HAIL THE DAY THAT SEES HIM RISE!

SCRIPTURE

Ascension of Our Lord
Acts 1:1-11 (NRSV)

Jesus sends the apostles

In the first book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus did and taught from the beginning until the day when he was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. After his suffering he presented himself alive to them by many convincing proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God. While staying with them, he ordered them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait there for the promise of the Father. "This," he said, "is what you have heard from me; for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now."

So when they had come together, they asked him, "Lord, is this the time when you will restore the kingdom to Israel?" He replied, "It is not for you to know the times or periods that the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." When he had said this, as they were watching, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. While he was going and they were gazing up toward heaven, suddenly two men in white robes stood by them. They said, "Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up toward heaven? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven."

DEVOTION

Today is the day the Christian church celebrates the Ascension of our Lord. I don’t know about you, but in my church we rarely talk about the Ascension.

Most of us know about the ascension as a result of the words of the Apostle’s Creed. In that credo we state, “I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth. I believe in Jesus Christ, God's only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried; he descended to the dead. On the third day he rose again; he ascended into heaven…

What does it mean to ascend? Well, I looked it up in the dictionary and it said, “to go or move upward or to rise.”

The Ascension of our Lord is the day, 40 days after Easter Sunday, when the Christian Church remembers that Jesus ascended into heaven in the presence of his disciples. He had spent 40 days on the earth following his resurrection, showing himself to his followers, and helping them to grasp the reality of his being very much alive! He promised them that shortly after he ascended into Heaven, they would receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. Spirit would then enable and equip them to be Jesus’ witnesses.

It is not hard to imagine how the disciples felt as they watched Jesus ascend into the heavens. They had walked and talked with Jesus for three long years, witnessing his miracles, and being privy to his resurrection. They were looking forward to the restoration of the kingdom of Israel and had grand plans for things to come.

My how they must have been surprised when Jesus took them out a ways, kissed their cheeks, and waved good-bye, ascending into the sky!

This is such a funny image to me, but I am sure it was not a funny image to them. Scripture records that the disciples were so shocked by Jesus’ ascension that they stood stock still staring up into the sky until two angels came along saying, “"Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up toward heaven? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven."

Isn’t that wonderful GOOD NEWS?! I love thinking about the Ascension for several reasons.

First of all, the Ascension was only necessary because Jesus was resurrected from the dead just as he promised! Because Jesus did not stay dead after his crucifixion, he needed a way to return home. In a blaze of glory, Jesus simply ascended to heaven in front of his friends! What an awesome display of God’s power and might!

Secondly, I love the Ascension story because it reminds us of the importance of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Jesus told his disciples to wait on the Holy Spirit.

As Christians, we simply can’t do anything right apart from the work of the Holy Spirit. It is Spirit that teaches us to understand scripture, comforts us in the time of storm, and empowers us to be Jesus’ witnesses!

None of us would be able to effectively and convincingly share GOOD NEWS without the power of the Holy Spirit working in us and others giving us the wisdom, power, understanding, compassion, fortitude, and commitment necessary to do the difficult—and often messy work—of reaching the world for Christ!

Finally, I love the Ascension because of the angel’s promise that Jesus will come again! Hooray!

It makes me so sad that as Christians we only talk about being an Advent people in the winter time. I really don’t believe that is right!

We ought to be an Advent People all of the time. We have the sure and certain promise that Jesus is going to return to the Earth someday establishing a new heaven and a new earth! As Advent People we ought to be waiting with baited breath, living each day as if it could be our last, ever ready to welcome King Jesus upon his return!

Scripture teaches that no one knows the day or hour that Jesus will return! As a result, we must always be ready for him to return at an unexpected hour!

Isn’t the Ascension story grand! It is a vivid reminder of Jesus’ death and resurrection, the power of the Holy Spirit to make us into GOOD NEWS witnesses, and the sure and certain promise that Jesus will return to the earth in glory some day!

The Ascension is all about the victory of our God! I hope that celebrating this grand day will bring a smile to your face and a song to your heart as you live out the great commission to share our faith with all people, in all nations, until Jesus comes again!

Will you share the GOOD NEWS with someone today?


Holy God, thank you for Jesus and for the miracle of his resurrection! Thank you for the Ascension story and for the reminder that you are all powerful! Thank you that you were willing to use your power to save me from my sins and gift me with eternal life. I am so honored that you love me so much that you were willing to send Jesus to die on the cross to reconcile our relationship. Please forgive me of my sins and fill me with the Holy Spirit, so that I can be a faithful witness amongst my family, friends, colleagues, neighbors, and even my enemies! I love you, Lord! I want to share your love with others. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.





ANNOUNCEMENTS

Congratulations to the people who have recently put all of their faith in Jesus! We are so excited about your new-found faith in Jesus! You are in our thoughts and prayers!

If you would like to put all of your hope in Jesus today, please visit my blog entitled, “Putting All Your Hope In Jesus” located at
http://aintathatgoodnews.blogspot.com/2009/04/putting-all-your-hope-in-jesus.html

If you have additional questions about how to become a friend and follower of Jesus, please see the devotion entitled, "Come to Jesus"
http://aintathatgoodnews.blogspot.com/2009/03/come-to-jesus.html

Pastor Yolanda is now publishing another blog entitled, “A Spoken WORD” in celebration of Holy Hip Hop, Gospel/Christian Rap and Spoken Word. Please check it out @ http://aspokenword.blogspot.com/

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From Pastor Yolanda's blog http://aintathatgoodnews.blogspot.com