Receive Blessings From Your Ascended Lord

When I coached hockey for my kids I would stand next to the rink where I had a good view of the players and could yell instructions.  I remember one game when I was yelling instructions so intensely, Mr. Henrickson even turned to me and said, “Pastor Hering!”  Oops!  If there is an intense battle going on, where should the general of the army stand? Well, he needs to be close to the combat but not too close. He needs to be able to get “the big picture” of the whole battlefield. Where should the leader of a nation live and keep his office? Where should the CEO of a major company with offices around the world spend his working hours? The employees of the company might have all kinds of ideas for where their boss needs to be. But obviously he needs to be in the place where he can be most effective and can give the best leadership.

Today as we remember the ascension of Jesus forty days after his resurrection let’s answer a similar question about him. As the victorious Savior of all people, of all time, of all places, where do you think is the best place for Jesus to be? It seems that the disciples thought the best place for Jesus to be was with them as he had been for over three years. We might think that Jesus should live at Camp Shiloh—the most beautiful camp in the world!  Wait, comparing Jesus to a coach, where should he stand to help us who are running the race of faith? Picturing Jesus as a commander, where is the best place for him to lead his soldiers as they fight the good fight of faith? And as the ruler of the Kingdom of God, where should he keep his office? According to these verses from Ephesians 4:7-16 Jesus ascended into heaven so we might receive the best blessings from our Ascended Lord. May the Holy Spirit bless our time spent on this word of God together to

Receive Blessings From Your Ascended Lord

Jesus gives Grace to his people

From a human perspective the Apostle Paul could have been wondering about the wisdom behind Jesus’ ascension into heaven. After all Paul wrote this letter to the Ephesians while he was a prisoner in Rome. It might have seemed as though Jesus had forgotten him and the whole Christian church on earth. But through the Holy Spirit Paul didn’t look at things that way. He was convinced that Jesus had ascended to the highest throne in the whole universe. From there at the right hand of the Father Jesus ruled all things for the good of his church. He sends exactly what his followers need, when they need it.

Listen again to how Paul revealed his understanding that Jesus was exactly where he needed to be to rule all things for the good of those who love him.

“⁷ But to each one of us grace was given, according to the measure of the gift from Christ. ⁸ That is why it says, “When he ascended on high, he took captivity captive and gave gifts to his people.” 

Through the eyes of faith that the Holy Spirit gave to Paul he saw Jesus’ ascension as a great source of blessing for his followers on earth. The ascension restated loudly and clearly that Jesus had won complete victories over the curse of sin, Satan’s accusations, and the grave’s power. Then from his high throne in heaven he is able to pour out his love, forgiveness and grace upon his people.

O how we love the gift of grace that Jesus gives from his place of power.  We have forgiveness of our sins and eternal salvation. Paul stated that truth back in Ephesians 2:8-9 of his letter,

“8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast.”

And how did that grace reach the Ephesians? It came to them through the ascended Lord Jesus who was working through the Word of God and the Sacraments he instituted for his church on earth to use. None of Jesus’ followers had to make a trip to the “home office” in Jerusalem in order to receive forgiveness. Since he rules all things and fills all things he can bring grace to people everywhere as they gather in his Name.

But Paul is also speaking of specific gifts of grace that Jesus gives to every one of his followers. Unlike a coach, or a general, a government leader or a business executive Jesus works in the heart and soul of his followers to give them what they need for service. But like a coach Jesus offers the gift of encouragement to all his followers as he comes to them through his Word. And like a general Jesus also gives protection all his followers into battle against the enemies of God’s Kingdom. Listen again to how the Apostle Paul went on to describe Jesus’ ruling of all things for the good of his followers. He made this statement in verses 9-10.

⁹ Now what does it mean when it says “he ascended,” other than that he also had descended to the lower parts, namely, the earth? ¹⁰ He who descended is the same one who ascended far above all the heavens, so that he might fill all things. 

The place for Jesus to do the most for his church was everywhere! And the way to extend his presence everywhere and his power over all things was to ascend to his Father’s presence. There he resumed the full and constant use of his divine power.

If we put our heads together we could probably come up with some legitimate reasons why we’d like Jesus to be visibly with us right now. But ultimately we are called upon to accept God’s Word. The reasons for Jesus’ ascension have been stated in this way, “At the Ascension Jesus left the Here for the Everywhere; He left the Time for the Eternal; He left the First Century to fill All the Centuries.” By faith may we accept that line of thinking and give thanks for what the ascension now enables Jesus to do. He gives gifts of grace to all his people—to you and to me.

Jesus gives Leaders for his people

The Apostle Paul continued his explanation of the ascension as a source of great gifts for Christians. Talking about Jesus he wrote,

“¹¹ He himself gave the apostles, as well as the prophets, as well as the evangelists, as well as the pastors and teachers, ¹² for the purpose of training the saints for the work of serving, in order to build up the body of Christ. ¹³ This is to continue until we all reach unity in the faith and knowledge of the Son of God, resulting in a mature man with a stature reaching to the measure of the fullness of Christ.”

