Sermon Illustrations for Ascension of the Lord (2020)
Illustration
Acts 1:1-11
George Fox was born in July 1624, and he grew up in Leicestershire, England. When he came of age, he became a cobbler’s apprentice. Appalled by the lax moral standards of the men he worked with, he left the profession and began a long spiritual journey. In his travels he became disillusioned with the established church, considering that their liturgies and sacraments prevented spiritual discovery. Fox began to look to the “inner light” for inspiration. He wrote of this understanding with these words, “The Lord showed me, so that I did see clearly, that he did not dwell in these temples which men had commanded and set up, but in people's hearts... his people were his temple, and he dwelt in them.”
Slowly, he gathered followers to his way of understanding and relating to God. Because of their stance against the established church, they were condemned for blasphemy. Because of their stance as pacifists, they were considered enemies of the state. For these reasons, Fox and his followers were imprisoned. Fox spent a total of six years in prison.
In their meetings, everyone would remain silent. An individual would speak only if inspired to do so by the Holy Spirit. When a man or woman spoke, they would often tremble. This gave the group the derogatory name of “quakers.” Today the religious movement is known as the Quakers. George Fox referred to his followers as “friends.”
Ron L.
* * *
Acts 1:1-11
Does it really matter this Sunday whether you preach the gospel text of Luke 24:44-53 or the “Old Testament” reading from Acts 1:1-11? Aren’t they both the same? Isn’t this the same story? In both, Jesus ascends to heaven. That’s all that matters, right?
Actually, though Luke penned both versions, there’s an important difference between the two.
The Acts text reminds us of what Jesus said to his disciples, to the effect that no one knows the hour of judgement day. His followers stare slack-jawed into the sky waiting for what – his return? But they are scolded by heavenly beings to get moving, to go out and perform the great task of sharing the good news with the world. And we like the apostles, are not to stare into the heavens or try to calculate the date of Christ’s return, but to be about the Master’s work. We are sent out into the world, beginning with our own region, then getting out a little further afield, but always to remember the gospel is for all the world. Stop calculating. Start acting like you believe in Jesus.
Frank R.
* * *
Acts 1:1-11
On May 1, 2003, President George W. Bush stood aboard the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln to announce the end of the initial conflict with Iraq. Bush told the country, "In the battle of Iraq, the United States and our allies have prevailed." As he made the speech, the president stood under a banner proclaiming “Mission Accomplished.” Bush received much criticism for the banner even though the press misrepresented its intended meaning. What did it mean? The men and women aboard the Abraham Lincoln were returning home after being deployed for 11 months, much longer than the typical 5-6 months. The “Mission Accomplished” banner was for them, acknowledging they’d completed what they’d set out to do.
Completing what one set out to do; is there any better way to understand the ascension? It is the celebration of Jesus victory over Satan, death and the grave. It is his exultant triumph. His mission has been accomplished. Now, the disciples’ mission has begun. “You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” (vs. 8) We celebrate that Jesus did what he set out to do and now the task is ours.
Bill T.
* * *
Ephesians 1:15-23
Once again, we have a picture of a faithful community and the power and presence of God. We are reminded to seek wisdom and revelation from God. This spring, with the Covid-19 pandemic, it’s sometimes been hard to feel the presence of God. I admit it. The trials of the world and the stress and strain I see around me makes it hard to feel God’s presence sometimes. Yet, I need to only open my eyes and seek the vision to see God, to feel God.
In these days I have felt and seen God in the sun on my face as I talk a walk with my grandchildren. In these days I have felt and seen God in the faces of the pastors I have talked with and worshipped with electronically. In these days I have felt and seen God in the birds chirping and the azaleas blooming and trees greening.
Yet, mostly God has been revealed to me in the creative ways people are reaching out to help one another – the sewing of masks to protect people, the delivering of groceries to the front doors and porches of those in need, the chaplains praying for the congregants the pastors cannot see, the first responders and medical personnel working long hours and even giving up being with their families to keep helping. This is the revelation of God’s love in our midst. Praise God, help us never to cease to see God’s presence.
Bonnie B.
