Build Your Hope on Christ's Ascension (Acts 1:1-11)

Series: The Stained Glass Series 

October 2, 2011

Dear friends in Christ.

On Christ's ascension I now build The hope of my ascension. This hope alone has always stilled All doubt and apprehension; For where the head is, there as well I know his members are to dwell When Christ shall come and call them. (CW:173 St. 1)

These beautiful words, which we have sung as part of numerous Ascension services were first published in 1636 by a man named Josua Wegelin.  They were part of a devotional booklet that Pastor Wegelin had written for his congregation in Augsburg Germany after he had been forced to leave his pastorate and move to Pressburg because of the Thirty Year’s War.  Though the people were facing destruction and untold hardships caused by the war all around them, these beautiful words would have been a great comfort to them.  These beautiful words would have reminded them that no matter what they were facing their hope of salvation had been built on Christ, their Lord and Savior, who had not only risen from death, but had also ascended to his Father’s throne in heaven.  Because Jesus had done this, they would have been reminded and assured that their sins had been forgiven, that they were right with God, that no matter what they faced, the Lord was with them, and that one day the Lord Jesus would return just as he said, and just as the angels had reminded the disciples in our lesson today.

“In my former book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach 2 until the day he was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles he had chosen. 3 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. 4 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. 5 For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.” 6 So when they met together, they asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?” 7 He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. 8 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.” 9 After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight. 10 They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. 11 “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.”(Acts 1:1–11, NIV84)

As Luke writes these words, he is reminding us of the amazingly miraculous events that took place on the Mt. of Olives that day.  He reminds of what Jesus told his disciples before he was taken from them.  Then, Luke tells us that while Jesus was blessing is disciples he suddenly began to rise up into the sky. Though they had been assured that Jesus had truly risen from the dead by his many appearances during the past 40 days, now as Jesus was ascending back into heaven, He was assuring them that His work here on earth was finished.  He was visually demonstrating to them that he was returning to his Father’s throne in heaven, and as he went, they simply watched.  They watched as he rose higher and higher off the ground.  They watched until a cloud came and hid him from view, and then they still continued craning their necks and looking up into the sky even long after Jesus had been hidden from their sight.  They may well have stood there for the rest of the day simply staring up into the heavens had those two angels not appeared to them, assuring them that this same Jesus whom they had seen go into heaven, would one day return from heaven in the same manner in which he had departed.  With great assurance and with great joy they returned to Jerusalem and stayed in the temple worshiping the Lord.  They stayed in the temple worshiping the Lord and praising his name because they had built their faith and their trust in Jesus their risen and ascended Savior.

Well, that same joy that filled the disciples is the joy that continues to fill us as we built our faith, our trust, and the hope of our own ascension on the Ascension of Jesus our Savior.  For as we have gathered in the Lord’s temple today, we, like the disciples have been filled with the knowledge that when Jesus ascended into heaven, he returned as the conquering hero who had completed his work of Salvation.  We have been filled with the knowledge that He returned to be given the place of highest honor that God the Father had prepared for him because he had conquered death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.  We have been filled with the knowledge that we have built the hope of our own ascension on the Ascension of Jesus our Savior who has not only returned to his Father’s throne in heaven, but will one day return just as his disciples saw him go.

It is this knowledge, this joy, and this assurance that Josua Wegelin captured in the second stanza of his beautiful hymn when he wrote: “Since Christ returned to claim his throne, Great gifts for me obtaining, My heart shall rest in him alone, No other rest remaining, For where my treasure went before, There all my thoughts shall ever soar To still their deepest yearning.” (CW:173 St. 2)

Yes, because we have built the hope of our own ascension on the facts of Jesus’ ascension, our hearts rest in Christ alone.  Our thoughts soar to our Savior in heaven and the place his is preparing for us, even as we look forward to the day when he will return to take us to be with him forever.  For now that we have come to faith in Jesus Christ as our Savior, we look forward to the day when that trumpet will sound and we will see him returning in the clouds.  We look forward to that day, because we know that when Jesus returns, he will take us to live with him forever in his heavenly kingdom.  Though here on earth we will always be filled with sins just as the earth is filled with air, Jesus ascension assures us that all our sins have been covered over.  His ascension assures us that now through faith in Jesus Christ, whenever our God looks at us, he sees us as his children completely free of sins.  Completely free of sins in the same way that water is free of any calories whatsoever.  But even more than that, Jesus ascension also assures us that this same Jesus whom we have seen taken from us will return one day, just as we have seen him go!

