May 16, 2021 Sermon

Sermon title:  "The Ascension"

Scripture:  Acts 1:1-11

 (Other lectionary choices include Psalm 47, Ephesians 1:15-23, and Luke 24:44-53.)

Acts 1:1-11

 The Promise of the Holy Spirit

1In the first book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus did and taught from the beginning 2until the day when he was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. 3After his suffering he presented himself alive to them by many convincing proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God. 4While staying with them, he ordered them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait there for the promise of the Father. "This," he said, "is what you have heard from me; 5for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now."

 The Ascension of Jesus

6So when they had come together, they asked him, "Lord, is this the time when you will restore the kingdom to Israel?" 7He replied, "It is not for you to know the times or periods that the Father has set by his own authority. 8But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." 9When he had said this, as they were watching, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. 10While he was going and they were gazing up toward heaven, suddenly two men in white robes stood by them. 11They 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."

  One of the things I love about writing a sermon is that I often learn new things. For example, as I did some reading in preparation for today's sermon, I learned that the Ascension is found only in the writings of Luke. (Remember that in the past I have said that the thinking among scholars is that Luke wrote both the Gospel that bears his name and the Book of Acts, or at least most of the Book of Acts.) In addition to what we heard today (Acts 1: 1-11), one of the lectionary choices is Luke 24:44-53. In both of those passages, the Ascension occurs. Not so in Mark's Gospel:  that one ends with the Empty Tomb. If you check out Matthew, it ends with Jesus saying, "Behold, I am with you always, even until the end of the age." And John's account doesn't have the Ascension in it, either. Certainly, Matthew and John have Jesus making post-Resurrection appearances.......but nobody except Luke and Acts has the story of the Ascension.

  So, I learned something! That's always good when the preacher can learn something! But seriously, if you are a follower of Jesus, and if you believe that he was raised from the dead, and if you believe that he made post-Resurrection appearances, you almost HAVE to have an Ascension story. Really, if you believe he died and rose from the dead, where is he now? Luke or one of the Gospel writers had to have some point of finality between when the Risen Christ appeared and when those appearances STOPPED happening. Don't get me wrong......the earliest followers of Jesus believed he was raised from the dead and appeared to people several times. And those early followers believed that Jesus was still with them in some way, although not the same way as when he was with the disciples prior to his Crucifixion. The Gospels tell of when Jesus walked the earth in the flesh; the Book of Acts is the account of the BODY of Christ carrying on the work that Jesus began when he was still with us in the flesh. That's why you and I are members of the Body of Christ. Jesus is no longer here - he was crucified dead and buried. God raised him from the dead, and he made several appearances. But the story of the Ascension is the Bible's way of saying that Jesus is no longer here in the flesh with us, but he is with us in a new way, and he is the head of the church, the head of the Body of Christ.

  Keep in mind that the ancients believed in what later scholars called "the Three-Story Universe". Heaven is up there, Hell is down there, and you and I are living in this plane. It all belongs to God, and one day God's Will will be done - as Jesus said in the Lord's Prayer - "on earth as it is in Heaven". But the point of the Ascension story is that Jesus lives. He died the way we all will die, and he was raised, as we believe we will be. But he couldn't die AGAIN, could he? Of course not, because he and we die only once. Isn't there a James Bond story called, "You Only Live Twice"? The author Ian Fleming was wrong, as we all know: you only live ONCE! But seriously, Luke or any of the other Gospel writers believed that when Jesus defeated death, he did it once and for all. One quote from Scripture that is in my mind is that "death has no more dominion over him." So, the account of the Ascension is an attempt to say that Jesus lives, and the reason we don't see the Risen Christ anymore is because now he lives and reigns with God in Heaven. But his Body still lives, and you and I are a part of that Body of Christ.

  The Scottish scholar William Barclay makes the point that Luke essentially wrote two volumes:  his Gospel, which tells "the story of the life of Jesus upon earth". His second volume, the Book of Acts, tells "of a story which has no end. The Gospel was only the story of what Jesus BEGAN to do and to teach." And Barclay says, "In one sense it is the whole lesson of Acts that the life of Jesus goes on IN HIS CHURCH.” Barclay tells a story of a Hindu man in India who was fascinated by the life of Jesus. He told a Christian leader in India this:  "I must belong to the Church that carries on the life of Christ". And that's what the Book of Acts tells about:  "the Church that carries on the life of Christ".

  Something else in today's reading......the Risen Christ is asked if he is going to restore the kingdom of Israel. I love his answer:  "It is not yours to know the times and the seasons which the Father has appointed by his own authority." Isn't that great? "That's none of your business", in other words! I get so upset with fellow believers who try to predict when the end will be, or the Second Coming will be. That is not our affair. What we need to do is do the work of Christ and not look skyward for signs of the end. The early church made that mistake once, thinking that Jesus would return in their lifetimes. News flash: he didn't! Unless he came when I wasn't watching! Seriously, we need to do the work of Christ, be the Body of Christ, and not try to predict when this will all end.

  Another thing: I love it that during the Ascension two men in white garments say to those looking up, "Men of Galilee, why are you standing looking up into Heaven?" I think this is another way of saying, "Get to work!" It's another way of saying that it's not yours to know when all this is going to end. They DO say that Jesus will return the same way they saw him leave. In my opinion, maybe it wasn't good that they said that, because now every crazy Christian lunatic will point to this passage and say, "Look! Jesus will return the same way he left." I personally don't believe that. I tend to think that when Jesus returns, he may be unrecognizable, at least for a while, sort of the way he came to earth the first time: in a non-descript stable and in a manger and in a backwoods city in a backwoods country. But that's just me. And also, what does that Scripture mean, he "will come again in the same way as you have seen him go"? What do YOU think? Amen!

 Pastor Skip