The Ascension Of Our Lord
Preaching
Lectionary Preaching Workbook
Series VI, Cycle A
COMMENTARY ON THE LESSONS
Lesson 1: Acts 1:1-11 (C, RC, E)
Jesus was taken up into heaven and was soon obscured by clouds. I'm sure there are some of us who interpret this literally, and there are many of us who assume this was poetic imagery. It doesn't really matter. What does matter is that here we have Luke, continuing the reports of his Gospel. After repeating his introduction to Theophilus, Luke tells of the unforgettable hour in which Jesus took leave of his friends after assuring them that they would soon receive an empowering Spirit, and after also making it clear that their questions about the future were inappropriate and would not be answered. As Jesus passed from view, two white-clad figures appeared, urging the apostles to get back to work. In effect, we have a stage setting here. Jesus, having reassured his friends (and us) that we would receive help in life, goes on and leaves the way open for those who are called into his service to quit staring into space and to get down to the hard work of living and teaching the faith.
Lesson 2: Ephesians 1:15-23 (C, E); Ephesians 1:17-23 (RC)
Paul addresses his Ephesian friends with great affection. They have won this affection by their faith and their loving attitudes. Paul reminds them that the power which will henceforth work in them is the same power as God used in raising Jesus from death. Paul concludes this section by giving what amounts to a benediction, affirming Christ as Lord of the church. For me, the most significant point to be made is the fact that Paul was praying for his people, asking God to give them the Spirit who will make them wise and give them mighty strength. Intercessory prayer. The New Testament doesn't directly address intercession, so much as it incidentally demonstrates it.
Gospel: Luke 24:44-53 (C); Luke 24:49-53 (E)
Jesus assures his disciples that the scriptures of their former faith have been fulfilled. They rightly foresaw that Jesus must suffer and die, then be returned from death. He then instructs them to return to the city until such time as "the power from above" settles upon them. Following this, Jesus disappears and the disciples go into the temple to give thanks to God.
Gospel: Matthew 28:16-20 (RC)
Jesus orders the disciples to go out into the world and win as many new adherents as they can. They are to baptize in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. It is notable that some of the people were troubled by doubt, but they still were prepared to go. Jesus, finally, promises to be with them always.
SERMON SUGGESTIONS
Title: "Faith In The Real World"
Text: Acts 1:1-11
Theme: The two white-clad figures in this report, perhaps angels, perhaps people sent by God, urge the apostles to return to their mission, assured that "Jesus, who was taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way that you saw him go into heaven." The apostles then return to Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives, where this remarkable event has taken place. One senses that the two men dressed in white were not insensitive to the feelings of the apostles. But they did apparently understand that there is a kind of religion which turns away from the arena of life and loses itself in meditation and speculation. That's not Christianity. Ours is a working man's faith, a means of facing the worst as well as the best of life with courage, strength, and integrity.
1. We are to live life with honor. That is the key requirement to this Christian faith.We are to exemplify all the highest qualities of humankind in the way we treat each other -- and in the way we treat others outside our faith. Jesus effectively substituted a twofold commandment for the myriad of little rules known to his hearers. We are to love God, and we are to love each other.
2. By living life with honor we can find happiness. There is no other way. Assuming a distinction between pleasure and happiness, one may derive a certain short-term pleasure as a result of dishonesty, or misrepresentation. It doesn't last. What we eventually discover is that God is the source of real happiness, and God withholds that gift from those who betray the values of his Son. That doesn't mean we have to be perfect. We all make mistakes, fall short, sometimes make a mess of things. As long as God sees that we're sincerely trying, I believe that He wills joy in our lives.
3. By living life happily with honor, we pass the habit to our children. Those of us who have done a lot of counseling have observed that almost everyone turns out like one or both parents. Exceptions may be dysfunctional families in which counseling has enabled change. But most of us end up saying "I sound like my Dad," or "I sound just like Mother." I am convinced that a child growing up in a home where Christian values are extolled and practiced will unfailingly become the same kind of person. Each person develops a unique personality, true. But values are learned quite early, are based more on observation than on moral preachments, and become the basis of a person's hope for the future.
