May 12th, 2013 – Luke 24:44-53 – Ascension Day Observed
Christ is Risen (He is Risen Indeed, Alleluia) Amen
Christ has not only risen, but He has
ascended, and is seated at the right hand of the Father, is exercising His
divine power on our behalf. This past
Thursday was Ascension Day, 40 days after Easter. This morning, we will look at our Lord’s
Ascension, and in particular what Words He speaks to the Disciples in the
Gospel of Luke, and we will see what words He gives to His Church on earth
until He returns again on the last day in Glory. Let us dive in.
Then
He said to them, “These are My Words that I spoke to you while I was still with
you, that everything written about Me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and
the Psalms must be fulfilled.” Then He opened their minds to understand the
Scriptures. So, here we are
today, almost 2000 years after the Ascension, and I want you to notice, dear
friends, that what we end up doing here is exactly the same as what Christ
Jesus our Lord and the disciples were doing right in our text. Our eyes are focused upon the Scriptures, and
God opens our eyes to understand them.
There is a focus that we are to have upon God’s Word – be it the Word of
the Old Testament which points forward to Christ, which declares what the
Christ would do – or be it the Word of the New Testament, which declares what
Christ has done. Whether the text is
point to what the coming Messiah would do or whether it declares what Christ
Jesus has done, what our Lord says is true – Thus it is written that the Christ should suffer and on the third
day rise from the dead, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be
proclaimed in His name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. There it is – the point, the entirety of
Scripture summed up. What is the point
of God’s Word? What is the point of our
time spent together in that Word, be it here in worship, or be it in study, be
it at home in private devotions? That
Christ Jesus suffered, died, and was buried, and on the third day rose again
from the dead – and because of this, we have forgiveness.
This is what Christ gives the Apostles
– this is what He tells them to say as He sends them out into all the
world. So, the question that ought to be
asked is as follows? Is this what we proclaim
even unto this day? You see dear
friends, the Apostles went out and preached, they did come down off the
mountain, they stopped staring at the sky, and Christ and Him Crucified was
preached throughout the world. Indeed,
because Christ and Him Crucified was preached, this congregation came into
being, formed by people who wanted to see that Christ and Him Crucified would
be rightly preached in this little corner of Oklahoma. Is Christ and Him Crucified still our focus
here?
I bring this up because more and more
the American idea of Christianity is less and less about what Christ Jesus has
done – and certainly not about His death and resurrection. That is the trend, that is the movement in
our country – away from talking about Christ the Crucified. And as for the Cross, how many books might
you pick up in the Christian book store where it isn’t even mentioned, or
perhaps only in passing. Compare this
with what St. Paul
says in 1 Corinthians – For Jews
demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a
stumbling block to the Jews and folly to the Gentiles, but to those who are
called, both Jew and Gentile, Christ, the power of God and the wisdom of God. You are around, you see things. What does the world desire more, what does
the typical American want – to hear of forgiveness and the mysteries of God, or
rather something else? Something wise
perhaps– a better way to live, good advice and wisdom for living here on earth,
just like the Gentiles of old? The
temptation, dear friends, is for the Church to stop preaching Christ and Him
Crucified, and rather to want to supply the earthly wisdom the world
wants. To shift our focus away from
Christ and on to this life now. To
forget that Christ has ascended to Heaven, to the Father, to where He will
bring us, and rather to focus just on what we can get in the here and now. Many Churches have fallen, and we need to
take heed lest we fall, lest we forget what our focus is to be here. We are to be in the Word and focused upon He
whom the Word proclaims, even Christ Jesus our Lord.
And Jesus even tells us how He is to
be preached and proclaimed. And that repentance and forgiveness
should be proclaimed in My Name to all nations. So, let us do that again this morning. Is repentance a part of your life, dear
friends? For you, as an individual, as a
person, is repentance a part of your life?
Do you pause, do you think where you have erred, where you have sinned,
and do you strive to turn away from that sin, to repent of that sin? Is repentance a part of your life?
Repentance isn’t popular. Well, actually, it is if we think the
preacher is telling other people to repent.
It’s quite popular if the preacher rails on the person next to us, or
the people out there. But the message that
each one of us needs to take a good hard look at our own lives, needs to see
where we sin and we need to beat our own sin down – that’s not popular. We don’t want to deal with sin – don’t tell
me I have to struggle against sin – rather just give me a few easy, simple
things to do that prove that I’m a good person.
