Tears filled his eyes as he watched his brother go. “So this was it,” he thought. His brother was really going. He could hardly believe it. No on in the family could really believe it. They never thought that someone they knew, much less a sibling, would become Prime Minister! What a difference this would make in their lives. With their brother as Prime Minister, they would be invited to attend state dinners and get to meet famous people from all over the world. They also now had someone in power who was sure to listen to their needs and do something about them.
Are you as excited about Jesus’ ascension as you would be if a sibling was leaving to take up his post in Ottawa to lead the country? If not, if you’re not sure how Jesus’ ascension is a blessing, then today’s sermon is just the thing you need to hear, for we are to find courage in Jesus’ ascension. We find courage in Jesus’ ascension because the ascension makes our place in heaven secure, and it makes our purpose on earth clear.
How exactly are we to understand Jesus’ ascension? Do you think of the ascension as Jesus leaving to relax up in heaven while we slug it out down here on earth? That’s not at all how we should think of the ascension. Permit me to compare Jesus’ death, resurrection, and ascension to the deciding game for the Stanley Cup. Jesus’ death on the cross is like the fast and furious final minutes of that championship game. When the final horn sounded it seemed like Satan had triumphed. Jesus was dead. But the game wasn’t finished; it had only gone into overtime. While Satan and the other demons celebrated Jesus’ death, Jesus quietly slapped in the winning goal when three days after his death he came back to life.
If Jesus’ resurrection is the winning goal in overtime of the championship game, his ascension is the celebration that follows – the hoisting of the Stanley Cup, if you will. But it wasn’t a trophy that was hoisted at the ascension; it was the victor, Jesus, who was “hoisted” above the earth to acknowledge his triumph over sin, death, and the devil. This is why we find courage in Jesus’ ascension; it proves that our place in heaven is secure. Had Jesus not defeated sin, death, and the devil the heavenly Father would not have hoisted him to heaven. Instead, Jesus would have been relegated to the loser’s circle in hell where we too would be bound to go with no hope of salvation. But such is not the case! Jesus did save us from our sins. He has disarmed the power of the devil and death. His ascension proclaims that like a winning team’s parade proclaims that it has been victorious over all opposing teams.
While a victorious hockey team will bring the Stanley Cup back to their hometown, what did the victorious Jesus bring back with him to heaven? For starters he brought pardon and peace. Jesus now stands in heaven as our advocate. He pleads our case before the heavenly Father whenever we sin. When we lose it with our children. When we fudge on our timecard. When we copy someone else’s homework and feel guilty about these sins afterwards we can think of Jesus’ ascension and remember that Jesus stands at the door of heaven and holds it open to us because he died to pay for those sins. No matter what sin, or how many sins it is we have committed, our place in heaven is secure for Jesus’ ascension guarantees our forgiveness.
Pardon and peace is not the only thing Jesus took back to heaven with him; Jesus also carried blueprints. Jesus once said to his disciples: “2 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. 3 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” (John 14:2, 3). If your father was leaving the family to go to another country, you would be sad unless your father said that he was going away to build a mansion where you and the rest of your family would live forever with him when it was all finished. That’s what Jesus’ ascension is like. He went up into heaven to prepare a place for all believers. And the fact that Jesus has had a couple thousand years to work on this place should give us the idea that it’s going to be awesome.
But there is one big difference between the previous illustration of a father leaving his family to build a mansion and Jesus’ ascension; Jesus has not left us. Sure the disciples watched Jesus ascend into the sky where they lost sight of him when a cloud covered him but this does not mean that Jesus has left us. No, he’s still here. That’s what he promised in the Great Commission: “And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age” (Matthew 28:20b). How can Jesus be with us if we can’t see him? Think of it like this: just as a cloud that obscures one’s view of a mountain doesn’t cause the mountain to actually disappear into thin air, so the cloud that covered Jesus did not make him evaporate from this world; it only hid our view of him. But can we really be sure that Jesus is still with us? I mean how can he be preparing a place for us in heaven and be with us on earth at the same time? Jesus can do this because he is the glorified savior, he is the Son of God, he is God!
Although Jesus is hidden from our view it doesn’t mean that our relationship with him is distant. Jesus is very much interested in what’s going on in our life. In fact our Epistle Lesson assured us that Jesus uses all his power as the ascended Lord to rule for the benefit of believers. The Apostle Paul said: “22 And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church” (Ephesians 1:22, 23). Again think of the mountain that has been covered by clouds. While the clouds may obscure one’s view of those mountains you know that they are still there. You know this because the mountains still affect weather patterns by their sheer size. They capture snow that melts into life-giving water in the spring. No, you can’t see Jesus but he’s here making a difference in your life. By his sheer power he directs the events of the universe even turning the cold realities of life like sickness, loneliness, even death into blessings.
We find courage in Jesus’ ascension not only because it assures us that our place in heaven is secure, the ascension gives us courage because it makes clear our purpose on earth. As the disciples strained to see Jesus as he was taken up, two angels appeared at their side and said: “Men of Galilee, why do you stand here looking into the sky?” (Acts 1:11a) That was their way of telling the disciples that they had work to do and were not to stand around trying to catch a last glimpse of Jesus. Jesus explained what that work was shortly before he ascended. Jesus said, “…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” (Acts 1:8).
Earth shakers, not star gazers that is what we are to be and Jesus’ ascension makes that clear. We are to shake the world by being Jesus’ witnesses. We are to tell the whole world what Jesus has done to forgive their sins and give them eternal life. That’s the program and now here’s the power: the Holy Spirit. You see we aren’t to convert people, we can’t. We are only to witness to others what Jesus has done and it’s up to the Holy Spirit to work through that message.
But here’s the thing, we can’t witness unless we witness. What I mean is you will not be called as a witness to a traffic fatality hearing if you in fact did not witness the accident. In the same way we cannot begin to tell others about Jesus until we first and regularly see what it is Jesus does for us. Therefore dear Friends, continue to hear and study God’s Word. Continue to witness his grace and forgiveness for you. Open your eyes to the blessings that he gives to you whether that’s family, a house in which to live, a job, or an education and you will tell others about the wonderful God who has given you these things. Find courage in Jesus’ ascension to do this because your ruling Lord is with you and has sent the Holy Spirit to work through you.
I began this sermon by comparing Jesus’ ascension to a sibling going away to become Prime Minister. To tell you the truth, it was a pretty weak comparison. Jesus has so much more power than then Prime Minister. He has a battalion of angels at his command whom he employs for our benefit while our Prime Minister commands an army that is reportedly overstretched and under-equipped. And while Jesus ascended to heaven he never left us. A sibling who becomes Prime Minister must move to Ottawa and rule from there becoming potentially oblivious to what’s going on back in his hometown where his family still lives. Praise God for Jesus’ ascension. Praise God and find courage for our place in heaven is secure and our purpose on earth is clear. Amen.
