2 Kings 2:5-15/Acts 1:1-11/St Luke 24:44-53
In the Name + of JESUS. Amen.
We are always making plans for the future. Plans for school. Plans for trips. Plans for our family. Plans for purchasing thing. Plans for what we will eat, what we will drink, what we will wear. These plans are not wrong in and of themselves. But they give us an orientation, a fixation on the things of the this world.
And this fixation leads us to worry. We have anxiety about the future, and regrets about the past. We fear shapeless things. We love worthless things. We hate others, hold grudges, resent what others have, look longingly, lustfully at what God has not given to us.
And so we pray half-heartedly; we spend more energy on budgets and meeting than confession and absolution; study the world news and sports stats more than the catechism; master the lyrics to foolish songs but cannot remember the Psalms by heart. And we do all of this, take delight in all these things and worry about these things because we have convinced ourselves, despite our church attendance, that this is all there really is. Jesus isn’t return - at least not anytime soon.
Such thoughts, though, do not lead us to really live a care-free life. They lead to a life that is care-worn. We are anxious, restless, troubled by change, changes we cannot control. There is so much we cannot control, and this leads us to sin even more by attempting to control the things and the people around us.
There is a restlessness within us, St Augustine famously confessed, which does not rest until it rests in God. It is exacerbated by our sinfulness because we look for peace and rest, for love and hope, in all the wrong places, in things and people instead of the one, true God.
But even apart from our sin, we were not created to be self-sufficient, independent creatures, as though we could make our own way and find our place in the world apart from God. Attempting to do that very thing is the original sin! By contrast, we are granted peace and rest for both body and soul when we live by faith in the Lord our God, who created us for such life in and with Himself.
The Ascension shows us our future and our hope. Our future, our hope, our real delight, is not in the homes we build, the gadgets we purchase, the sex we have, the wine we drink, the money we make, the teams we root for, the legacy we leave. Our future and our hope is in this: where Christ has gone, so shall we go.
The Son of God took on our human nature. In your baptism you are united with Him in His death and resurrection. Still today He gives you His body and blood. You are in communion not just with a spiritual Jesus, but with the God-Man Jesus who took our human nature into the heavenly places. Everything for us looks toward the kingdom of God. This holy church, the holy Communion, where the saints are gathered together in and around the Word of Christ bidding you, “Lift up your hearts,” it is an outpost, an advanced staging ground of that coming kingdom. For the kingdom of God breaks into our restless lives and anxious hearts when we hear Him speaking to us, “Your sins are forgiven,” and hear again the words of the holy angels, This same Jesus will come again.
When will this happen? We do not know. It is not for us to know times and seasons. But this Lord Jesus, whom the Holy Apostles saw ascending up into the heavens, will return in the same manner. And we who come after them are called to live in joyous union with them with expectant hope and eager longing for Jesus to come soon. We are called to watch, for we know not the day or the hour. And so in this moment, and every moment, there is only one thing that truly matters: repentance and the forgiveness of sins.
This is what our Lord Jesus commissioned the Holy Apostles to preach in every corner of the world. This message has made it to us, across oceans and centuries, so that we could share in their same hope and joy, in fellowship together with them, worshipping the God who in Christ has loved us and forgives us.
None of this means that your life now, the remaining time you have in this mortal body, is without meaning or worth. If God in Christ took on our human nature, was born in our human nature, suffered in our human nature, died in our human nature, was buried in our human nature, rose again in our human nature, and ascended into heaven in our human nature, then our human nature - our bodies - even though they are frail and weak, dying and diseased, are nevertheless valuable, loved by God, and destined for eternal life in and with Christ.
Your life now matters, for you can truly live, not in the pursuit of things that are passing away, not in lonesome isolation and prideful independence, but you can live a life of joy and worship, of peace and confidence, of doing good to your neighbor and immersing yourself in the Word of God.
You can live this life of joy in Christ because there is nothing you have to fear that Christ has not conquered. There is nothing you have to accomplish that Christ has not already finished. You have nothing to lose, because Christ has already lost it all, losing His life for you, and receiving is again from the dead on the third day, now freely giving it to you.
Christ died, and in Him we are dead. Christ is risen, and in Him we live. Christ has ascended and we also shall live in the kingdom of God, body and soul. So even though we don’t know what our earthly future holds for us, we live in joy, we live in hope, we live without fear.
And this not because we’ve decided to be optimistic or choose to have a cheerful attitude. We live in this joy, hope, and confidence because Christ our Lord has reopened the way to paradise; He has removed the threat of judgment for our sins, He has destroyed death, has promised His return, has promised resurrection for our bodies and life in the kingdom of God.
So in Jesus we rest. In Jesus we have peace. In Jesus our ascended Lord we have everything we need, who lives and reigns with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
I am indebted to Rev Christopher Esget and Rev Dr D. Richard Stuckwisch for this sermon.