Thing is – scripture says that we are sinful, sinners through and
through, sinners in need of forgiveness.
Scripture says that we need to turn away from our sin. Luther says that Baptism should lead to daily
contrition and repentance – more thought should be given to your struggle
against the sins and temptations that hound you other than just breezing
through the general confession at the beginning of service. Our lives are to be ones of repentance –
that’s Thesis number 1 of the 95 theses.
And there is a reason for this. God isn’t mean, He doesn’t like to brow beat
you over the head – rather He wants to give you forgiveness, He wants you to
cherish your forgiveness. Repentance and
forgiveness are to be preached in the Name of Christ. We are people who need forgiveness,
forgiveness is the cause and the source and the content of faith – and if we
stop wanting forgiveness – faith dies.
Think about it – in your own life, think on the times when you have been
the most smug, the most confident in your own works – the times when your sin
was something that you never thought about.
Did you look to Christ Jesus? Did
you ponder the wonders of the Cross, that God Almighty would die to give you life? The old Lutheran hymn proclaims “faith clings
to Jesus Christ alone” – and when you were so sure that you were a good person,
were you clinging to Christ, or were your hands busy patting yourself on the
back?
This is why there is the need for repentance
– for when we do not see our sin we see no need for a Savior. When we do not see our sin, we see no need
for the Cross. Give us other things, God
– just make things easy here – after all, I’m a good person, don’t I deserve
it? Our focus is shifted away from
Christ, and we forget who we are. We see
no need for Church. Think on what we
teach here. Although you are a sinful
being, God gives you forgiveness and life and salvation here in His Word. He gives you His Body and Blood for the
remission of your sin. God is active for
you here. Would there be anything that
we would see as more important? And yet,
we all know what happens – the bed seems awfully nice come Sunday morning – or
we think that we had better come, not because we need it but rather “what would
people say if I’m not there”. Bad
reasons to skip, self-serving reasons to come.
And we forget our need.
That is why Christ and Him Crucified
is preached. We see our need for a
Savior, and then our Savior is proclaimed to us. That is the pattern, that is what we have
done as the Holy Christian and Apostolic
Church. And
they worshipped Him and returned to Jerusalem
with great joy, and were continually in the temple blessing God. Why?
Why the continual blessing? Why
the continual thanksgiving? Because
their eyes were focused on Christ and not only what He has done in the past,
but what He continues to do, what He continued to give to them each day in His
Word and Sacraments.
We must not think, as some Churches
teach, that with the Ascension our Lord leaves us behind. He has said that He is with us until the end
of the age. And He is. He is present in His Word. He is present in His Supper. He has bound Himself to you at your
Baptism. The reality of the Christian
faith is that God Himself is present. He
wants this truth preached – but we are to remember another thing – and this is
the particular joy of the Ascension.
Christ desires that He be preached so that we know that He is with us –
that He gives us forgiveness and salvation – that He is indeed by our side upon
the plain with His good gifts and spirit.
That is true. That is the truest
thing in your life. Christ is with you –
and you are with Christ. As Christ has
ascended, as Christ has risen to heaven – where will you be, O Christian, who
is forgiven and attached to Him? You
will be where He is. The fact that God
is here for you now on earth is the proof that God desires you to be with Him for
all eternity. As we just sang “For where
the Head is, there as well, I know His member are to dwell, when Christ will
come and call them.” And God desires
that nothing distract you from this truth.
Throughout our days on earth our eyes are pulled away from the earthly,
the mundane, the nice worldly advice, and rather placed upon Christ Jesus who
has died, risen, and ascended – so that we might be sure of our salvation, that
we might be sure of our eternal home.
This is what we see Christ Jesus doing
in our Gospel. He anchors the Church, He
ties the Church to His Word, to the proclamation of His death and resurrection,
so that we might always know His forgiveness and be tied to Him – so that for
eternity we might be with Him as well.
This is why the disciples departed in joy, this is the same joy which we
proclaim to this day as well. Christ has
ascended to the Father, and so too shall you, for Christ has claimed you as His
own and given you His forgiveness. Cling
to Him, rejoice in His forgiveness, and know that as He is in Heaven so shall
you be as well. Amen. Christ is Risen, He is Risen indeed –
Alleluia.
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