Sermon Illustrations for Ascension of the Lord (2023)
Illustration
Acts 1:1-11
Howard Hendricks, in his book Say It with Love, writes of Dr. Jack Cooper, a Dallas ophthalmologist. Dr. Cooper was a Christian who believed in treating the total person and caring for the soul as well as the eyes. He was a member of Parks Cities Baptist Church and did medical missions to Honduras, the Dominican Republic, Liberia, and Honduras.
In his medical office, instead of having the normal, “Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of their country” on the flip chart, Dr. Cooper had the words, “God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life.” When patients would come in for a check-up, they would read those words and often ask about what they meant.
Being a witness is the challenge of all Christians. The disciples, as Luke records it in the passage of Acts, were told to be Jesus’ witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. They met that challenge. Will we be his witnesses today?
Bill T.
* * *
Acts 1:1-11
Luke wrote both the Acts of the Apostles and the Gospel of Luke. They are two volumes of one work. In his day, one could not easily cut and paste a passage from one document to the other, otherwise his account of the Ascension of Jesus into heaven might be exactly the same in both. But then again, perhaps the reason Luke said two very different things about the same event is that both messages are important by themselves.
In the Acts of the Apostles, Luke emphasizes a forty-day period of instruction about the kingdom of God. They are offered “many convincing proofs” of his resurrection, and at the end of those forty days, when they ask for a timetable for the restoration of the kingdom of Israel, a political goal that had nothing to do with the timeless and eternal ministry of Jesus, they were told this was not necessary knowledge.
Moreover, after he ascended into heaven and they continued watching the spot where he disappeared, two men in white robes, possibly angels, scolded them for failing to follow orders. The best way to wait for Jesus, they seem to say, is not to look for his return, but go about the business of heaven.
Frank R.
* * *
Acts 1:1-11
If you elect to proclaim The Ascension itself this text can afford an excellent opportunity to help the flock regain a sense of the mystery and majesty of both God the Father and God’s Son. We need to grapple with how “familiar” God has become to us. British theologian J. I. Packer well summarizes our ethos:
Today a vast stress is laid on the thought that God is personal, but this truth is so stated as to the impression that God is a person of the same sort as we are — weak, inadequate, ineffective, a little pathetic.
In fact, we need to sing the song of country singer Lee Ann Womack, “I Hope You Dance:”
I hope you still feel small when you stand beside an ocean... I hope you dance.
The Ascension of Jesus, along these lines, allows us to sing along with modern American scholar Lewis Mumford, as he once claimed:
A day spent without... the contemplation of mystery, or the search for truth of perfection is a poverty-stricken day, and a succession of such days is fatal to human life.
People caught up in the Ascension story will always see the kind of mystery and splendor which makes life worthwhile.
If instead you are more inclined to focus on the power of God in Christ to crush all evil, then comments by Martin Luther may be of use in the sermon:
Christ’s power and might over sin are now given to those who believe in him, who know that they, too, are masters over sin while heretofore they were its slaves. (Complete Sermons, Vol.6, p.121)
Mark E.
* * *
Ephesians 1:15-23
As Paul writes this letter to the church in Ephesus, he thanks them for their faithfulness. He prays their wisdom continues and that they continue to be faithful. Paul is grateful that the church is answering the call of Jesus, the call to be the people of God. Are our churches behaving in the same way? I think it is easy for our churches to think about the ways of the world, to think about maintaining the building and the comfort of its members. Sometimes those pursuits challenge our faithfulness. How do we preach the uncomfortable and challenging messages of justice? How do we care for the least among us when we are spending the bulk of our money and our lives maintaining a building? Are we being who God has called us to be, faithful servants of compassion, generosity, gentleness, kindness, love, and hope? This Ascension Day may we strive to be the church that Ephesus was — living into the faith to which we are called.
Bonnie B.
* * *
Ephesians 1:15-23
Late in the 20th century, New Testament scholar Krister Stendahl profoundly described life in the 21st century. He wrote:
Our age and that age of the first century have more in common than we think... Both times can be characterized as cosmically scared, caught under principalities and powers where tiny little human beings just know that they cannot do much, that they are not in control, that they are just caught.
We are caught in despair over our seemingly hopeless situations — pandemics, prices out of control, global nuclear threats, you name it. Like 20th-century French intellectual Albert Camus we feel stricken with despair — the despair of accepting our condition even when we can’t stand it (The Rebel, p.14). At this point, the glory of Christ revealed in the Ascension, an awareness of his power (v.20), is a relevant, comforting word. What Martin Luther once proclaimed in a sermon about God is also true of Christ. He is recorded as saying:
God is above all and in comparison to him all creatures, heaven and earth themselves, and all they contain are but a grain of sane... yes, like a crumb left over on the scales, a mere speck of dust... You will find that God, the greatest and best giver, gives with a bounty that cannot be measured... that should make our hearts swell big, and sadness totally disappear, to perceive such sheer underserved love in the heart of God. (Complete Sermons, Vol.6, p.196)
Mark E.