* * *
Ephesians 1:15-23
Before the pandemic, I rarely ordered things online. This is because I’ve only just moved to Atlanta from New York City, where I lived for six years. New York City is not a good place to order things to be shipped to you. Firstly, unless you are paying a ridiculous amount of money for an apartment in a building with a doorman, there’s only about a 50-50 chance you’ll actually receive the item you’ve ordered before it gets stolen, lost in the mail, or delivered to the wrong address. Even if you’re lucky enough to get one of those pink postal service slips in your mailbox that tells you that they’re holding your package at the local postal office, the lines for package pickup are always ridiculously long and never pleasant.
Secondly, New York City has everything you could ever need, at most a train ride away. There’s a bodega downstairs. The grocery store is across the street, and the pharmacy is a block away. If you want something, you just go to the store and pick it up. Since moving to Atlanta, and being without a car for about six months (since I’d just moved from NYC), I started ordering a lot more things online. My building has package lockers so my stuff doesn’t get stolen anymore, and the closest grocery store is 1.8 miles away.
One thing I noticed about ordering stuff online is that the anticipation of waiting to get something paradoxically feels so much more exciting than actually receiving the item. It’s like, in my mind, I build up the idea of what I’m going to get, so that when I actually get it, it’s a bit disappointing.
This is why I find Paul’s prayer so uplifting. He asks that God give the believers at Ephesus “a spirit of wisdom and revelation as you come to know him, so that, with the eyes of your heart enlightened, you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance among the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power for us who believe, according to the working of his great power” (Ephesians 1:17-19). Unlike the things I order, no matter how much anticipation we have, no matter how much we build up expectations waiting for Him, our glorious inheritance in Jesus Christ will be far beyond all imagination.
M T.
* * *
Ephesians 1:15-23
Paul says that the ascension entails that all things are under Christ. That’s a tough sell in our
context. As recently as 2008 a Pew Forum poll found 52% of American Christians think at least some non-Christian religions can lead to eternal life. The percentage is no doubt higher among the American public in general. But suppose Paul is correct and the whole cosmos is under Christ, reflects his being. This is the theological concept of the cosmic Christ, and we might well understand the ascension as a revelation of Christ’s cosmic power. Many process theologians claim that the creativity of the cosmos is a reflection of Christ’s creative love (John Cobb and David Griffin, Process Theology, esp. p.95). Famed French Catholic theologian of the last century Pierre Teilhard de Chardin wrote about how Christ permeates the world of matter:
I perceived the vibrant atmosphere which surrounds Christ like an aureole was no longer confined in a narrow space about Him, but radiated outward to infinity... The entire universe was vibrant! And yet, when I directed my gaze to particular objects, one by one, I found them still as clearly defined as ever in their undiminished individuality. (Hymn of the Universe, p.43)
Martin Luther King, Jr. taught a similar vision of the cosmic Christ:
Whether we call it an unconscious process, an impersonal Brahman, or a personal being of matchless power and infinite love, there is a creative force in this universe that works to bring the disconnected aspects of reality into a harmonious whole. (A Testament of Hope, p.20)
This insight is echoed in one of the comments of the Dutch heroine of the Holocaust, Corrie ten Boom: “No matter how deep our darkness – He [Jesus] is deeper still.” The ascended Jesus continues to impact everyday life.
Mark E.
* * *
Luke 24:44-53
Adelaide Pollard taught in several girls’ schools and became known as an accomplished itinerant preacher. With this skill she became involved in the ministry of several prominent evangelists. Pollard desired to become a missionary to Africa, but was unable to raise the needed funds for this endeavor, so she taught for years at the missionary training school at Nyack-on-the-Hudson. Though, she never lost her calling to be a missionary to Africa.
One evening in 1902, she attended a small prayer meeting. During that gathering, an elderly lady prayed with these words, “It really doesn't matter what you do with us, Lord–just have your way with our lives.” So inspired was Pollard by these words, that she went home that evening and wrote the hymn “Have Thine Own Way, Lord!” Just prior to World War I, Pollard became a missionary to Africa.
The first stanza of the hymn reads:
Have Thine own way, Lord! Have Thine own way!
Thou art the Potter, I am the clay.
Mold me and make me after Thy will;
While I am waiting, yielded and still.
