The Ascension of the Lord

Seventh Sunday of Easter, A

Ascension Sunday

June 1, 2014

First sermon preached at Alfonso United Methodist Church

Introduction

Today is the June 1, the first Sunday of June and the beginning of the new Conference Year 2014-2015. Today is also the Seventh Sunday of Easter, also celebrated as Ascension Sunday. According to the Bible, the Lord Jesus Christ ascended into heaven forty days after his Resurrection. This year we celebrated Easter last April 20. Counting forty days, Ascension Day is May 29, which is a Thursday, but it may be celebrated on the following Sunday.

The Ascension of the Lord is a time of transition. It marks the end of the bodily presence of the Lord on earth and the beginning of his indwelling presence in us through the Holy Spirit. According to our first reading today (Acts 1:1-11), Jesus appeared to his disciples on different occasions during a forty-day period after his Resurrection. Before he ascended to heaven, Jesus told his disciples not to leave Jerusalem "but to wait for the promise of the Father" (v. 4), i.e., the Holy Spirit.

Today is also a time of transition. We mark the end of the faithful ministry of the Rev. Jheny Agaser here at Alfonso UMC and the beginning of the ministry of yours truly. Our church itself is in a time of transition. We are saying goodbye to our old chapel which has served us for years and we are in the middle of the construction of a bigger and better chapel for the glory of God!

For us Christians, the Ascension of the Lord is a time for us to wait for the coming of Jesus. When the disciples saw how Jesus was ascended into heaven, two angels ("young men in white apparel") told them,

Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing into heaven? This Jesus who is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come, as ye have seen him going into heaven. (v. 11).

While we are waiting for the coming of Jesus, what should we do?

I. We should "open" the Holy Scriptures (Luke 24:44-45)

When the Lord Jesus appeared to two of his disciples on the road to Emmaus, he opened (in v. 27, διερμηνεύω, dihermeneuo, 'expounded'; in v. 32, διανοίγω, dianoigo, 'opened', also used in v. 45) to them the Scriptures--specifically the Jewish Scriptures, which the Jews call "the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms" (v. 44). (In Hebrew, the Torah [the Law of Moses], the Neviim [the Prophets] and the Ketuvim [the Writings; of which the Psalms is part]. Hence, the Jews call their Bible as the TaNaKh.)

As Christians, it is our duty to "open" the Scriptures. But the job of opening the Scriptures is not getting easier. Now it is easy to buy a Bible from the bookstore or download it into our smartphones. But despite of this the Bible remains a "closed" book--even to many Christians! Many Christians do not read the Bible anymore, or not longer like biblical sermons. This is exactly what St. Paul wrote to St. Timothy:

Preach the Word; be instant in season, or out of season....  For the time will come, when they will not endure sound doctrine, but will heap to themselves teachers, according to their own desires, having itching ears. And they will turn away their ears from the truth, and turn aside to fables. (2 Timothy 4:1-4)

This Conference Year, let us make a commitment to "open the Scriptures". We should not just settle for what "feels good" or what is "relevant". We should be committed to know what God is actually saying in his Word!

II. We should proclaim the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. (Luke 24:46)

As Christians, it is our duty to open Scriptures and help people understand what it means. What shall we proclaim? That it was "necessary" for Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead (v. 46). Our "opening" of the Scriptures should be centered on the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ!

The central message of the Bible is Jesus Christ himself. That is why when Jesus expounded the Scriptures to his disciples, "he explained to them the things in all the scriptures, concerning himself" (v. 27). This is the reason we have three scripture readings in the liturgy: the Old Testament points forward to Jesus; the New Testament (Acts, the Epistles, and Revelation) point backward to Jesus; and the Gospel are about Jesus himself.

As we "open" the Scriptures, we should always ask ourselves, What does tell me about God, (or Jesus Christ, or the Holy Spirit)? As St. Paul wrote to the saints in Ephesus,

The God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, through the knowledge of him. (Ephesians 1:17)

III. We should preach the repentance and remission of sins in His name. (Luke 24:47)

As we open the Scriptures and proclaim the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, we should also preach the "repentance and remission of sins" (v. 47). But preaching repentance and the remission of sins is not the popular thing to do. In fact, it can be an offensive thing to do. Some people even defend sinful behavior and call them "alternative lifestyles".

The word repentance (μετάνοια, metanoia) means 'to change one's mind' and remission (ἄφεσις, afesis) means 'release from bondage or imprisonment' and 'forgiveness and pardon for sins'. To repent means to change one's mind about sin--to see how destructive it is in our lives. To be remitted of our sins means that we are released from the bondage and imprisonment of sin. Repentance is the action of man (but we should always remember, only by the grace of God) and the remission of sins is the action of God, made possible by the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ!

Kaya po pag tinamaan kayo ng sermon ko, huwag po kayong magagalit. Unang taon ko pa lang naman kaya kung may tamaan man ako, 'di ko sinasadya. Ang dapat nga ay magpasalamat tayo sa Diyos dahil nararamdaman pa rin natin na gustong baguhin ng Diyos ng buhay natin para sa ating ikabubuti.

Conclusion

As we celebrate the Feast of the Ascension of the Lord, and as we begin this new Conference Year, let us commit ourselves to the opening of the Scriptures, the proclamation of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, and the preaching of the repentance and remittance of sins. May we be so committed until we see this Jesus who was taken into heaven comes again. Amen.