Ascension

Grace Mercy, and Peace be to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

What a glorious day that we have before us not only do we get to observe the day of the Ascension of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, but we also welcome officially to our church two new members. But we could not ask for a better pairing on this day as we meditate upon this wonderful blessing that Jesus has established in the Lord’s Supper that even though He is seated at the right hand of the throne of God that he comes to us to nourish us and give to us His body and blood as a pledge of the forgiveness we have in him.

Every year we come back to the Death and REsurrection of Jesus, and so we also ought to know about Jesus Ascension and what it means for you and I, for Jesus himself said that He had to leave, and that it was for your benefit, for He would send the Helper, the Comforter the Holy Spirit, who would guide us into all Truth. But we don’t fully appreciate why Jesus had to ascend into heaven for our sake. That his Ascension into heaven is ultimately so that you will be forgiven.

Now when we think about sin, we often think of the wrongs that we have done, this is what Avery confessed just last week, that according to God’s commandments that He is a sinner, and that he deserved for those sins temporal death, and eternal punishment, which means that God has right to afflict us with every manner of misery in this life, and condemn us to hell on the day of our death. That who we are has been weighed in the scales, and it is found to be lacking.

Think about it every time we lied, every time we trusted in something other than God, every time we hurt and betrayed those who love us. When we have neglected to carry out our responsibilities, if you pause for a moment and consider every time you have failed. But you have shown that you are not a good person. Now you will have to give an account, and an honest account, that you cannot squirm out of this or around this. No matter how charming you are, God knows what you keep secret and He knows what is truly in your heart. So when you stand before God what awaits you is nothing but punishment for failing. This is the judgment that comes at the end is terrifying, but we still have hope that we will come out of it ok.

The that we have hope is tied not only to Jesus’ death and resurrection, but also to His Ascension. Because when we appear before the Throne of God, and our sins are laid bare before the World, and we wonder on that day who will stand with us? Will our friends, our family, who will come to our rescue in that hour? But then you see that the one who is seated at the right hand of the Throne of God, steps down and argues for you. That hymn that we sang right before this describes it well, that Jesus laid aside his crown for you.

His ascension means that He is standing in the presence of God the Father and He is pleading on your behalf that you would be forgiven, and that you would be granted entrance into heaven. When God wonders about the debt, who would cover the cost of all of your failings for debt, never just goes away someone has to pay. Jesus says, I will cover their sins, by the shedding of my blood, and my bitter pains and death, let their punishment be mine so that they might be forgiven.

That’s the hope that we have as Christians. The hope not in what we have done, but in what Christ has done for our sake, and all that He has accomplished. His Ascension is a glorious thing for it means that He is standing there before the Throne of God, and as True God and True man has opened the Gates of Heaven for you.

But we are of the flesh, and we are weak, we wonder did Jesus really do this for me? This is where Baptism is especially important for there is Baptism, we hear Yes, Yes you are forgiven. But the old sinner inside of us, wonders is that really enough, that happened years ago, how do I know that this forgiveness is mine. What has Jesus given me that I might be certain today, and not doubt, but leave the house of the Lord with joy in my heart?

That is why Jesus also gave to us the Lord’s Supper. For in the Lord’s Supper, Jesus gives to you His body and His blood given into death and shed for you for the forgiveness of your sin which you eat and you drink, which that in that moment, Christ descends from above and comes down to you. There he gives to you his very body and blood.

Now in the Old Testament when the Sacrifices were offered up unto God the person the priest would give to the people a portion of the Sacrifice that had been brought into contact with the Holiness of God, that they might know that they were forgiven and that God had received them favorable. If you are receiving what Jesus your High Priest has brought not just into an earthly tent, but into Heaven itself, then you are forgiven.

That is also why we want to make sure that folks are prepared before they receive the Body and Blood of Christ because this isn’t a symbol or a representation, Jesus says this is His body and Blood, that is why we ask folks to wait, if they are uninstructed, how can they know if they are approaching the Lord’s Table properly. Any person with unrepentant sin would come forward and take it to their own harm. Because Christ is coming to you at that table, which is why we ask folks to wait.

It is with great joy that we get to welcome 2 folks this morning that they may come to the table and receive regularly the Body and Blood of Christ, one by the Rite of Confirmation and the other by Profession of Faith. It is an occasion for great joy that more folks are added to the Body of Christ, and we look forward to seeing them here regularly. For the promises and vows they are about to make are a serious matter and we dare not think that these are taken lightly.

But will hear these vows and remind them of these precious promises, as encouragement to continue to come to the altar where Christ comes to us in with and under bread and wine to forgive our sins and to remind us of His great love for us, and teach us how to love God and one another.

Finally my Brothers and Sisters this is why we are able to leave the house of God in great joy, not fearing what the world may send after us. For if Christ has come to us to forgive our sins, then why should we despair when death comes? Why should we be afraid when He has gone ahead of us, and when we stand before God He will come to our defense and argue for our salvation. He has freed us from that fear of terrible judgment and placed hope inside of our hearts, for He keeps the gates of Heaven open for us, that we may live eternally. In Jesus name. Amen.