Which Way is Up?

May 24, 2020 Ascension Sunday Year A Which Way is Up? Acts 1:1-11 Children’s Time Object: Any size battery. Lesson: A battery supplies the power and energy to many things, in much the same way that the Holy Spirit supplies power and energy to Christians. (Display battery.) Do you know what this is? It's a battery. What do batteries do? (Children respond.) Batteries "run" things. They give power and energy to many items we use every day. My watch has a battery in it and so does my camera. What sorts of things do you have that use batteries? (Video game, remote control, cassette player, cars, trucks, radios, dolls, etc.) Wow, we use batteries in a lot of places, don't we? They give our belongings the power they need to work. What happens when the batteries run down? (Children respond.) If the batteries run down our toy or game just stops. It will not work anymore because it does not have any power. It just sits there, doing nothing. My watch and my camera are not much good if they don't have any power. We can fix our things and give them new power by putting in new batteries. Wouldn't it be great if we had batteries that would never wear out? Did you know that the Holy Spirit is like a battery for us? The Holy Spirit is a special part of God that helps us. He is like a battery that never wears out. He gives us power, energy, and strength. He keeps us going. When we think we can't do something, the Holy Spirit helps us get it done. When we have to deal with sad things that happen in our lives, he is there to give us strength. When people make fun of us and treat us badly, he gives us the power to deal with them. When we are too tired to keep going, the Holy Spirit is our energy. When something terrific happens to us, he is there to celebrate with us. He gives us the ability to tell other people about Jesus. No matter what we need, he is there for us. Through the Holy Spirit working in our lives we receive the power and strength we need to make it through every day. He is like a battery that never wears out and he never gets tired of helping us. Ask God to give you the power or strength you need this week. God bless you. CSS Publishing Company, A TIME TO PLANT, by Teresa L. Major Opening Prayer Call to Worship #2: L: We await God’s instructions for our lives. P: We eagerly look forward to learning more about ways to serve God. L: The time is coming when our service will be needed here. P: Let God’s love flood through our service to others L: Wait! Listen! The time is near! P: Open our hearts and spirits, O Lord, to hear your word for us today. AMEN. Announcements at the end – the sun is shining beautifully this morning, pray that the God’s of the internet are happy this morning and will let me get through service with very few interuptions. – all pray together! Stewardship Moment Today is Ascension Sunday – the time to look to Jesus. It is a difficult time. When we look to Jesus, looks to us- give what we have – and know that Jesus spread love to others, help church, help community, spread Jesus message of love and know that we are included in that message. What we give to others, will come back to us in unexpected ways. Give, many ways to give our offering. Contactless way…is time to turn back to the one who is “chosen and precious,” except, as you’ll see, he turns it back to us. Even when talking about himself, his own glory, he turns back to us. It’s amazing, really. in this moment, you’d think he would be focused on himself. But even in the final moments on this earth, we’re the objects of his attention and his prayer. It is time to turn back to the one who is “chosen and precious,” except, as you’ll see, he turns it back to us. Even when talking about himself, his own glory, he turns back to us. It’s amazing, really. in this moment, you’d think he would be focused on himself. But even in the final moments on this earth, we’re the objects of his attention and his prayer.God of Glory and Majesty, we have seen your glory in Christ, for it shines in our lives through the faithful who have walked with us on this journey. In seeing Christ’s glory in them, we have seen you. As we bring our gifts to you, remind us that the world will not see you and your glory unless they see it in each of us. Remind us as we move through each day that all around us are your children who are desperately searching for a glimpse of your holy presence and love. May they see it in us today. In the holy name of Christ, our Savior. Amen. (John 17:1-11) Scripture Acts 1:1-11 Common English Bible (CEB) The risen Jesus with his disciples 1 Theophilus, the first scroll I wrote concerned everything Jesus did and taught from the beginning, 2 right up to the day when he was taken up into heaven. Before he was taken up, working in the power of the Holy Spirit, Jesus instructed the apostles he had chosen. 3 After his suffering, he showed them that he was alive with many convincing proofs. He appeared to them over a period of forty days, speaking to them about God’s kingdom. 4 While they were eating together, he ordered them not to leave Jerusalem but to wait for what the Father had promised. He said, “This is what you heard from me: 5 John baptized with water, but in only a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.” 