“Good-bye! It was great visiting with you. Let’s keep in touch! See you in a few months!” Without bringing tears to the eyes of those of you who hate to say goodbye I want all of you to bring to mind a time when you were saying goodbye to family or friends. What were some of the things that you talked about? As you think about saying goodbye can you recall any common thoughts that you seem to normally express to people before you leave?
As I think about “saying goodbye” three basic ideas come to mind. (I hope I am correct in assuming my experiences in this area are similar to yours.) Usually when I say goodbye I find myself quickly reviewing the time I spent with the person I am leaving. The conversation might go something like this. “Well, thanks for inviting us to the wedding. It was great to be a part of this important event. We really enjoyed being here.” Or perhaps it might go like this, “This holiday weekend has been great. We thoroughly enjoyed our visit with you and the family. We had a great time doing all the things you planned.” The second part of one of my typical goodbyes is the promise to make plans for keeping in touch on a regular basis. Don’t we often do that? The exchange of words might go something like this, “We really need to get together more often. I’ll give you a call in a few months and see what we can work out. Let’s keep in touch until then.” The final thing that often goes into saying goodbye is the making of plans for when I will see the person again. Sometimes those plans are very tentative but we still seem to be unable to say goodbye without at least proposing some plans for the future. If it is a regularly scheduled family event I might say, “See you next year.”
With those parts of saying goodbye in mind let’s take a look at the way Jesus said goodbye to his disciples. The Word of God for our sermon this morning is Luke’s account of Jesus’ ascension found in Acts 1:1-11. It was the first Scripture lesson for this Sunday. Through the power of the Holy Spirit working in our hearts may we:
“HEAR JESUS SAY ‘GOODBYE’”
I. Recall what he accomplished with his visit
II. Receive his promise to keep in touch
III. Remember his plans to see us again
This year in the Sundays following Easter we have been reading from the Books of Acts. We have seen the effects of Christ’s resurrection on the New Testament church in Jerusalem. The timid followers of Christ became totally committed evangelists for him. The good news about Jesus spread out around the Roman Empire. Through the disciples and evangelists like the Apostle Paul God’s Word was brought to a great number of people. But all of that success can be traced back to these verses we are considering. When Jesus said goodbye to his disciples he promised and predicted it all. In his final words before His ascension Jesus outlined what was going to happen.
I.
The first aspect of Jesus’ farewell that Luke mentions is how he reviewed the mission he had just accomplished. “In my former book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach until the day he was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles he had chosen. After his suffering, he showed himself to these men and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God.” Before he said his goodbye and returned to the seat of glory at his Father’s right hand Jesus recalled what he had accomplished. He gave his disciples many convincing proofs that he was alive. Remember that his being alive was the proof that he had done everything necessary for salvation. The fact that death had no power over him showed that the curse of sin had been broken and that Satan’s power had been crushed. Because the disciples were slow to believe and understand what Jesus had done he spent 40 days saying goodbye to them. In that time he reviewed the purpose for his coming to visit the earth.
Someone might say that hearing Jesus say goodbye to his disciples can’t have the same impact on us as it did on them. After all we don’t get to hear him teach about the kingdom of God. We aren’t able to see the convincing proofs that he is alive. But let’s not be too hasty to jump to that conclusion. We have the written record of what Jesus accomplished. That is more than the disciples had when Jesus said goodbye to them. By opening God’s Word printed in our own language we can read about the convincing proofs Jesus offered to establish the fact that he paid for our sins. On this day when we recall Jesus’ ascension it is important for us to remember that part of his goodbye. We need to join him in looking back on what he has done.
If a person doesn’t finish a job they are usually sent back to work on it until they do. If your boss sends you to do a job and you come back and haven’t done it he will send you back to your desk until you do the job. Or he may get someone else to do it and you will be looking for another job. If you ask one of your children to mow the lawn you expect it all to be done not just part of it. If the job is not done you will send them back out again until it is finished.
Christ’s ascension means he finished his work. The Father didn’t have to send Jesus back to Bethlehem to start over, or back to Nazareth to finish things up, or back to the cross to complete the work of dying as our substitute. No, Jesus finished everything exactly as it needed to be done. The Apostle Paul connected what Jesus accomplished to his ascension in Ephesians 4:7 10, “This is why it says: "When he ascended on high, he led captives in his train and gave gifts to men." (What does "he ascended" mean except that he also descended to the lower, earthly regions? He who descended is the very one who ascended higher than all the heavens, in order to fill the whole universe.)”
