I do not believe I have ever preached on the ascension of Jesus, although perhaps I did years ago and do not remember. The sermon preparation started with lots of promise, but I got bogged down along the way. The sermon did not develop the way I would have liked, and I ended up with a "ho-hum" sermon that did not do much for me. If I preached this text again, I would open with the Mary Poppins illustration and really focus on the looking to heaven vs. looking around where we are called to be the body of Christ. That's where I started the week before I went astray, and I would return to that theme the next time.
“Where Are You Looking” SAPC, Denton; June 2, 2019; Acts 1: 1-11; Luke 24: 44-53; Ascension Sunday
Acts 1: 1-11:
In the first book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus did and taught from the beginning 2 until the day when he was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. 3 After 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. 4 While staying[a] 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; 5 for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with[b] the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”
6 So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, is this the time when you will restore the kingdom to Israel?” 7 He replied, “It is not for you to know the times or periods that the Father has set by his own authority. 8 But 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.” 9 When he had said this, as they were watching, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. 10 While he was going and they were gazing up toward heaven, suddenly two men in white robes stood by them. 11 They 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.”
introduction: Thursday was the Day of the Ascension, forty days after the resurrection of Jesus Christ; Ascension, the day when the resurrected Christ, who has been making appearances in places like Emmaus, the beach, behind closed doors, ascends to heaven.
I am not sure I have ever preached on the Ascension - so this year I took the lectionary texts from Thursday to use today, and voila, a Sunday worship service that focuses on the ascension.
A few thoughts on ascension.
Move 1: The ascension of Jesus confirms that the coming of Jesus was part of God’s ongoing work
a. the story that opens Acts, which is the sequel to the Gospel of Luke, sounds vaguely familiar, doesn’t it?
1. Of course, we read Luke’s version of the ascension.
2. It takes us back to the prophet Elijah being swept up to heaven in a whirlwind with a chariot of fire and horses of fire separating Elisha from Elijah.
3. Or brings to mind the day when Jesus was transfigured on the mountaintop and Moses and Elijah were there. As the Gospel of Luke tells the story, Elijah and Moses were chatting with Jesus about his departure from Jerusalem that will soon take place (https://www.patheos.com/Progressive-Christian/Speculators-or-Witnesses-John-Holbert-05-14-2012)
b. We have arrived at that moment as Luke tells the story of Jesus’ ascension, linking Jesus with what has taken place in the generations before.
1. Jesus, God coming in flesh, Jesus crucified, Jesus resurrected, and now Jesus ascended is part of the ongoing story of God’s relationship with and work among God’s people.
2. God is doing a new thing, but it is the same God who blew the breath of life into the mud; the same God who sent the prophets like Elijah to speak to God’s people; the same God who has known and been known for generations.
Move 2: But the ascension confirms that God has acted decisively in the resurrection.
a. Karl Barth believed the ascension of Christ was important because it tells us that the resurrection was not temporary (According to Dr. Cynthia Rigby in a sermon preached at Grace Presbytery on Ascension Day, 2017)
1. think about it - if you were one of the early followers of Christ, or if you were someone who had heard about the resurrection, you might be thinking what’s next.
2. How is the Risen Christ going to top the empty tomb?
3. As if the resurrection of Jesus was some magical act that opened the show that would soon follow with even more amazing, magical moments that will one-up the resurrection.
b. The ascension of Christ announces that God has acted in the resurrection to change the world forever.
1. death and violence have been overcome by resurrection.
2. God’s love and power as revealed in the resurrection is God’s permanent answer.
Move 3: the story fo the ascension also points out the Importance of the Holy Spirit.
a. In this short, opening story (only 11 verses) of the ascension, the Holy Spirit is mentioned three times.
1. First, the narrator tells us that Jesus mentions that Holy Spirit.
2. then, the story has Jesus telling the disciples that in a couple of days they will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.
3. then, when they ask if he is going to restore the kingdom, Jesus redirects them to the coming fo the Holy Spirit.
b. Not sure what to do with the Holy Spirit.
1. But as we live out our calling as followers of the resurrected one without him physically in our midst, we are called by God to turn to the Holy Spirit for guidance.
2. Our response to God’s love and God’s act of resurrection will be lived out on earth can best be done when we are going where the Holy Spirit sends us.
Move 3: A final reflection on ascension comes from the disciples looking up to heaven after Christ has ascended.
a. Can’t you see the disciples standing there, going up to heaven?
1. It feels a little bit like the final scene in “Mary Poppins.”
2. you remember the scene: Mary prepares to leave her charges, Jane and Michael Banks, having brought healing joy into their dysfunctional family. As the family prepares to "go fly a kite", Mary rises into the air as the wind buoys up her immense black umbrella. On the ground, the chimney sweep Bert, watches her sail up and away. He winks at her and says, "Good-bye Mary Poppins! Don't stay gone too long . . ." (Karen Sapio, Portland Oregon, http://www.textweek.com/movies/ascension.htm)
I love this part of the story.
b. There are the disciples, staring into the heavens. I bet they were thinking the same thing - “don’t stay gone too long, Jesus.”.
1. Two men robed in white, two men whose purpose might tie back to the Torah instruction that there needed to be two witnesses for something to be verified, two men whose purpose this day is to interrupt the disciples gazing into the sky.
2. “men of Jerusalem, why do you stand looking up toward heaven?’
c. We instinctively know they keep looking up to heaven.
1. As long as they look to the heavens, they do not have to look down to earth where they now must go.
2. they now must go to live into their calling as the body of Christ.
3. Christ has ascended, but his followers are sent into the world.
4. we are sent into the world.
5. We who know the power of God to resurrect; we who know the power of the Holy Spirit to transform our lives and the world; we are sent into the world to be the body of Christ.
Conclusion: The ascension leaves a question hanging in the air - can the ministries begun by Jesus in the flesh continue after he has ascended?
We are called to answer that question.
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