Title: "Intercessory Prayer And The Power Of God"
Text: Ephesians 1:15-23
Theme: Paul assures the Ephesians that he is praying for them, and that he expects the results of that prayer to be the gift of the Spirit from God. That in turn promises wisdom and mighty strength. Furthermore, they will be continually enlightened about Jesus and his promises.
1. Intercessory prayer can change things. However, this does present certain theological problems. If I pray for you, am I not intruding into your life? Haven't you had someone offer to pray for you, and felt that he was planning to pray that you would finally see the light, or change your ways? Doesn't a bit of subtle manipulation easily creep into intercessory prayer? I have concluded that if any such motives lie behind our prayers they are rendered useless. I don't want someone, however sincerely, praying for God to change things in my life. Especially, I don't want someone who disagrees with my theology praying that God will "enlighten me" and make me change my mind and agree with the person doing the praying.
There is, however, a welcome form of intercession. I pray for every member of my family each day, and I'm guessing nearly everyone who reads these words does so as well. But I pray that they may be surrounded by love, that any strength I have may be shared with them, and that whatever need may trouble them at this time might be helped by God's power.
2. Intercessory prayer should ask for God's will. We can't really know to what extent a person is able to shut God out of his or her life. Even then, if God has created us to be free, I have no right to make a counter judgment. I also realize God doesn't have to wait around for me to pray in order to act in another person's life. I suppose we could raise this question with Paul. Does God wait to give the Spirit to the Ephesians until Paul gets around to praying? Obviously, that isn't true. God knows each of us, our needs, our bad habits, our destiny. God will do what God will do without help from me. And yet, I still believe in and practice intercession.
3. Intercessory prayer makes a difference when we are bonded together. There may be better words to say what I mean, but when we love someone, we establish a bond with that person. Usually it will be someone close to us, but it can be someone we've never met. You have probably seen a victim of some tragedy on television and impulsively prayed for that person. I believe that prayer was effective. Four years ago I asked my congregation to pray for a young woman who had struggled with cancer for several years, and was now headed to a major clinic for extreme, last resort treatment. Almost three thousand of us were gathered. Some knew the woman, most did not. But we all prayed for her to be healed. The woman came home from the hospital and reported that her condition had become markedly better. She soon went into remission and there has been no sign of cancer for four years. In some remarkable way, we combined to convey to her a healing power.
Title: "The Benefits Of His Passion"
Text: Luke 24:44-53
Theme: This passage brings us to the finale of Jesus' earthly ministry. In preparing to depart, he leaves his friends some final instructions. After reassuring them that things have not gone wrong, that the expectations contained in their scriptures are being fulfilled, and thus, God's will is operating, he asks of them that they fulfill their part by doing certain things.
1. We are to preach the message of repentance and forgiveness. As earlier discussed, repentance involves more than regret for past failures. Repentance is a turning away from the attitudes and values which led to those failures. Repentance requires an effort to become a new person. Of course, those of us who have tried to do this on our own will know that it's nearly impossible without help. I too often find myself slipping, saying something I swore I wouldn't say again, or rationalizing some minor misconduct as not being harmful, really. Just the other day I heard a fellow minister confide something about another clergy person which wasn't exactly a compliment. Instead of defending the absent person, or at least changing the subject, I listened intently. I collaborated in a bit of gossip of the kind I from time to time decry from the pulpit. The only way this change takes place is with help from God. Even then, it takes place slowly. My one hope is the realization that God will forgive me if I persevere in this process of change and growth.
2. We are to "witness" to these things. I understand this to be a rather sweeping request, that we not only exemplify repentance and forgiveness in our daily lives, but that the entire gospel of love be seen to operate in us. In other words, the best way to witness to forgiveness is to live like someone who has been forgiven. I have included a grand illustration of forgiveness, of living the gospel, below.
3. We are to receive a new power into our lives. That is the consequence of our effort to live the gospel. I don't know which comes first, a conscious commitment on my part, followed by the gift of power, or the gift of power, then followed by my commitment. Maybe it works both ways. Maybe it depends on my state of mind or my life situation. What I do know is that the two go together. I know that as I try to be what Jesus asked me to be, I feel a power at work, enabling me, encouraging me. I also know that sometimes, when my efforts lag, I sense something missing. It isn't that God gives up on me, or that I'm being punished. It's just that I am removing myself from the source of the power by exercising my freedom unwisely. I do, however, have a suspicion that God won't let me get too far away.
