Ascension of Our Lord

Lifted Up

In the name of the Father, and of the + Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Brothers and sisters in Christ: grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

What’s the highest you have ever been? I’m sure many of you have been in an airplane at 30,000 feet…but you don’t really feel that…you can’t see out the window. So what’s the highest place you’ve been where you really felt like you were “up high”? The top of a skyscraper? The top of a mountain?

I have a couple of examples I can think of: the first was when I climbed the mountain behind the campus at my college. It was actually part of a challenge that was presented to me at the end of my freshman year…a little bit of very mild hazing…I mean, a right of passage. It was a long climb, but it was in the Rockies in Colorado, so it was gorgeous and the view was incredible. The second example I thought of was going up in the Eiffel Tower. Not the VERY top, but as high as we could go. It definitely gave us an incredible view of Paris. The third time I felt really high up was during my jumps for the parachuting program. Ok, maybe not the jumping out and falling part, which is mostly screaming and praying, but after the canopy opens and it’s nice and peaceful, and you can see for miles. That part. Loved the canopy ride.

All three of these times, I felt so high up, I could barely see any people below. If I could see them at all, they were just little dots on the ground. And if I looked out to the distance, I could actually see the curvature of the earth. It gave me a view of things that you just can’t get standing on the ground. You can see SO much…but you can’t see anything in great detail.

In the passages for today, both Acts and Luke, we hear about Jesus being lifted up into Heaven in a cloud. Now those who witnessed this could not possibly imagine what being that high up must be like. They were limited to climbing the highest mountain. But since they were already on the Mount of Olives, there weren’t many places higher than that anyway, and certainly not anywhere near where they were standing. So they were limited to observing what happened to Jesus - he went up and was surrounded by clouds until they couldn’t see him any longer. Of course, if they couldn’t see him, then it only makes sense that Jesus can’t see them, either.

This is what the Scriptures today are written to address. Let’s look at Luke 24:44-53. First, Jesus is telling them that everything that has happened was according to God’s plan. Everything from Jesus’ birth to his baptism and temptation, his healing and casting out demons, his teaching, his triumphant entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday to his arrest and crucifixion…and finally his resurrection. Nothing in this whole sequence of events was a surprise to God, or a mistake, or something that had to be fixed. It was all according to God’s plan. “…everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.” (vs 44) And so, Jesus’ time on earth is now complete, and it is time to pass the mission on to his followers.

Everything that they have been present for is part of the Good News that they are now responsible for sharing with the world. Put another way: because they have seen all of these things that Jesus did and heard all that he taught, they are the best-equipped to tell others about it. “You are witnesses of these things” (Luke 24:48) Jesus tells them. But he continues “And behold, I am sending the promise of my father upon you. But stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.” What’s he talking about there? This is what will happen at the Pentecost. So he leads them to the Mount of Olives (that’s where Bethany was) and he blessed them. As he is blessing them, he is carried up into heaven. “And they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy...” (vss 52-53)

The 40 days before this has been quite a rough journey for these apostles. First, their teacher was taken from them with swords after their Passover meal…and he didn’t even put up a fight! And the only way they found him was because one of the 12 betrayed him…for a measly few pieces of silver. Then they put him on trial, such as it was, with no justice at all, and they found him guilty of a crime that wasn’t actually a crime. And then they killed him for it, in the most horrible way—by crucifying him. And others started looking at the remaining 11 like maybe they should be crucified too. So the 11 ran and went into hiding. Who could blame them? What a terrible Friday that was. At least he died quickly, and thank Heaven someone offered to bury him in a proper tomb.

But then on Sunday some of the women went to the tomb to prepare the body. It was a day late because of the Sabbath, but they were determined to do it, out of love for their teacher and friend. But they came back and told the men his body was gone! As if his death wasn’t enough…now his body was gone! They were SO upset. A couple of the men ran to the tomb to see for themselves…and were greeted by…well, it must’ve been angels…who told us Jesus was alive, not dead. Wow, some hope in all this sadness? And then, sure enough, Jesus appeared to them, showing them his hands and his side, to see that he was flesh and not just a ghost. And just as they were celebrating his return from the grave, he begins to tell them that he’s not staying. He has to leave to go and be with the Heavenly Father.

Such an emotional roller coaster! And now comes the day when he really is leaving. He’s doing his best to prepare them for his departure…as he has been all along, actually. But now the time has come, and he’s giving them final instructions and a blessing. They now have to pick up where he left off. In the reading from Acts today, (Acts 1:1-11) as Jesus is “lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight”, they continued gazing into heaven. Here, the apostles seem to be holding onto that view of Jesus as long as they could.

That’s only natural, though. It’s so much easier to deal with people and things when they’re right in front of you, where you can see them with your own eyes. We feel closer to someone when we can look them in the eye. It’s a “real” interaction, not a virtual one (this is why I’m looking forward to everyone being back in the building!). When we see each other eye-to-eye, we can see facial expression, even the look in the eye is easier to pick up on. Communication is more clear. It’s just better. So of course the apostles wanted to see Jesus as long as possible. They didn’t want to merely have to “remember” him.

Isn’t it sort of the same for us? Of course, we’ve never actually seen Jesus’ face. We’ve seen paintings and sculptures and icons…but no two of them really look the same. We’ve never never looked him in the eye. So he’s just someone we hear readings about, right? He’s just someone that we have to believe in, even though we’ve never seen him. Well, no. These are not just readings. Jesus REVEALS himself to us in these Scriptures. This is just one of the ways He speaks to us. We get to hear his very words coming to us through this written Word.

This is the promise of the Ascension. Jesus tells his followers: “I am sending the promise of my Father upon you.” (vs 49) This is the gift of the Holy Spirit, which all baptized have received. We have the Holy Spirit with us at all times, as our Helper, to assure us of Christ’s presence at all times - as He promised. Last week, John 14:18 “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.” He has promised never to leave us on our own. We will ALWAYS have him.

Besides the Scriptures, we also have him come to us in the Sacraments. In Baptism, we are “marked with the Cross of Christ forever.” In the Eucharist, we receive His Body and Blood, taking him physically into ourselves, reminding us of His atoning sacrifice, redeeming us and purchasing the very expensive forgiveness of our sins. He comes to us in these Sacraments.

While Jesus is in Heaven, at the right hand of the Father, He is not far from us. Quite the contrary; He is with us always, just as he promised. Any time we may begin to doubt that, we only have to look to these passages, and remember what He promised at His Ascension. That is what this celebration today is all about, and why those apostles left that scene with such joy: they knew what we now know - that God is always with us, and that we have an eternity with Him in Heaven to look forward to. Thanks be to God.

In the name of the Father and of the +Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.