4 May 2016 St. Athanasius Lutheran
Church
Eve of the Ascension of our Lord Vienna, VA
“Not Left Behind”
Text: 2
Kings 2:5-15; Acts 1:1-11; Luke 24:44-53
Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God
our Father, and from our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.
Alleluia! Christ is Ascended! [He is ascended indeed! Alleluia!]
Alleluia.
It’s no fun being left
behind. If everyone goes on vacation, but you have to stay home and feed the
dog. If everyone goes to a movie, but you have to stay home and finish
homework. If there’s a holiday and everyone gets the day off, but you have to
work.
The kind of what
Ascension Day feels like, isn’t it? Jesus ascends into heaven and the disciples
get left behind. Jesus ascends into heaven, and we’re still here in a world
filled with struggles and work, sin and death. Good for Jesus, no fun for us.
That’s how Elisha felt.
His master, his teacher, the great Elijah was taken away from him, and he was
left behind. He saw the fiery chariots and horsemen of Israel, and then a
whirlwind taking Elijah up to heaven - and then in the blink of an eye it was
all gone. It was still and quiet and all that was left was the cloak Elijah had
been wearing. He picks it up and slaps it against the water of the Jordan, and
with great sadness and mourning wails: Where is the Lord, the God of
Elijah? He had never felt so empty and alone.
But then something
happened . . . the water Elisha had slapped, parted. Just as it had for Elijah, so now also for Elisha. He wasn’t
alone after all. And it wasn’t just a double portion of Elijah’s spirit that
was with him - the Lord was with him. The Lord who divided the waters of the
Red Sea, and had divided the waters of the Jordan for the people of Israel to
cross into the Promised Land, and who had divided the Jordan for Elijah just a
moment ago, was also now with him. He wasn’t alone. He wasn’t forgotten. He
wasn’t left behind.
That must have been one
of the stories Jesus taught the disciples when He opened their minds to
understand the Scriptures; when He showed them everything in the
Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms that was written about Him.
That He was going to ascend, like Elijah. But like Elisha, they would not be
left alone; they would not be left behind. He, the Lord, was still going to be
with them. He would be with them always (Matt 28:20).
They would receive the promise of the Father. They would be clothed
not with a cloak that Jesus left behind, but with power from on
high. They would receive the Holy Spirit.
The disciples must have
been taught that by Jesus because when Jesus ascended, they were not sad, as we
might expect. Instead, Luke tells us, they were overjoyed. They
worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and were continually in
the Temple blessing God. And as we will hear in ten days from now, they
did receive the Holy Spirit, poured out in full, on the Day of
Pentecost.
So while Jesus ascended
into heaven, we are not left behind, alone in this world filled with struggles
and work, sin and death. That’s what satan
wants us to believe - and sometimes we buy into it. We feel forgotten,
forsaken, neglected, alone, left behind, like our Lord
is a million miles away and doesn’t see our trouble, our need . . . or doesn’t
care.
But it isn’t so. Yes,
Jesus in enthroned in His ascension. Yes, He has returned to the right hand of
the Father. But He hasn’t left us behind - He has taken us with Him (Eph 2:6).
You see, when the Son of
God came down from heaven and was made man and named Jesus, He took our
humanity into Himself. He united Himself to us in an everlasting bond. He didn’t
just use His body for a while and then shed it like snake shedding it’s skin when He was done with
it. No! He is always and forever God and man together - in His birth, in His
life, in His crucifixion, in His burial and resurrection, and now in His
ascension. He took you and your sin into Himself, and put Himself and His life
into you. He couldn’t leave you behind if He wanted . . . and He doesn’t want
to. He wants you with Him in His kingdom. And so He ascends to make it so. That where He is, you may be also. One
small step for Him, but one giant leap for mankind.
But until that day of our
own resurrection and ascension, when Jesus returns in the same way [the
disciples] saw Him go into heaven, the Lord is also with us here, for
the Spirit is with us. The Spirit who proceeds from the
Father and the Son (Nicene Creed), and
who leads us back and connects us to the Father and the Son. The Spirit
poured into you when you were baptized and crossed through those waters.
The Spirit who gives you the forgiveness of Jesus through the
Word of the Gospel. You may feel left behind and alone, but as Elisha
realized, it is not so. Don’t trust your feelings. Repent, and believe the Word.
It’s not easy. Elisha had
a rough go of it, and the apostles had their share of suffering and martyrdom.
But we are also told, they rejoiced at being counted worthy to suffer for the
name of Jesus (Acts 5:41). They rejoiced even in
suffering. For if Jesus is ascended and enthroned, and you are joined to Him,
and you have the Spirit as a guarantee of your own resurrection and ascension,
what can this world and the prince of this world do to you? Your life, your
future, is safe with Jesus on the throne.
So Ascension Day really
is a day to rejoice as we receive a glimpse of our future, when Up Through
Endless Ranks of Angels (LSB #491)
is where we will go as well. The endless ranks of angels and archangels and
all the company of heaven who join us here around this altar everytime we receive the Body and Blood of the Lord. For
where He is, they are. And He is here for us, to feed us and strengthen us, to
forgive us and keep us. The Lord who has taken you into Himself puts Himself
into you. So you are not alone. Never alone. Never left behind.
So struggle on, like
Elisha. And rejoice, like the disciples. And if you’re looking for the Lord, do
not gaze into heaven, but come to the altar, for here is your Lord for you.
Here, until the day when He comes again in glory, and will no longer be hidden
behind the clouds of bread and wine, water, and words, but we will see Him as
He is. And then it is we who will stay in the city - the city of God, the new Jerusalem - forever.
For Christ is ascended!
[He is ascended indeed! Alleluia!] And so are we.
In the Name of the Father, and of the (+) Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.