Ron L.
* * *
Luke 24:44-53
Just as he did with the disciples on the road to Emmaus, Jesus does the same for the apostles: He “opens their minds to understand the scriptures.” They now understand the Hebrew scriptures as containing the key to the good news. The apostles are to be witnesses that the death and resurrection, and the need to preach repentance and forgiveness to all nations, beginning with Jerusalem, is in the book! This will allow Philip to unlock Isaiah for the Ethiopian eunuch. Simply memorizing the text won’t help. It’s understanding the interpretation! This version of the ascension encourages us to work on interpreting scripture together, so we understand how, in the fourth chapter of Luke, Jesus was able to unroll the Isaiah scroll and show how the description of the good news as the jubilee is fulfilled in him.
Since Jesus is present in our midst whenever two or three are gathered, this is an indication that interpretation takes place in the context of discussion and building consensus for meaning. We interpret scripture through the lens of Jesus – which does not mean that we look for proof texts that back up the story of Christ, but rather that we see the suffering and the triumph, the repentance, forgiveness, and reconciliation as part of the essential skein of all scripture.
Frank R.
* * *
Luke 24:44-53
In his commentary Colossians and Philemon: The Supremacy of Christ, R. Kent Hughes tells the story of an elderly woman in Africa who, through the work of a missionary, became a Christian. This woman was blind and couldn’t read or write, but she wanted to share her faith with others. One day, she went to the missionary and asked for a copy of the Bible in French. When she got it, she asked the missionary to underline John 3:16 in red and mark the page it was on so she could find it. The missionary was curious and wanted to see what she would do, so one day he followed her.
In the afternoon, just before school was out, she stood by the front door. As the boys came out, she would stop one and ask if he knew how to read French. If he said “Yes” she would ask him to read the verse that was marked in red and then she would ask, “Do you know what this means?” After that, she’d tell him about Jesus.
Twenty-four boys in that she led to become Christians, became ministers themselves.
Luke 24:47 notes Jesus saying, “Repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations.” That was the challenge given on the day Jesus ascended into heaven. It is still our challenge today. What are we doing to tell the world around us the best news we know?
Bill T.
George Fox was born in July 1624, and he grew up in Leicestershire, England. When he came of age, he became a cobbler’s apprentice. Appalled by the lax moral standards of the men he worked with, he left the profession and began a long spiritual journey. In his travels he became disillusioned with the established church, considering that their liturgies and sacraments prevented spiritual discovery. Fox began to look to the “inner light” for inspiration. He wrote of this understanding with these words, “The Lord showed me, so that I did see clearly, that he did not dwell in these temples which men had commanded and set up, but in people's hearts... his people were his temple, and he dwelt in them.”
Slowly, he gathered followers to his way of understanding and relating to God. Because of their stance against the established church, they were condemned for blasphemy. Because of their stance as pacifists, they were considered enemies of the state. For these reasons, Fox and his followers were imprisoned. Fox spent a total of six years in prison.
In their meetings, everyone would remain silent. An individual would speak only if inspired to do so by the Holy Spirit. When a man or woman spoke, they would often tremble. This gave the group the derogatory name of “quakers.” Today the religious movement is known as the Quakers. George Fox referred to his followers as “friends.”
Ron L.
* * *
Acts 1:1-11
Does it really matter this Sunday whether you preach the gospel text of Luke 24:44-53 or the “Old Testament” reading from Acts 1:1-11? Aren’t they both the same? Isn’t this the same story? In both, Jesus ascends to heaven. That’s all that matters, right?
Actually, though Luke penned both versions, there’s an important difference between the two.
The Acts text reminds us of what Jesus said to his disciples, to the effect that no one knows the hour of judgement day. His followers stare slack-jawed into the sky waiting for what – his return? But they are scolded by heavenly beings to get moving, to go out and perform the great task of sharing the good news with the world. And we like the apostles, are not to stare into the heavens or try to calculate the date of Christ’s return, but to be about the Master’s work. We are sent out into the world, beginning with our own region, then getting out a little further afield, but always to remember the gospel is for all the world. Stop calculating. Start acting like you believe in Jesus.
Frank R.
