The Main Thing Series

The Main Thing….

Feast of the Ascension! - May 20, 2007

Eph. 1:15-23

† In the name of our Lord †

“Because I have seen your faith in the Lord Jesus and I know your love toward all the saints, 16 I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, 17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him.

Today, we celebrate one of the incredible events in scripture. It is, a feast day, as is next week. Both the readings from Acts, and from the gospel of Luke, tell of the incredible event, when Jesus was taken up from the presence of the apostles, and ascended before their eyes, into the sky. What an incredible event! Not a vision, the actual, risen, live, body of Christ, ascending into the heavens…

So what? I really mean that – so what?

How does a day, on a mountain side 2000 years ago, affect our lives today? Sure a miracle happened, one that was incredible, and revealed the power of God, invested in His son Jesus. But how does that miracle, affect me this week, when I needed more than one miracle to occur in my life, and that of my friends, and my family? Actually, if I counted it up – 11 miracles would have been really nice.

So what that Jesus ascended?

How does that help me give comfort to the pain in the Rayson family’s hearts? Or to alleve the fear that affected Pastor Hendry’s family, as they dealt with a granddaughter in pain, who the doctor’s first diagnosis was that the pain was caused by Leukemia? Or Duane, who had a student at his school collapse, because the two brain shunts he has became clogged. How does it deal with couples I know that have divorced, or whose lives are so under pressure, that they are considering that option, in anger, or fear?

What does the eyewitness story of the Ascension do, for those whose faith is being tried in the fire? What comfort can it give, in the midst of trauma, and grief, and pain, and anger that accompanies grief?

While the readings from Luke’s gospel, and the book of Acts, tell us the story… the epistle reading, from Ephesians, gives us the rest of the story, and the hope, that is found in the power that raised Christ from the dead, the power that is in work in us.

One Prayer

That you get this picture clearly….

I started this sermon, with a directed paraphrase of the Ephesians reading. In other words, I used Paul’s words about the Ephesians, to describe our relationship, mine and yours. Here the words again…

“Because I have seen your faith in the Lord Jesus and I know your love toward all the saints, 16 I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, 17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him.

I know of your faith – I have seen it at work, I have told others about it, about the church that believes God will answer their prayers, that cares for each other. At lunch this week, I was the recipient of the love you have towards this church and community. I thought I would hide – by going to a different place to eat. And two different couples saw my car, and came in, and encouraged me, knowing I was dealing with the pain of Mike’s son’s death.

Knowing that, just as Paul heard of the Ephesians people’s faith, and love, I want one thing, the main thing that I pray for – that God would give you a spirit of wisdom and reveal to you all you need to know about Jesus. Paul will go on to clarify that comment, by saying that the prayer is as well – that you would have the eyes of your heart enlightened. As I read this in Greek – the word enlighten is the word photo – so Paul is praying that you and I, and the Ephesians, would get the picture!

That we would see in our hearts one thing, and that it would be burned into the retina of our soul. That it becomes part of your wisdom, that it governs all you do. That where ever we go, whatever we encounter, our hearts would be filled with one idea. And here it is…

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