* * *
Luke 24:44-53
Luke wrote both the Acts of the Apostles and the Gospel of Luke. They are two volumes of one work. In his day, one could not easily cut and paste a passage from one document to the other, otherwise his account of the Ascension of Jesus into heaven might be exactly the same in both. But then again, perhaps Luke had two very different things to say about the same event in both passages.
In the Gospel of Luke, there is a hugger mugger rush to cap the amazing events of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus by having the Lord repeat the proofs of his life and resurrection found in the scriptures. Seemingly on the day of his first resurrection appearance following his death and burial, Jesus tells the disciples the same thing he told the two on the road to Emmaus — that everything about his life, death, and resurrection is contained in scripture.
Then, after commissioning them to be witnesses to him, which they will proclaim to all nations, Jesus ascends. Done and done.
I can’t help but think it would have been nice if Luke wrote down all these scriptural references that point to Jesus. Having it from the Lord’s mouth, through Luke, would have been nice. But I think the point is for us to do this work together. We are a community of faith who have the scriptures in hand! There’s nothing stopping us from studying together, testifying together, witnessing together. We could engage on a life-long study not just for prophetic verses that point to a specific event, but to the entirety of scripture, and the way the love of God shines through, the way the Sermon on the Mount is confirmed, and in this way model the time Jesus spent with his disciples, assured that wherever two or three are gathered in his name, there he is present as well.
Frank R.
* * *
Luke 24:44-53
The Washington Post, in a July 16, 1994, article written by Linda Wheeler, noted a new exhibit at the Washington Monument. It is being called, “Theological Graffiti.” It is a three-line statement cut into a white marble block. It reads, “Whoever is the human instrument under God in the conversion of one soul, erects a monument to his own memory more lofty and enduing {sic} than this." The statement is signed, “BFB.”
According to Wheeler, no one knows for sure who BFB was or who left the small drawings and 19th century dates on other walls, but park service historians have decided to save the scribblings. The markings were covered over when the lobby was decorated at the turn of the century and uncovered during a year-long, $500,000 renovation, which was just completed.
I suppose witnessing can take all different forms, even nineteenth century graffiti. “BFB” is unknown to the world, but his message continues to matter. Jesus told the disciples that they are witnesses of all God had done through him. They would be sent out to declare that truth. They went. “BFB” did what he could do, too. Will we?
Bill T.
Howard Hendricks, in his book Say It with Love, writes of Dr. Jack Cooper, a Dallas ophthalmologist. Dr. Cooper was a Christian who believed in treating the total person and caring for the soul as well as the eyes. He was a member of Parks Cities Baptist Church and did medical missions to Honduras, the Dominican Republic, Liberia, and Honduras.
In his medical office, instead of having the normal, “Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of their country” on the flip chart, Dr. Cooper had the words, “God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life.” When patients would come in for a check-up, they would read those words and often ask about what they meant.
Being a witness is the challenge of all Christians. The disciples, as Luke records it in the passage of Acts, were told to be Jesus’ witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. They met that challenge. Will we be his witnesses today?
Bill T.
* * *
Acts 1:1-11
Luke wrote both the Acts of the Apostles and the Gospel of Luke. They are two volumes of one work. In his day, one could not easily cut and paste a passage from one document to the other, otherwise his account of the Ascension of Jesus into heaven might be exactly the same in both. But then again, perhaps the reason Luke said two very different things about the same event is that both messages are important by themselves.
In the Acts of the Apostles, Luke emphasizes a forty-day period of instruction about the kingdom of God. They are offered “many convincing proofs” of his resurrection, and at the end of those forty days, when they ask for a timetable for the restoration of the kingdom of Israel, a political goal that had nothing to do with the timeless and eternal ministry of Jesus, they were told this was not necessary knowledge.
Moreover, after he ascended into heaven and they continued watching the spot where he disappeared, two men in white robes, possibly angels, scolded them for failing to follow orders. The best way to wait for Jesus, they seem to say, is not to look for his return, but go about the business of heaven.
Frank R.
* * *
Acts 1:1-11
If you elect to proclaim The Ascension itself this text can afford an excellent opportunity to help the flock regain a sense of the mystery and majesty of both God the Father and God’s Son. We need to grapple with how “familiar” God has become to us. British theologian J. I. Packer well summarizes our ethos:
Today a vast stress is laid on the thought that God is personal, but this truth is so stated as to the impression that God is a person of the same sort as we are — weak, inadequate, ineffective, a little pathetic.
In fact, we need to sing the song of country singer Lee Ann Womack, “I Hope You Dance:”
I hope you still feel small when you stand beside an ocean... I hope you dance.