This is the hope that we have built on the Ascension of our Savior.  This is why we have taken time on this Sunday in October to remind ourselves of exactly what Jesus ascension means to us.  This is why we can take such comfort in the salvation that is ours through faith in Christ Jesus.  For as we celebrate Jesus’ Ascension we have been assured that his work of salvation was truly completed for us.  We have been assured that he did indeed return to his Father’s right hand where he now lives and reigns over us.  But most of all, we have been assured that Jesus our Savior will return one day, just as he promised.  So, then, as we close our sermon with this assurance, let us also close with Pastor Wegelin’s prayer for himself, for his congregation and for each and every one of us from the final stanza of his beautiful hymn: “Oh, grant, dear Lord, this grace to me, Recalling your ascension, That I may serve you faithfully, Adorning your redemption; And then, when all my days will cease, Let me depart in joy and peace In answer to my pleading.  (CW:173: St. 3)

Amen.

Pastor David M. Shilling

Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church--Le Sueur, MN

Sing Praise to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! (1 Peter 1:3-9)

May 1, 2011

Dear friends in Christ.

If I could choose only one season out of the entire church year as my favorite, I would have to choose Easter. I love Easter. I love how the whole church seems to transform from a veil of sorrow to a veil of joy. I love how we beautify our church with all sorts of different flowers as we celebrate the resurrection of our Savior, Jesus. But most of all I love how joyful our celebrations are as we gather to sing praise to the Lord our God on Easter Sunday. It is always so fund to gather and raise our voices together in song as we sing praise to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ as we did last Sunday, with songs like, I know that My Redeemer Lives, Amazing Grace, Sing, My Tongue, the Glorious Battle, and even a couple of stanzas of How Great Thou Art! As I’ve said before, I do wish that all of you could sit where I do and hear how beautiful you all sound as we raise our voices together, singing praise to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! For, as we gathered on Easter Sunday and as we’ve gathered here again this morning, we have gathered to sing praise to the Lord our God who raised his Son from the dead. We’ve gathered to sing praise to the Lord our God who freed us from our sins and made us his own through the death and resurrection of his Son, our Savior. We’ve gathered to sing praise to our God and Father because he has redeemed us, restored us and forgiven us. In short, we have gathered to sing praise to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ for all the great things that our God has done for us, just as Peter explains to us in our lesson for today.

Now, if you haven’t already opened your Bibles to our lesson for today, I invite you to open to 1 Peter chapter 1 beginning with verse 3 and we’ll take a look at all the reasons Peter gives us to sing praise. Now, as you are turning to 1 Peter, let me give you the back story, so to speak. As Peter writes in 1 Peter chapter 1, the year is somewhere between 62 and 64. The Apostle Paul is most likely traveling in the region of Spain, and Peter, perhaps at the request of Paul, sits down with Silas to write a letter of comfort and encouragement to the believes in the cities where Paul and Silas had traveled on Paul’s second Missionary Journey. A couple of weeks ago, I mentioned in Bible Class that it was Luke who had written 1 Peter along with Peter, however, that was not correct, as Peter tells us in chapter 5 that it was with the help of Silas he had written this letter (1 Peter 5:12) And who better than Silas, the man who had visited these congregations with Paul, to aid Peter in writing this letter of praise!

Take a look at what Peter writes beginning with verse 3: “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade—kept in heaven for you, 5 who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. 6 In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. 7 These have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. 8 Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, 9 for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.” (1 Peter 1:3–9, NIV84)

What better message could there be for us to hear on the heels of Easter than this message, giving us every reason to praise our God who has brought us into a new and living hope. What greater message could there be than the assurance that we have hope in any and every situation, especially when we take a look at the world around us. It is no secret that our economy is struggling. It is no secret that people are scared. It is no secret that more and more people have entered survival mode and are on the brink of losing hope? How many of us are in the same boat? How many of us are finding ourselves scared about the future? How many of us are sacrificing little things here and there to keep from having to enter survival mode too soon. How many are looking at the world around us and beginning to wonder if hope will hold out?

