Sermon illustrations for Ascension of the Lord (2013)
Illustration
Object:
Acts 1:1-11
In their book Metaphors We Live By, authors George Lakoff and Mark Johnson describe orientational metaphors that focus in part on physical, spatial relationships. "Up" is a positive direction and related to being happy (as in "I feel up today" and "I'm in high spirits"); "down" is a negative direction and related to sad (as in "I feel down in the dumps today" and "My spirits sank when I heard the news"). After the disciples' experience with Jesus, when all is said and done, what better way to conclude the narrative of his presence than to report how he ascended to heaven, leaving them "gazing up," a positive metaphorical posture reflecting their regard for Jesus and their understanding of who he is and the value of what he accomplished. Regardless of what one thinks about the literal nature of the account, the deeper meaning is quite clear and to the point of faith.
Mark M.
Acts 1:1-11
First we might question who Theophilus is. It could be a man's name or it could mean what it means in the Greek "lover of God," which hopefully means all of us. He refers to the book of Luke, which he also wrote. After Jesus left this world as a person, before and after his resurrection, he continues to communicate to all believers by his Holy Spirit -- the third person of the Trinity.
It is important that Luke mentions the fact that Jesus gave many proofs that he was alive. Muslims and many non-Christians have trouble with the resurrection. Even some Christians struggle with it especially when they are explaining it to non-Christians. All we can do is quote passages like this one as proof. Jesus was with them for another 40 days -- added to the three years before his crucifixion. They certainly had enough training, though it seems we never have enough. I learned as much from every parish I served as I did in seminary. If it weren't for the Spirit, I'm not sure I would have survived. We all need his Spirit! It sounds like it comes in a second baptism. Our pentecostal or charismatic friends claim that the evidence of God's Spirit is in the gift of tongues, which is a mysterious language most cannot interpret unless they also have the gift of God's Spirit.
All those experiences may not be real, but I do know that an older couple once told me about traveling to Mexico to bring food for the starving. The man's wife knew a little Spanish, but he didn't. When they were stopped at the border, the man shouted out something and the guard let them through. His wife was surprised and told him that he had talked to the guard in Spanish! I'm sure God can come to us in anyway he wants and that is not the only way or the only evidence. I have heard sermons that were very powerful and full of love from a pastor who did not have that tongues experience. The ways of God are so amazing and so diverse that we need God's Spirit to determine what is from him.
Even Jesus said he did not know all the dates and times, so I wonder why so many Christians try to chart the end of the world so precisely! It sounds like we shouldn't waste our time trying. We just have to trust in our God and his Spirit to guide us. The point of this passage seems to be that we are to do the job God has given us to spread the gospel to the people next door and to all the world, but also stand there looking up to the sky waiting for his return. When he comes we will know it. For most of us, we will go to see him before he comes down here to earth, so just go on serving.
Bob O.
Ephesians 1:15-23
Christ's ascension gives us a glimpse at the awesomeness of God. According to a 2008 poll conducted by Baylor University 1 in 2 Americans find our God to be judgmental (Paul Froese and Christopher Baden, America's Four Gods). So we are likely to experience life and the power of God as expressed by famed French intellectual Blaise Pascal:
"I see the terrifying spaces of the universe hemming me in, and I find myself attached to one corner of this vast experience without knowing why I have been put in this place rather than that, or why the brief span of life allotted to me should be assigned to one moment rather than another of all the eternity that went before me and will come after me. I see only infinity on every side hemming me in like an atom or like the shadow of a fleeting instant. All I know is that I must soon die, but what I know least about is their very death which I cannot evade. (Pensees, p. 158)
But the Ascension reminds us that Christ is present in this majesty that God is for us. A writer named Eric Collier beautifully captures the comfort of this insight: "God's power, glory, and majesty makes me feel like I don't deserve to be in the same room with him. His love, mercy, and compassion lets me know I don't belong anywhere else."
The Ascension helps us sing with Holocaust survivor Corrie ten Boom: "No matter how deep our darkness -- he is deeper still."
Mark E.
Ephesians 1:15-23
To be empowered and inspired in our Christian lives, we must identify with the name of Jesus. John Chrysostom (347-407), the bishop of Constantinople, acknowledged this in his Homily 4 on the gospel of Matthew. He preached on God's empowerment of Joseph as he participated in the nativity. Chrysostom wrote that God said to Joseph. "You never touched the virgin. Nevertheless I am giving you what pertains to a father. I give you the honor of giving a name to the one who is to be born. For you, Joseph, shall name him." The name given to the child of Mary was Jesus.
As Chrysostom attested, only when we associate ourselves with the name do we become an active participant in the event. Identifying with the name of Jesus we shall, in the words of Paul, have "the eyes of our hearts enlightened."