6 As a result, those who had gathered together asked Jesus, “Lord, are you going to restore the kingdom to Israel now?” 7 Jesus replied, “It isn’t for you to know the times or seasons that the Father has set by his own authority. 8 Rather, 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 end of the earth.” 9 After Jesus said these things, as they were watching, he was lifted up and a cloud took him out of their sight. 10 While he was going away and as they were staring toward heaven, suddenly two men in white robes stood next to them. 11 They said, “Galileans, why are you standing here, looking toward heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way that you saw him go into heaven.” Common English Bible (CEB) Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible Sermon It was my eighth grade science teacher who asked the class – which way is up. Most of us looked up at the sky – up is that way. He remained quiet in order to encourage us to discuss the topic more – as we thought more some of us said that up is that way – like up the street, but depending on where you are standing , up could be that way. And someone else pointed out that for people on the other side of the world – Up is that way. The teacher then explained that on first thought, we think that up is one direction, but when we explore more we discover that up is a relative term – up can be any direction. I don’t know if my eighth grade science teacher went to church or not, but that is the exact lesson for us today – to expand our horizons, and our outlook on life. More importantly, Jesus encourages us to expand our minds when we are looking for his presence. We also tend to think of heaven as up there somewhere. That has been what we have been told for ages, until man landed on the moon and discovered that the heavens is a vast expanse of stars, and planets. So one again, we have to ask ourselves, where is heaven? Where did Jesus go when we went up in the sky? All throughtout the resurrection Jesus has been appearing to his disciples. And today – we hear a different story. Jesus brings his disciples to a high mountain, and they watch him literally descend up and disappear into the clouds. This is the story of the Ascension, when Jesus goes up into heaven and leaves his disciples to carry on his mission. This story was designed to answer the question, if Jesus was bought back to life, how come we can’t see him today. What happened to him? Did he die again like Lazurus? Is he living in seclusion? The disciples had to see with their own eyes, that Jesus was taken back to heaven. This is the day that Jesus decided that it was easier for him to work from home in heaven – than to stay on earth. Luke is the only person who tells this story. It is not found in any other gospel. Luke is the author of both the gospel of Luke and the book of Acts. Interestingly, each of those books tells a very different version of the story. But the point is that the story is told. It is designed to mark a special time in the life of the disciples, and those who hear that story today. Up until this day – the disciples hung on every word that Jesus said. They were students, who depended on Jesus. They lost their teacher, and then celebrated that he was still with them, and now here he was leaving again. But Jesus was very clear that the mission must continue, that the lessons that he taught were still in existence. He had taught them everything that they needed to know to continue on the journey. In his fine book, On a Wild and Windy Mountain, William H. Willimon tells of being in New Haven, Connecticut as a student at Yale in l970 during the famous Black Panther Trial. Those of you who remember that turbulent era recall the strife, discord and agony that tormented our society in those days. During the week that the crisis at New Haven reached its peak, Willimon attended a choral mass at a nearby Catholic Parish. A boy’s choir was singing, “Deus Ascendit-- “God Has Gone Up.” “Just as I thought,” Willimon thought to himself somewhat sarcastically, “God Has Gone Up. And isn’t that typical? Gone up, up away from New Haven and the angry shouts of the mob and the gunfire of the cops and the revolutionaries.” In other words, Willimon was saying to himself, “God has abandoned us.” As he continued to listen, however, the idea struck him that the choir did not sing, “Deus Abscondit,” God has abandoned us. The boys were shouting “Deus Ascendit.” God has gone up. “God has begun in heaven what is yet to be accomplished on earth,” Willimon reflected. “Christ is gone, not to forsake us, but to continue to redeem us. He has gone to take charge, to rule, to put all things under his feet.” Deus Ascendit. God has ascended. When we go through tough times in life, we can identity with Willemon’s thoughts that God has abandoned us. When we cant go to our church building and connect to the spirit of God – can ask where is God? Why would a God who loves us do that to us? I don’t know about you, but I think there are a lot of times in life when I feel that divine absence. That feeling that God is just not with me, and his not helping me and not giving me the answers that I need. I am sure the disciples must have felt that way as they watched Jesus go up into heaven. What are we supposed to do now that he is gone. How are we supposed to go on with our lives? Jesus knew that they would have these questions. So as he was departing he gave them