* * *
Acts 1:1-11
On May 1, 2003, President George W. Bush stood aboard the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln to announce the end of the initial conflict with Iraq. Bush told the country, "In the battle of Iraq, the United States and our allies have prevailed." As he made the speech, the president stood under a banner proclaiming “Mission Accomplished.” Bush received much criticism for the banner even though the press misrepresented its intended meaning. What did it mean? The men and women aboard the Abraham Lincoln were returning home after being deployed for 11 months, much longer than the typical 5-6 months. The “Mission Accomplished” banner was for them, acknowledging they’d completed what they’d set out to do.
Completing what one set out to do; is there any better way to understand the ascension? It is the celebration of Jesus victory over Satan, death and the grave. It is his exultant triumph. His mission has been accomplished. Now, the disciples’ mission has begun. “You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” (vs. 8) We celebrate that Jesus did what he set out to do and now the task is ours.
Bill T.
* * *
Ephesians 1:15-23
Once again, we have a picture of a faithful community and the power and presence of God. We are reminded to seek wisdom and revelation from God. This spring, with the Covid-19 pandemic, it’s sometimes been hard to feel the presence of God. I admit it. The trials of the world and the stress and strain I see around me makes it hard to feel God’s presence sometimes. Yet, I need to only open my eyes and seek the vision to see God, to feel God.
In these days I have felt and seen God in the sun on my face as I talk a walk with my grandchildren. In these days I have felt and seen God in the faces of the pastors I have talked with and worshipped with electronically. In these days I have felt and seen God in the birds chirping and the azaleas blooming and trees greening.
Yet, mostly God has been revealed to me in the creative ways people are reaching out to help one another – the sewing of masks to protect people, the delivering of groceries to the front doors and porches of those in need, the chaplains praying for the congregants the pastors cannot see, the first responders and medical personnel working long hours and even giving up being with their families to keep helping. This is the revelation of God’s love in our midst. Praise God, help us never to cease to see God’s presence.
Bonnie B.
* * *
Ephesians 1:15-23
Before the pandemic, I rarely ordered things online. This is because I’ve only just moved to Atlanta from New York City, where I lived for six years. New York City is not a good place to order things to be shipped to you. Firstly, unless you are paying a ridiculous amount of money for an apartment in a building with a doorman, there’s only about a 50-50 chance you’ll actually receive the item you’ve ordered before it gets stolen, lost in the mail, or delivered to the wrong address. Even if you’re lucky enough to get one of those pink postal service slips in your mailbox that tells you that they’re holding your package at the local postal office, the lines for package pickup are always ridiculously long and never pleasant.
Secondly, New York City has everything you could ever need, at most a train ride away. There’s a bodega downstairs. The grocery store is across the street, and the pharmacy is a block away. If you want something, you just go to the store and pick it up. Since moving to Atlanta, and being without a car for about six months (since I’d just moved from NYC), I started ordering a lot more things online. My building has package lockers so my stuff doesn’t get stolen anymore, and the closest grocery store is 1.8 miles away.
One thing I noticed about ordering stuff online is that the anticipation of waiting to get something paradoxically feels so much more exciting than actually receiving the item. It’s like, in my mind, I build up the idea of what I’m going to get, so that when I actually get it, it’s a bit disappointing.
This is why I find Paul’s prayer so uplifting. He asks that God give the believers at Ephesus “a spirit of wisdom and revelation as you come to know him, so that, with the eyes of your heart enlightened, you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance among the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power for us who believe, according to the working of his great power” (Ephesians 1:17-19). Unlike the things I order, no matter how much anticipation we have, no matter how much we build up expectations waiting for Him, our glorious inheritance in Jesus Christ will be far beyond all imagination.
M T.
