Ascension... What For?
Sermon on Acts 1.1-11
Title: Ascension…. What for?
Theme: Christ continues his ministry from the throne of God.
Goal: to encourage Christians that Christ continues his ministry from the throne of God.
Need: often we live not thinking about Christ’s position at the right hand of God.
Sermon in Oral Style
Ephesians 4:8, 10-13
Sermon Outline:
Before: Disciples are worried and afraid.
During: Disciples lose sight of him because of the clouds.
After:
1. He has ascended to reign on the throne.
2. He has ascended to be our mediator.
3. He has ascended to hand over the ministry to his disciples.
Congregation, do you know what holiday passed this week. May Day. Yes. But one that passed on Thursday night. Who knows which holiday it was? The passage might just give us a little bit of a clue.
Ascension Day. Some of us might be thinking, “I had no idea that many Christians pay special attention to the day Jesus ascended into heaven. Hey that’s interesting.” Since there were forty days that Jesus was seen by people after his resurrection, we celebrate ascension day forty days after Easter. Looking at a calendar we see that since Easter always falls on a Sunday, forty days later will always be a Thursday. Ascension Day was this past Thursday.
Ascension Day breezes by so quickly. But this morning, we will step into the days of the ascension to try to understand the importance of the ascension to the kingdom of God. We will try to feel what feelings probably were running through the hearts of the disciples. And then God’s word will move us to either change some pattern of our life to fit better with his kingdom work. Or, it will encourage us in the life we are already living for his kingdom.
When last did were you afraid. What made you afraid? The last moment of fear for me was when my one year old daughter Haley had what is called a febrile seizure. She was with my wife at church after coffeebreak when suddenly she just slumped over and was completely unresponsive. Someone came and got me from my office very quickly saying, Some thing is wrong with Haley. I ran over and saw her on the ground, breathing, but not moving, eyes rolled back. That was the worst feeling, not knowing what to do or where to find help. Haley is fine now. The seizure was caused by a fever that suddenly spiked. She will grow out of having them by the time she is five, and my not even have another one again.
I will never forget what it felt like to be in that moment of fear. The questions, the confussion, the wanting to do something but not knowing what. What has made you afraid.
Christ ascends into heaven during a time of fear and confusion for the disciples. Acts 1 starts off saying, “1In my former book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach 2until the day he was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles he had chosen.
Something you may not have known about the book of Acts is that Luke wrote it as a sequel to the gospel called Luke. If we were making making movies of Luke’s books we would actually call the book of Luke: Episode I: The Acts of Jesus. The sequel, the book we call Acts would be called Episode II: The Acts of the Holy Spirit.
In Acts 1, Luke is assuming we remember what was said at the end of the book of Luke. And the feeling in Luke 24 is one of terrible anxiety. The disciples hadn’t seen Jesus after he rose from the dead. And when he does see them they think he’s a ghost and they need to give many convincing proofs that he is really resurrected from the dead. Until they have these proofs they really don’t know what’s up. What now?
Of course they have all kinds of questions for Christ and need to be taught so much. After all, it isn’t every day you get to talk to someone resurrected into their eternal body. It just doesn’t happen?
So Christ begins calming their fears and worries. He tells them that the time is coming that Holy Spirit is going to come on them. Then they ask the same confused question they have been asking the whole time of Christ’s ministry. Are you going to finally boot these Romans out and set up the kingdom now?
Christ tells them in verse7He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. 8But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
Before the ascension Christ is trying to still their fears and their confused hearts. He is saying be at peace. Don’t worry yourselves about all these questions. Just go with this one task. Be filled with the Holy Spirit and then live out loud. Pass it on. Give your account of how I died and rose again.
Christ would give us the same encouragement as well in the midst of our fears and confusion. Its okay to be confused. Its normal to worry about things like jobs and money and relationships and your loved ones. Its normal to be confused about what the plan is for your future or for what God is going to do with your life. But Christ has not changed his mind about how he encourages us all through this. He tells us not to worry about tomorrow and what it will bring. He says, just be faithful to one thing. Be a witness in the world to the way Jesus Christ has worked his power in your life. We are all encouraged to be an eye witness.
Before the ascension Christ encourages the disciples and all of us to share our personal stories of the power of his death and resurrection.
