“Where Is the Hope!?!” (Eph. 1:15-23) Ascension May ‘22

 

1.                        Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Heavenly Father, and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. The message from God’s Word today as we celebrate the Ascension of our Lord is taken from Ephesians 1:15-23. It’s entitled, “Where is the Hope!?!,” dear brothers and sisters in Christ.

2.                        No good preacher would ever start a sermon with a four-letter word, much less base the whole sermon around it. But I’m going to anyway. That word is h-o-p-e: hope. You might be thinking that doesn’t count. Sure, hope has four letters, but it’s not that kind of four-letter word. I beg to differ. I think we live in a world where talking about hope is a little like burping at the dinner table. Everything is so bad, how can there be real hope? With the rise of depression all around us, drug overdoses, mistrust, and hatred, can we still have lives based in hope?

3.                        That’s why the word in Eph. 1:18 that serves as a centering point for the sermon on the Ascension of our Lord today is the Greek word, elpis, from which we get our English word, hope. Our human lives are driven by how we conceive of our past, our present, and our future. Do we look back on the past with nostalgia, with pride, or with guilt? Are we happy with our present circumstances in our lives or are we depressed by who and where we are? Do we view the future with anticipation or with dread? The Gospel of our Lord Jesus speaks to all three slices of time. The past is with forgiveness and reconciliation. The present is with the Lord’s Supper and Christ’s presence in his words of promise. The mode in which the Gospel speaks to the future is through hope. For Jews at the time of Jesus, the Greek word elpis, from which we get the word hope, was about the coming of the Messiah. Now for us Christians, according to the Apostle Paul, hope comes from seeing what Christ has already accomplished at the cross and in his resurrection and knowing that his ascension is what awaits us. Our future is in our ascending to the presence of Jesus’ Father and our Father in heaven, to his God and our God (Jn 20:17). That is our glorious inheritance.

4.                        We need hope. Hope is not the same as optimism. It’s tied to action, not attitude. The late British Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, in his book, “Celebrating Life,” pointed out that optimism is passive while hope is active. So, for example, optimism is having a gym membership. Hope is going jogging every morning.

5.                        Despair is the opposite of hope. It leads to inaction, guilt, and fear. As Martin Luther writes in the Small Catechism, when we pray “lead us not into temptation” we are asking that the Lord would “guard and keep us so that the devil, the world, and our sinful nature may not deceive us or mislead us into false belief, despair, and other great shame and vice” (Lord’s Prayer, Sixth Petition). With hope, we are able to move through the day, the year, through life. Without hope, everything begins to grind to a halt. Where can we find true hope? False hope is no hope at all. False hope causes us to live life trusting in a lie. Many cults have fixed an end date for the world, and people have built their lives around hope in something that turned out to be a lie.

6.                        That’s why false hope has a great cost. It can lead to bitterness, disillusion, bad living, rebellion against God. In short, false hope leads to despair and unholiness. As Jesus proclaimed, “A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit” (Mt 7:18).  The Apostle Paul ties real hope to Jesus, and specifically to his ascension. Because God has raised Jesus “from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 1:20), we have a real hope for our own future.

7.                        The Canadian company BioWare had a hit in 2010 with their video game, “Mass Effect 2.” The bad guys in the game are a race of aliens who are collecting all life in the galaxy, stripping it of intelligence, and making it serve them. Landing at one colony, the leader of this group speaks to his subordinates and says, “Prepare these humans for ascension.” It was very clear that he didn’t mean “get these humans ready to go up, up, and away.” He meant prepare to change them from being human into some other form.

8.                        Jesus’ ascension, in the same way, isn’t about him going up a divine elevator to some higher floor in the building. It means, as Paul writes, that Jesus has now been enthroned over all creation. Eph. 1:20–22 says, “that [God] worked 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 one to come. And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church.” Just as a king or queen “ascends” the throne, so, too, does our Lord now ascend. Just as Christ has ascended, so, too, will we on the great Last Day when we are raised from death and seated with Jesus in the heavenly places.

9.                        Real hope is found in Christ’s ascension. Jesus isn’t gone. He has been promoted and is taking us with him. When senior staff persons or politicians take new, higher positions, they often take their trusted staff with them. Such is the case with us. Christ is the Head, and we are members of the Body, the Church. If all things are under his feet, it means they are under ours as well (Ephesians 1:22–23).

