ASCENSION SUNDAY
May 24, 2020
AS WE GATHER
Ascension is a time of happy endings as Jesus concludes His earthly ministry and promises the Holy Spirit’s imminent arrival. Jesus sends His disciples to the ends of the earth as witnesses of His resurrection. He promises that, though He is ascended, yet He is with us always. Today we glory in His mighty resurrection and bask in the promise of His loving presence.
WELCOME
OPENING READING Acts 1:1-11 (Jesus promises the Holy Spirit and ascends into Heaven.)
In the first book, O Theophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach, 2 until the day when he was taken up, after he had given commands through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. 3 He presented himself alive to them after his suffering by many proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God.
4 And while staying with them he ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, “you heard from me; 5 for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”
6 So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?”
7 He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority. 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
9 And when he had said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight.
10 And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes, 11 and said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.”
Pastor: This is the Word of the Lord.
People: Thanks be to God!
OPENING HYMN 493, vs. 1-5 A Hymn of Glory Let Us Sing
INVOCATION AND CONFESSION AND ABSOLUTION
Pastor: In the name of the Father and of the X Son and of the Holy Spirit.
People: Amen.
Pastor: Today, we praise our Lord for His majestic ascension to the right hand of
God, where He rules and reigns over all. But as we take an honest look at
ourselves, we see that we have sometimes lived as if we, not Christ, rule and reign
over our lives, and as if Christ is too far away to matter. Let us return to
our gracious Lord, that we may be restored to live our lives for Him.
Pastor: Merciful Father,
People: we confess to You that we are by nature sinful and unclean. We have
sinned against You in thought, word, and deed. Forgive us, renew us, and lead
us, we pray, that, delighting in Your perfect will, our lives may bring honor and
glory to You. Amen.
Pastor: Almighty God in His mercy has given His Son to die and rise for you. Christ
is ascended, and all things are under His feet, including sin, death, the devil, and
all evil. On account of His saving work and by His divine authority, I forgive you all
your sins in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
People: Amen.
Pastor: Alleluia! Christ is risen and ascended!
People: He is risen and ascended indeed! Alleluia!
HYMN OF PRAISE 493, vs. 6 A Hymn of Glory Let Us Sing
O risen Christ, ascended Lord, All praise to You let earth accord: Alleluia, Alleluia!
You are, while endless ages run, With Father and with Spirit one. Alleluia, Alleluia!
Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia!
SALUTATION AND PRAYER OF THE DAY
Pastor: The Lord be with you.
People: And also with you.
Pastor: Let us pray. Almighty God, as Your only-begotten Son, our Lord Jesus
Christ, ascended into the heavens, so may we ascend in heart and mind, and
continually dwell there with Him as we gladly serve Him here on earth, for He
lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
People: Amen.
EPISTLE Ephesians 1:15–23 (Christ is risen and ascended. All things are under His feet.)
15 For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, 16 I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, 17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, 18 having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, 19 and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might 20 that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, 21 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. 22 And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, 23 which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.
Reader: This is the Word of the Lord.
People: Thanks be to God.
HOLY GOSPEL Luke 24:44–53 (Jesus is carried up into the heavens.)
44 Then he said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.” 45 Then he opened their minds
to understand the Scriptures, 46 and said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, 47 and that repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. 48 You are witnesses of these things. 49 And behold, I am sending the promise of my Father upon you. But stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.”
50 And he led them out as far as Bethany, and lifting up his hands he blessed them. 51 While he blessed them, he parted from them and was carried up into heaven. 52 And they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy, 53 and were continually in the temple blessing God.
Pastor: This is the Gospel of our ascended Lord.
People: Praise to You, O Christ.
HYMN OF THE DAY 525, vs. 1, 3-5 Crown Him with Many Crowns
SERMON Happy Endings
Grace, mercy, and peace be with you, from God, our Heavenly Father, and our ascended Lord, Jesus Christ.
Today, as we celebrate His ascension, we remember the happy ending of His time on earth, and we look forward to the happy ending of our time on earth.
When reading a book, do you ever turn to the last pages, to see how the story ends?
The lessons today tell us how Christ’s life on earth ended, and it was a good ending. And the Gospel promises us that, in Christ, our lives will end well.
Without a happy ending, life is just a cruel joke. It’s a happy ending, a happy outcome, that we need and seek.
Imagine the story of Cinderella if the prince hadn’t found her after she ran away at midnight? They wouldn’t have lived happily ever after, and the prince would have been left with a glass slipper to remind him of what might have been.
Or imagine if Sleeping Beauty hadn’t been found by Prince Charming and awakened with a kiss.
Or if the prince didn’t find Snow White and give her a kiss, to wake her. She’d still be sleeping, with the 7 dwarves around her, still weeping.
Or if the princess hadn’t kissed the frog, turning him back into a prince.
Or if the beautiful girl, Belle, hadn’t fallen in love with the ill-tempered beast, turning him back into a gentle prince.
You can tell I have daughters. I’ve seen all the Disney princess movies, many times.
Recently, I read that there was an alternate ending for the last of the original Star Wars movies, Return of the Jedi. After having defeated Darth Vader in the fight with their light sabers, with Vader lying dead on the ground, Luke Skywalker would have picked up his helmet and put it on his head, and said, “Now I’m Vader.” That would have been a downer. That would have ruined the Star Wars Saga.
Imagine if the life of the Messiah had ended with him down and dead and defeated, instead of up and risen and glorious and ascended.
There would have been no Gospel to save us; no Good News for us to live by.
But it couldn’t have ended that way, because God’s Son can’t be beat -- not by sin, not by Satan, not by the grave, not by the world, not by anyone or anything, anywhere.