The actual act of the ascension is important as well. Its interesting to talk about what way Christ was looking as he ascended into heaven. Is he holding out his hands to his disciples blessing them as he returns to heaven? Or is he hold his arms up ready to take his place on the throne at the right hand of God?
What we do know is that Christ ascended and was hidden from their view by a cloud. Interstingly, John Calvin, on of the great teachers of Scripture and world Changers for Christ, John Calvin said the fact that Christ is hidden from view is very important to what we do during the Lord’s Supper.
Where is Christ right now? Is this his body, really? Is this his blood really? No. What we believe about this meal is that Christ has ascended but his presence is a spiritual one. The cloud hides Christ in his ascension so that the disciples must release him physically. They must let go in order to begin to be nourished spiritually, not just by his physical presence. What would have happened to the spiritual lives of the disciples if Christ had not ascended and given the Holy Spirit? The disciples would have been as poor of believers and followers as they ever had been. They could not have become the witnesses to the world because they would constantly have to depend on the physical presence of Christ.
Calvin says part of the importance of the ascension for the Lord’s Supper is that we know that we must be nourished spiritually apart for the physical presence of Christ. It makes it so the Lord’s Supper is something that strengthens our faith. Even though we do not see with our eyes or hear the teaching directly from Christ. The Holy Spirit feeds us. The Holy Spirit moves us to tell of the work of God and his kingdom.
Okay, so Before the ascension we have confusion and questions from the disciples about what now. During the ascension we lose sight of Christ to be assured that we don’t need to physical presence to make a difference in our world. All we need is the Holy Spirit and to be fed spiritually through the word and through the Lord’s Supper.
But how about after the ascension? I believe Jesus ascension into heaven gives us more reason than any other to walk out of the church building, and start being the most incredible servants in the world that you could possibly imagine.
Christ ascended to the Father. Part of the reason for the ascension is so that we can have someone speaking to the Father on our behalf. When we pray we pray through Jesus Christ. He’s the reason we don’t need a high priest to pray for us. Christ pleads our prayers before God for us.
What else? Christ ascended into heaven to reign on the throne. Ascending into heaven is a part of the pattern of the life of Christ. God. Becomes human. Born in a stable. Lived a humble life. Suffered for us. Died. On A cross. Went into the grave. But rose again. Then ascended and is seated at the right hand of God the father. He ascends to the throne of heaven to show that he is king over everything.
Where we often sell Christ short its in the understanding of his Lordship. Is Christ Lord of your life? I hope so. I hope we are constantly handing control of our lives back over to Christ. But as the ascended Lord, he reigns on the throne over every sphere of life. He’s not just Lord over the churchy stuff in the world. He ascended to be lord over it all. What sort of work are you in? Math, science, politics, business, law, agriculture, building, homemaking, teaching? The ascension marks Christ becoming Lord over it all. Are you concerned about justice in Africa? For AIDS victims? Christ is Lord over it. Operation Manna seeks to help people locally? Christ is Lord over it? The environment? Christ has ascended to take his throne over it all.
Our Prayers our made alive in the ears of God through Jesus Christ. And our lives and work have purpose in this world because we know every single part belongs under the Lordship of Christ. Some of us are probably disgusted with the type of work we are in or the course of study we are deep into. Fed up and feeling like we are just running through the motions of some pointless existence. Christ’s ascension gives value to all the work we do. In fact, it doesn’t matter the work you are doing and whether you are succeeding. Are you living a faithful life. Are you respecting God, serving your neighbor and being a good steward of the resources of God’s world, just do it and it will glorify God. You can break into the week of work ready to serve the Lord.
A third reason why the ascension is important is because it is the time when Christ’s body is gone, but his body is ready to do his work in the world. It took three years of having the disciples follow him around every day before Christ is leaving them to do what they need to do. But he encouraged them and trained them. He made them ready to be sent out into the world and make the world a place of the love of God.
As a congregation, and leaders, the ascension encourages us to follow the example of Christ. To invest serious time and energy into the nurturing of the next generation of leaders. Empowering Leadership. Christ readied his disciples to take over the ministry and take it to Jerusalem to samaria and to the ends of the earth.
So if you have ever wondered why ascension day is so important, I hope you keep wrestling.