Ron L.
Luke 24:44-53
Jesus speaks of Jerusalem as the launch pad from which the Christian witness is to go to all nations. Cape Kennedy on the east coast of Florida has been the launch pad for many orbital and lunar missions. With a good launch pad, one can boost off into "brave new worlds." In her novel The Sparrow, author Mary Doria Russell writes about a civilization from another world -- Rakhat in the Alpha Centauri star system. Radio transmission had been detected by Jesuit astronomers, proving to them "God had other children." They concluded, "There is simply no alternative. We have to know them." So, they launched a mission to Rakhat. Jesus tells his disciples of the first century and also the twenty-first century, "God has other children. Get to know them."
Mark M.
Luke 24:44-53
In order to understand all the New Testament, we have to be familiar with the Old Testament also. We find Jesus in much of the OT and some passages seem pretty clear. Again it is evidence for non-Christians. It may be worth noting that most of the OT prophets paid a big price for their prophecies -- some even died for them. But it took Jesus' Spirit to open the mind of his disciples. The Pharisees seemed to have closed minds -- in fact they seemed to be deliberately closed minded when you read those passage yourself.
The hardest part for all the disciples to understand is that Jesus must suffer and die. How could this happen to him if he were the Son of God? It seems that forgiveness is not possible without Jesus' sacrifice. Sometimes the repentance part, which is ours, can be a stumbling block when we think we aren't all that bad! We see those all around us who are far worse! I like to use that silent confession part of the service to think of all the things I have done or neglected to do for God. The list can get pretty long! If we have no realization of sin, then confession seems pointless. I was amazed how many on the mission field who grew up in other religious traditions had a different idea of the nature of sin, to get the point right away. They were relieved that there was a solution to the burden of sin that had filled them even though they may not have realized it at first.
It sounds like we are to start in our own backyard. That is a place most church members can start without buying their plane tickets for far away places. It also sounds like we are to stay home until we have been clothed with power from on high. Don't go off just for adventure. Don't go because you think that will give you special treatment from God.
One of the signs that we have received Jesus' power is when we feel full of his joy! I felt that when I was called to be a missionary to Nepal. It is not something you can describe, you have to feel it! As Paul said, he had to know God and not just know about him. We can feel the difference in our heart! We can see it in others. All you need to do is ask for it and wait for it!
Bob O.
In their book Metaphors We Live By, authors George Lakoff and Mark Johnson describe orientational metaphors that focus in part on physical, spatial relationships. "Up" is a positive direction and related to being happy (as in "I feel up today" and "I'm in high spirits"); "down" is a negative direction and related to sad (as in "I feel down in the dumps today" and "My spirits sank when I heard the news"). After the disciples' experience with Jesus, when all is said and done, what better way to conclude the narrative of his presence than to report how he ascended to heaven, leaving them "gazing up," a positive metaphorical posture reflecting their regard for Jesus and their understanding of who he is and the value of what he accomplished. Regardless of what one thinks about the literal nature of the account, the deeper meaning is quite clear and to the point of faith.
Mark M.
Acts 1:1-11
First we might question who Theophilus is. It could be a man's name or it could mean what it means in the Greek "lover of God," which hopefully means all of us. He refers to the book of Luke, which he also wrote. After Jesus left this world as a person, before and after his resurrection, he continues to communicate to all believers by his Holy Spirit -- the third person of the Trinity.
It is important that Luke mentions the fact that Jesus gave many proofs that he was alive. Muslims and many non-Christians have trouble with the resurrection. Even some Christians struggle with it especially when they are explaining it to non-Christians. All we can do is quote passages like this one as proof. Jesus was with them for another 40 days -- added to the three years before his crucifixion. They certainly had enough training, though it seems we never have enough. I learned as much from every parish I served as I did in seminary. If it weren't for the Spirit, I'm not sure I would have survived. We all need his Spirit! It sounds like it comes in a second baptism. Our pentecostal or charismatic friends claim that the evidence of God's Spirit is in the gift of tongues, which is a mysterious language most cannot interpret unless they also have the gift of God's Spirit.
All those experiences may not be real, but I do know that an older couple once told me about traveling to Mexico to bring food for the starving. The man's wife knew a little Spanish, but he didn't. When they were stopped at the border, the man shouted out something and the guard let them through. His wife was surprised and told him that he had talked to the guard in Spanish! I'm sure God can come to us in anyway he wants and that is not the only way or the only evidence. I have heard sermons that were very powerful and full of love from a pastor who did not have that tongues experience. The ways of God are so amazing and so diverse that we need God's Spirit to determine what is from him.
