When I laid out the summer preaching series, I thought this was going to be one of my favorite weeks. it did not turn out that way for me. part of the problem was I had preached one of my favorite Ascension Day sermons on May 21 (you can look at the blog if you want), so I felt a bit hamstrung in preparing this sermon. It was one of those weeks when I never found a rhythm for the sermon.
I should have built off of Dr. Rigby's comment about Calvin saying that Jesus got up from the right hand and walked around some. That would have been a really good entry point for the sermon and been a better use of that comment.
“Dancing with Jesus: the Ascension Swing”; Mark16: 14-20; Ephesians 1: 15-23; August 20, 2023; SAPC, Denton; Dr. Richard B. Culp
Mark 16: 14-20 Later he appeared to the eleven themselves as they were sitting at the table; and he upbraided them for their lack of faith and stubbornness, because they had not believed those who saw him after he had risen. 15And he said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the good news to the whole creation. 16The one who believes and is baptized will be saved; but the one who does not believe will be condemned. 17And these signs will accompany those who believe: by using my name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues; 18they will pick up snakes in their hands, and if they drink any deadly thing, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover.”
19So then the Lord Jesus, after he had spoken to them, was taken up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God. 20And they went out and proclaimed the good news everywhere, while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the message by the signs that accompanied it.
Introduction: Tuesday, August 15th, some of the guys from the Wednesday morning Bible study went down the Ranger game (good game, by the way).
As we talked between innings, one of the guys asked me if the Ascension swing this Sunday was going to be about Mary’s ascension, since August 15 was Mary’s Ascension day, or if the sermon was going to be about Jesus’ ascension.
the question caught me off guard. I didn’t know that Mary had an ascension story.
so I did some research the next day. Sure enough, in the Roman Catholic calendar, August 15th is the Ascension (or Assumption) of Mary Day.
They had some biblical references that supported their argument for Mary’s ascension, but I did not find it compelling evidence. I’m not ready to preach about Mary’s ascension.
(read here if you want more info - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assumption_of_Mary)
Hard to imagine Jesus’ ascension, but we do have several biblical texts that describe it or comment on it.
So let’s reflect a bit this morning about Jesus’ ascension and what it means to us.
Move 1: I sort of like the idea of the swing dance representing Jesus’ ascension.
a. As if the resurrected Jesus dances his way off the earth and into heaven.
1. the story we read in Mark just tells us that Jesus was taken up into heaven, but if we read the parallel story in the first chapter of Acts, we are told that as the disciples were watching, Jesus “was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight.” Acts 1)
2. I can see that lifted up as a swing dance.
3. Jesus joyously leaving earth and going to heaven.
b. HIs ascension clarifies and emphasizes that Jesus defeats death forever.
1. We can imagine Jesus joyfully swing-dancing his way to heaven as if to say, “Death could not keep me in the tomb, and now I’m still alive, dancing all the way to heaven.
2. the Apostle Paul puts it a little less flamboyantly when he writes to the Romans: We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. (Romans 6:9)
3. The ascension matters because it confirms that Jesus’ defeat of death is not a one-time thing, but a permanent change.
4. God reigns over life and death is ascension into heaven is proof.
5. So maybe there’s a dance move or two in Jesus’ step and he moves on to heaven.
Move 2: The Gospel of Mark, which we read this morning, adds to the ascension story this fact - Jesus ascends to take his position at the right hand of God.
a. Jesus, at the right of God for eternity.
1. I heard Cindy Rigby preach on the ascension once, and she noted that the great Reformer John Calvin said Jesus got up and walked around every once in a while, but his place is at the right hand of God.
2. the position of power.
3. The position next to God where Jesus can whisper in the ear of God.
b. What might Jesus whisper?
1. Perhaps words of intercession as he intercedes on our behalf.
2. As Paul tells the Romans and tells us: Who is to condemn? It is Christ Jesus, who died, yes, who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who indeed intercedes for us.* (Romans 8: 34)
3. Christ speaking to God on our behalf.
4. Christ calls God’s attention to us.
c. In some ways, Christ’s position at the right hand of God changes our relationship with God and how we approach God.
1. the all-powerful God might seem intimidating, or distant, or unapproachable by us.
2. But there is Jesus,
our friend,
the one who lived among us,
the one who died for us,
sitting right there talking to God on our behalf.
3. With Christ at God’s right hand, we can dare to approach God, knowing that Christ is there for us.
Indeed, we might imagine ourselves swing dancing as Jesus ascends because of the joy we have that Christ has gone to intercede for us.
Move 3: Swing dance is a partner dance, which reminds us that the ascended Christ - Jesus has partners
a. The Putnam County 25th Annual Spelling Bee is a fun musical that takes place at a spelling bee.
One of the spelling bee contestants was a well-composed overachiever named Marcy Park. She was a polished speller, spoke six languages, and was fluent in dance, fencing, karate, color-guard, etc. Marcy’s character was a Tightly Wound gal if I’ve ever seen one.
As the Spelling Bee competition neared an end Marcy was called upon to spell a challenging-to-most-people word. She paused, and cried out to Jesus, praying for a more difficult word.
Lo and behold, Jesus appears. Sometimes the musical has Jesus coming down an aisle to the stage;
other times, Jesus appears with a fog machine going on stage to have a conversation with Marcy.
often, Jesus is dressed as one might depict the ascended Christ - in white clothes, trimmed in gold. Very heavenly. (https://www.katiemreid.com/2014/11/ponderings-from-the-putnam-county-spelling-bee/)
Jesus discusses Marcy’s prayer request with her in person.
I won’t spoil the scene for you, but the scene is an imaginative way of seeing how the ascended Christ, in this case, answers prayer in person.
b. In the biblical text, the story does not unfold with the ascended Christ coming back to earth to continue his mission.
1. No, the work of Christ continues with Jesus’ disciples and followers continuing his work.
2. In Mark, we hear Christ telling his followers that they will be the one to proclaim the good of salvation to all the world.
3. Mark also lists specific tasks like casting out demons for them to do (that’s a whole other sermon!).
3. In the Gospel of Matthew, we remember Jesus telling the disciples to go into all the world baptizing and teaching.
4. In Paul’s letter to the Ephesians that we read this morning, we are told that God put God’s great power to work through Christ, who will be at work through the church, which is Christ’s body here on earth.
5. Jesus’ ascension dance includes a partner because Jesus’ ongoing work demands that we act as the body of Christ is the world, proclaiming the good news of salvation through the words we speak and the acts that we do.
6. Jesus as the right hand of God orchestrating the work of his followers here on earth.
Conclusion: so the swing dance reminds us that we are partners with Christ:
partners in life;
partners in death;
partners in resurrection;
and partners with the ascended Christ in his ongoing work in the world.
Ephesians 1: 15-23: I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love towards all the saints, and for this reason 16I do not cease to give thanks for you as I remember you in my prayers. 17I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation as you come to know him, 18so that, with the eyes of your heart enlightened, you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance among the saints, 19and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power for us who believe, according to the working of his great power. 20God put this power to work in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, 21far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the age to come. 22And he has put all things under his feet and has made him the head over all things for the church, 23which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.
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