specific instructions. First he told them to wait – to be patient. Even today we don’t want to be told to wait. Second he promised that a special spirit was coming that would give them peace, understanding and power to move on. And third – in the Luke story he tells them to worship, but in act he tells them to pray. In the Acts story, after the disciples watched Jesus ascend to heaven they went to the upper room – their safe space in order to pray. As his disciples, we are instructed to pray in order for us to get a clearer understanding of what God intends for our lives. Where do you go during those times of questioning life. As people of faith, we all need to have a time in our daily live set aside for prayer, a place to pray in solitude, a list of concerns to pray about, and goals to attain through prayer. As Jesus walks away, Jesus gives the disciples instructions, words of comfort – but Jesus does not give them any real answers about the future. I know that a lot of times I come to God in prayer, with my concerns, looking for answers, and no answers come. Once again there is that divine absence – that feeling that God is not listening. In the present day – we all have a lot of questions about the future. We are all looking for clear answers about what it going on, how to deal with it. And we want a promise that one day all of this will end and that life will go back to a time when everything made sense. The reality of the situation is that we are never going back to the way things were. The only way to go is forward, forward to a new reality. A reality where we will do the best to recreate what we are familiar with, but life only goes in one direction – that is forward. Forward to a future that we are not prepared for. It is said that the wife of Albert Einstein was once asked if she understood her husband’s theory of relativity. She replied, “No, but I know my husband and I know he can be trusted.” The disciples knew that Christ was with the Father and that Christ could be trusted. They believed that he was in charge and that made all the difference. If we look at the lessons that Luke tells us, we notice that Luke has a fascination with these two men dressed in white. As Luke tells the story of the resurrection he notes that there are two men standing at the tomb – who tell the disciples to go on with their life. As Luke tells the story of the walk to Emmaus, after Jesus has been crucified, there are two men walking with the disciples, and they tell them to keep moving on the journey and to wait for the spirit. In both of Luke’s stories of the ascension – once again we meet these two mysterious men who are dressed in white. The disciples are staring up in the sky looking for Jesus,and once again these two mysterious men asks why are they looking for Jesus in the sky – when Jesus is not there? Once again I ask you – which way is up? Is heaven up there somewhere – or in here somewhere? The mysterious men dressed in white tell the disciples that if they want to see Jesus, they need to go on with their lives, remember the lessons he gave, pray, wait for the presence of the spirit, and continue in the mission. – keep serving and being faithful and as we move forward, everything else will fall into place. Now that I have told you this whole story about the ascension – I will confess that many biblical scholars ask if this story really happen. Did Jesus literally ascend into heaven right in front of the disciples. Some believe that this was just a vision – it did not really happen. Which way is up? Where is heaven, If Jesus is still alive – where is he now? All questions that we still asks today. The point of the ascension story is for us to think about where Jesus is in our lives. Usually when we say that someone is moving up – things are getting better for them. We have a higher view of them. We look up to them for advice and understanding. It is important for us in the midst of our grief and sadness to look up to Jesus. We have to lift our eyes in prayer, lift up our head to Christ, and lift up our hearts in praise. In other words – let Christ ascend in our spirits in order to lift up our life. Ascension Day: Power Unleashed on Earth Ascension Day is not really about the power of Jesus vanishing into heaven. It's about having that power unleashed into all the earth. While on earth, Jesus affected those right around him. After he ascended, this powerful presence was unleashed on the whole globe, the whole cosmos. One theologian (Walter Wink) once noted that killing Jesus was like trying to destroy a dandelion seed-head by blowing on it (Yancey, The Jesus I Never Knew, 226). Christ was the light of the world all right, but "now that light, as if hitting a prism, would fracture and shoot out in a human spectrum of waves and colors" (Yancey, 228). There is "no place that we can go to flee from his presence" (Psalm 139), nowhere we can go to separate ourselves from God's love (Rom. 8). John D. Witvliet, Beyond the Blank Blue Sky We are coming to a shift in our lives, in many ways. As we move forward into the future, the focus is not on us sitting and watching Jesus, as it is about us getting involved in the story. The story of God’s love for us is a never ending story. It goes on beyond our present circumstances. Now that Jesus was been elevated, the story is about us. Luke wrote about the life