Ascension
Sermon for the Ascension of our Lord, year B
Bible reading: Luke 24:50-53
Distance makes the heart grow fonder.
You’re no doubt familiar with the old maxim. And I suppose there’s some truth in these words. You appreciate people or things more after a time of abstinence. A roast dinner tastes much better after you’ve spent time fasting. The same could be said about a good wine, or fine music – if you had them all the time, they’d lose their appeal. But these words refer mostly to human love. Certainly the love between two people can be strengthened through time spent apart.
But not every one would agree. I’m sure the old proverb is cold comfort for the man whose wife is a thousand kilometres away with her work, or to the elderly woman whose children and grandchildren have moved inter-state and the days are long and lonely. Or the homesick child who has been sent to boarding school may derive little comfort from these words. Distance can dilute friendships too, as contact becomes less frequent over time.
When the disciples saw Jesus depart from view forty days after his rising to life, how do you think their hearts felt? They had been sad and confused initially when their Lord had spoken about ‘going away’. And you’d think they were going through that grieving process now as Jesus ascended out of view.
But to our surprise, we hear that they returned to Jerusalem rejoicing! That’s right, they were happy.
And we too are one with the disciples in their joy at this Ascension of our Lord. There are three very good reasons for rejoicing on this occasion.
Firstly, the Ascension is the final act of our Lord’s redemptive work. The job is done now. At Christmas he came to earth and was born in frail human flesh. We’ve heard from his baptism that this Jesus is God’s own Son and there are numerous accounts of his miracles and wonders to validate this title.
We heard how he went to the cross to die for the sins of the world. We’ve rejoiced with his followers on the day of his resurrection. And now, forty days later, he completes his work by returning to his rightful place in glory. It’s such an important event that we include it in our Creed –
Jesus Christ our Lord … ascended into heaven, and sits at the right hand of God the Father almighty.
Our Lord went all the way! He showed that he is indeed worthy of the title, ‘Lord’. And that is enormously comforting to the disciples. Their hopes were confirmed. They could trust this Lord to see his promise through. They parted company on good terms and could therefore worship the Lord confidently, for the Lamb who was slain had begun his reign.
And so can we worship our Lord with utmost confidence. Think of how many times we use his name in our worship:
- Lord have mercy…
- Lord Jesus Christ, only Son of the Father…
- the Lord be with you…
- This is the word of the Lord…
- we believe in one Lord Jesus Christ…
- let the vineyards be fruitful Lord…
- Lord, in your mercy…
- let us give thanks to the Lord our God…
- blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord…
- the Lord bless you and keep you.
The final stage of Jesus’ work confirms that he is our Lord. It seals and completes our hope that he is the promised One, the Lord Jesus Christ. So we can worship him with joy, knowing that God has not only revealed himself through Jesus, but that he has powerfully and thoroughly wrought our salvation by his incarnation, suffering, death, resurrection and ascension.
Secondly, the disciples were joyful because they now awaited the next big thing. They were filled with excitement and anticipation because of Jesus’ words:
Stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.
The Holy Spirit would soon be poured out upon these first Christians, and they would bear witness to Jesus– starting from Jerusalem and spreading into the whole world from there.
So far from being left as orphans, being left alone and at a distance, the disciples would soon experience the Lord’s presence in a new and even more internal way, at the coming of the Holy Spirit. You see, though out of sight, Jesus wasn’t absent.
The Holy Spirit did come, and he is no less at work in the church today: calling and gathering people from every nation to faith and understanding through the gospel, and working salvation through the means of Grace. This is not a case of distance making the heart fonder; it is rather the nearness of Christ through the Holy Spirit that encourages and comforts the hearts and minds of his people, increasing their love for Christ.
The work of the Holy Spirit brings Jesus into close proximity with his people. He is seen in the fruits of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control
. (Gal. 5) The disciples were understandably happy as they waited for this new phase.
Finally, the disciples could rejoice because they knew that Jesus would return. Those of you who have ever waited for the return of a loved one will know the growing joy as the great day draws closer. You cross the days off your calendar until the big day finally comes! The hope of that great day made the disciples happy. The message spoken by the two unusual men standing nearby would have served as a comforting reminder:
Men of Galilee, why do you stand here looking up into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.
After 33 years – a drop in the ocean as far as human history is concerned – the people of God had returned to the Advent mode: Waiting.
But it would be different from the years that preceded the first Advent of Christ. Since our Lord Jesus Christ has already come, there is nothing dubious or obscure about the way we await his second and final advent. God has already visited the world in Jesus. So there is good reason to depend on his promise that he would come again in glory. The disciples would see their Lord again! We who wait with them will see Jesus too! No wonder this news fills us with joy!
So my friends, we now approach the pivot of the church year. Thus far we have focussed on our Lord’s redemptive work from Bethlehem through to Bethany.
From here we will see how all that has conceived a new and living community of believers. We will see Christ-like traits being manifest in and through God’s Church. And with the disciples, we can advance into this second part of the church year, not forlorn or pessimistic, but with fond hearts, with the confidence, energy and joy that was sealed when our loving Lord and Saviour was lifted from this earth, and restored to glory at the right hand of God the Father. To him be glory forever. Amen.