What Comes Down Must Go Up, June 2, 2014

What Comes Down Must Go Up

Psalm 47, Acts 1:1-11

June 2, 2014

Grace Presbyterian Church

Rev. Dr. Richard E. Miller

 

Ascension Day of the Lord   As I’m sure all of you know, last Thursday was Ascension of the Lord Day, and I’d like to thank all who sent me a Happy Ascension Day card. Unfortunately, I can’t thank any of you since none of you, nary a single one, sent me such a card. I was heartbroken that you forgot. But perhaps I should forgive you since Ascension of the Lord Day isn’t very high on the liturgical hit parade. It finds it difficult to compete with Christmas and Easter.

But before we go any further, it is well to allow scripture to refresh our memories of the ascension event.

The Ascension Accounts We read of this event In Luke” “Then [Jesus] led them out as far as Bethany, and, lifting up his hands, he blessed them. While he was blessing them, he withdrew from them and was carried up into heaven. And they worshipped him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy; and they were continually in the temple blessing God.” [Luke 24:50-53 NRSV]

In Acts, Luke writes that when the disciples had come together with Jesus in Jerusalem, they asked Jesus, ‘Lord, is this the time when you will restore the kingdom to Israel?’ He replied, ‘It is not for you to know the times or periods that the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.’ When he had said this, as they were watching, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. [Acts 1:6-9 NRSV]

Carried into heaven. Lifted up and a cloud took him out of their sight.

I suggest to you this morning that the Ascension of Jesus is just as important as Christmas  and Easter.

If you are a bit startled by this statement, perhaps an explanation is in order. To do so, I’d like to look at God’s entire act of redemption through the eyes of the Apostles’ Creed.

In this creed, we find the most succinct and powerful summary of what God did for us. We proclaim:

I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth,

And in Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord; who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried; he descended into hell; the third day he rose again from the dead; he ascended into heaven, and sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty; from thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead.

Listen to what we are saying. Jesus was conceived by the Holy Ghost and born of the Virgin Mary. That is to say, God’s Word came down to earth, became flesh, and dwelt among us full of grace and truth. This we celebrated last Christmas.

We then say that Jesus suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead and buried. He descended into Hell. This we observed during Lent and Good Friday.

The third day Jesus rose again from the dead. This we celebrated at Easter.

But then comes the proclamation Jesus “ascended into heaven and sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty; from thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead.” This we observe at Ascension of the Lord day.

He came down at Christmas and He ascended into heaven. Herein lies the culmination of the redemption story. Jesus not only came to die for our sins. He not only came that we might have life after death. He also ascended to reign as Lord of Lords and King of Kings over each of our lives.

If Jesus hadn’t ascended, he’d probably would have lived to a venerable age, with his disciples and followers tagging along wherever he went. His influence would have been limited to a relative few. And his Lordship over all creation and over each of our lives would never have happened.

St. Augustine expressed it this way, “Unless the Saviour had ascended into heaven, his Nativity would have come to nothing, and his Passion would have borne no fruit for us, and his most holy Resurrection would have been useless.”

Jesus is Lord   Yes, because of his ascension, Jesus rose to assume kingship and power over each of our lives.

Paul says, 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. [Ephesians 1:22-23 NIV] 

In his letter to the Philippians, Paul writes, Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. [Philippians 2:9-11 NIV]

God’s Kingdom  Yes, Christ is our Lord and our King. He came down to earth to establish a kingdom over which he is the ultimate and final authority. As Christians, we are members of God’s kingdom. We have a new life under the lordship of Jesus. When called to be members of his kingdom, we promised to be obedient to our King. In the Lord’s Prayer, we pray, “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”

The lords of Darkness  The fact is that all of us are going to bow down to a lord of some kind. Each day we encounter forces that urge us to worship them. According to Paul, these forces go by such household names as power, money, possessions, greed, jealousy, anger, envy, immorality, drunkenness, and licentiousness. [Galatians 5:19:21] These are names of the lords of darkness.

 

 

The Lord of Light  We either will serve these lords of darkness, or serve Christ, the Lord of light. This is what Paul meant when he said that God has delivered us from the dominion and power of darkness. Without accepting Christ as Lord, we will inevitably worship the powers of darkness. God has transferred us to the Kingdom of his beloved son. The question is always whether or not we accept or reject the transfer. God has given us the freedom to do either.

Unfortunately, many Christians find it far easier to love a savior rather than to obey a Lord and to seek forgiveness rather than offer it to others. Too often, we want the benefits of salvation without the responsibilities of discipleship. We balk at the idea of kneeling before our Lord. To accept the Lordship of Christ means to acknowledge his complete authority over every aspect of our lives: our speech, work, play, money, family, social life and emotions.