of Jesus, the book of Acts is about how the disciples continued the story, and the present circumstances about God’s love in action now. It is our turn to be the star of the story. Let us pray…… Prayer Time Pastoral Prayer Go back to Jerusalem and wait, Jesus said to his disciples. Lord, we are not good at waiting for anything. We want to know what to do right now, right here. We want the plan all laid out for us so that we can project the end results. We have some real control issues to overcome, Lord. Take our spirits and release the need for control for them. Help us place our total trust in your abiding love and presence. Give us patience and persistence in our ministries and mission. As we bring to you the names of dear ones whose lives are in need of your healing mercy and comfort, remind us that we also stand in need of those same mercies. Give us courage to accept your love and strength to witness to your love in all that we do. In Jesus’ Name, we pray. AMEN. Announcements When will be opening – it is still a step by step process Pentecost – scripture will be from Acts 2:1-21 Congratulations to our graduates Thank you to Debbie for keeping us connected Can put your name in the comments Benediction Ascension: An Irresistible Confidence Our culture is tired of politicians who promise but do not deliver; tired of entertainment all around us which does not satisfy; tired of trouble between neighbors; tired of religion that promises bread but gives a stone. In the Ascension, God can put into our hearts an irresistible confidence that all is not as it seems, that love, truth and integrity are never defeated, that the kingdoms of this world will indeed become the Kingdom of our God and of his Christ. John Davies, After Ascension - Transformation tanding on a Cloud In my grandmother's bedroom hung a very old-fashioned plaque. It depicted Jesus standing on a cloud, arms outstretched, beckoning the viewer to come to him. The inscription proclaimed, "Jesus Shall Come In Like Manner." Grandma died at the age of 94. She was perfectly prepared to meet her Lord coming to receive her in the clouds. She lived through Indian raids to man's walk on the moon. Sharp as a tack to the very end. Still, in her mind's eye, this was the way her Lord would come to her. Walking on the clouds. Who's to say it isn't so? She took quite literally the word of the two in white robes who said to the disciples, "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." Charles L. Koester, Mission Accomplished, CSS Publishing Co., Inc. Ascension Day: Power Unleashed on Earth Ascension Day is not really about the power of Jesus vanishing into heaven. It's about having that power unleashed into all the earth. While on earth, Jesus affected those right around him. After he ascended, this powerful presence was unleashed on the whole globe, the whole cosmos. One theologian (Walter Wink) once noted that killing Jesus was like trying to destroy a dandelion seed-head by blowing on it (Yancey, The Jesus I Never Knew, 226). Christ was the light of the world all right, but "now that light, as if hitting a prism, would fracture and shoot out in a human spectrum of waves and colors" (Yancey, 228). There is "no place that we can go to flee from his presence" (Psalm 139), nowhere we can go to separate ourselves from God's love (Rom. 8). John D. Witvliet, Beyond the Blank Blue Sky Heavenly Orientation When men were still traveling to the moon there was an astronaut, named David Scott, who looked up into the heavens at the planet he was from. As he stepped outside his spacecraft, on to the moon's surface, he said, "I can look straight up and see the earth." At the same time, millions of Americans heard these words on their radios and TV's and could look straight up to see the moon. From the moon above, you could look "up" and see the earth below. And from the earth below, you could look "up" and see the moon above. We look up to heaven from wherever we are. On the Ascension of Christ, the disciples looked as they saw their Savior being lifted up. They looked up. In fact, all of creation looked up. Brent Porterfield, www.eSermons.com There is a humorous little story that came out of Hollywood many years ago. A famous and handsome movie star checked into a hospital. As might be expected, every nurse in the hospital was very attentive to his needs. One particularly attractive nurse was at his side nearly every time he moved. When he finally indicated that he would like to be alone for a little while she said, “Now if you want anything at all you need only to pull this cord.” The movie star gave his irresistible smile and said, “Thank you, my dear, but what is the cord attached to?” She smiled back and answered, “Me.” In The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery, the Prince becomes close friends with a fox. On one occasion they are trying to set a time for their next visit. It is very important to the fox to know the time of that meeting. They finally agree to meet at 4:00 o’clock. But the little prince cannot understand why it is so important to the fox to know the exact time. Finally the fox replies, “Oh, if you will come at 4:00 then I will begin to be happy at 3:00.” It is time we start “beginning to be happy.” We have a friend who has gone up and now sits at the right hand of the Father. Deus Ascendit. God has gone up.