10.                    We are trusted not because we are naturally trustworthy, but because Jesus has called us. He has given us “the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints” (Ephesians 1:18). It is Jesus who has called us to sainthood by the will of the Father, and it is by the Holy Spirit that we are given this wisdom and knowledge. This is the Good News: by Jesus’ death, resurrection, and ascension our sins are forgiven, and we inherit a portion of his riches by grace. We do not walk, talk, and eat with Jesus as the early disciples did. But if Jesus had not ascended, imagine the fighting among Christians for a seat next to him! Because he is ascended, he is with us all, and we can live lives of hope of being in his presence forever.

11.                    We have hope. Our world is awash in hopelessness. We hear a message of hopelessness every day. “The climate is changing, our cities will be flooded, and our coasts destroyed by waves of hurricanes.” “Viruses will take away our freedoms and lives.” “Faith in institutions is collapsing and people are turning ever increasingly to violence to solve their problems.” “Inflation of our economy and the rising cost of gasoline is making it harder and harder to get groceries and supply ourselves with our basic needs.” The market for hope is wide open.

12.                    Many are in the business of selling false hopes. We hear false hopes proclaimed every day as well: “This pill will help you live longer.” “This stock will make you rich.” “This party or person will save the country.” “This prayer will make everything all right.” Wolves in sheep’s clothing are all around us.

13.                    Jesus’ ascension gives us real hope. You know there is a God and that he cared enough for you to send his Son to redeem you. You know that His Son Jesus was crucified, died, and has ascended to rule over all things and be with us always as he promised (Mt 28:20). Ascension doesn’t mean “gone.” It means present in all the places he said he’d be: in his Word, in his Sacraments, among his people. That is our hope.

14.                    There are many great festivals in the church year. We all love Christmas, celebrating the baby Jesus, the manger, the angels and shepherds. Easter has its lilies and empty tomb and bewildered disciples. Pentecost pushes us out into the world to be the Body of Christ. Ascension is unique, in that its central message is hope. It centers our faith, strengthens us for what lies ahead, and gives us the promise of a better future.

15.                    Christ ascended to ensure us of our eternal place with Him. As the great hymn, “See, the Lord Ascends in Triumph” says, God “has raised our human nature On the clouds to God’s right hand; There we sit in heav’nly places, There with Him in glory stand. Jesus reigns, adored by angels; Man with God is on the throne. By our mighty Lord’s ascension We by faith behold our own” (LSB 494:5). That is our hope. Amen. Now the peace of God that passes all understanding, guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, until life everlasting. Amen.

“Walking with Jesus Through Suffering” John 16.23-33, Easter 6C May ‘22

 

1.                        Please pray with me. May the words of my mouth and the meditation of our hearts be pleasing in Your sight, O Lord, our Rock, and our Redeemer. Amen. The message from God’s Word on this 6^th Sunday of Easter is taken from John 16:23-33, it’s entitled, “Walking with Jesus Through Suffering,” dear brothers and sisters in Christ.

2.                        Jesus opens for us a way to walk through suffering and to sing our song of salvation as we pray to our heavenly Father. On the side of a tunnel in southwest Atlanta, there’s a street mural painted by Suzy Schultz. It was part of the Art on the Atlanta Beltline series. Near the opening of a tunnel, tagged with graffiti, stands the portrait of a singer, larger than life. His eyes are closed. His mouth is open. One imagines he fills the air with soulful sound.

3.                        Saint Cyril of Jerusalem once informed catechumens of a dragon who sat by the road. “In your journey to the Father of souls,” Cyril said, “your way lies past that dragon.” (Cyril of Jerusalem, "The Introductory Lecture" in The Works of Saint Cyril of Jerusalem vol. 1, trans. Leo P. McCauley and Anthony Stephenson (Washington: The Catholic University of America Press, 1969), 82-83). I thought of that quote as I saw this mural. To enter the tunnel, you must walk by the singer. Unlike Cyril’s dragon, however, this singer seeks to save rather than destroy your life. For people immersed in daily life in Atlanta - walking, jogging, or biking this path - the singer beckons them to be aware of another world, a world of grace which overcomes all suffering.

4.                        Something like this is happening in our reading from John today. Jesus is speaking to His disciples in the upper room. He is drawing His teaching to a close. His disciples are about to enter into the fear and confusion of His Passion. Jesus knows what will happen. As He tells them, “Behold, the hour is coming, indeed it has come, when you will be scattered, each to his own home, and will leave Me alone” (16:32). These disciples who have followed Him for three years, have seen His miracles, and have listened to His teaching, will ultimately desert Him. As darkness falls and evil arises, they will run and leave Jesus alone. He alone will bear the wrath of his Father. He alone will take the curse that has fallen upon all creation. And He alone will be their salvation.

