Parting Words and Commissioning
Remaining standing let us pray… May the words of my mouth and the meditations of all our hearts be acceptable to you, Lord Jesus Christ. …Amen.
Today we celebrate the accession of our Lord
Today we remember a often glanced over aspect of the life of Jesus
Glanced over - why?
Well, there are likely many reasons, but I think one of them is that we haven’t figured a fun way to commemorate it, think about it:
o At Christmas, with the birth of Jesus, we have developed a wonderful tradition that marks God’s gift with the giving of presents to each other
o On Palm Sunday, when people saw clearly ‘as a group of followers’ that Jesus was the triumphal King - we wave palm branches and make palm crosses
o At the end of Lent - the triumphal moment of Easter when our Lord defeated death and rose from the tomb, we have several ways in which we celebrate this event… not in the least of it - with a lot of chocolate…
o But the ascension of our Lord... well we have nothing special really
(pause)
On Friday night we had some friends over and the conversation inevitably went to what our work days had been like and I told them that I was preparing my sermon for this Sunday
I was asked in polite conversation what it was on.
I told them it was on ‘the ascension’
Blanks stares came back to me and then one person said
- what’s the ascension?
It was then that I thought ‘we need a special occasion to mark this final nail in the coffin of Christ’s victory over death’ (to mix some metaphors)…
The moment after Christ rose from the dead, defeating death on Easter, appearing in bodily form to many, then leaving his final earthly instructions and ascending into heaven.
We need to figure out a tradition for this ‘glanced over’ event…
But then it also occurred to me that maybe we don’t need to commercialize every major Christian event
Maybe the ascension is better left as one of those days in the Christian calendar that sneaks up on you every year
Jesus Christ rising into Heaven was, I am sure, a shock for the first disciples …and maybe it should be a surprise for us each year
But surprise or not, let’s not lose sight of the incredible importance of it
It is Christ’s final moments on earth …
and consider the incredible parting gift He leaves with us
In this moment that Christ accomplishes His mission… He sets a mission for us
today we have Luke’s account - but it is told in all four gospels
Let’s consider ‘what we are told’ and we are commemorating today
Jesus spoke to them and told them that all scripture is written about Him,
In fact to make sure His point is heard ‘he says it twice’ and then explains
That the law, the prophets and the psalms (psalms being the beginning of final third part of Hebrew scriptures known as ‘the writings’) - all were about Him
In Our Lord’s parting gift
He opened their minds (and ours) so we could understand the Scriptures
So that we could see God’s true purpose in scripture - which is to point to the Christ - to Jesus
Then see how our Lord speaks about his own death on the cross
Not as the world would see it …but as victory
Christ’s death was necessary for our salvation.
His flesh and blood offered in sacrifice on the cross were:
“the life of the world” (John 6:51).
Without the death of Christ, so far as human logic would dictate,
- God’s law could never have been satisfied,
- sin could never have been pardoned,
- we could never have been justified before God,
- and God could never have shown mercy to us.
Christ’s cross is the solution to a great difficulty.
- It untied a great knot; * it enabled God to be just
and yet be the ‘justifier of the ungodly’
Christ teaches how to rightly understand the cross
Then says
“that repentance, for the forgiveness of sins, would be preached in his name to all the nations”
The message our Lord told his disciples to preach … Repentance and forgiveness of sins: are inseparably linked together.
In His name
For all nations…
Repentance and forgiveness of sins
This message is clearly found in each of the gospel accounts
Matthew (like Luke) presents it gently in chapter 28
“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you.” (Matthew 28:18b-20a)
Mark and John are more direct in telling of the commissioning’s full ramifications
In Mark 16: “Go into all the world and proclaim the good news to the whole creation. 16 The one who believes and is baptized will be saved; but the one who does not believe will be condemned.” (Mark 16:15-16)
And John 20: “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” 22 When Jesus had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.” (John 20:21b-23)
This commissioning carries a shocking undertone
(pause)
I am sure that you heard the other detail that would have been shocking to the disciples
This group of Jews - who would have been raised with a very specific identity
“The chosen people”
Christ commissioned them into all world, or all the nations…
No longer was this to be an exclusive group - but a group that was to look beyond their racial upbringing
They were to start in Jerusalem to be sure
But as our reading from Acts today puts it
In Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and the ends of the earth
Ever increasing circles of influence
Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and the ends of the earth
all world, or all the nations
Christ calls them as special believers have in the world - He says “You are witnesses”
…One is only a witness if they tell someone else…
As we contemplate our reading for ‘the ascension of our Lord’ consider this pattern
Consider the pattern of Jesus’ actions in the last moments
He Spoke to them…
opened their minds to understand scripture…
claimed the repentance for the forgiveness of sins proclaimed in His Name to all the nations…
Blessed them…
And they worshipped - praising God
And consider the pattern of our Eucharist/Communion service
God speaks to us through ‘the divinely inspired’ scripture…
The word is expounded on during the sermon…
In the communion we state ‘and accept’ the claim of repentance for the forgiveness of sins in the Name of Jesus Christ…
There is a parting blessing…
We all worship - praising God
In the ascension not only do we see:
- The ultimate moment of Christ’s triumph over death * That Jesus is truly God as he is taken into Heaven
- The mission set out for us in what is known as ‘the great commission’
- The expanding of God’s people to all nations
- A summary of the gospel - the good news - of repentance for the forgiveness of sins
- But the added bonus of a pattern of worship for us
The Ascension reveals God’s glory to us in so many ways
Consider this also
That the Ascension of our Lord helps us find joy in what had terrified us before
God takes our understanding of the world and transforms it
… Takes the fear out of it…
The disciples who (as John’s gospel so dramatically portrays) had before been hiding out, in an upper room, behind a locked door ‘for fear of the Jews’
Now they “returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and they were continually in the temple praising God.”
…When you believe in the one that has defeated death - your fear is transformed to Joy…
This fact was brought home to me beautifully this week
As I am on an email prayer list, I was blessed on with the request for prayer and the story of one of our brothers in Christ who has been on death’s door waiting for a liver transplant, and I quote:
We received the call at 6 a.m. to come in as quickly as possible, as they had a liver for him. Praise God!
As he was wheeled down the hall to the surgical suite, with me walking alongside as far as the door, he grinned and sang "I live, I live, because He is risen...."
(long pause)
And so as not to leave you hanging - I heard the outcome a day later
He spent nearly seven hours in surgery, and has come through well. The surgeon was pleased with every aspect. He is in ICU, exhausted, uncomfortable, but beginning the first day of his life with a new liver.
This was an unknown accidental donor, whose family will have lost a loved one while their generous gift has saved his life, and we pray for peace and comfort for them
Today as we commemorate and celebrate the ascension of our Lord,
We know that Christ’s finishing act is our commission!
A mission accomplished; a commission to be accomplish
Lord, may our ears be open to hear you, our eyes open see you, and our hearts be open to receive you and your transformative message - from sin into forgiveness. And may the witness of our lives, in word and deed - proclaim you; Lord of all, in heaven and earth.
- Amen -