Something happened last Thursday, and I’d be willing to bet that almost every one of you missed it. It happened right here in Pana, Illinois, and it didn’t have anything at all to do with Pana Days. It also happened in Springfield and Decatur and every city, town, village and unincorporated area of Illinois. It happened in every state in the nation. It happened in every nation of the world. Some people noticed, but many – in fact, most – didn’t.
What happened last Thursday was Ascension Day, the day that the Christian Church celebrates Christ’s ascension into heaven 40 days after His resurrection.
When I was young – and I realize that’s quite a while ago – Ascension Day was an important day in the Lutheran Church – indeed, in many denominations of the Christian Church. When I was young, my home church of Trinity Springfield always had an Ascension Day service, and I’m told that St. Paul used to hold one, also. But historically, attendance at Ascension Day services was always – well, shall we say, kind of light. And in succeeding years in most churches, it steadily got even worse. Little by little, one church after another decided to quit having an Ascension Day service. Some still hold them. Many don’t.
The problem is not just that churches don’t hold Ascension Day services – but that many churches don’t even pause to mention Ascension Day. We’re still getting over all the rush and excitement of Easter and next Sunday we’ll be celebrating Pentecost, so Ascension Day gets lost in the shuffle. It’s just another Thursday that comes and goes. Jesus ascended into heaven – and nobody even notices.
Oh, sure, we confess the ascension in our Creeds. It’s right there in the second article of both the Apostles’ Creed and the Nicene Creed: “He ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty.” We said those words together just a few minutes ago. But we tend to put so much emphasis on what we see as the “big” Christian holidays – Christmas and Easter – that the others pretty much fade into the background.
So what’s the big deal about Ascension Day? Let me read to you the Gospel lesson appointed for Ascension Day, taken from the final words of the Gospel of Luke: “Then he said to them, ‘These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.’ Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, and said to them, ‘Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. And behold, I am sending the promise of my Father upon you. But stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.’ Then he led them out as far as Bethany, and lifting up his hands he blessed them. While he blessed them, he parted from them and was carried up into heaven. And they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and were continually in the temple blessing God.”
You have to wonder if Jesus’ disciples may have felt more than a twinge of sadness as they saw Him ascend into heaven. After all, they had been His devoted followers for roughly 3 ½ years. It was just a few weeks ago that they were emotionally devastated when Jesus was arrested and murdered. It was only a few weeks ago when their sorrow turned into unimaginable joy as their risen Lord returned to them – first in the upper room on Easter evening, and then on repeated occasions during the next 40 days. But if they felt any sadness on Ascension Day, neither Luke nor the other Gospel writers mention it. Instead, what our text emphasizes is that they are filled with a great joy.
What Jesus had come to this earth to do, was now done. He had come to fulfill God the Father’s plan of salvation for humankind, a way by which people could have their sins canceled, a way in which a person could get back into a right relationship with God. Jesus did that, taking on himself the punishment we deserved. He paid the full price of our sin. He died on a cross. Then He rose again from death and appeared to the disciples over the next 40 days. He wanted his followers to be absolutely certain that He was alive again. Then, His mission on earth completed, Jesus went back to heaven. And with that, Jesus was gone from this earth. No longer would the disciples be able to share a meal with Him. No longer could they ask Him to explain something they didn’t understand. Jesus was gone.
And yet, He wasn’t gone, not really. Visibly, they would see Him no more. But invisibly, He would still be right there with them. With us. This is what Jesus says in Matthew’s account of the ascension, where our Lord is quoted as saying, “And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” And He didn’t mean merely in their memory.
When someone close to you dies, someone who for years has been part of your life, in a sense that person lives on in your memory. You can’t help but remember times that you shared together, places where you went together. “Sometimes,” a person will say, “it seems as though she’s still alive.” And that’s fine. Memories can help ease the pain of parting. However, that is not what Jesus is referring to here. That is not what He means when He says, “I am with you always.” He’s talking not only about the memory of Him, but that He personally is going to be right there at your side.
It’s not unusual for Christians to say something like, “I don’t understand how Jesus can be here with me and there with you and with other Christians all over the world, all at the same time.” It’s something miraculous, of course. It’s something that only God can do. Yet God gives that same assurance time and time again in Scripture. Through Moses, when God’s people were about to enter the Promised Land, “It is the Lord your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you.” To the apostle Paul, at one of those times when his enemies were persecuting him, “Do not be afraid … for I am with you, and no one will attack you to harm you.” When God speaks, His words are not intended only for Moses or the Children of Israel or St. Paul or even just for the disciples 2,000 years ago. “I am with you always,” Jesus is saying also to us, “to the end of the age.” Jesus promises that until this world comes to an end, until that time when He returns visibly as the judge of all, He will be invisibly with us always.
Jesus is with us in the Lord’s Supper. That’s why it is called the “Lord’s Supper.” It’s not much of a meal, as far as meals go. When you partake of the Lord’s Supper, I seriously doubt that any of you skip lunch after Church because you’ve had enough to eat. What you get here is a little piece of bread and a sip of wine. The important thing, however, is that you get Jesus himself in this Sacrament, His body and His blood. We call this the real presence. Jesus, our Savior, is really present, He tells us, in this Sacrament. He is actually and truly here. Invisibly, yes. Yet He is really here. When you eat of this bread and drink of this wine, you are receiving Jesus Christ Himself into your heart and life. You are receiving the forgiveness of sins.
Another way the ascended Jesus is with us is in His Word. When you read the Bible, when you take part in some kind of group Bible study, when you listen to a sermon based on what God says in his Word – Jesus is here with you. He makes that a specific promise, “For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.” Still another way Jesus comes to you is in answer to your prayer. In Isaiah 58 we read, “Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer; you shall cry for help, and he will say, ‘Here I am.’”
Years ago I saw an outdoor church sign that said, “If Jesus is not as close to you anymore as He used to be – He’s not the one who has moved.” That is so true to what Jesus Himself tells us in His ascension. Jesus wants to be close to you. He wants to be right there with you in your everyday life. He loves you. He gave Himself on the cross to pay for your sins. And as long as you don’t shut Him out of your life, as long as you don’t move away from Him, He will continue to be part of your life.
Jesus ascended into heaven. Visibly, the disciples could see him no more. But invisibly Jesus is still here with us. Take with you today this ascension promise of His. Believe what He says. “I am with you always.” That’s why what happened last Thursday – that’s why Ascension Day – is so important.
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