The Ascension

You may remember me mentioning feast days. Next Sunday is a feast day. It's the Feast of Pentecost.

And the week after that is Trinity Sunday. This past Thursday was a feast day.

You might have guessed from our liturgy so far, it was the Feast of the Ascension.

The Feast of the Ascension, 40 days after Jesus rose from the dead,

and having appeared to his disciples and to many witnesses,

he ascended into heaven, as we heard from the book of Luke and the book of Acts.

Many churches don't have a special service on that Thursday.

So like ourselves, we recognize that event, that historical event here the Sunday after.

So this is what I'll be doing tonight, talking about the Ascension, what it is,

how is it about love, and how does it benefit us?

What is the Ascension, how is it about love, and how does it benefit us?

So as we look at the Ascension of Jesus Christ, let's pray to him.

King Jesus, we are here to honor you, and we ask that as you promise to send your Holy Spirit,

that you would have him at work among us, glorifying yourself.

Help us to catch a vision of who you really are,

that we might worship you as your disciples did.

We pray in Jesus' name, amen.

Okay, so what happened at the Ascension?

As we heard in Acts chapter 1, Jesus said to his disciples,

Acts 1 · chapter mention

It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father is fixed by his own authority,

but 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 Samaria, and to the end of the earth.

And when he had said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up,

and a cloud took him out of their sight.

And while they were gazing into heaven as he went,

behold, two men stood by them in white robes,

and said,

Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven?

This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven,

he will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.

Now, when I was young, I've heard about the Ascension all my life,

and I had imagined something like spaceflight for Jesus,

or something like Neo from the Matrix,

just zooming up way into the high sky,

and just disappearing into the clouds,

probably with a burst of light, too.

But the text says that he was lifted up,

and a cloud took him out of their sight.

So I would imagine that he actually wasn't elevated too far.

Albrecht Durer has a great woodprint,

of the Ascension.

You see his disciples looking up in awe,

and just above them, you see Jesus' feet,

and nothing else.

He was probably, I think, that close.

He never got too far, nor does he stay far.

And I think that's the point of Durer's woodcut.

After two angels appear and ask,

Why do you stand looking into heaven?

So what's going on here in this passage?

Let's talk about the biblical conceptions of heaven and earth.

And we're not to think of heaven and earth as two separate realms

occupying their own separate spaces,

like two halves of the same orange.

Rather, we understand heaven and earth as interlocking dimensions.

Heaven being God's space,

and the earth or the physical universe or space time as being our space.

God's space interpenetrates our own

so that you could think of heaven as being the solid, concrete inner reality.

Heaven is not a different place than our own dimension,

up there, the happy place where people go after they die.

Now, when we read about a singular cloud

taking Jesus out of the sight of the disciples,

you might remember from the Old Testament

the significance of a cloud.

A cloud shows us, it manifests

the special presence or glory of God.

The presence of God.

For instance, when a pillar of cloud

led the Israelites out of Egypt,

out of slavery,

or perhaps several times in the Old Testament

when a cloud or smoke

enveloped or filled the temple,

displaying a special manifestation

of the presence of the Lord.

What Luke is saying is this.

Jesus, in his physical resurrected body,

has passed into God's dimension.

A dimension now where Jesus is everywhere present.

Jesus, not the temple in Jerusalem as was believed,

it's Jesus that is the place

where the two dimensions of heaven and earth meet,

where they join, where they intersect.

And just as Jesus ascended into heaven

40 days after his resurrection,

so too will he one day descend.

And on that day, which is called the second coming,

the two dimensions will be brought together

and united.

The ascension is a promise

that we will one day inhabit a new heavens

and a new earth,

just as we pray every week,

thy kingdom come,

thy will be done on earth

as it is in heaven.

There's something else.

This is pretty great.

There's something else about this passage.

Now, Romans believed,

or those in the Roman Empire believed,

that upon his death,

a Roman emperor's soul

would escape his body

and ascend to heaven.

It's called an apotheosis.

