This past Thursday, May 14th, was the Feast of the Ascension of our Lord, the 40th day after the Lord’s resurrection from the grave. Tomorrow, Sunday, May 17th, we will observe this feast and celebrate it.

It might seem like this is a formality: the Christian Church is supposed to mark the special days of Jesus. This is a very religious thing to do, etc (though I’m not sure how this makes a difference in my life today)!

This thought-line misses the significance. The ascension of our Lord assures you of God’s presence in your life. He is not far away even though reason wants to say, “Well if Jesus was taken up into heaven, he’s far away.” No. The result of the ascension is the direct opposite of this idea. Christ entering into heaven in glory means that He lives for us with no restraints. He has entered the position of glorious reign while He remains more than interested in helping you, in saving you, and in guiding you. The ascension means that we have assurance that God — in Christ — really is with us!

*** Tomorrow is also a day of a special offering. We will do something that we do not do very often: after the regular offering, there will be a secondary special offering to raise funds for military BibleSticks (with the digitized New Testament) for our U.S. troops. For every $100.00 we raise, we will sponsor four (4) troops. A squadron represents 12 troops; a platoon has 40 troops. Let us ask the Lord to lead us to see how we might give God’s Word to the men and women who defend our nation.

*** Please keep in prayer: today, Saturday, May 16th, is the funeral of Ray Hulett’s brother Ryan. Please keep Ray’s family in prayer and pray that the Gospel would be powerfully proclaimed.

Also please keep Chris Panichi’s mother, Janet Panichi, in prayer. She had surgery for an aneurysm this past Tuesday. She is still recovering in ICU.

In addition, please keep Don Cittel in prayer as he has now been in hospice for about two weeks.

*** We all carry many burdens and tomorrow the Lord will give us His body and blood. He will give us the greatest resource in the world by doing so. Of course, I understand why so many have no thirst or urgency for this gift. To them, it is only bread and wine. It is nothing but a remembrance and to remember is something one can do anytime. But to others who know the truth: Jesus keeps His word. He says it is His body; it is His blood. These pour out continually our life-line; they give forgiveness; and this relieves the soul of the terrible loads we bear. Come to the feast; come and receive your Savior in what gives healing and strength. I rejoice to offer it to you!

Here is an excerpt from tomorrow’s sermon:

Ascended…and Closer Than Ever Before

(Luke 24:44-53)

Pastor Espinosa

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and from our Ascended Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen! Alleluia! Christ is ascended! He is ascended indeed! Alleluia! Yes, it is good and right to say “alleluia” on this great feast of the Ascension which we observe today (though it officially landed on the 40^th day of Easter, this past Thursday). And even though this day of the Ascension of Christ is so important in the Word of God and in the life of the Holy Church, it is a day that many are confused about. What is this ascension all about?

 

Well, what it is clearly not about is any inference or idea that the Lord Jesus is now further away from us; that He was taken far, far away to observe us from His heavenly throne that is totally detached from us His people. No way! Much to the contrary, the ascension of our Lord – when He ascended on high in glory – is a day that has established that our Savior and Lord Jesus Christ is now closer to us than ever before!

 

I would like to point out some important Scriptures from the book of Acts which were events that occurred after the ascension. So Christ indeed ascended into heaven, but notice how He continued to interact with His people still on earth:

 

The first example is the stoning/the martyrdom of St. Stephen. He had proclaimed the Word of the Lord and convicted those he was preaching to. Those who heard him were enraged, and they ground their teeth at him (Acts 7:54) and were on the verge of stoning him, but note what is recorded at Acts 7:55:

 

“But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God.”

 

Stephen had proclaimed the Word of Truth, he was full of the Holy Spirit and He saw the Lord Jesus right before he died! Jesus was there. Jesus was with him!

 

Consider also Acts 9:3-5. In this Scripture St. Paul in his pre-converted state was known as “Saul;” he was actively persecuting the Church. He was on his way to arrest Christians on the road to Damascus, but this is what the Word of God records:

 

“…and suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. ⁴And falling to the ground he heard a voice saying to him, ‘Saul, Saul, why are persecuting me?’ ⁵And he said, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ And he said, ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.’”

 

Jesus – the King of Kings who ascended into heaven – was right there speaking to Saul who was in the process of being converted into the mighty St. Paul. It was Jesus Himself conducting this great work for Paul’s re-birth!

 

Finally, consider Acts 23:11. St. Paul was before the Jewish council and witnessing to Ananias the high priest and the other chief priests. The meeting got violent and so soldiers were commanded to take Paul away into barracks (Acts 23:10). Then, the Scriptures record this in Acts 23:11 which reveals when the Lord Jesus came to Paul again:

 

“The following night the Lord stood by him and said, ‘Take courage, for as you have testified to the facts about me in Jerusalem, so you must testify also in Rome.’”   

 

But this evidence from the book of Acts is just the icing on the cake and it might be argued that the “cake” itself is our Gospel this morning from Luke 24! Our Lord demonstrates that He is always with us as we glean from verses 44-52 in Luke chapter 24:

 

1. By virtue of the Holy Scriptures “written about [Him].” To have the Word of Christ is to have Christ. Our Lord comes to us through His Word!
2. By virtue of His power to open our minds to understand the Scriptures. He is working on you to this day to increase your understanding of His healing and liberating Word!
3. By virtue of the power of the Gospel itself which proclaims that He had to suffer and then be raised from the dead to convert people to God through what is conveyed by this Gospel: namely the forgiveness of sins.
4. By virtue of the powerful ongoing ministry of Christ’s Church with and through which our Lord is always working repentance in the lives of people through His proclamation in His office of the ministry. That is the Gospel works in us to turn us from sin and towards God. Christians are serious about leaving sin behind…this is a sign of Christ’s presence!
5. By virtue of His sending His disciples out to be His witnesses who according to the Word are “clothed with power from on high.”
6. By virtue of His lifting up His hands to bless. He did so for the original disciples and He does so to this day through His office of the ministry.
7. By virtue of being here with us as we worship Him to this day…worshipping Him with joy even in the face of our many trials because we know He has not left us alone.

 

But finally and most importantly is the ascension itself. It means as the Scriptures teach in our epistle from Ephesians that Christ “fills all in all.” One example of this is the fact that the Holy Spirit is also the Spirit of Christ and where the Holy Spirit is, Christ is. If the Holy Spirit fills you, then Christ is with you. You who are baptized…you know who you received: you received the Holy Spirit; and that means you also received Christ! This is for all intents and purposes beyond our capacity to grasp and yet is true. The Almighty God who is uncontainable – and this is a deep mystery – has at the same time chosen to be with you and to be in you (John 14:20).

 

So Christ has ascended and it means quite simply dear Christian that He has never been closer to you than He is now. You are never alone. Jesus is with you. His ascension guarantees it. He who is ascended can do anything, and He has chosen to guarantee and to promise that He is with you always! And after this sermon is done, He will demonstrate this promise again in the intimacy of the Holy Sacrament in and through which He gives you His very body and blood. These are no mere signs; they are the guarantees that the ascended Lord has given us ways to know God is with us!

[and to hear the rest of the sermon which emphasizes and applies the Gospel]

In Jesus’ Love,

Pastor Espinosa