This is why Peter is writing as he is this morning! He is writing to assure us that in the midst of our economy we have every reason to sing praise to our God and Father. We have every reason to sing praise to our God and Father because even though we had once been lost in the darkness of sin and unbelief, God the Father willingly handed over his one and only son to death so that we would not have to die. Before we were even born, God the Father loved us and planned for our salvation. Before he even created the World, God the Father laid out his plan for our eternal salvation which centered on nothing that we could do for him, but everything that he could do for us. Now, through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ our Savior, we have been given new birth in to a new and living hope. No matter what might be happening around us, the hope we have is secure, because our hope is in the forgiveness of sins that Jesus won for us. Our hope springs from the waters of Baptism that have washed us clean through the work of the Holy Spirit in connection with the Word of God. Our hope is certain because Jesus Christ who died in our place, rose again from the dead to assure us that our sins have been completely washed away.

Now, through faith in Jesus Christ, our Savior, we have been made children of God and heirs of eternal life! In the midst of an economy where people are concerned about their investments, 401k’s, stock options and other retirement funds, we have no concern whatsoever. We have no concern because we know that our retirement benefits are not only safe but they are out of this world. We are confident because we know that our inheritance is kept for us in heaven, where no thief can ever break in. No moth can ever destroy. No rust can ever corrupt. Nothing can ever spoil it, nor can it fade away, nor can it be lost because the stock market takes a turn for the worse. Thus we sing the praise of our God and Father because he has secured our inheritance through his mighty power with which we are shielded even now, until our salvation will be revealed when the Lord calls us home.

Because of this, we have every reason sing the praise of the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. But if that’s the case Pastor, if we can rejoice in the Lord our God, if we can sing his praises because he has redeemed us, made us his own, and even protects us in this life, why do we still have to face sorrows and hardships? Why do find ourselves suffering at the hands of others? Why do face difficulties in this life? Peter answers that question for us beginning with verse 6 where he says, “6 In this [that is all these things with which God has blessed you] you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. 7 These have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. 8 Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, 9 for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.” (1 Peter 1:3–9, NIV84)

Though no one likes hardships or suffering, we can still rejoice in them because we know that they come to us so that our faith might be proven to be genuine. They come to us to draw us closer to the Lord. They come to us to make us take our eyes off the things of the world and refocus our vision on the things of eternal life. They come to us because Jesus promised that when we followed him the world would hate us and we would be persecuted just as he was. They come to us because satan is looking for any and every opportunity to distract us from our faith, cause us to despair, lose our hope, and finally fall away from the faith. They come to us because sometimes the Lord sends them into our lives, as he did when he asked Abraham to sacrifice Isaac, so that we can learn what we are made of; so that we can learn the caliber of our faith and our trust in Jesus Christ as our Savior. Though they are never easy to cope with, James tells us that we can consider it pure joy whenever we face trials of many kinds because it will produce perseverance of faith. (James 1:2) Though they are never the most easy thing to cope with, Paul assures us that we can rejoice in suffering because produce perseverance, perseverance produces character, and character produces hope. (Romans 5:3) Though they are never easy to cope with Peter assures us that they come to help us look forward to our living hope in a better future with the Lord our God forever in heaven.

This is why we have every reason to sing praises to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! We have every reason to sing praise to our God and Father because he is the one who freed us from our sins by sending his Son to be our Savior. He is the one who crushed Jesus and caused him to suffer (Isaiah 53:10) so that we would never have to. He is the one who forsook his own son on the cross so that he would never have to forsake us. He is the one who raised Jesus from the dead to assure us that not only have all our offenses been cleared, but that he will also raise us, just as he raised his Son. Thus we have gathered together on this Sunday after Easter, to sing praise to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, because he is the one who has made us his own and has given us a sure and certain living hope in eternal life through his Son, our Savior.

Amen.

Pastor David M. Shilling
Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church --Le Sueur, MN