Ascension Sunday

Left Behind

Jesus leaves and it had to feel a bit like a defeat.

The disciples could only (Acts 1) ‘gaze into heaven’

How do you know that Christ is still working - even though you cannot see Him?

Infusions for a year at $15k a pop I saw them go in but I never quite knew if they were working!

How do you know something or someone is working for good? Look at what they leave behind.

Evidence of the body:

In Eph 1 Paul reassures the church of their salvation through three different nouns in verses 18 & 19. He tells us three things we need to know

This is a crucial question as we consider our lives in light of the Ascension. Even when people walked with Jesus and saw Lazarus walking after death they still questioned and doubted the power of God.

Herein lie three distinct assurances we receive that God is still at work in His creation. Like we would a judge a pharmaceutical we are encouraged to look at the body.

There are three “what’s” we look at.:

Ephesians 1:18 ESV

having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints,

We have his hope.

We have His inheritance

Ephesians 1:19 ESV

and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might

3. We have His power.

We have His Hope.

Ephesians 1:18 ESV

having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints,

The author of Hebrews reminds us that faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.

This is certainly the point Paul is making by telling us that we must have ‘the eyes of our hearts enlightened’

When we cannot see with your eyeballs, we must see see with our heart.

Theologian Thomas Winger contrasts the modern idea of hope with the biblical and christian idea of hope.

Modern hope is mere optimism that it’ll be ok. This is generous guesswork!

Winger, and Paul remind us Biblical hope is grounded in real events.

Here are a few real event’s that occured:

You were baptised and sealed with the spirit

Eph 1:23 tells us that Christ fills all! You receive communion! Christ is certainly still present even though he ascended

Ephesians 1:22–23 ESV

And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.

Not just bread/wine but also body/blood. ALSO COMMUNITY TRUE FELLOWSHIP HERE!

3. He gives you assurance of the resurrection. Isn’t it wild that there are no bones of Jesus? We’re not even totally sure where His grave is. The ascended body of Christ is what gives you hope!

This death and life event leads us to our next noun: inheritance

We have His inheritance

Inevitably after the death of someone, particularly someone with means, there are often hushed whispers of what will happen to their wealth. Reuters ran a story on April 28th stating that the family of deceased Samsung chairman Lee Kun-hee was going to owe $10.8 Billion in Inheritance tax- JUST the taxes. The total value of his estate was $23 Billion!

Your inheritance is eternal life but that is not the inheritance that Paul points to.

Ephesians 1:18 ESV

having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints,

You are GOD’s inheritance! God can have anything He wants as His riches and He chose you!

This is radical! Our world is hugely consumed with a discussion of equality and dignity today. Whether each person has worth. Here in the church we say that the youngest to the oldest have incredible value. This should redefine how you and I think about fellowship.

Fellowship in the church world means coffee and donuts- maybe the occasional potluck. What the scriptures describe is much more thorough.

When Jesus says let the little children come to me He doesn’t invite them in for a puppet show. He is inviting them into the Kingdom of God where they have incredible worth and value. They also receive wisdom- depth of teaching and guidance into how they are to grow.

When we hear that Jesus ate with prostitutes and sinners He didn’t just high five them and congratulate them on their newfound worth. What Jesus is doing in those situations is calling them back into a holy and right relationship. He is encouraging them to return to their God and leave behind living like other nations do. We are a holy, valuable, nation.

Psalm 79:1 ESV

O God, the nations have come into your inheritance; they have defiled your holy temple; they have laid Jerusalem in ruins.

This is a great passage because it’s easy to think about the inheritance of God as the temple and the city but it is made clear in the next verse that the Psalmist is actually concerned with the people.

Psalm 79:2 ESV

They have given the bodies of your servants to the birds of the heavens for food, the flesh of your faithful to the beasts of the earth.

Your worth is for the life of the world- to do as Jesus did- Jesus gives more than equality- Jesus gives surpassing VALUE.

He did not count equality with God as a thing to be grasped. Instead, he emptied Himself. How does CLC, how do you empty yourself in this place, in your community that others may know the inheritance of God?

True Value is not found in anything we can merit or manifest - that is too fickle and finite. An assessment of greatness must come from the one who is greater.

Finally this leads us to the closing noun: power

We have His Power

A few hours north of us is Grand Coulee Dam - the 10th largest power generating station in the world and the largest in North America. It supplies power to 11 US States and generates enough electricity to run 4.2 million homes a year. Further it has the ability to provide irrigation to 1.1 Million acres of farmland (Thats 1,700 square Miles).

SUPER IMPRESSIVE.

There are 139 Million homes in the US. (3% generated by Coulee)

Almost 56 Million acres of irrigated farmland in the US. (2% created by Coulee)

When it comes to power - humans have only managed to create just an absolute fraction of what it takes to live in this life.

God's power raised Jesus from the dead, He made the sun stand still and rules over all nations on earth.

Friends the ascension of Jesus is the final demonstration that God is literally over the Earth.

The Power of God applied

If this last season of Covid has taught us anything at all it is that God can and does accomplish more than we think or as with far less than we ever thought.

If you had told me that Covid would last 14 months and that at CLC we would only have live music 5 or 6 times and that giving would hold strong, membership would grow, and we would be baptizing adult new believers I would have laughed and then wept. Those are the quick facts of God’s continuing providence here through His body.

Do not grow weary. Grow strong in the favor and kindness of God.

This is the power of God - that even when you cannot see Him, He is still filling you with worth, empowering you with His valuable gifts, and granting you hope. Amen.