Ascension Sunday Sermon
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, making s faithful in Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Please pray with me. Heavenly Father You gave us Christ as our Savior and by the power of the Holy Spirit have given us faith in Him to be His witnesses on earth. Grant that by the hearing of Your holy Word today we may be filled with Your Spirit, that we the Church would indeed be the fullness of Christ on earth who fills all in all; through the same Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns on high with You and the Holy Spirit, one God now and forever. Amen.
It seems it happens daily…multiple times a day. We get drawn into discussions online, or over the phone. Conversations…Debates…arguments…with friends, neighbors, family members. Law suits have been filed. Citizen against the government. Business and corporations crying foul. Articles are written, read and reposted…used as ideological ammunition in the war of words to defeats those who dare to oppose our own viewpoint. And is the Church immune to all of this? Are Christians blameless in these battles of he-said-she-said? No; not by a long shot.
I know, I, myself, have gotten wrapped up in online debate with friends, acquaintances and strangers on line more times than I wish to recall. Just the other day my wife, Kirsty, commented to me that she feared a relationship we have with some good friends might never be the same after the pandemic has subsided.
The following comments are excerpts from a post made this week by a fellow Pastor, Stephen Wiesenaur.
“Masks or no masks. Gather or don’t gather. Stay at home or go out. Someone is laughing all the way to the bank while Americans go after one another. Now in the last couple of weeks I’m hearing a sad theme repeating in churches - church members angry at their pastors and one another for not opening fast enough, [or] opening too fast…too many gathered, [or] not enough gathered… [calls to] stick it to the government, or [to] respect authority, etc, etc.”
People of God this division he is speaking of is not simply division out there in society at large, but division in the Church itself…and I can tell you, Calvary, this division exists right here in our own congregation. He continues…
Your pastors are doing their best, working their tails off, and under a tremendous amount of stress. So please encourage and support them and don’t turn against them now. Listen to the voice of [Christ] your good shepherd, and may the fruit of the Spirit abound.
That last part may seem like I’m being a bit self-serving, but let me be clear: I need your prayers, support and encouragement. Even if you disagree with the decisions the elders and I make with regard to closing or opening – the protocols we decide to put in place or refrain from – we need your prayers. I need them.
Your fears, and your faith, your wisdom and confusion, your physical, emotional, and spiritual health are all matters that are very important to me, and they weigh heavy on my heart each day. While I am pleased with certain aspects of how we as a congregation and I as your Pastor have responded to this crisis, there are multiple times each day that I lament our inabilities as a congregation…our unpreparedness…my own shortcomings and failures to be able to tend to all of the pastoral needs of our people.
For example, as great as it is that we have been able to do online services, many of our members have no internet access or ability to navigate the resources we have provided. Weighing the spiritual and emotional health of our individual memebrs against the physical emotional well-being of the congregation as a whole is a false dichotomy, and trying to solve the problem yields no easy answers. And that is just one of the things that I wrestle with daily.
But the division in the Church – the concern expressed by my wife about relationships being broken because of opposing views on these important but ultimately temporal matters – that is what weighs most on my recently. Because regardless of whether we can prevent the spread of the corona virus or we all end up getting it, unrepentant anger and malice will kill this and any other congregation that allows it to take root and grow.
However, there is another perspective on all of this that would benefit all of us. It was posted online by another brother pastor this week, Pastor Michael Michalk in Minnesota. He began with a prayer:
Dear God, thank You for sending the coronavirus to lead the world to repentance and faith in the only Savior, Jesus Christ. Many of us still didn't learn the lesson, but please give us another day. It takes us awhile to come to our senses. [Amen.]
Dear government leaders, thank you for all of your efforts to reduce the number of deaths caused by this pandemic. I will "put the best construction" on all of your decisions and will take you at your word that you are trying your best to serve all the people under your God-given authority. If you made any dumb decisions, I will forgive, as I hope you will forgive me too for the same.
I am not going to make "the government" or "the media" or any other institution or individual my adversary. I have seen how all the restrictions and executive orders and difficulties have served God's purposes, pushing me and other believers to really work at our connection with God and with each other, and I am immensely grateful.
So if you want to have an adversarial relationship with [the] Governor or President Trump or anybody else, have at it, but count me out. I don't want to be one of those Christians who on the one hand whines about what we're not supposed to do and on the other hand is happy about all the new opportunities for the Gospel that God has opened through this situation. I want to praise God in any and every situation - so if you catch me whining, I give you permission to call me out.
Those of you who want to criticize Christians, well, I admit we give you plenty of fodder for criticism. Please try to understand that's why we need Jesus Christ - because we know how foolish and sinful and hopeless we are.
Sometimes it's hard to tell who is really causing the difficulties - God? Satan? The government? The media? My own sinful self? But it really doesn't matter to me. Joseph said to his brothers, “Do not fear, for am I in the place of God? As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.” - Genesis 50:19-20
…Anything that is meant for evil, I'm going to ask God to turn it around for good.
So to anyone and anything who tries to shut down the church - thank you! It just gives God more ways to build up His church - and He's the only one who can do that.
In light of our readings today, as we observe the Ascension of our Lord, I especially loved that part of Pastor Michalk’s post that addressed those “who want to criticize Christians.” Rather than trying to self-justify and defend our feelings or behavior, Pastor Michalk did exactly what Christ has called us (the Church) to do. Pastor Michalk pointed to Jesus. He confessed his sins and the collective sins of every divisive, sinner/saint who makes up Christ’s body here on earth, and he testified to the fact of where our salvation lies…where anyone’s salvation lies. It is in Jesus Christ alone. Amen?
People of God, we are called to be at peace with all people insofar as it depends on us. We are called to love our neighbor as ourselves, even as we Love God with every fiber of our being. We have been called to prayer and to the praise of God. We are to fear Him alone and seek His favor. We are to trust in Him and follow Him, and gather in the name of Jesus Christ, our head. We are not called to division and rebellion but to the witness of Christ Jesus our Lord, in our homes, in our neighborhoods, in our nation, and the world.
It is easy to get wrapped up in all of the fear, anger and mixed messages of our day. It is easy to point fingers and hurl insults at those whose perspective and actions are different from our own. But I would call each of us to repentance. Each day…one more day of humble confession. We need to ask for God’s forgiveness for all the ways we make a mess of things:
- For the ways we let fear rule over us – fear of illness, or loss of income, fear of spreading the virus or of government: let us pray for faith in God to provide and protect. Lord in Your mercy, hear our prayer.
- For our foolish decisions and actions – for moving too fast or to slowly, for caring for some to the exclusion and harm of others: let us pray for forgiveness, healing and correction. Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer.
- For relationships God has given us: let us pray for forgiveness and reconciliation. Let us pray for humility and boldness that we may be the witnesses of Christ that He has made us to be. Lord, in Your mercy, hear our pray.
This we bring to You in the name of our incarnate, crucified, resurrected and ascended Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.