Ascension Day's Significance For Us

Sermon on Ephesians 4:7-12

Saint Mark's Watertown

Pastor Karl Walther

May 24, 2001

The Scriptures say: God exerted his mighty strength in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. Amen.

God's Word for our special consideration on this Ascension Day is Ephesians chapter four, verses seven through twelve:

To each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it. This is why it says: "When he ascended on high, he led captives in his train and gave gifts to men."

(What does "he ascended" mean except that he also descended to the lower, earthly regions? He who descended is the very one who ascended higher than all the heavens, in order to fill the whole universe.)

It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up.

This is God's Spirit-inspired Word of our ascended Savior Jesus Christ.

Introduction: Wouldn't It Be Great If Jesus Led Today's Worship Service?

Dear fellow followers of our ascended Savior, Jesus Christ:

Have you ever longed to put yourself in the place of the apostles? I know I have! I think it's perfectly natural to do so. I mean, have you ever been reading the Bible: maybe where Jesus was raising someone from the dead, maybe where Jesus was on the cross dying in our place, maybe where the resurrected Lord was appearing to his apostles -- have you ever been reading the Bible and said to yourself, "Wow! Wouldn't it have been magnificent to have been there?" How could a Christian fail to do that?

Or take today's worship service. Wouldn't it be great if Jesus Christ were leading it? ...Wouldn't you marvel to hear the Scripture readings from Christ's own lips? Wouldn't you love to have Christ himself teaching you? Wouldn't it be great if you heard Jesus himself say to you, "You're sins are forgiven"? Wouldn't you love to have Jesus lead you in prayer?

That's not going to happen, though. You'll just have to accept me as a sorry sinful substitute. And the reason why is really the reason we've gathered together today. It was on Ascension Day that Jesus officially left this world in his visible form. And God's Word to us today is going to explain to us that there's actually good reason he did so.

Theme: Ascension Day's Significance For Us

This special section of Holy Scripture is going to help explain to us:
* ASCENSION DAY'S SIGNIFICANCE FOR US. We'll find that: on Ascension Day
(1) JESUS DEMONSTRATED HIS LOVE AND POWER, and on Ascension Day
(2) JESUS DELIVERED THREE SETS OF GIFTS for us.

Part One: On Ascension Day, Jesus Demonstrated His Love & Power

In God's Word to us today, the Apostle Paul is writing under inspiration of the Holy Spirit to the Christians in Ephesus-- on the western seacoast of modern-day Turkey. It's about the year sixty ad, and Paul himself is in prison in Rome-- many hundreds of miles away, across two seas, to the west.

In this letter, probably more than in any other of his letters, Paul describes the spiritual struggle that's going on between Satan and God. Paul is plenty explicit about our enemies, the demons. And Paul says more than the usual about the Lord's powerful love, sent to us from heaven itself.

In fact, that's why I want to direct your attention first to the two middle verses of our sermon text-- the ones inside the parentheses. Rather cryptically, they read: (What does "he ascended" mean except that he also descended to the lower, earthly regions? He who descended is the very one who ascended higher than all the heavens, in order to fill the whole universe.)

Now, what does that mean? Well to begin with, obviously these words, chronicle Christ's life. Paul is simply saying, "The fact that Christ went up means, first of all, that he came down. And after he came down (conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary) he went up again (he rose from the dead and ascended into heaven)."

But why does Paul make a point of that? Well, he wants to demonstrate the combination of Christ's earthly love and heavenly power. Read those words again this way: (What does "he ascended" mean except that he also descended to the lower, earthly regions?-- in immense love for us, lovingly to live and die and rise in our place. That same marvelously loving one who descended is the very one who ascended higher than all the heavens, in order to fill the whole universe-- and from there he's going to exercise the same immense love to us: listening to our prayers, ruling all things on our behalf, and capable of doing this for all his brothers and sisters.

In other words, Ascension Day takes all the love Jesus showed us on earth and sends it to heaven where he can exercise it powerfully on our behalf.

Application One: Jesus Demonstrated His Love & Power For Us

You see, that's why Jesus isn't here visibly leading our worship service today....

He's got to be in glory: listening to your prayers-- and not only yours, but also all of those on the part of all your brothers and sisters who trust in him all across this globe.

No, Jesus isn't here visibly leading our worship service today. But that's because he's got to be in glory: orchestrating every event in heaven and on earth for your good and for the good of all your brothers and sisters in Christ across the entire world. He needs to arrange every law, every transaction, every birth, every sickness, every recovery, every death, every thought, every word, every deed ... to serve for your good and for the good of his Church.

Jesus has got to be in glory: caring for all his saints (some of your loved ones) who are already there, and preparing a place for you (and yours) to be someday.

And-- and I might add, Jesus is not only in glory, he is also here today (though not visibly), and wherever else others have opened his Word. He's here and there to proclaim the good news that our sins are forgiven and our righteousness is obtained in him. Furthermore, Jesus is here today (almost visibly) in Lord's Supper, where he assures you he died and lives always to bequeath to you his eternal inheritance.

That, then, is the first part of Ascension Day's Significance For Us. On Ascension Day, Jesus demonstrated his love and power for us.