The story is told of a man was being tailgated by a stressed out woman on a busy boulevard. Suddenly, the light turned yellow, just in front of him. He did the right thing, stopping at the crosswalk, even though he could have beaten the red light by accelerating through the intersection. The tailgating woman was furious and honked her horn, screaming in frustration as she missed her chance to get through the intersection. As she was still in mid-rant, she heard a tap on her window. She looked up into the face of a very serious police officer. The officer ordered her to exit her car with her hands up. He took her to the police station where she was searched, fingerprinted, photographed, and placed in a holding cell. After a couple of hours, a policeman approached the cell and opened the door. She was escorted back to the booking desk where the arresting officer was waiting with her personal effects. He said, "I'm very sorry for this mistake. You see, I pulled up behind your car while you were blowing your horn and cussing a blue streak at the man in front of you. I noticed the 'Jesus is Lord' license plate holder, the 'What Would Jesus Do' bumper sticker, the 'Follow Me to Sunday School' bumper sticker, and the chrome-plated Christian fish emblem on the trunk. Naturally. I assumed you had stolen the car."

 

 

 

 

Church as Christ’s Body One final note. Because of his bodily ascension, Jesus ended his personal and visible ministry to his followers. Christ no longer is visibly present to people on earth. As a result, we, the Church, have become his visible body. And the ascended Christ is the head of the Church. As Paul said, Now you are the body of Christ and each one of you is a part of it. [1 Corinthians 12:27 NIV] 

As the body of Christ, we are the visible presence of our Lord Jesus to everyone in the community, even at stop lights. People are introduced to the living Christ through us, the members of Grace Presbyterian Church. We are the body of Christ in this place.

Yes, Jesus came down to save and rose up to rule. What came down must go up.

As we come to the Lord’s Table, let us remember the challenge from Joshua who said, “Choose this day whom you will serve...but as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.” [Joshua24:15 NRSV]  Amen.

 

Psalm 47 NRSV

Clap your hands, all you peoples;

   shout to God with loud songs of joy.

For the Lord, the Most High, is awesome,

   a great king over all the earth.

He subdued peoples under us,

   and nations under our feet.

He chose our heritage for us,

   the pride of Jacob whom he loves.

God has gone up with a shout,

   the Lord with the sound of a trumpet.

Sing praises to God, sing praises;

   sing praises to our King, sing praises.

For God is the king of all the earth;

   sing praises with a psalm.

God is king over the nations;

   God sits on his holy throne.

The princes of the peoples gather

   as the people of the God of Abraham.

For the shields of the earth belong to God;

   he is highly exalted.
 Acts 1:1-11 NRSV

In the first book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus did and taught from the beginning until the day when he was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. After his suffering he presented himself alive to them by many convincing proofs, appearing to them over the course of forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God. While staying with them, he ordered them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait there for the promise of the Father. ‘This’, he said, ‘is what you have heard from me; for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.’ So when they had come together, they asked him, ‘Lord, is this the time when you will restore the kingdom to Israel?’ He replied, ‘It is not for you to know the times or periods that the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.’ When he had said this, as they were watching, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. While he was going and they were gazing up towards heaven, suddenly two men in white robes stood by them. They said, ‘Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up towards heaven? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.’

As we all know, what goes up must come down. The law of gravity dictates that. But did you know, in the case of Jesus, what comes down must go up? Perhaps an explanation is in order. First, the “coming down” part. At Christmas time we celebrated the birth of Jesus. This is when the Word of God came down to earth to become flesh and dwell among us. [John 1:14] During his three years on earth, Jesus called his disciples, taught and healed the multitudes, paid the penalty for our sins and achieved our salvation by his death on the Cross. For this we call him Savior. He was then raised from the dead to give us life after death. For this we call him Lord.

Now for the “going up” part. Forty days following his resurrection, Jesus left this earth by ascending into heaven. This last Thursday was the fortieth day after Easter. We call this the Ascension of the Lord Day. It is the final act of Jesus while on earth. We find the account of Christ’s ascension recorded by Luke both in Luke and in Acts.

Perhaps the following story of Bill will help. Bill was a ten year old who walked to school each day. Every day after school he had to walk home by the park. Sometimes, one of the school bullies would wait for Bill and knock Bill down as he walked by.  Since the bully might or might not be waiting for him, going home was both stressful and suspenseful. Then one day Tom enrolled at his school. Tom was the biggest and strongest kid in Bill’s class and much bigger than the bully. And, since Tom lived close to Bill, he became Bill’s friend and walked home with Bill every night. All of a sudden, Bill’s fear of the bully went away. As long as he walked with Tom, he was safe from all harm.

Bullies of Today  Time after time in life, we encounter bullies that frighten us.

* when we are diagnosed with cancer

* when faced with divorce

* when a loved one dies

* when we worry about being able to pay our bills

* when we lose our job

* when we can’t take care of ourselves anymore

* when we worry about our children

These and many more things are the bullies of our lives that lurk in the shadows to frighten us and fill us with anxiety.

Power of Jesus Greater than Bullies The fact that Jesus is Lord means that he walks with us through life. It means that his power is greater than any force or event that would cause us fear and anxiety and sorrow. When we talk about Jesus sitting at God’s right hand we are saying that he has all the power and the glory of God. No force or person on the face of the earth is more powerful than the ascended Jesus. He is Ruler and King over all things. He is Lord of all.

Place for Us at Death   When loved ones die or when facing our own death, Jesus is Lord.  As Lord, he has prepared a place for us when we die.  “‘Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house there are many dwelling-places. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, so that where I am, there you may be also.” [John 14:1-3 NRSV] Yes, our King and our Lord overcame the power of death and assured us that there is life after death and that he has prepared a wonderful place for us in heaven.