ADDITIONAL ILLUSTRATIONS
Nearly all Americans are familiar with the photograph which did so much to bring the tragic war in Vietnam to an end. It was the picture of a little girl, nine years old, running naked, terror etched on her little face, her body terribly burned by napalm. Other children also ran, terrified, burned, totally unable to understand the horror around them. The little girl's name was Kim Phuc. The photo was taken in 1972 by Associated Press photographer Nick Ut. When America saw that picture, she collectively knew that such insanity must not be allowed to continue. It was the beginning of the end of the war.
In the years that followed, Kim Phuc, having been rushed to a hospital for treatment which she was not expected to survive, having thereafter spent fourteen months in hospitals, recovered. But that was the beginning. Operated on by San Francisco surgeon Mark Gorney, Kim spent years in corrective surgery. Ut, the photographer, opened a bank account with which donations might help the little girl. Kim moved to Havana where she studied pharmacology and, in 1992, married Huy Toan, another Vietnamese student.
There the story might have ended. Recently, however, the Reverend John Plummer, a Methodist minister in Purcellville, Virginia, revealed that he was the officer who had ordered the air strike on the village of Trang Bang where Kim was so sorely wounded. For years he has suffered overwhelming feelings of guilt. "Her photograph was indelibly burned into my heart and soul and was to haunt me for many, many years," he said. Then one day in 1996, he learned that Kim resided in Toronto. By the good work of several former helicopter pilots from the war, a reunion was arranged between Plummer and Kim. He knew he could never be set free of his guilt unless he could see Kim, could tell her how terribly sorry he was for what had happened. When he learned that two of Kim's brothers had died in the attack, he said, "Being in a pretty precarious emotional state already, this just pushed me over the edge. I began to shake all over as wracking sobs were torn from my body. I felt like I was going to scream at the revelation that not only was I responsible for Kim's burns but I had also killed her two brothers."
Then the moment came. A large crowd was present. They drew near to each other for the first time. "She saw my grief, my pain, my sorrow," Plummer said. "She held out her arms to me and embraced me. All I could say was 'I'm sorry; I'm so sorry; I'm sorry,' over and over again. At the same time, she was saying, 'It's all right, it's all right; I forgive; I forgive.' "
Plummer added this: "I was floating. I was free. I was finally at peace."
____________
Several years ago, I received a call from a funeral director asking me to perform a funeral for an elderly man who had died unexpectedly. He said the family had no church connection, so I agreed to do the service. That evening, I drove to the mortuary and met with the elderly widow. It was immediately apparent that they'd had a long and happy life together. The wife was devastated by grief. We talked for a time, then I left. Later that night, I began to think of that aged lady, her grief, her new loneliness. I began to pray for her and as I did, I experienced a strong sense of grief, one I would later find familiar when one of my own loved ones died. After a time, the feeling passed. The next day, when I went to the funeral home for the service, I sat with the wife again. She seemed composed. Still grief stricken, of course, she was much more able to talk and discuss her future. Then she told me something which sent a chill through me. She said that the previous evening, in the midst of her seemingly inconsolable grief, she began to feel a strange sense of peace. When I asked if, by chance, she could recall what time the peaceful feeling began, she named a time which I realized was almost exactly the time I had prayed for her. I have since been convinced that in praying for that lady, I was able to take a portion of her grief upon myself, just long enough for her to realize that she was not alone, that she would be able to handle her own grief.
_____________
One elderly, latter-day pillar of the church, after having the doctrine of original sin explained to her, is said to have exclaimed angrily, "Well, if all of us really are as bad off as that, then God help us." (Robert L. Short in The Gospel According to Peanuts.)
____________
Psalm Of The Day
Psalm 47 (C, RC, E) -- The great King over all the earth.
Prayer Of The Day
In lucid moments, O God, we see ourselves for what we sometimes are: selfish, thoughtless, preoccupied with matters important only to us. Yet we see something else; a hope, a possibility, a capacity for love which would give rather than get. Help us then, O God, to choose between the two, to become the best instead of the lesser, through the power of Jesus' love. Amen.