5.                        Though His song is sorrowful, the words of Jesus promise His disciples life. Running away will not save them. What will save is His victory over sin, evil, and the fallen world. So, as His disciples are about to enter a dark tunnel, Jesus sings to them a song of His victorious love. “I have said these things to you,” Jesus says, “that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world” (16:33). Jesus will not take His disciples out of the world. He will not offer them a life free from trouble. No, Jesus is honest with us. In this world, we will have tribulation. But we will also have this eternal gift: Peace. Why? Because Jesus, in His death and resurrection, has overcome all sin, suffering, and tribulation in this world.

6.                        Since her husband’s death, Linda spent much of her free time watching television. She found herself dwelling on the horrific events described by the evening news. She worried about wars and violence, earthquakes, tornadoes, floods. Her friend and next-door neighbor, Vickie, noticed Linda’s pessimism about the world. Concerned that Linda was depressed, Vickie brought a cake over to Linda’s one afternoon. The two friends sat at the kitchen table, drinking coffee and eating lemon cake. Linda asked, “Doesn’t what’s going on in the world bother you, Vickie? Don’t you worry about the wars and droughts and starvation in the world?” Vickie sipped her coffee. “Yes. Those things do trouble me, but I don’t think too much about them.” “They’re all I can think about. They make me feel so awful,” Linda said. “How do you keep from letting the evil in this world get you down?” Vickie smiled. “Oh, it gets me down at times, but then I remember how right before he died on the cross, Jesus told his disciples: ‘Take heart; I have overcome the world’ [Jn 16:33]. Jesus is still in charge, no matter what. Evil things happen all the time, but we can always go to God with our concerns, knowing that in the end, through his sacrifice on the cross, Jesus has already taken care of all those things on the news. Even death couldn’t prevent him from taking care of us. He’ll be with us—and with the whole world too.

7.                Jesus offers us confidence that he has overcome our troubled world. Jesus speaks his farewell discourse to the disciples. He has told them many things using figures of speech (John 16:25). He is building them up to endure the future. All too soon, they will be scattered, for soon he will be betrayed (John 16:32). The disciples couldn’t imagine living in a world without Jesus, yet in a few hours that is just what they will experience. They will watch Jesus’ arrest, trial, crucifixion, and death. They could ask, “What is the world coming to?”

8.                In this uncertainty, Christ reassures them. Christ assures them of his victory: “But take heart; I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). Though Christ had yet to endure his cross, the outcome was assured. It was as good as completed (Lk 9:51). Christ would accomplish the task set out before him by the Father. If Christ has overcome the world, we can be confident about our futures.

9.                But we often still feel less confident about our futures in this world. I remember many years ago during the NFL playoffs, the Green Bay Packers were playing the Seattle Seahawks at home in Green Bay. The game went into overtime. When Seattle won the coin toss to start the overtime period, their quarterback said the infamous words: “We want the ball and we’re gonna score!” Well, history tells us they didn’t score, and Green Bay won the game.

10.             Other professional athletes have made such claims, guaranteeing a win, only to have their teams lose. But these kinds of predictions aren’t relegated to just the stadium or arena. How many polls during an election season have claimed one particular candidate would win a race, only to have the actual vote go the other way? That’s the problem with making guesses about the future, even with the most reliable information—predictions often end up being wrong.

11.             Surely, we’d have to be uncertain about the future if we’re predicting the future without remembering Christ’s words. We ask, “What’s the world coming to?” We agonize about the future. We worry about the world. We wrestle with our country’s problems. We forget what Christ tells us: “I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace” (John 16:33). We overlook the cross and resurrection; by them Jesus is able to say, “Take heart; I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). We neglect the future: “Now I am leaving the world and going to the Father” (John 16:28; cf. Acts 1:11).

12.             What are Christian to do, scattered throughout a pagan world that seems to thrive on hatred, violence, and oppression? Pray! For life in this uncertain world, Christ assures us that we can pray with confidence—in his name. Whatever you ask the Father in Jesus’ name, “he will give it to you” (John 16:23). The disciples had not asked anything in Jesus’ name, but now Jesus tells them that the time is coming to pray in his name. “Until now you have asked nothing in my name” (John 16:24). “Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full” (John 16:24).

13.             Through his life, death, and resurrection, Jesus has given us direct access to the Father. Jesus has given us the Father’s ear: “For the Father himself loves you, because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God” (John 16:27). As Christians, we have no need to ask, “What’s the world coming to?” Instead, we ask whatever we need—in the name of Christ, who has overcome it. So, with these words here in John 16, Jesus encourages His disciples then and His disciples today. He opens for us a way to walk through suffering and to sing our song of salvation as we pray to our heavenly Father (16:26-27). The peace of God, that passes all understanding, guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, until life everlasting. Amen.