Sermon illustrations for Ascension of the Lord (2019)
Illustration
Acts 1:1-11
In Luke-Acts the relationship of the disciples and Jesus is twofold. They are to be with him. And they are to be sent out. In Luke 9:1-6 Jesus sends the twelve out not only to heal the sick and afflicted but also throws them out empty-handed so they have to depend on radical hospitality! In Luke 10:1-11 he sends the seventy out, in pairs, to serve as advance representatives. In Luke 24:48-49 the resurrected Jesus commissions them to be witnesses and only temporarily to stay in Jerusalem. And in this passage Jesus clarifies this even further -- as witnesses they will be empowered by the Holy Spirit to become witnesses to the ends of the earth. One can make the case that by extension we too are meant to be ministering messengers, bringing comfort and healing where there is alienation and affliction. We are called to be witnesses to Jesus, and whether we travel to the ends of the earth or the end of our block, we are supporters of this witness as well, inspired and empowered by the Holy Spirit.
But!
We are also called simply to be with Jesus as well. The presence of Jesus is meant to be found spiritually, in prayer, in hearing scripture, among fellow believers in the Body of Christ. The presence of Jesus is also found among "the least of these," as Jesus describes this in another gospel. We are called to be with Jesus. We are called to go forth.
Frank R.
* * *
Acts 1:1-11
The story is told of a mom who would take her son to nursery school, kiss him good-bye and always say to him "Darling, I’m leaving you in good hands, okay? I will be back to get you.” She did this every day. She took her son to school and came back to pick him up. He was happy, safe and secure.
Leaving can be a difficult, but the promise to come back always makes it better. That’s the story of the ascension. Jesus leaves his disciples, but he leaves them in good hands. He tells them the Holy Spirit will come on them. The power of the Holy Spirit will equip them. They would not be left alone. As they watch Jesus ascend, two men in white show up. They stand by the disciples and bolster their confidence even more. They tell them, ““Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up toward 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.”
Jesus’ leaving them was tough for the disciples, but they were in good hands. He’d also promised to come back. What could be better than that?
Bill T.
* * *
Ephesians 1:15-23
This section of Paul’s letter to the church at Ephesus, is a note of thanksgiving. Paul thanks the church for its faithfulness, for its passion in living out the Good News of Jesus. This is an important measure of health, a faithfulness expressed. The other part of the note of thanksgiving is the recognition that the church is living out their faith, by loving, specifically, loving all the saints. Saints was code for other believers in those days. Saints were the people who believed and gathered in faithfulness, but it also included those who could not gather whether through illness, injury, poverty, or imprisonment. Paul celebrates the love the church demonstrates for ALL the saints. Does the church you gather with love ALL the saints? Those who are homeless and walk into the church smelling a little or a lot, but who are hungry for inclusion and love? How about those who are mentally ill or challenged and may not behave in ways we understand or generally accept? How about the children who are a little rowdy and disruptive? Which saints do we choose not to love? It’s a sobering question for the church.
Bonnie B.
* * *
Ephesians 1:15-23
Life is full of despair for a lot of Americans. A 2008 poll conducted by Baylor University found that nearly 1 in 2 Americans believe in a judgmental God. Not only, then, do many Americans have a god who contributes to despair and doubts about their worthiness. All of us face the terrifying realities of death hovering over us. Seventeenth-century French intellectual Blaise Pascal describes our situation poignantly:
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 assignment 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 it this very death which I cannot evade. (Penseés, p.158)
It is all so meaningless.
The Ascension, its manifestation of God’s power, overcomes these feelings of hopelessness and despair. a writer named Eric Collier offers a thoughtful elaboration on this point: “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 Dutch heroine of the Holocaust Corrie ten Boom powerfully described the outcome of the Ascension. As she put it: “No matter how deep our darkness — he is deeper still.”
Mark E.
* * *
Ephesians 1:15-23
Nothing gives me greater joy than knowing that my children are following in my faith in our Lord. We pray that we will not only know our Lord but that he will continue to give us the Spirit of wisdom and revelation. That Spirit will always come to any who will not resist it.
We want our children to know God and not just know about him. We learn about him in confirmation classes, in good sermons, and hopefully come to know him better. Yes, every week if we know him we should want to know him better.
I love my wife because I know her, not just know about her. But the more I know and love her, the more I will want to know about her.
I know my wife likes theatre, so I take her there when I can.
I know the Lord wants me to help those in need, so I show him my love by helping them.
Bob O.
* * *
Luke 24:44-53
I ran across this story that I thought was funny and direct. A Sunday School teacher had just concluded her lesson and wanted to make sure she had made her point. She said, “Can anyone tell me what you must do before you can obtain forgiveness of sin?
There was a short pause and then, from the back of the room, a small boy called out, “Sin.”
I think he has a point there, but not exactly the one for which the teacher was looking. Just before his ascension, Luke tells us that Jesus spoke to the disciples. He addresses forgiveness and that’s important. We need forgiveness and we need to preach it. We do a good job, I think, emphasizing the forgiveness part. However, there is something that Jesus links with forgiveness, something for which the teacher in the earlier story was seeking. As the teacher asked, “What must you do before you obtain forgiveness?” Besides “sin,” the obvious answer is “repent.”