And you can go to Rome

and see on the Titian Arch,

the Arch of Titus,

like right in the middle underneath,

there is an image of Titus

ascending to heaven.

This is to demonstrate,

to depict a Roman emperor becoming a god.

And what Jesus does in the ascension

is he one-ups the emperors.

The ascension proclaims

that Jesus is the true king.

He not just ascends spiritually

as a ghost,

he ascends body and soul

fully into heaven.

The ascension proclaims

that Jesus is the true king

and the Roman emperors

are just parodies.

Upon his ascension,

Jesus ascends

to his throne.

It's a demonstration

of God's exaltation

to the throne of the universe.

Ephesians chapter 1, verse 20,

Ephesians 1:20

as we heard earlier.

God raised him from the dead

and seated him at his right hand

in the heavenly places,

far 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 one to come.

So that's the ascension.

But it's not just

a large cosmic idea.

It's also very personal

and intimate.

The ascension

is about love.

It's about love.

It fits into

the entire story

of the Bible.

God's love

for his people.

God's love

for you.

You see,

the Bible

from the beginning

to the end

tells a story

of marriage.

There's a wedding

in the book of Genesis

in the very first

two chapters.

Throughout the Bible,

we see God

describing his relationship

to his people

as that of a husband

to his bride.

And that love

is embodied

when Jesus,

the word,

is made flesh.

When he is born

in Bethlehem.

Jesus began

his ministry

at a wedding.

His first miracles

were performed

at a wedding

in Cana.

And the whole story

concludes

with a heavenly marriage.

I should have been

going this way, right?

With a heavenly marriage.

in paradise

between Jesus

and his people.

You see,

the story of the Bible

is God wants

to marry us.

He wants to marry us.

It's printed

almost on every page

of the Bible.

Now,

in a Hebrew wedding,

we find

different customs

than we have

in our modern day wedding.

How does a Hebrew wedding work?

Well,

after a betrothal

in which

a price is paid

for a bride,

the groom

would go away.

He would leave.

And he would

build onto

his father's house

another room.

A room for himself

and his bride.

And at a later time,

determined by the father,

the groom would come back

to fetch the bride.

There would be a wedding.

And the wedding

would be consummated.

Well,

the night before Jesus dies,

he tells his disciples

in John chapter 14,

John 14 · chapter mention

in my father's house

are many rooms.

If it were not so,

would I have told you

that I go to prepare

a place for you?

And if I go

and prepare a place

for you,

I will come again

and will take you

to myself

that where I am,

you may also be.

That's a wedding language.

Jesus is using

a language we find

all throughout Scripture.

The ascension

demonstrates

that Jesus

is betrothed

to us

and as the angels

said,

he's going to come back

just the way he left.

He's going to fetch his bride

and there's going to be

a wedding.

So the ascension

is about love.

And if it's about love,

how does that love

that is demonstrated

in the ascension

benefit us?

So we,

every week,

we recite the Nicene Creed.

There's also another creed

that we recite

in our daily prayers

called the Apostles' Creed.

And at various times,

the church wisely

has produced a tool

called a catechism,

which is a question

and answer way

of teaching the truths

of the Christian faith,

particularly in the creeds.

And my favorite one,

is that weird

that I have a favorite catechism?

Yes,

but I have one.

It's the Heidelberg Catechism.

And there is the question

of what advantage to us

is Christ's ascension

into heaven?

And the catechism

gives us three answers.

First,

that he is our advocate

in the presence

of his Father in heaven.

Second,

that we have our flesh

in heaven

as a sure pledge

that he,

as the head,

will also take us

up to himself.

Third,

that he sends us

his spirit

as an earnest

by whose power

we seek the things

which are above,

where Christ sits

on the right hand of God

and not things on earth.

Let's work backwards.

We're going to start

with the third one,

is that he sends us

his spirit

as an earnest.

Next week,

we're going to hear

what is essentially

part two

of this sermon

about how

Jesus

sends the Holy Spirit

upon the church

on the day

of Pentecost.

And the spirit

indwells

and empowers

God's church

to go out

into the world

to serve him

and to proclaim

the good news

of the gospel.