The Ascension of Jesus, along these lines, allows us to sing along with modern American scholar Lewis Mumford, as he once claimed:
A day spent without... the contemplation of mystery, or the search for truth of perfection is a poverty-stricken day, and a succession of such days is fatal to human life.
People caught up in the Ascension story will always see the kind of mystery and splendor which makes life worthwhile.
If instead you are more inclined to focus on the power of God in Christ to crush all evil, then comments by Martin Luther may be of use in the sermon:
Christ’s power and might over sin are now given to those who believe in him, who know that they, too, are masters over sin while heretofore they were its slaves. (Complete Sermons, Vol.6, p.121)
Mark E.
* * *
Ephesians 1:15-23
As Paul writes this letter to the church in Ephesus, he thanks them for their faithfulness. He prays their wisdom continues and that they continue to be faithful. Paul is grateful that the church is answering the call of Jesus, the call to be the people of God. Are our churches behaving in the same way? I think it is easy for our churches to think about the ways of the world, to think about maintaining the building and the comfort of its members. Sometimes those pursuits challenge our faithfulness. How do we preach the uncomfortable and challenging messages of justice? How do we care for the least among us when we are spending the bulk of our money and our lives maintaining a building? Are we being who God has called us to be, faithful servants of compassion, generosity, gentleness, kindness, love, and hope? This Ascension Day may we strive to be the church that Ephesus was — living into the faith to which we are called.
Bonnie B.
* * *
Ephesians 1:15-23
Late in the 20th century, New Testament scholar Krister Stendahl profoundly described life in the 21st century. He wrote:
Our age and that age of the first century have more in common than we think... Both times can be characterized as cosmically scared, caught under principalities and powers where tiny little human beings just know that they cannot do much, that they are not in control, that they are just caught.
We are caught in despair over our seemingly hopeless situations — pandemics, prices out of control, global nuclear threats, you name it. Like 20th-century French intellectual Albert Camus we feel stricken with despair — the despair of accepting our condition even when we can’t stand it (The Rebel, p.14). At this point, the glory of Christ revealed in the Ascension, an awareness of his power (v.20), is a relevant, comforting word. What Martin Luther once proclaimed in a sermon about God is also true of Christ. He is recorded as saying:
God is above all and in comparison to him all creatures, heaven and earth themselves, and all they contain are but a grain of sane... yes, like a crumb left over on the scales, a mere speck of dust... You will find that God, the greatest and best giver, gives with a bounty that cannot be measured... that should make our hearts swell big, and sadness totally disappear, to perceive such sheer underserved love in the heart of God. (Complete Sermons, Vol.6, p.196)
Mark E.
* * *
Luke 24:44-53
Luke wrote both the Acts of the Apostles and the Gospel of Luke. They are two volumes of one work. In his day, one could not easily cut and paste a passage from one document to the other, otherwise his account of the Ascension of Jesus into heaven might be exactly the same in both. But then again, perhaps Luke had two very different things to say about the same event in both passages.
In the Gospel of Luke, there is a hugger mugger rush to cap the amazing events of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus by having the Lord repeat the proofs of his life and resurrection found in the scriptures. Seemingly on the day of his first resurrection appearance following his death and burial, Jesus tells the disciples the same thing he told the two on the road to Emmaus — that everything about his life, death, and resurrection is contained in scripture.
Then, after commissioning them to be witnesses to him, which they will proclaim to all nations, Jesus ascends. Done and done.
I can’t help but think it would have been nice if Luke wrote down all these scriptural references that point to Jesus. Having it from the Lord’s mouth, through Luke, would have been nice. But I think the point is for us to do this work together. We are a community of faith who have the scriptures in hand! There’s nothing stopping us from studying together, testifying together, witnessing together. We could engage on a life-long study not just for prophetic verses that point to a specific event, but to the entirety of scripture, and the way the love of God shines through, the way the Sermon on the Mount is confirmed, and in this way model the time Jesus spent with his disciples, assured that wherever two or three are gathered in his name, there he is present as well.
Frank R.
* * *
Luke 24:44-53
The Washington Post, in a July 16, 1994, article written by Linda Wheeler, noted a new exhibit at the Washington Monument. It is being called, “Theological Graffiti.” It is a three-line statement cut into a white marble block. It reads, “Whoever is the human instrument under God in the conversion of one soul, erects a monument to his own memory more lofty and enduing {sic} than this." The statement is signed, “BFB.”
According to Wheeler, no one knows for sure who BFB was or who left the small drawings and 19th century dates on other walls, but park service historians have decided to save the scribblings. The markings were covered over when the lobby was decorated at the turn of the century and uncovered during a year-long, $500,000 renovation, which was just completed.
I suppose witnessing can take all different forms, even nineteenth century graffiti. “BFB” is unknown to the world, but his message continues to matter. Jesus told the disciples that they are witnesses of all God had done through him. They would be sent out to declare that truth. They went. “BFB” did what he could do, too. Will we?
Bill T.
