Text: Acts 1:1-11

Theme: “Waiting For His Return”

Date: May 1, 2008; Ascension Day

Place: Immanuel, Altamont, IL

            It has been 40 days since the greatest event in the history of the world has occurred (at least in the day of the Jesus and the disciples). Do you know what that event was? It was the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. That is without a doubt the greatest event that has ever happened. In His resurrection, Jesus has done several things.

            First, Jesus showed that He was exactly who He said He was. He showed that He was the Son of God. Over and over again He declared that He was the Son of God. And along with that declaration He would state that He would rise again on the third day. If Jesus didn’t rise, then He couldn’t have been the One that He claimed to be. He spoke to the Pharisees and Teachers of the Law and told them that He would rise – using the statement that the only sign that they would receive to show that He was the Son of God was the sign of Jonah. As Jonah was in the belly of the whale for 3 days, so Jesus would be in the belly of the ground for 3 days. Then He would rise again. As He rose on that Sunday morning, He was proclaiming loudly that he truly was the Son of God.

            The second thing that His resurrection showed is that Jesus was truly the Savior of all mankind. In His death, He paid the price of the sins of all mankind. His sinless suffering and death upon the cross was in our place, for our sins. The price was paid in full. But if He didn’t rise from the dead, then we would still be lost. For if He remained dead, He could not have been the Savior of mankind. His sacrifice upon the cross would have been worthless. But He did rise and therefore the sacrifice was complete. Oh yes, the resurrection of Jesus was a powerful, history changing event. It changed the lives of the disciples and the lives of people through all the world and through out all time. His resurrection changed our lives.

            But now it has been 40 days later. Jesus had been coming and going over those 40 days. The disciples didn’t know when He would show up but they were certain that He would be back among them. When they least expected it, Jesus would be there – in a closed room, at the side of a lake with fish roasting over an open fire. They looked forward to His coming again.

            He warned them that He wouldn’t always be there. He told them that they would not always have Him with them. But instead of being upset by that, they should rejoice. It is hard to imagine how to rejoice over Jesus leaving until you remember that He promised that if He returned to His Father in heaven, He would send the Holy Spirit, the Comforter, the One that would lead all people into all truth. The disciples didn’t know when He would go but they were told it would happen.

            So on that Thursday, 40 days after Easter, Jesus took His disciples out on a hill outside of Jerusalem, blessed them, gave the directions on what they should do and then it happened. He left them. He didn’t just disappear. If He would have done that, they might have been expecting Jesus to return again just like He always did. Instead, standing there before their eyes, He began to rise up into the sky. That must have been quite the sight. Imagine if you can, the person standing in front of you starting to lift up off the ground. He continued to bless them and rose higher and higher.

Imagine if you would a balloon lifting up into the sky. You stand there and watch the balloon rise. As it lifts higher and higher, you watch, waiting for something to happen. That is what happened with Jesus. He rose higher and higher and then a cloud hid Him from their sight. They continued to watch, just as we do with a balloon launch. We think that maybe we can still catch sight of them. The disciples thought that maybe He would come back down. SO they waited and watched.

But He didn’t come back. In fact, we are told that two angels came to the disciples and told them that Jesus would not be back. This was the last time they would see Him on earth. He wouldn’t appear again until one event happens – that event is the Last Day, when the trumpets sound, the angels sing their praised and all eyes will see Him returning. They say, “This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen Him go into heaven.” (Acts 1:11 NIV)

Jesus had already said that He would return. He told us that He goes away in order to prepare a place for us in heaven. When the time is right, He will come back and take us to be with Him, so that we may be with Him in heaven. Today we are looking at that event – His physical return – and come to know what we should be doing while we wait.

He will come back. We are told in I Thessalonians 4:16, “For the Lord Himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God…” (NIV) He will come and all eyes will see Him. When He comes every knee will bow before Him. For all will know that He truly is the Son of God. He is the triumphant One who rose from the dead, ascended into heaven and comes back to judge the living and the dead. That is what we have confessed in the Apostles’ Creed. He will come back.

And when He does return, something amazing will happen. We are told, “…and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever.” (I Thess. 4:16b-17 NIV) Again in I Corinthians 15 we are told, “We will all be changed (living and dead!) in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable and we will be changed.” (I Cor. 15:51b-52 NIV) On that day, all those who have died will rise and all who are left alive will be changed. We will all be glorified as Christ is glorified. And we will enter into heaven.

We build upon the ascension of Jesus. Even as He rose into heaven, we too will go to heaven. As He went bodily into heaven, you and I will go bodily into heaven. We are assured that Jesus will return and when He does, He will take us into heaven. It doesn’t matter if we are alive or dead – the outcome is the same. We will ascend into heaven. We will go to be with our Lord. On this Ascension Day, we build our hope of our own ascension. We know what the outcome will be. We will go to heaven even as Jesus has gone into heaven. It is a grand and glorious day, a day of celebration. It is a day of hope and a day that tells us about our future.

When will Jesus return? Will He come back in our lifetime? The answer to that is given by Jesus. He tells us, “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority.” (Acts 1:7 NIV) The day that He returns isn’t even an issue. We shouldn’t spend our time counting the days or looking for the signs while we wait. That isn’t what should take our attention. We should just leave that in the hands of the Lord Himself. HE will take care of the day.

So what do we do while we wait if we cannot spend our time watching for the day? Jesus answers that question as well. He says, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." (Acts 1:8 NIV) What we are to be about is being the witnesses of Jesus to those around us. We are to be sharing the message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ in all that we do, to all that we come in contact with.

The disciples did that as they remained in Jerusalem. They shared the message of life and hope with those in Jerusalem. As the Holy Spirit came to them in a powerful way (as we will remember on Pentecost Sunday) thousands of people were brought to faith through the witnessing of the disciples. As they went about Jerusalem, they shared the message of life and hope. They told of the risen Jesus. They spoke of how He was truly the Savior, the One who changed hearts an lives. As they went about their daily lives, they were witnesses to Christ Jesus. They were following the very thing that Jesus told them to do as they waited for His return.

The command given to the disciples is the same command given to us. That which we are to be about in our lives while we wait for the return of our Lord is to be His witnesses. We are to be witnesses in our entire life. It starts with the heart and life. The salvation that Christ has given to you takes hold of your heart. It changes you from looking only to yourself to looking out for others. Your life becomes His life. Your thoughts become His thoughts. Your very being is guided totally by the love of Christ that fills you to overflowing.

Then you witness to Christ in word and deed. The way you talk, shares Christ with others. You witness to the love of Christ in how you talk with others. Instead of letting sinful words flow from your lips, you let the words of love flow from those very lips. You praise the Lord with all that you say.

Then you witness by what you do. Often, we forget that our deeds witness more than our words. The old saying, “Practice what you preach,” is so true. If you are going to say how much you love Christ, then live it. Let that love guide your actions at home, at school, at work and wherever you find yourself.

Ascension Day is an important day for it sets the stage for life. The resurrection gives us our salvation. The ascension of our Lord gives us hope for the future. And it also gives us the direction in how we are to live our lives until the day our Lord returns. We are to be witnesses in word and deed to the love of Christ, to the salvation He gives, for the good of all those that we come in contact with. What do we do until the day when our Lord returns? We live each day as though He is going to return at any moment, with the thought being that we have one more person that needs to hear of the love of Christ. Let that be what guides you until the day He returns on the clouds.

Amen.