Bill T.
* * *
Luke 24:44-53
There is a point in each of the gospel accounts where after the resurrection Jesus is no longer physically present with the disciples. Luke's two part history (the gospel and Acts), along with the ending of Mark which is probably based directly on the third evangelist, is our source for the Ascension, when Jesus is removed from the sight of his apostles, taken up to the right hand of the Father.
I like the insight from I. Howard Marshall's volume The Gospel of Luke, that's part of The New International Greek Testament Commentary, (see page 909). Luke uses the word anaphero to describe the way Jesus was led up to heaven. It's a word Luke uses to describe the departure of other heavenly beings, like Gabriel (1:38 and 2:15), the angel who appeared to the Centurion Cornelius (Acts 10:7), the angel who led Peter to freedom (Acts 12:10) or Jesus himself after he first appears to the disciples following the resurrection (24:31). Marshall points out that since the word is used in the imperfect tense this suggests that Jesus departed gradually, and in addition is a word often associated with sacrificial offerings.
Frank R.
* * *
Luke 24:44-53
Jesus often employed the use of picture, language, and common objects that devotees could see or imagine as they sat and listened to his parables. These object lessons were used to enforce and clarify his message. This lesson was astutely outlined in the parable called “The Unforgiving Servant.” (Mt 18:21-35) The number 10,000 was the largest number known by the common person. Contrasted to this, 100 is relatively the smallest. The talent was the largest form of currency, the denarii the smallest that was conventionally used. One talent was worth more than fifteen years’ wages of a laborer. Conversely, as noted above, one denarius was the normal pay for one day’s work for the average day laborer. One talent was equivalent to six thousand denarii.
In today’s monetary system, the servant owed the king 10,000,000 dollars and the fellow slave owed the subordinate official 20 dollars. It is reported that the annual revenue in the province of Galilee was 300 talents. The total tax revenue for all of King Herod’s realm was only 900 talents per year. The astonishing figure of 10,000 talents would exceed the taxes for all of Syria, Phoenicia, Judea, and Samaria combined! Thus, owing 10,000 talents, the servant owed a “king’s ransom.” The king is God. The servant, unfortunately, is you and me.
This is a parable of forgiveness and mercy. Our sins against God are insurmountable, yet it is the compassionate God who forgives our transgressions. That the king forgave the extreme debt that the first servant owed, a debt that the servant would never have been able to pay back, a debt that was so high that it was beyond our imagination, illustrates the super-abundant grace of God.
Ron L.
In Luke-Acts the relationship of the disciples and Jesus is twofold. They are to be with him. And they are to be sent out. In Luke 9:1-6 Jesus sends the twelve out not only to heal the sick and afflicted but also throws them out empty-handed so they have to depend on radical hospitality! In Luke 10:1-11 he sends the seventy out, in pairs, to serve as advance representatives. In Luke 24:48-49 the resurrected Jesus commissions them to be witnesses and only temporarily to stay in Jerusalem. And in this passage Jesus clarifies this even further -- as witnesses they will be empowered by the Holy Spirit to become witnesses to the ends of the earth. One can make the case that by extension we too are meant to be ministering messengers, bringing comfort and healing where there is alienation and affliction. We are called to be witnesses to Jesus, and whether we travel to the ends of the earth or the end of our block, we are supporters of this witness as well, inspired and empowered by the Holy Spirit.
But!
We are also called simply to be with Jesus as well. The presence of Jesus is meant to be found spiritually, in prayer, in hearing scripture, among fellow believers in the Body of Christ. The presence of Jesus is also found among "the least of these," as Jesus describes this in another gospel. We are called to be with Jesus. We are called to go forth.
Frank R.
* * *
Acts 1:1-11
The story is told of a mom who would take her son to nursery school, kiss him good-bye and always say to him "Darling, I’m leaving you in good hands, okay? I will be back to get you.” She did this every day. She took her son to school and came back to pick him up. He was happy, safe and secure.
Leaving can be a difficult, but the promise to come back always makes it better. That’s the story of the ascension. Jesus leaves his disciples, but he leaves them in good hands. He tells them the Holy Spirit will come on them. The power of the Holy Spirit will equip them. They would not be left alone. As they watch Jesus ascend, two men in white show up. They stand by the disciples and bolster their confidence even more. They tell them, ““Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up toward 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.”
Jesus’ leaving them was tough for the disciples, but they were in good hands. He’d also promised to come back. What could be better than that?
Bill T.
* * *
Ephesians 1:15-23
This section of Paul’s letter to the church at Ephesus, is a note of thanksgiving. Paul thanks the church for its faithfulness, for its passion in living out the Good News of Jesus. This is an important measure of health, a faithfulness expressed. The other part of the note of thanksgiving is the recognition that the church is living out their faith, by loving, specifically, loving all the saints. Saints was code for other believers in those days. Saints were the people who believed and gathered in faithfulness, but it also included those who could not gather whether through illness, injury, poverty, or imprisonment. Paul celebrates the love the church demonstrates for ALL the saints. Does the church you gather with love ALL the saints? Those who are homeless and walk into the church smelling a little or a lot, but who are hungry for inclusion and love? How about those who are mentally ill or challenged and may not behave in ways we understand or generally accept? How about the children who are a little rowdy and disruptive? Which saints do we choose not to love? It’s a sobering question for the church.