In the Name + of JESUS. Amen.
We are always making plans for the future. Plans for school. Plans for trips. Plans for our family. Plans for purchasing thing. Plans for what we will eat, what we will drink, what we will wear. These plans are not wrong in and of themselves. But they give us an orientation, a fixation on the things of the this world.
And this fixation leads us to worry. We have anxiety about the future, and regrets about the past. We fear shapeless things. We love worthless things. We hate others, hold grudges, resent what others have, look longingly, lustfully at what God has not given to us.
And so we pray half-heartedly; we spend more energy on budgets and meeting than confession and absolution; study the world news and sports stats more than the catechism; master the lyrics to foolish songs but cannot remember the Psalms by heart. And we do all of this, take delight in all these things and worry about these things because we have convinced ourselves, despite our church attendance, that this is all there really is. Jesus isn’t return - at least not anytime soon.
Such thoughts, though, do not lead us to really live a care-free life. They lead to a life that is care-worn. We are anxious, restless, troubled by change, changes we cannot control. There is so much we cannot control, and this leads us to sin even more by attempting to control the things and the people around us.
There is a restlessness within us, St Augustine famously confessed, which does not rest until it rests in God. It is exacerbated by our sinfulness because we look for peace and rest, for love and hope, in all the wrong places, in things and people instead of the one, true God.
But even apart from our sin, we were not created to be self-sufficient, independent creatures, as though we could make our own way and find our place in the world apart from God. Attempting to do that very thing is the original sin! By contrast, we are granted peace and rest for both body and soul when we live by faith in the Lord our God, who created us for such life in and with Himself.
The Ascension shows us our future and our hope. Our future, our hope, our real delight, is not in the homes we build, the gadgets we purchase, the sex we have, the wine we drink, the money we make, the teams we root for, the legacy we leave. Our future and our hope is in this: where Christ has gone, so shall we go.
The Son of God took on our human nature. In your baptism you are united with Him in His death and resurrection. Still today He gives you His body and blood. You are in communion not just with a spiritual Jesus, but with the God-Man Jesus who took our human nature into the heavenly places. Everything for us looks toward the kingdom of God. This holy church, the holy Communion, where the saints are gathered together in and around the Word of Christ bidding you, “Lift up your hearts,” it is an outpost, an advanced staging ground of that coming kingdom. For the kingdom of God breaks into our restless lives and anxious hearts when we hear Him speaking to us, “Your sins are forgiven,” and hear again the words of the holy angels, This same Jesus will come again.
When will this happen? We do not know. It is not for us to know times and seasons. But this Lord Jesus, whom the Holy Apostles saw ascending up into the heavens, will return in the same manner. And we who come after them are called to live in joyous union with them with expectant hope and eager longing for Jesus to come soon. We are called to watch, for we know not the day or the hour. And so in this moment, and every moment, there is only one thing that truly matters: repentance and the forgiveness of sins.
This is what our Lord Jesus commissioned the Holy Apostles to preach in every corner of the world. This message has made it to us, across oceans and centuries, so that we could share in their same hope and joy, in fellowship together with them, worshipping the God who in Christ has loved us and forgives us.
None of this means that your life now, the remaining time you have in this mortal body, is without meaning or worth. If God in Christ took on our human nature, was born in our human nature, suffered in our human nature, died in our human nature, was buried in our human nature, rose again in our human nature, and ascended into heaven in our human nature, then our human nature - our bodies - even though they are frail and weak, dying and diseased, are nevertheless valuable, loved by God, and destined for eternal life in and with Christ.
Your life now matters, for you can truly live, not in the pursuit of things that are passing away, not in lonesome isolation and prideful independence, but you can live a life of joy and worship, of peace and confidence, of doing good to your neighbor and immersing yourself in the Word of God.
You can live this life of joy in Christ because there is nothing you have to fear that Christ has not conquered. There is nothing you have to accomplish that Christ has not already finished. You have nothing to lose, because Christ has already lost it all, losing His life for you, and receiving is again from the dead on the third day, now freely giving it to you.
Christ died, and in Him we are dead. Christ is risen, and in Him we live. Christ has ascended and we also shall live in the kingdom of God, body and soul. So even though we don’t know what our earthly future holds for us, we live in joy, we live in hope, we live without fear.
And this not because we’ve decided to be optimistic or choose to have a cheerful attitude. We live in this joy, hope, and confidence because Christ our Lord has reopened the way to paradise; He has removed the threat of judgment for our sins, He has destroyed death, has promised His return, has promised resurrection for our bodies and life in the kingdom of God.
So in Jesus we rest. In Jesus we have peace. In Jesus our ascended Lord we have everything we need, who lives and reigns with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
I am indebted to Rev Christopher Esget and Rev Dr D. Richard Stuckwisch for this sermon.
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