Part Two: On Ascension Day, Jesus Delivered Three Sets of Gifts

He also ascended to deliver us three sets of gifts. That's evident from the rest of God's Word to us today.

It reads this way: To each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it. Literally, it says there: To each one of us grace has been given in accordance with the measure of the gift of Christ. In other words: as big a gift as Christ is-- that's how much grace our ascended Savior has poured out on us for our salvation.

So: salvation-- that's the first gift that's ours because our loving Friend powerfully rules on high.

Then we read: This is why it says: "When he ascended on high, he led captives in his train and gave gifts to men."

And those are really fascinating words. They're originally from Psalm sixty-eight. They originally reminded God's people how God appeared to them ascending in cloud and fire during their wilderness journeys. And in that position, he really received gifts from people-- from the Israelites willingly, and from the Egyptians unwillingly.

In this Word from God, though, these words refer to Christ. They say literally: When he ascended on high, he led captivity captive -- he trapped and neutralized and destroyed our sin, our death, and our hell -- and he gave gifts to people. Those gifts are all our gifts. That's would include all the possessions outside us, all the skills inside us, and our very life itself.

So in more familiar vocabulary: our time, our talents, our treasures-- those are the second set of gifts that are ours because our loving Friend powerfully rules on high.

And then finally: It was he -- our ascended Savior -- who gave some to be apostles (like Paul, Peter, and John), some to be prophets (as Barnabas, Silas, and Agabus are called), some to be evangelists (as Philip and Timothy are called), and some to be pastors and teachers (as a number of your servants nowadays are called). Why did Christ give those servants back then and these servants now? It says: to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up.

So: our called workers-- those are the third set of gifts that are ours because our loving Friend powerfully rules on high.

Application Two: Jesus Delivered Three Sets of Gifts For Us

That, then, is why Jesus isn't here visibly leading our worship service today....

He's got to be in glory: bestowing upon you that first gift, forgiveness-- in exactly the measure you need.

No, Jesus isn't here visibly leading our worship service today. But that's because he's got to be in glory: blessing you with that second set of gifts, your daily bread, your money, your possessions, your skills, everything you need for your life-- and doing so for your every brother and sister who trusts in Christ.

And finally, Jesus has got to be in glory today to bestow upon you that third set of gifts: pastors and teachers, to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be build up.

And that's a mouthful! What I mean is: that's one of the chief passages in the Bible on Christ's called, public ministry. So, let's take just a little more of a look at that....

First of all, notice that apostles, prophets, evangelists, and pastors and teachers are the ascended Christ's gifts to his Church. That means we are bound by God to honor pastors and teachers as gifts from God.

It means we need to pray for the ones we've got. I can't imagine not praying for our pastors and teachers, by name, at least monthly-- even if it requires our writing it down in order to do so.

It means that we need to compensate the pastors and teachers we've got. And the more we honor them with compensation, the more we are honoring the Lord himself.

It means we need to encourage the pastors and teachers we've got. A "thank you for your work!" every so often, even and especially to the pastors and teachers whom we don't get along so well with, would not hurt.

It means that if we do have a problem with certain pastors or teachers, we owe it to them and we owe it to the Lord to talk to them about it-- before we talk to everybody else in all creation.

And it means that we need to pray for and encourage other people to become pastors and teachers-- because Christ will make use of them. And let me tell you: there is no more satisfying, no more worthwhile, no more enjoyable work on the face of the earth than bringing God's good news of Jesus Christ to others.

And incidentally, it's not just pastors and teachers who are God's gifts to his Church in this way. It is every individual whom a group of Christians calls upon to exercise its work publicly among them. That would include, for example, our Sunday School teachers and our elders and the like, as well.

Now, that's the first part of those last two verses: pastors, teachers, Sunday School teachers, Saint Mark's elders-- the Church needs to recognize that these are Christ's gifts to the Church. We also need to understand their work. God's Word says right here that they are: to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up.

Interesting, isn't it? Pastors and teachers -- even with the help of Sunday School teachers and elders and the like -- are not to do all the work of the church.

Think of it: that would be impossible! The work of the Church is to bring the good news of Jesus to the entire world. The work of the Church is to impact individuals in the entire community with forgiveness and righteousness through Jesus Christ. The work of the Church is to comfort every member regularly with that good news. Four guys who are pastors can't do that. A dozen and a half men and women who are pastors and teachers cannot do that. Even the many dozens of pastors and teachers and Sunday School teachers and elders and Bible Class leaders and council members at our church can't do that.

But through vigorous use of Word and Sacrament, through the energetic proclamation of our ascended Savior, we can prepare you to do that. And you in your life can be Christ's feet to bring help to those who need it. You in your life can be Christ's heart to comfort others. You in your life can be Christ's hands to offer assistance. You in your life can be Christ's ears to sympathize with those who are suffering.

Conclusion: Someday Jesus Will Lead Our Worship Service

You see, that's why Jesus isn't here leading the worship service today. He wanted my mouth to be his mouth in doing so. He wanted your mouths to be his mouth in rendering God praise. And our Lord, ascended in glory, is also in your heart to get all this accomplished. What a reason to render him praise today and every day-- until that eternal day when Christ our ascended Lord does visibly lead the worship service: in heavenly glory! Amen.

The Scriptures say: God placed all things under Christ's feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way. Amen.