Lesson 1: Acts 1:1-11 (C, RC, E)
Jesus was taken up into heaven and was soon obscured by clouds. I'm sure there are some of us who interpret this literally, and there are many of us who assume this was poetic imagery. It doesn't really matter. What does matter is that here we have Luke, continuing the reports of his Gospel. After repeating his introduction to Theophilus, Luke tells of the unforgettable hour in which Jesus took leave of his friends after assuring them that they would soon receive an empowering Spirit, and after also making it clear that their questions about the future were inappropriate and would not be answered. As Jesus passed from view, two white-clad figures appeared, urging the apostles to get back to work. In effect, we have a stage setting here. Jesus, having reassured his friends (and us) that we would receive help in life, goes on and leaves the way open for those who are called into his service to quit staring into space and to get down to the hard work of living and teaching the faith.
Lesson 2: Ephesians 1:15-23 (C, E); Ephesians 1:17-23 (RC)
Paul addresses his Ephesian friends with great affection. They have won this affection by their faith and their loving attitudes. Paul reminds them that the power which will henceforth work in them is the same power as God used in raising Jesus from death. Paul concludes this section by giving what amounts to a benediction, affirming Christ as Lord of the church. For me, the most significant point to be made is the fact that Paul was praying for his people, asking God to give them the Spirit who will make them wise and give them mighty strength. Intercessory prayer. The New Testament doesn't directly address intercession, so much as it incidentally demonstrates it.
Gospel: Luke 24:44-53 (C); Luke 24:49-53 (E)
Jesus assures his disciples that the scriptures of their former faith have been fulfilled. They rightly foresaw that Jesus must suffer and die, then be returned from death. He then instructs them to return to the city until such time as "the power from above" settles upon them. Following this, Jesus disappears and the disciples go into the temple to give thanks to God.
Gospel: Matthew 28:16-20 (RC)
Jesus orders the disciples to go out into the world and win as many new adherents as they can. They are to baptize in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. It is notable that some of the people were troubled by doubt, but they still were prepared to go. Jesus, finally, promises to be with them always.
SERMON SUGGESTIONS
Title: "Faith In The Real World"
Text: Acts 1:1-11
Theme: The two white-clad figures in this report, perhaps angels, perhaps people sent by God, urge the apostles to return to their mission, assured that "Jesus, who was taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way that you saw him go into heaven." The apostles then return to Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives, where this remarkable event has taken place. One senses that the two men dressed in white were not insensitive to the feelings of the apostles. But they did apparently understand that there is a kind of religion which turns away from the arena of life and loses itself in meditation and speculation. That's not Christianity. Ours is a working man's faith, a means of facing the worst as well as the best of life with courage, strength, and integrity.
1. We are to live life with honor. That is the key requirement to this Christian faith.We are to exemplify all the highest qualities of humankind in the way we treat each other -- and in the way we treat others outside our faith. Jesus effectively substituted a twofold commandment for the myriad of little rules known to his hearers. We are to love God, and we are to love each other.
2. By living life with honor we can find happiness. There is no other way. Assuming a distinction between pleasure and happiness, one may derive a certain short-term pleasure as a result of dishonesty, or misrepresentation. It doesn't last. What we eventually discover is that God is the source of real happiness, and God withholds that gift from those who betray the values of his Son. That doesn't mean we have to be perfect. We all make mistakes, fall short, sometimes make a mess of things. As long as God sees that we're sincerely trying, I believe that He wills joy in our lives.
3. By living life happily with honor, we pass the habit to our children. Those of us who have done a lot of counseling have observed that almost everyone turns out like one or both parents. Exceptions may be dysfunctional families in which counseling has enabled change. But most of us end up saying "I sound like my Dad," or "I sound just like Mother." I am convinced that a child growing up in a home where Christian values are extolled and practiced will unfailingly become the same kind of person. Each person develops a unique personality, true. But values are learned quite early, are based more on observation than on moral preachments, and become the basis of a person's hope for the future.