Even Jesus said he did not know all the dates and times, so I wonder why so many Christians try to chart the end of the world so precisely! It sounds like we shouldn't waste our time trying. We just have to trust in our God and his Spirit to guide us. The point of this passage seems to be that we are to do the job God has given us to spread the gospel to the people next door and to all the world, but also stand there looking up to the sky waiting for his return. When he comes we will know it. For most of us, we will go to see him before he comes down here to earth, so just go on serving.
Bob O.
Ephesians 1:15-23
Christ's ascension gives us a glimpse at the awesomeness of God. According to a 2008 poll conducted by Baylor University 1 in 2 Americans find our God to be judgmental (Paul Froese and Christopher Baden, America's Four Gods). So we are likely to experience life and the power of God as expressed by famed French intellectual Blaise Pascal:
"I see the terrifying spaces of the universe hemming me in, and I find myself attached to one corner of this vast experience without knowing why I have been put in this place rather than that, or why the brief span of life allotted to me should be assigned to one moment rather than another of all the eternity that went before me and will come after me. I see only infinity on every side hemming me in like an atom or like the shadow of a fleeting instant. All I know is that I must soon die, but what I know least about is their very death which I cannot evade. (Pensees, p. 158)
But the Ascension reminds us that Christ is present in this majesty that God is for us. A writer named Eric Collier beautifully captures the comfort of this insight: "God's power, glory, and majesty makes me feel like I don't deserve to be in the same room with him. His love, mercy, and compassion lets me know I don't belong anywhere else."
The Ascension helps us sing with Holocaust survivor Corrie ten Boom: "No matter how deep our darkness -- he is deeper still."
Mark E.
Ephesians 1:15-23
To be empowered and inspired in our Christian lives, we must identify with the name of Jesus. John Chrysostom (347-407), the bishop of Constantinople, acknowledged this in his Homily 4 on the gospel of Matthew. He preached on God's empowerment of Joseph as he participated in the nativity. Chrysostom wrote that God said to Joseph. "You never touched the virgin. Nevertheless I am giving you what pertains to a father. I give you the honor of giving a name to the one who is to be born. For you, Joseph, shall name him." The name given to the child of Mary was Jesus.
As Chrysostom attested, only when we associate ourselves with the name do we become an active participant in the event. Identifying with the name of Jesus we shall, in the words of Paul, have "the eyes of our hearts enlightened."
Ron L.
Luke 24:44-53
Jesus speaks of Jerusalem as the launch pad from which the Christian witness is to go to all nations. Cape Kennedy on the east coast of Florida has been the launch pad for many orbital and lunar missions. With a good launch pad, one can boost off into "brave new worlds." In her novel The Sparrow, author Mary Doria Russell writes about a civilization from another world -- Rakhat in the Alpha Centauri star system. Radio transmission had been detected by Jesuit astronomers, proving to them "God had other children." They concluded, "There is simply no alternative. We have to know them." So, they launched a mission to Rakhat. Jesus tells his disciples of the first century and also the twenty-first century, "God has other children. Get to know them."
Mark M.
Luke 24:44-53
In order to understand all the New Testament, we have to be familiar with the Old Testament also. We find Jesus in much of the OT and some passages seem pretty clear. Again it is evidence for non-Christians. It may be worth noting that most of the OT prophets paid a big price for their prophecies -- some even died for them. But it took Jesus' Spirit to open the mind of his disciples. The Pharisees seemed to have closed minds -- in fact they seemed to be deliberately closed minded when you read those passage yourself.
The hardest part for all the disciples to understand is that Jesus must suffer and die. How could this happen to him if he were the Son of God? It seems that forgiveness is not possible without Jesus' sacrifice. Sometimes the repentance part, which is ours, can be a stumbling block when we think we aren't all that bad! We see those all around us who are far worse! I like to use that silent confession part of the service to think of all the things I have done or neglected to do for God. The list can get pretty long! If we have no realization of sin, then confession seems pointless. I was amazed how many on the mission field who grew up in other religious traditions had a different idea of the nature of sin, to get the point right away. They were relieved that there was a solution to the burden of sin that had filled them even though they may not have realized it at first.
It sounds like we are to start in our own backyard. That is a place most church members can start without buying their plane tickets for far away places. It also sounds like we are to stay home until we have been clothed with power from on high. Don't go off just for adventure. Don't go because you think that will give you special treatment from God.
One of the signs that we have received Jesus' power is when we feel full of his joy! I felt that when I was called to be a missionary to Nepal. It is not something you can describe, you have to feel it! As Paul said, he had to know God and not just know about him. We can feel the difference in our heart! We can see it in others. All you need to do is ask for it and wait for it!
Bob O.
