sky, not really a chapel, a dirt floor, and quite unattractive... very different from the other so-called holy sites which are well-kept, landscaped, and very touristy. You don't have to take a Holy Land tour to experience Jesus' ascension. You have Acts chapter 1. In your mind's eye you see the 11 Apostles...(Judas was gone )...and the risen Jesus...you hear final words between Jesus and his apostles...then he is lifted up...a cloud obscures him...and 2 angels take over with a question and instructions. When we worship we confess in all three creeds, Jesus ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of God... When we sing, Glory be to God on high, we take the ascension for granted and sing, You are seated at the right hand of the Father; receive our prayer. So who needs a Holy Land trip? We have Christ's ascension for a fact in Scripture and in our worship. And thanks to Immanuel, we observe the ascension formally in worship. Don't stop doing this! Why did Jesus ascend? Because he said he would, and what he says he does. He ascended because his work on earth was accomplished. He said It is finished when he gave up his spirit on the cross. Then he rose and and appeared to hundreds. He had created, earned, and sealed what we could not: the forgiveness of our sins and eternal life with him. Though God is omnipresent, meaning he is everywhere, the Scriptures picture him upon a throne. That's where monarchs sit and preside. Paul describes God to Timothy: He is the blessed and only Ruler, King of Kings and Lord of lords, who alone is immortal, and lives in unapproachable light, whom no one has seen or can see. Recall Isaiah who in a vision saw the Lord, seated on a throne, high and exalted, his robe filled the temple. And that's where Jesus goes, to the right hand of the throne of the Father... because that's the place of honor. Jesus can go there because that's really where he

2 came from in the first place and because God the Father is totally satisfied with all he did. The Father replaces Jesus' crown of thorns with a crown of honor and glory because Jesus tasted death for everyone. (Heb.2:9) The apostles stood staring after Jesus even when he was gone, that is, until the angels broke their concentration with the promise that Jesus would return. Then they had a responsibility to remember, to witness, and to wait. And if you ask, What are we to make of the ascension of Jesus and what are we to do? The answer is, Do what you're doing: worship and pray AND do what the apostles did: remember and witness and wait. First, REMEMBER: Now we get personal. How's your memory? Can you recall things from your childhood but don't know where you left the car keys? Memory can be like that. But remembering some things is crucial while others are not. On that ascension mount, the apostles had a serious memory lapse. They asked Jesus, Are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel? Jesus' kingdom is not of this world. It is his rule of forgiving grace through faith in the hearts and lives of people. How quickly people forget! The apostles were to remember that Jesus said, Unless I go away, the Counselor, the Spirit will not come. If I go, I will send him to you. He went. The Spirit came. The angels urged the apostles to remember that Jesus would return. We have to remember some crucial things. We live in the post-pentecost end times. The Spirit has come. He has baptized us into the church, producing faith in us and producing the fruits of the Spirit in believers' lives. The Holy Spirit is sanctifying the whole Christian church on earth and keeping it with Jesus Christ in the one true faith. Remember these things! On a field trip to a cathedral, a girl studied a window showing Jesus ascending, and she asked about the black marks on Jesus feet and hands. Remember, said the guide, those are the marks from the wounds from the nails which held him on the cross. Don't forget that he suffered and died for us before his glorious ascension. This Lord's Supper, given and shed for the forgiveness of our sins, is also the Meal of Remembering. He said, Do this in remembrance of me. So eating this bread, his body, and drinking this cup, his blood, we proclaim his death until he comes again.

3 In England, November 11 is the Day of Remembrance when people commemorate the war dead by planting artificial flowers on the lawns around Westminster Abbey and other churches. Plots representing different companies and regiments are dense with hundreds, even thousands, of flowers with the names of the war dead. British war dead from World War II alone number 942,000!. But Westminster Abbey and the other Christian churches around which those little memorial flowers are placed were built for the living to come inside and worship the living Lord who died for the sins of all humankind. He forgave our warring nature. This we must remember! Second, WITNESS The apostles and the church witness to Christ and to God's truth. The Spirit compels us. You recall Acts 4:20 where Peter said, We cannot but speak of what we have heard and seen. After Pentecost, Peter and John were challenged for healing a lame man and for preaching Christ risen and ascended. We are witnesses of it all, they said. This upset the the captain of the temple, the Sadducees, elders, scribes, Annas, Caiaphas, and the whole high priestly family...everybody who was anybody. They commanded. No more talk of Jesus. Peter countered,...we can't keep quiet about what we have heard and seen. In the King James English, the Pentecost miracle of the apostles speaking in other languages happened as the Spirit gave them utterance. It is the Spirit who prompts, motivates, enables, and blesses every true witness to Christ. The believers in Jerusalem prayed, grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with boldness. Then...the building shook and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness. (Acts 4) You heard earlier what Jesus said, You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria (which you don't particularly like), and to the end of the earth. Then followed the miraculous circles of growth of the Word of the Lord...eventually encompassing you and me! The church is built upon the witness, the testimony, of the Apostles and prophets. You and I are that church. And the message is this: We are made children of God by the blood of Jesus Christ that washes us clean of all sin. This is what our pastors and teachers preach and teach and what we witness to in

4 families with our spouses, children and grandchildren...even day-to-day in public chance encounters...believing that there really are no chance encounters. Third WAIT Remember and witness...and wait. How are you at waiting? How's your patience? It probably depends what you're waiting for. Income tax refund check. Medical test results. A message from your son or daughter. The apostles were told to wait for ten days in Jerusalem, then the Spirit would come. They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers. (Acts 1:14) That was holy, obedient waiting. Weeks earlier, three disciples in the Garden did not wait as they should. Jesus said, Watch and pray so you won't fall into temptation. Three times they fell asleep. How embarrassing, disrespectful, and disobedient. The intentions are good but the flesh is weak. And so disciples become complicit in Jesus' suffering. By our sins we join them. We are impatient and want to set the agenda for God. We grumble about why something doesn't happen as we want. We fall asleep at prayer. We turn away from the stranger in need, thus turning away from Jesus. We take ourselves to a strange place and squander away the inheritance entrusted to us. Our sins make us complicit in the Lord's death. We spiral down and admit that we no good at waiting on the Lord..Witnessing? We often fail to speak of what God has done which we have clearly heard and seen..remembering? We forget God's promises and live more by sight than by faith. Confessing your sins is the first part. Believing Jesus words, Your sins are forgiven is the second which brings freedom and release. Jesus has all power and authority at the right side of God's throne...and forgives you all your sins. One day he will welcome you to inherit the kingdom prepared from the creation. So the writer to the Hebrews says, Don't throw away your confidence. It will be richly rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised. For in just a very little while He who is coming will come and will not delay...for my [God's} righteous one will live by faith. (Heb. 10:35-38)

5 On Christ's ascension we now build the hope of our salvation; This hope alone has a always stilled all doubt and apprehension; For where the Head is, there as well, we know His members are to dwell when Christ will come and call them. Amen The peace of God that passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus until life everlasting. Amen.