Grief couldn’t be the final thing for Jesus to leave the world with. He had to leave the world with joy, because that’s why he came: to give the world a happy ending, and in heaven, a joyful new beginning.
When Adam and Eve rejected God and His love, it looked like a sad ending for humanity. But by dying and rising for the world, Jesus made a happy ending possible again.
Speaking of happy endings, there was a little boy whose parents took him to look for a puppy. And there was one that kept wagging its tail every time the little boy went to him.
After a while the boy’s parents asked him which puppy he liked best, and he pointed to the one wagging its tail. And he said, “I want the one with the happy ending.”
God wants a happy ending for you, so He offers you the good news that turns temporary sadness into eternal gladness.
Jesus took the saddest day ever, the day he died on the cross, and three days later he rose, making it the happiest day ever.
The day we lose a loved one can be sad in many ways. But the day we will see and embrace our faithful departed loved ones again, and see our Beautiful Savior, will be our happiest day.
We know we’ll see our Savior, because He ascended into heaven to wait there for us, and welcome us into our eternal home. And He’ll come back some day, to raise our bodies in glory, so that we will live and rejoice in body and soul forever.
That’s how the story of our lives on earth will end, with a glorious resurrection, a happy ending on earth, and a happy, new beginning in heaven.
Knowing how this life in Christ ends, helps us to make the most of it. Knowing it ends well helps us to live well; knowing it ends in joy, helps us to live in joy, and to spread joy.
In our opening reading from Acts, Jesus gathered His disciples for the joyful ending to His life on earth, His ascension into heaven, It was time for him to go back to the joy He had come from.
By rising and overcoming death, Jesus attained a happy ending for Himself, and for you.
If you want a happy ending to your time on earth, and a happy beginning in your next life, then the Gospel is for You!
Repenting of your sin and believing in your ascended Savior, this life will end well for you, and the next will begin well, and will stay that way.
Knowing that this life with Christ will end well, and the next will be even better, helps us to live this live this life better.
Knowing that the end of this life with Christ, is the beginning of life with Him in glory forever, helps us to not seek glory for ourselves on earth, but instead, to seek good for others.
In Heaven, Christ will give us the glory He won for us. We don’t need to seek to glorify ourselves on earth. Instead, we can seek to glorify God and serve others.
Since our Savior is seated at the right hand of God, and has all power and authority over heaven and earth, and wields it for our good, we don’t need to be hungry for worldly power or control; we don’t need to seek vain pleasure, or trust in worldly riches -- we’re already rich in God’s mercy; we don’t need to do anything to try to manufacture some sense of secular, temporary happiness on earth, because Jesus gives us true joy forever.
When you get discouraged, remember how well this life in Christ will end, and how well the next will begin, and then live this life well.
Many of us are wondering what the ending of this pandemic will look like for our nation and our world. Will our way of life be changed, even after the virus is gone? Or will the virus come back again… and again… and again … and again, as some scientists are predicting? We don’t know, and neither do they.
What we do know is that for all who are in Christ, every trouble in this life has a happy ending. The final and eternal outcome of life with Christ is a happy one – peace and joy and glory forever!
Knowing this, even in the midst of a pandemic, we dare to rejoice. Even in our sufferings, Paul says in Romans 5, we dare to rejoice.
Although in Christ, our lives will have a happy ending, there can many troubles until then. It’s harder endure life’s troubles if you don’t know the happy outcome of your life.
But you know. Jesus has shown it to you by going before you, ascending into glory; and He’ll show it to you again when he comes back in power for the whole world to see, and raises His children, and brings them into eternal glory.
So look up and be encouraged. Jesus didn’t leave you with despair and sadness, but with hope and gladness. Be happy to share the joy of your salvation with those around you. Be happy to spread the joy of the Gospel in this sad world.
And as you do, be happy to know that the peace of God, which passes understanding, will guard your heart and mind, in Christ Jesus, our joyful and ascended Lord. Amen.
APOSTLES’ CREED
I believe in God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth.
And in Jesus Christ, His 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 into hell. The third day He rose again from the dead. He ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty. From thence He will come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Christian Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.
PRAYER OF THE CHURCH
Pastor: Let us pray. Dear God on High, You sent Your Son into our world to seek
and to save the lost. Thank You for His life, ministry, suffering, death, and
resurrection. Most especially today we thank You for seating Him at Your right
hand in His ascension, where He reigns and rules over all. In Your mercy,
People: hear us, O ascended Lord!
Pastor: Grant health and healing to Your dear, baptized people, we pray.
Bless and protect us during this pandemic and always. Grant wisdom to our
leaders, skill and encouragement to all health care workers and first responders,
provision and care for all who are in need, healing to all who are ill with the virus
or in any way, comfort to all who are in grief or sorrow, and the strength and
peace of the Gospel for all. In Your mercy,
People: hear us, O ascended Lord!
Pastor: Hear us as we name in our hearts, those we know who need Your help in
any way… In Your mercy,
People: hear us, O ascended Lord!
Pastor: Glorious Lord, while you lived among us You gave us a most excellent
prayer to comfort us until you come again. Hear us as we pray as You
have taught us.
All: Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name, Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven; give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever. Amen.
BENEDICTION
Pastor: The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make His face shine on you and
be gracious to you. The Lord look upon you with favor and X give you peace.
People: Amen.
CLOSING HYMN 549, vs. 1, 3, 6-7 All Hail the Power of Jesus’ Name
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Creative Worship for the Lutheran Parish, Series A, Quarter 2. Copyright © 2019 Concordia Publishing House.
All rights reserved. Used by permission.