But for now,

let's consider

that as Jesus

prepared his disciples

for his departure,

he promised them

that he wasn't

abandoning them.

Right?

If this whole thing

is about intimacy,

it doesn't make

much sense

to leave.

But it's quite

the opposite.

They would experience,

his disciples

would experience,

and we would experience

an intimacy

with God

that had not

yet been possible.

He says

in John chapter 16,

John 16 · chapter mention

it is to your

advantage

that I go away.

For if I do not

go away,

the helper

will not come to you.

But if I go,

I will send him

to you.

God

will not come to you.

Our souls

were made

for connection

with God.

He wired us

to feel

at home

in his presence

like we were

in the Garden of Eden.

God made humanity

to experience

deep intimacy

with himself.

The love

and intimacy

of God

was to be

the ocean

in which humanity

swam.

But when Adam

and Eve fell,

mankind was like

a fish

that was scooped

out of the water

and dropped

into the middle

of the forest.

Gary Moon writes,

ever since the fall,

every human heart

has experienced

a longing

to go home,

to live

in love

with God

and one another.

Jesus knew that.

he came to earth

with the wonderful news

that God invites us

to come home.

He has opened

wide

the gate

to Eden.

He's banished

the guards,

freshly manicured

the grounds,

kicked out

the snakes.

The ascension

heals

the schism

that occurred

at the fall.

The ascension

makes intimacy

possible.

In the garden,

we are to be

continually

in his presence

and now

after the ascension

when Jesus

sends his spirit,

the presence

of God

now resides

in each

of God's

children

and each

of us

are now

at home

with God

in his presence.

Looking backwards,

we looked at

how at the ascension

Jesus sends

his spirit.

Second,

we have

our flesh

in heaven

as a sure

pledge

that he

as the head

will also

take up

to himself,

us,

his members.

Strange

kind of

wording

and language.

Basically,

it means

we're united

to Christ.

We've been

talking about

marriage.

We're in

union with

him.

So where

he is,

he is also.

What benefits

he has

accrued,

we accrue

as well.

As we heard

in Ephesians

Ephesians 1:20

chapter 1

verse 20,

that God

raised him

from the dead

and seated

him

at his

right hand

in the

heavenly places.

So just

a few verses

later in

chapter 2

verse 6,

Paul writes

and raised

us up

with him.

God raised

us up

with Jesus

and seated

us with him

in the heavenly

places.

He uses a

perfect tense,

a completed

verb.

That's how

sure

our place

is in

heaven

with God

in the

afterlife.

there's a

hymn

that I

really like.

My name

from the

palms of

his hands

eternity

will not

erase.

Impressed

on his

heart,

it remains

in marks

of indelible

grace.

Yes,

I to the

end shall

endure

as sure

as the

earnest

is given.

More

happy,

but not

more secure,

the glorified

spirits

in heaven.

That's

kind of

a word

salad

of those

last two

lines,

basically.

It means

that those

souls that

are already

in the

presence of

the Father,

qualitatively,

yes,

no one's

going to

deny they're

happier than

we are

because they're

with the

Father in

a way that

we're not.

However,

their place

in heaven

is not

more secure

than ours.

Isn't that

amazing?

Their place

in heaven

isn't more

secure than

ours because

Jesus is

there and

we're

united to

him.

That's

how secure

our place

is with

the Father.

Hear how

we are

described in

Ephesians

Ephesians 1:18

chapter 1

verse 18.

May God

give you the

spirit of

wisdom and

of revelation

in the

knowledge of

him that

you may

know what

is the

hope to

which he

has called

you.

What are

the riches

of his

glorious

inheritance in

the saints?

That's

up there?

One more

verse.

There we

go.

This is

very difficult

to translate

for translators.

And even

when they

translate it

correctly,

it's still

hard to

exactly get

what Paul's

writing.

But what

he is not

saying is

that in

this case,

we are to

receive an

inheritance,

even though

this is

true.

We read it

all the time

in the

New Testament.

the inheritance

belongs to

God and

we are the

inheritance.

