Sermon for Ascension Day

Friends, it is good for us to be together tonight. I’m grateful that after such a devastating week in the news, we can gather and say our prayers. Our hearts are impossibly heavy after yet another school shooting. With emotions still raw and overwhelming, it feels too soon for a lot of words. Tonight is a time for prayer.

But of course, preachers can’t resist saying at least a little something. Last week I was at a conference for pastors called, “After the Storm: Preaching and Trauma.” I think the organizers had preaching after COVID in mind, and how to lead communities of faith as we come out of the pandemic. But it didn’t take long for the theme to go wider. One of the keynote speakers made the point that we are always in a storm, or just coming out of one, or about to head into one. There’s really no such thing as “after the storm” these days. The storms are frequent, whether it’s a pandemic, or violence, or climate or countless other personal and collective traumas. It can be hard to catch one’s breath.

Given the world that we find ourselves in, the scriptures are speaking to me tonight in a different way than they have on other Ascension Days. In the past, I have tended to preach about Jesus needing to get out of the way in order for the disciples to get on with being the church. Jesus had to ascend so that they would stop relying on him for their every move and become his body in the world.

But tonight I hear two different messages. The first is that Jesus didn’t ascend to get out of the way. He ascended in order to be present in all of creation. It’s a power move, not an exit. Listen to how Paul puts it so beautifully in the letter to the Ephesians: “God put power to work in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the age to come. And he has put all things under his feet and has made him the head over all things for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.” The risen Christ now fills all in all, with authority and power and dominion over this crazy world of ours. Far from absence, the ascension of Christ is about his powerful presence all around us, a deeply hopeful proclamation.

The second thing that jumps off the page tonight is the how Jesus told the disciples to wait and to pray. “Stay here in the city,” he said, “until you have been clothed with power from on high.” According to the Acts of the Apostles, they headed to the upper room and prayed together after Jesus left. This was a sacred pause in the midst of tumultuous events, a moment to catch their breath. But it wasn’t just a moment of rest. It was a time to be filled with expectation. Jesus said, “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” They would be empowered to witness to the whole world, proclaiming Jesus’ message of repentance and mercy far and wide. The Spirit would come soon, and send them out.

The disciples had been through a storm. Having experienced the crucifixion, death, resurrection, and now ascension of Jesus, it was time for prayer. Prayer to prepare their hearts for the arrival of the Holy Spirit that was about to send them into the stormy world. It was time for hope. Hope to enliven their hearts to the Christian message of mercy and reconciliation and new creation. It was time for expectation. Expectation that the power of the ascended Christ would be with the church every step of the way.

Tonight feels like a similar pause. It is a night of prayer. It is a night be reminded that Christ fills all in all, and nothing is beyond his reach. It is also a night of hope and expectation for the church. It is a night to reclaim the divine promise that the Holy Spirit will push the church out into the world and be with us in our ministry.

So with the disciples tonight we pause and we pray. In the midst of the storm, we pray for hope, for courage, for one another’s needs, and for healing for all those in the midst of trauma. In this sacred pause, we add a prayer of thanksgiving for the one who ascended in order to fill all in all. And tonight we wait, not just to rest in the storm, but in expectation of big things yet to come from God. (Matt Skinner) We wait on the Spirit to come soon, and send us out.