Ascension

You can tell a lot about a person by their calendar. If somebody were to take a look at your calendar what would they see? What would they find? Perhaps they would see schedules and appointments, days off or sporting events. But what are the important dates that you on your calendar? What are the important events that you remember or celebrate or give thanks for? Birthdays, baptism birthdays, anniversaries; whatever they may be, there are dates that we like to keep in mind and hold in our hearts. They become part of the stories of our lives and we mark the years of our lives with the passing of these days.

The same is true in the church. We celebrate, commemorate, and remember different days and seasons. They help us to re-live the story of faith, which happens to be our story as well. They reflect the different times and seasons of life. They keep before us those important themes and events that show what God in Jesus has done for us, and what it means as we live out our lives. It is more than just colors and greetings and using certain words or refraining from them. But it guides us in our lives and keeps the story in front of us so that the story is real, active and living.

So, with that in mind, does anyone know what event in the church calendar was this past Thursday? And I am not talking about the rummage sale. Thursday was the day of the ascension. Now this is an event that we mention every time we confess the creeds together. “He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried. He…ascended into Heaven and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty, from thence he will come to judge the living and the dead.”

We confess this every time the creed is spoken. But what does it mean? Why is it a big deal? What difference does it make? Well, I’m glad you asked. It is a really cool thing.

In talking about this we want to be sure that we keep together the “ascended into heaven and the seated at the right hand of the Father” from the creed. This is because the two really do go together. So on the calendar, on the day of the Ascension, we are forty days out from Easter, from the resurrection. We are still waiting for Pentecost. But we don’t have to wait too long. That is next Sunday. The Ascension is that time when Jesus is with his disciples and then he is taken up into the sky and eventually a cloud covers him and the disciples can no longer see him.

Now it is important to point out that Jesus, who is both truly 100% God and truly 100% a human being is ascended in the exact same way. In other words it is not just the divine 100% God part of Jesus that is ascended and seated at the right hand of the Father. But it is all of him, both the God and the human. The God-man, Jesus is ascended into heaven and seated at the right hand of the Father.

It is also important to note at this point that when we are talking about seated at the right hand of the Father, we are not talking about a physical chair. It is not like you draw out directions or find this on google maps. OK, what you do is ascend 25,000 feet take your third cloud on the left and continue on the interstellar highway to exit 777. Turn right and it is then take the third street on your left.

Instead, what we find in talking about seated at the right hand of the Father is images that are used to help us describe something that is otherwise indescribable. In talking about the right hand of God are we saying that God has hands? Or that if he does he is right-handed? No. That is not the case at all.

Instead to talk about the right hand of God is a way of referencing God’s power and might. He is all-powerful, he has great might. When you look through the Scriptures you will find this imagery showing up all over the place. By the way, this is nothing against left-handed people.

Now, what about the imagery of Jesus being seated? Well, that is pretty simple too. What do you do when your work is completed? You sit down. But that is just part of it. If you think about a king and the place from where he rules, and that is his throne, from what position does that king rule? He is sitting on his throne.

In other words when we are talking about Jesus sitting at the right hand of God we are talking about Jesus ruling and reigning in all power and might. We see move into this position at his ascension. And it is at his ascension that Jesus, both God and Man, takes the place of ruling and reigning in and with all power and might.

So when we saw Jesus on earth whatever he did, he did as both God and man. Whether he was eating or drinking, forgiving sins, feeding 5,000 or evening dying. He did not always use all the powers that he had available to him as God, but that was only because he chose not to use them. Well the same is true now after the resurrection. Whatever we see Jesus do we see both God and man. So his ascension, his mighty rule and reign, he does as both God and man.

OK. Now this might seem a little heavy for Sunday morning. And if we just left it at this, then it might be. But this is actually really important for our day to day lives as God’s dearly loved children, and especially for our day to day lives as God’s people, the church.

You see, because Jesus reigns and rules as both God and Man that means there is assurance for us that Jesus’ work of salvation was complete and finished. Our sins are forgiven. The price has been accepted and paid in full. Your sins are forgiven. Jesus paid the price in full. We see proof of this in the ascension.

His ascension into heaven also means that we have the same destination as our hope too. Jesus told his disciples that he is going to prepare a place for them, and us too by the way. This means that we can know with absolute certainty what awaits us. What we have even at this very moment; life eternal lived with our Lord.

His sitting at the right hand of God and ruling with all power and might means that when we talk about Jesus being present with us. He is really, physically present with us. We may not be able to see him. But we know that this is the case because of the ascension. You are never ever alone. Jesus is really and truly with you. And when he comes to us in, with and under the bread and wine of Holy Communion, he is really physically present and with us. When he says, “I am with you always, even to the very end of the age.” He is really physically present with us. When he says, “Wherever two or more gather in my name, there I am also.” He is really physically present with us.

Now this is very much a mystery. We cannot know exactly how this all works out. But I believe that that is part of the beauty of it. Why explain it away? These are the very things that God’s word tells us and reveals to us. It tells us that they are true, but does not tell us how they are true.

So what does this mean for us today? Well, these things are extremely comforting. They reassure us of God’s love for us and his presence in our lives. This assurance is something that we need because it is so easy to lose sight of God’s presence in our lives. It is so easy to live and move and work as if everything depended on us. We look at the challenges facing us in our own lives and we can be driven to the brink of despair.

We cry out, “I don’t know how I am going to do it. I don’t know how I am going to get by or make it work.” And we fret and worry and fight. But that is kind of the point here. It is not about us. It is not about what we want or us accomplishing anything on our own, especially in relation to God’s kingdom. But it is about our God who is all-powerful, who rules and reigns with all power and might.

He includes us and allows us to join him in the work that he is doing in our world. We don’t have a right to it. We are not here because we are experts or have something to offer God, because without us he is lacking something. Instead we are here because God has something to offer us. We are here because God graciously, lovingly and abundantly gives to us life and allows us to live and experience this life.

We are here because God has placed us here, so that together we can be about the work of making the love of God in Jesus known to the world. We get to show and share the love of Jesus with the world around us. But doing this can be very scary. It can be very hard. It can be very costly. And sometimes it can even be very dangerous.

Fear can be a powerful motivator. But we cannot allow it to control us. Nor do we have to. Because Jesus reigns with all power and authority, because he loves us so very much, he reigns on our behalf. He rules and reigns in such a way that we as the church are able to be about the mission. He rules and reigns so that we will have everything that we need to do the work that we have been given to do. He rules and reigns so that we can be confident that all things work together for our good.

The Ascension of Jesus and his seated at the right hand of God are extremely important for the church, because in this we find the comfort, strength and courage that we need to be about a mission that can sometimes be very difficult for us to embark on. We find in this teaching the ability and the strength to deny ourselves, take up our crosses and follow Jesus. And as we do this, we find life full and better than anything we could ever hope for. What an awesome gift our God has blessed us with. Amen.