* * *
Ephesians 1:15-23
Paul says that the ascension entails that all things are under Christ. That’s a tough sell in our
context. As recently as 2008 a Pew Forum poll found 52% of American Christians think at least some non-Christian religions can lead to eternal life. The percentage is no doubt higher among the American public in general. But suppose Paul is correct and the whole cosmos is under Christ, reflects his being. This is the theological concept of the cosmic Christ, and we might well understand the ascension as a revelation of Christ’s cosmic power. Many process theologians claim that the creativity of the cosmos is a reflection of Christ’s creative love (John Cobb and David Griffin, Process Theology, esp. p.95). Famed French Catholic theologian of the last century Pierre Teilhard de Chardin wrote about how Christ permeates the world of matter:
I perceived the vibrant atmosphere which surrounds Christ like an aureole was no longer confined in a narrow space about Him, but radiated outward to infinity... The entire universe was vibrant! And yet, when I directed my gaze to particular objects, one by one, I found them still as clearly defined as ever in their undiminished individuality. (Hymn of the Universe, p.43)
Martin Luther King, Jr. taught a similar vision of the cosmic Christ:
Whether we call it an unconscious process, an impersonal Brahman, or a personal being of matchless power and infinite love, there is a creative force in this universe that works to bring the disconnected aspects of reality into a harmonious whole. (A Testament of Hope, p.20)
This insight is echoed in one of the comments of the Dutch heroine of the Holocaust, Corrie ten Boom: “No matter how deep our darkness – He [Jesus] is deeper still.” The ascended Jesus continues to impact everyday life.
Mark E.
* * *
Luke 24:44-53
Adelaide Pollard taught in several girls’ schools and became known as an accomplished itinerant preacher. With this skill she became involved in the ministry of several prominent evangelists. Pollard desired to become a missionary to Africa, but was unable to raise the needed funds for this endeavor, so she taught for years at the missionary training school at Nyack-on-the-Hudson. Though, she never lost her calling to be a missionary to Africa.
One evening in 1902, she attended a small prayer meeting. During that gathering, an elderly lady prayed with these words, “It really doesn't matter what you do with us, Lord–just have your way with our lives.” So inspired was Pollard by these words, that she went home that evening and wrote the hymn “Have Thine Own Way, Lord!” Just prior to World War I, Pollard became a missionary to Africa.
The first stanza of the hymn reads:
Have Thine own way, Lord! Have Thine own way!
Thou art the Potter, I am the clay.
Mold me and make me after Thy will;
While I am waiting, yielded and still.
Ron L.
* * *
Luke 24:44-53
Just as he did with the disciples on the road to Emmaus, Jesus does the same for the apostles: He “opens their minds to understand the scriptures.” They now understand the Hebrew scriptures as containing the key to the good news. The apostles are to be witnesses that the death and resurrection, and the need to preach repentance and forgiveness to all nations, beginning with Jerusalem, is in the book! This will allow Philip to unlock Isaiah for the Ethiopian eunuch. Simply memorizing the text won’t help. It’s understanding the interpretation! This version of the ascension encourages us to work on interpreting scripture together, so we understand how, in the fourth chapter of Luke, Jesus was able to unroll the Isaiah scroll and show how the description of the good news as the jubilee is fulfilled in him.
Since Jesus is present in our midst whenever two or three are gathered, this is an indication that interpretation takes place in the context of discussion and building consensus for meaning. We interpret scripture through the lens of Jesus – which does not mean that we look for proof texts that back up the story of Christ, but rather that we see the suffering and the triumph, the repentance, forgiveness, and reconciliation as part of the essential skein of all scripture.
Frank R.
* * *
Luke 24:44-53
In his commentary Colossians and Philemon: The Supremacy of Christ, R. Kent Hughes tells the story of an elderly woman in Africa who, through the work of a missionary, became a Christian. This woman was blind and couldn’t read or write, but she wanted to share her faith with others. One day, she went to the missionary and asked for a copy of the Bible in French. When she got it, she asked the missionary to underline John 3:16 in red and mark the page it was on so she could find it. The missionary was curious and wanted to see what she would do, so one day he followed her.
In the afternoon, just before school was out, she stood by the front door. As the boys came out, she would stop one and ask if he knew how to read French. If he said “Yes” she would ask him to read the verse that was marked in red and then she would ask, “Do you know what this means?” After that, she’d tell him about Jesus.
Twenty-four boys in that she led to become Christians, became ministers themselves.
Luke 24:47 notes Jesus saying, “Repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations.” That was the challenge given on the day Jesus ascended into heaven. It is still our challenge today. What are we doing to tell the world around us the best news we know?
Bill T.