Title: "Intercessory Prayer And The Power Of God"
Text: Ephesians 1:15-23
Theme: Paul assures the Ephesians that he is praying for them, and that he expects the results of that prayer to be the gift of the Spirit from God. That in turn promises wisdom and mighty strength. Furthermore, they will be continually enlightened about Jesus and his promises.
1. Intercessory prayer can change things. However, this does present certain theological problems. If I pray for you, am I not intruding into your life? Haven't you had someone offer to pray for you, and felt that he was planning to pray that you would finally see the light, or change your ways? Doesn't a bit of subtle manipulation easily creep into intercessory prayer? I have concluded that if any such motives lie behind our prayers they are rendered useless. I don't want someone, however sincerely, praying for God to change things in my life. Especially, I don't want someone who disagrees with my theology praying that God will "enlighten me" and make me change my mind and agree with the person doing the praying.
There is, however, a welcome form of intercession. I pray for every member of my family each day, and I'm guessing nearly everyone who reads these words does so as well. But I pray that they may be surrounded by love, that any strength I have may be shared with them, and that whatever need may trouble them at this time might be helped by God's power.
2. Intercessory prayer should ask for God's will. We can't really know to what extent a person is able to shut God out of his or her life. Even then, if God has created us to be free, I have no right to make a counter judgment. I also realize God doesn't have to wait around for me to pray in order to act in another person's life. I suppose we could raise this question with Paul. Does God wait to give the Spirit to the Ephesians until Paul gets around to praying? Obviously, that isn't true. God knows each of us, our needs, our bad habits, our destiny. God will do what God will do without help from me. And yet, I still believe in and practice intercession.
3. Intercessory prayer makes a difference when we are bonded together. There may be better words to say what I mean, but when we love someone, we establish a bond with that person. Usually it will be someone close to us, but it can be someone we've never met. You have probably seen a victim of some tragedy on television and impulsively prayed for that person. I believe that prayer was effective. Four years ago I asked my congregation to pray for a young woman who had struggled with cancer for several years, and was now headed to a major clinic for extreme, last resort treatment. Almost three thousand of us were gathered. Some knew the woman, most did not. But we all prayed for her to be healed. The woman came home from the hospital and reported that her condition had become markedly better. She soon went into remission and there has been no sign of cancer for four years. In some remarkable way, we combined to convey to her a healing power.
Title: "The Benefits Of His Passion"
Text: Luke 24:44-53
Theme: This passage brings us to the finale of Jesus' earthly ministry. In preparing to depart, he leaves his friends some final instructions. After reassuring them that things have not gone wrong, that the expectations contained in their scriptures are being fulfilled, and thus, God's will is operating, he asks of them that they fulfill their part by doing certain things.
1. We are to preach the message of repentance and forgiveness. As earlier discussed, repentance involves more than regret for past failures. Repentance is a turning away from the attitudes and values which led to those failures. Repentance requires an effort to become a new person. Of course, those of us who have tried to do this on our own will know that it's nearly impossible without help. I too often find myself slipping, saying something I swore I wouldn't say again, or rationalizing some minor misconduct as not being harmful, really. Just the other day I heard a fellow minister confide something about another clergy person which wasn't exactly a compliment. Instead of defending the absent person, or at least changing the subject, I listened intently. I collaborated in a bit of gossip of the kind I from time to time decry from the pulpit. The only way this change takes place is with help from God. Even then, it takes place slowly. My one hope is the realization that God will forgive me if I persevere in this process of change and growth.
2. We are to "witness" to these things. I understand this to be a rather sweeping request, that we not only exemplify repentance and forgiveness in our daily lives, but that the entire gospel of love be seen to operate in us. In other words, the best way to witness to forgiveness is to live like someone who has been forgiven. I have included a grand illustration of forgiveness, of living the gospel, below.
3. We are to receive a new power into our lives. That is the consequence of our effort to live the gospel. I don't know which comes first, a conscious commitment on my part, followed by the gift of power, or the gift of power, then followed by my commitment. Maybe it works both ways. Maybe it depends on my state of mind or my life situation. What I do know is that the two go together. I know that as I try to be what Jesus asked me to be, I feel a power at work, enabling me, encouraging me. I also know that sometimes, when my efforts lag, I sense something missing. It isn't that God gives up on me, or that I'm being punished. It's just that I am removing myself from the source of the power by exercising my freedom unwisely. I do, however, have a suspicion that God won't let me get too far away.