Bonnie B.
* * *
Ephesians 1:15-23
Life is full of despair for a lot of Americans. A 2008 poll conducted by Baylor University found that nearly 1 in 2 Americans believe in a judgmental God. Not only, then, do many Americans have a god who contributes to despair and doubts about their worthiness. All of us face the terrifying realities of death hovering over us. Seventeenth-century French intellectual Blaise Pascal describes our situation poignantly:
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 assignment 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 it this very death which I cannot evade. (Penseés, p.158)
It is all so meaningless.
The Ascension, its manifestation of God’s power, overcomes these feelings of hopelessness and despair. a writer named Eric Collier offers a thoughtful elaboration on this point: “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 Dutch heroine of the Holocaust Corrie ten Boom powerfully described the outcome of the Ascension. As she put it: “No matter how deep our darkness — he is deeper still.”
Mark E.
* * *
Ephesians 1:15-23
Nothing gives me greater joy than knowing that my children are following in my faith in our Lord. We pray that we will not only know our Lord but that he will continue to give us the Spirit of wisdom and revelation. That Spirit will always come to any who will not resist it.
We want our children to know God and not just know about him. We learn about him in confirmation classes, in good sermons, and hopefully come to know him better. Yes, every week if we know him we should want to know him better.
I love my wife because I know her, not just know about her. But the more I know and love her, the more I will want to know about her.
I know my wife likes theatre, so I take her there when I can.
I know the Lord wants me to help those in need, so I show him my love by helping them.
Bob O.
* * *
Luke 24:44-53
I ran across this story that I thought was funny and direct. A Sunday School teacher had just concluded her lesson and wanted to make sure she had made her point. She said, “Can anyone tell me what you must do before you can obtain forgiveness of sin?
There was a short pause and then, from the back of the room, a small boy called out, “Sin.”
I think he has a point there, but not exactly the one for which the teacher was looking. Just before his ascension, Luke tells us that Jesus spoke to the disciples. He addresses forgiveness and that’s important. We need forgiveness and we need to preach it. We do a good job, I think, emphasizing the forgiveness part. However, there is something that Jesus links with forgiveness, something for which the teacher in the earlier story was seeking. As the teacher asked, “What must you do before you obtain forgiveness?” Besides “sin,” the obvious answer is “repent.”
Bill T.
* * *
Luke 24:44-53
There is a point in each of the gospel accounts where after the resurrection Jesus is no longer physically present with the disciples. Luke's two part history (the gospel and Acts), along with the ending of Mark which is probably based directly on the third evangelist, is our source for the Ascension, when Jesus is removed from the sight of his apostles, taken up to the right hand of the Father.
I like the insight from I. Howard Marshall's volume The Gospel of Luke, that's part of The New International Greek Testament Commentary, (see page 909). Luke uses the word anaphero to describe the way Jesus was led up to heaven. It's a word Luke uses to describe the departure of other heavenly beings, like Gabriel (1:38 and 2:15), the angel who appeared to the Centurion Cornelius (Acts 10:7), the angel who led Peter to freedom (Acts 12:10) or Jesus himself after he first appears to the disciples following the resurrection (24:31). Marshall points out that since the word is used in the imperfect tense this suggests that Jesus departed gradually, and in addition is a word often associated with sacrificial offerings.
Frank R.
* * *
Luke 24:44-53
Jesus often employed the use of picture, language, and common objects that devotees could see or imagine as they sat and listened to his parables. These object lessons were used to enforce and clarify his message. This lesson was astutely outlined in the parable called “The Unforgiving Servant.” (Mt 18:21-35) The number 10,000 was the largest number known by the common person. Contrasted to this, 100 is relatively the smallest. The talent was the largest form of currency, the denarii the smallest that was conventionally used. One talent was worth more than fifteen years’ wages of a laborer. Conversely, as noted above, one denarius was the normal pay for one day’s work for the average day laborer. One talent was equivalent to six thousand denarii.
In today’s monetary system, the servant owed the king 10,000,000 dollars and the fellow slave owed the subordinate official 20 dollars. It is reported that the annual revenue in the province of Galilee was 300 talents. The total tax revenue for all of King Herod’s realm was only 900 talents per year. The astonishing figure of 10,000 talents would exceed the taxes for all of Syria, Phoenicia, Judea, and Samaria combined! Thus, owing 10,000 talents, the servant owed a “king’s ransom.” The king is God. The servant, unfortunately, is you and me.
This is a parable of forgiveness and mercy. Our sins against God are insurmountable, yet it is the compassionate God who forgives our transgressions. That the king forgave the extreme debt that the first servant owed, a debt that the servant would never have been able to pay back, a debt that was so high that it was beyond our imagination, illustrates the super-abundant grace of God.
Ron L.