Maybe it is a “guy thing” but when I say goodbye to someone I always want to recall some of the things that we did in our time together. This is especially true when I visit my parents or my brothers and sisters. Not being people who can sit still for more than a few minutes we invariably turn to some work or project. So when it is time to leave I will often talk about what was accomplished. I don’t do this to take pride in what has been done but to reassure my relatives that I was happy to help out. To a certain extent we see something like that in Jesus’ goodbye to his disciples before he ascended into heaven. He recalled what he accomplished with his visit because he had done it all for them. Today as we hear Jesus say goodbye it is beneficial for us also to recall what he accomplished.
II.
Many times when we say our goodbyes we make all kinds of promises about keeping in touch. At least I assume I am not the only one who does this. I might say, “I’ll try to call more often.” And the one thing I should never say (because I never do it) I still sometimes find myself saying. “I’ll write you a letter and keep in touch with you.” My friends and relatives have heard that one before and never received any letters. But isn’t that the way it so often goes with our promises to stay in touch? However, when Jesus said goodbye his promises were more than just empty words. “On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: ‘Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’” Jesus would keep in touch with his disciples by sending them the Holy Spirit. Just before his final goodbye Jesus repeated his promise to keep in touch. “So when they met together, they asked him, ‘Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?’ He said to them: ‘It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.’” As the disciples carried out their mission Jesus would give them the power they needed. He would send the Holy Spirit to them. We will give more consideration to the work of the Holy Spirit next Sunday but as we connect it to Jesus’ ascension we can see how Jesus promised to stay in touch with the disciples. Then Luke tells us, “After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight.”
As we recall Jesus saying goodbye to his disciples and promising to be with them we are compelled to ask ourselves if we are living in the power of those same promises. When Jesus said goodbye to his disciples he spoke words that apply to all believers. We too are given the promise of the Holy Spirit. When we hear the Words of Jesus he keeps his promise to stay in touch.
The story is told of a family in the remote mountains of Tennessee who went to a great deal of trouble to have electrical power installed in their home. After the line was put in the electric company noticed that the family didn’t use very much electricity at all. In fact, the meter barely even registered any usage. So they sent a meter reader out to check on the matter. The man came to the door and said, “We’ve looked at the amount list on your meter. Don’t you use electricity?” “Oh yes,” they said. “We turn it on every night to see how to light our kerosene lamps and then we switch it off again.” Isn’t that the way we often apply the power of God in our lives. He has so much to give and we only use a little. Then we go back to our old way of living and our helpless struggling. The power of Jesus’ ascension offers us much more. Apostle Paul declared, “That power is like the working of his mighty strength, which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.”
The word “goodbye” has an interesting history. It is a contraction of “God be with ye.” So in earlier forms of the English language people who said “goodbye” were really expressing the wish that the person they were leaving would be kept safe by God. Spanish and other languages have similar expressions for parting words. When we hear Jesus say goodbye to his disciples we hear his wish that God would be with them. But since he is God he promised to be with them always. Jesus said, “And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Matthew 28:20) As we hear Jesus say goodbye may we take his promise to keep in touch to heart.
III.
We said that the last part of our “good byes” includes plans for the future. Luke’s record of Jesus saying goodbye to his disciples includes Jesus’ plans for a future visit with us. “They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. ‘Men of Galilee,’ they said, ‘why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.’”
Although we quickly pass over the words “he ascended into heaven” when we say the Apostle’s Creed or the Nicene Creed may we never forget that our future is built on Christ’s ascension. He went to heaven to prepare a place for us. He will return from heaven to take us to be with him. Jesus said in John 14:2 3, "In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am." Jesus ascended into heaven to prepare a place for us. Now that is a reason to be excited! We have a reservation in God’s house. We will be welcome there forever. We will be free from sin, pain, disease, forever. We will receive a glorified body like our ascended Lord’s body.
On Judgment Day Jesus will return in the same we he left on the day of his ascension to take us to be with him forever. Every person will seem him come back. It won’t be an invisible return. We won’t miss him.
There is even better news connected to Christ’s ascension. He has plans for us to ascend with him. The Apostle Paul wrote in 1 Thessalonians 4:17 18, “After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore encourage each other with these words.” Christ’s ascension is now a symbol of our own ascension and we are to use it to encourage each other.
“Goodbye.” There seem to be some predictable things that go along with saying goodbye. We reminisce for a moment or two. We look back on the visit we have had with a friend or relative. Then we usually make promises to keep in touch. And finally we make plans for the next visit. We see those things when Jesus said goodbye to his disciples just before his ascension. They recalled why he had visited them. He came to bring them salvation and show them the way to heaven. Then Jesus promised to stay in touch be sending the Holy Spirit. Finally when Jesus said goodbye the disciples were reminded of his plans to visit them again. Today as we hear Jesus say goodbye may we also recall his finished work, his promise to stay in touch with us, and his plans for a future visit. With our heads up and our eyes open we wait for him to say hello and never say goodbye again. Amen.