ADDITIONAL ILLUSTRATIONS
Nearly all Americans are familiar with the photograph which did so much to bring the tragic war in Vietnam to an end. It was the picture of a little girl, nine years old, running naked, terror etched on her little face, her body terribly burned by napalm. Other children also ran, terrified, burned, totally unable to understand the horror around them. The little girl's name was Kim Phuc. The photo was taken in 1972 by Associated Press photographer Nick Ut. When America saw that picture, she collectively knew that such insanity must not be allowed to continue. It was the beginning of the end of the war.
In the years that followed, Kim Phuc, having been rushed to a hospital for treatment which she was not expected to survive, having thereafter spent fourteen months in hospitals, recovered. But that was the beginning. Operated on by San Francisco surgeon Mark Gorney, Kim spent years in corrective surgery. Ut, the photographer, opened a bank account with which donations might help the little girl. Kim moved to Havana where she studied pharmacology and, in 1992, married Huy Toan, another Vietnamese student.
There the story might have ended. Recently, however, the Reverend John Plummer, a Methodist minister in Purcellville, Virginia, revealed that he was the officer who had ordered the air strike on the village of Trang Bang where Kim was so sorely wounded. For years he has suffered overwhelming feelings of guilt. "Her photograph was indelibly burned into my heart and soul and was to haunt me for many, many years," he said. Then one day in 1996, he learned that Kim resided in Toronto. By the good work of several former helicopter pilots from the war, a reunion was arranged between Plummer and Kim. He knew he could never be set free of his guilt unless he could see Kim, could tell her how terribly sorry he was for what had happened. When he learned that two of Kim's brothers had died in the attack, he said, "Being in a pretty precarious emotional state already, this just pushed me over the edge. I began to shake all over as wracking sobs were torn from my body. I felt like I was going to scream at the revelation that not only was I responsible for Kim's burns but I had also killed her two brothers."
Then the moment came. A large crowd was present. They drew near to each other for the first time. "She saw my grief, my pain, my sorrow," Plummer said. "She held out her arms to me and embraced me. All I could say was 'I'm sorry; I'm so sorry; I'm sorry,' over and over again. At the same time, she was saying, 'It's all right, it's all right; I forgive; I forgive.' "
Plummer added this: "I was floating. I was free. I was finally at peace."
____________
Several years ago, I received a call from a funeral director asking me to perform a funeral for an elderly man who had died unexpectedly. He said the family had no church connection, so I agreed to do the service. That evening, I drove to the mortuary and met with the elderly widow. It was immediately apparent that they'd had a long and happy life together. The wife was devastated by grief. We talked for a time, then I left. Later that night, I began to think of that aged lady, her grief, her new loneliness. I began to pray for her and as I did, I experienced a strong sense of grief, one I would later find familiar when one of my own loved ones died. After a time, the feeling passed. The next day, when I went to the funeral home for the service, I sat with the wife again. She seemed composed. Still grief stricken, of course, she was much more able to talk and discuss her future. Then she told me something which sent a chill through me. She said that the previous evening, in the midst of her seemingly inconsolable grief, she began to feel a strange sense of peace. When I asked if, by chance, she could recall what time the peaceful feeling began, she named a time which I realized was almost exactly the time I had prayed for her. I have since been convinced that in praying for that lady, I was able to take a portion of her grief upon myself, just long enough for her to realize that she was not alone, that she would be able to handle her own grief.
_____________
One elderly, latter-day pillar of the church, after having the doctrine of original sin explained to her, is said to have exclaimed angrily, "Well, if all of us really are as bad off as that, then God help us." (Robert L. Short in The Gospel According to Peanuts.)
____________
Psalm Of The Day
Psalm 47 (C, RC, E) -- The great King over all the earth.
Prayer Of The Day
In lucid moments, O God, we see ourselves for what we sometimes are: selfish, thoughtless, preoccupied with matters important only to us. Yet we see something else; a hope, a possibility, a capacity for love which would give rather than get. Help us then, O God, to choose between the two, to become the best instead of the lesser, through the power of Jesus' love. Amen.