God has

prepared us

as his

own

inheritance,

as his

own

riches,

and God

is not

going to

give that

up.

That's how

precious we

are.

That's how

precious we

are.

He's going

to secure

us,

and he's

done that

by having

his son

ascend to

his right

hand and

in union

with him.

Now we

are ascended.

We are

seated with

Christ in

the heavenly

places.

So that's

second.

Lastly,

what benefit

is us

of the

ascension,

it's that

we have

an advocate

in the

presence of

the Father.

We have

an advocate.

Romans 8

34 says,

Christ Jesus

is the one

who died,

more than

that,

who was

raised,

who is

at the

right hand

of God,

who indeed

is interceding

for us.

what does

that mean

that he's

interceding

for us?

I think

it means

two things.

The first

is that

we don't

have to

fear

that we

are not

enough.

We don't

have to

worry

or fear

that we

are not

enough.

I think

a lot

of us

have that

concern.

A lot

of us

are

preoccupied

that we

might not

be

enough,

talented

enough,

musically

talented

enough,

that's

my own,

clever

enough,

handsome

or beautiful

enough,

successful

enough,

charismatic

enough.

We're

always

worried,

what do

people think

of me?

What does

the Father

think of

me?

You know

who

experiences

this

most

poignantly?

It's

mothers.

Mothers

are always

fearing

that they're

not

enough,

that they're

not loving

enough,

nurturing

enough,

present

enough,

patient

enough.

Most

mothers,

I think,

would just

love to

not completely

screw up

their kids.

That's a

win.

Mothers

feel like

they're not

enough.

But in

the gospel,

the ascended

Christ says

to the

Father,

I am

enough.

I am

enough.

My

obedience

was enough.

My

righteousness

is enough.

Look on

my wounds.

That's

enough.

I have

taken all

the punishment

that my

people

deserve.

I am

enough.

When

Satan

tempts

me

to

despair,

tells

me

of

the

guilt

within,

upward,

I look

and see

him

there who

made an

end to

all my

sin.

Because

the

sinless

savior

died,

my

sinful

soul

is

counted

free.

For

God,

the

just,

is

satisfied

to look

on

him

and

pardon

me.

Because

Christ

is

enough.

I

am

enough.

I

never

lack

for

anything.

If

Christ

is

enough,

which

makes

ourselves

enough,

then we

run the

danger of,

if we're

not

grasping

that,

then we

run the

danger of

this

constant

doing,

of trying

to be

enough,

of trying

to earn

God's

attention,

earn

his favor.

It's

dangerous

for

our

souls.

The

hymn writer

James

Proctor

wrote,

weary,

working,

burdened

one,

why do

you toil

so?

Cease

your

doing.

All

was

done

long,

long

ago.

Cast

your

deadly

doing

down,

down

at

Jesus'

feet.

Stand

in

him,

in

him

alone,

gloriously

complete.

The

ascended

Christ,

stands

at the

right

hand

of

the

father.

We

stand

in

him.

He

is our

advocate

in the

presence

of his

father.

He

is

assured

our

place

in

the

presence

of

the

father

forever

and

he

sends

us

his

holy

spirit

so

that

we

are

always

at

home

in

the

presence

of

God

all

because

of

love.

The

ascension

is

about

love.

Let's

pray.

Father,

just as

the

disciples

caught a

glimpse

of

glory

and

majesty

and

were

left

in

awe

so

would

you

strike

us

with

awe

and

wonder.

would

we

be

in

awe

of

your

son

of

his

humility

of

his

suffering

of

his

death

and

because

of

all

of

that

therefore

you

have

exalted

him

to the

highest

place

that

at

the

name

of

your

son

Jesus

every

knee

should

bow

in

heaven

and

on

earth

and

under

the

earth

and

every

tongue

confess

that

your

son

Jesus

Christ

is

Lord

to

the

glory

of

your

name

father

help us

now to

proclaim

his

glory

fill us

with

wonder

we

pray

in

Jesus

name

the

risen

and

ascended

savior

amen

amen