Sermon Tone Analysis

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