Jesus isn’t like a coach who left his team behind, or a general who walked away from his army, or a government official who walked off the job, or a CEO that left his office to go golfing. Jesus ascended into heaven and from there has given an endless supply of workers to his church on earth. Paul says that he first gave the church the apostles. And now he still gives pastors and teachers, missionaries and staff ministers. He speaks through them and works through their ministries of service to others. Instead of appearing directly to each person Jesus sends Christian leaders to build up believers in the faith and to prepare them for works of service.

Showing true leadership Jesus doesn’t do all the work himself. He leads. He involves all of his people in the work of the kingdom. Some he calls to do special work on behalf of all the others. We call that “public ministry” not because it is done in public but because it is done at the request of a group in their name. Evangelists may serve part time on an Outreach Committee or full time as called workers. Teachers may be full time in a parochial school or part time volunteers in Sunday school or VBS. The call to serve on behalf of a group of Christians is the same. Pastors may be full time or part time workers. They may receive their living from a congregation or do what is called “tent ministry.”

These verses remind me of how the Lord led me into the ministry. My mom tells me that when I was in kindergarten I stood on the ledge of the fireplace and said, “I want to be a missionary and tell people about Jesus.”  But to get from that fireplace to this pulpit took the encouragement of my mom and dad, my grandpa, my pastors and teachers. Through high school, college, and seminary the Lord of the Church supplied his grace and gifts so that I now have the privilege of standing in this pulpit and being the under-shepherd of one of God’s flocks.  So it is good for us to gather and consider this important part of Jesus’ ascension. Instead of leading the church himself, he gave Leaders for his people in every generation so that we would receive spiritual blessings from our Ascended Lord.

Jesus gives Growth through his people

The disciples were certainly blessed in so many ways as they lived side by side with Jesus.  But, even they still needed to grow in the their knowledge and faith.  Like you, I’m also amazed that at Jesus’ Ascension account the disciples ask Jesus,

“Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?”

The disciples were still expecting Jesus to sit on a throne in Jerusalem. They wanted an earthly kingdom with all the glory and majesty of King David or King Solomon. Jesus simply reminded them of their mission to be his witnesses. Soon they would learn what kind of kingdom Jesus was destined to rule. When the Holy Spirit was poured out upon them and after they grew, God through them would grow his Church!

In the last three verses the Apostle Paul saw how the ascended Lord Jesus would bring all his followers together.

“¹⁴ The goal is that we would no longer be little children, tossed by the waves and blown around by every wind of teaching, when people use tricks and invent clever ways to lead us astray. ¹⁵ Instead, speaking the truth in love, we would in all things grow up into Christ, who is the head. ¹⁶ From him the whole body, being joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows in accordance with Christ’s activity when he measured out each individual part. He causes the growth of the body so that it builds itself up in love.”

Far from being distant and ineffective Jesus continues to grow, strengthen and build up his followers.

But now we have to ask ourselves a question. Are we standing around staring into heaven wishing Jesus hadn’t ascended?  Or are we putting to use the gifts of grace he offers? Are we honoring the Word of God shared by the pastors and teachers Jesus sends us? And are we growing up in faith and strengthening our attachment to Christ? Obviously we have reasons to repent and room to grow in our Christian life.

“He ascended into heaven.”

We pass over those four words fairly quickly as we confess our faith using the Apostles’ Creed or the Nicene Creed. But there are some very significant and comforting truths embedded in that short phrase.

Jesus told his disciples that he was going to prepare a place for them in heaven. That is certainly one awesome aspect of Jesus’ ascension. It still brings us comfort today. He has prepared a place for each of us. Our Savior also told his disciples that when he ascended he would send the Holy Spirit to them. Jesus is still making good on that promise through the preaching and teaching of his Holy Word. Jesus’ ascension also reinforces the news that echoed from his empty tomb. Everything that he did for our salvation has been completed and completely accepted by God the Father. He was victorious over the curse of sin, and Satan’s finger pointing, and the grip of death. His ascending into heaven and being accepted there by his Father assures us of those facts.

If you’re coaching hockey and leave the players box, your team will get a penalty.  Even in baseball they have lines drawn on the 3^rd base and 1^st base areas where the coaches should be standing.  But, our Savior Jesus has Ascended into heaven.  However, he isn’t restricted to a particular time and place. Jesus is with us, and with believers all around the world.  Jesus is pouring out his gifts of grace on us, providing leaders to bring us the Good News of forgiveness, life and salvation, so that we might continue to grow up in the knowledge and love of our Savior, Jesus Christ.  May we all continue to be richly blessed from our Ascended Lord!  Amen!