Luke 24:44-53

When he had led them out to the vicinity of Bethany, he lifted up his hands and blessed them.  While he was blessing them, he left them and was taken up into heaven.  Then they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy.

St. Luke has been gathering together on Ascension for so long, you may be surprised to know that many a church is dark this evening. The Ascension, long a pillar in the church year, has lost its standing even among our own Synodical fellowship. But this is no modern problem. St. Mark reports Christ “upbraided [the disciples] on account of their unbelief and hardness of heart.” He upbraided them—rebuked them, chastised them, corrected them. God is no lover of faithlessness and though well-pleased with His Beloved Son, often in His disciples He was less than pleased—less than pleased with their hardness of heart, and unbelief.  Does unbelief seem harsh? Well it is unbelief, for it was rooted and grounded—made manifest—in their not believing the reports of Jesus’ resurrection.

And sharing the faith of our father Adam, just like the Disciples we have hardness of heart and unbelief. We’d like to think that we’re different, but perhaps not? Scripture reports over and over that when Christ would come to this or that place, the whole village shows. Yet here, though Christ has come just as surely now as then, the whole village has not gathered; much less our whole congregation. But before you mistake me, I am not here preaching to you about those who for whatever reason have not come. This day is no different than any other—there are no days of holy obligation, that is, this is not a day that it is required that one attend to the Service of the Church, indeed Christ’s Holy Communion. And that’s why you’ve come, isn’t it? You, like those precious saints of old have also come asking, “Sir we would see Jesus!”

If that’s why you’ve come, you’ll not leave disappointed. You, just like me for so many years, you may have come to church tonight thinking that Ascension Day is a great day of celebration—and it is—a great day celebrating the Lord Jesus’ leaving for heaven—but it’s not. A great celebration it is, but we celebrate not His leaving, but rather we celebrate as the One True Church always celebrates: His coming—again and again and again until that day when, He shall come once and for all bringing that Eternal Feast which we partake of tonight now as a foretaste.

And we are thus gathered in His name. Baptized, we are “happy objects of His grace… destined to see Him face to face.” Happy objects of His grace, for when we hear Christ taken up into heaven, taken up to that holiest and highest place, we rejoice. Baptized into His Name, as we see Christ Jesus received up into heaven, indeed we see our own future.

We are gathered to celebrate His great “once for all” sacrifice.  From His “it-is-finished”-cross, the Christ of God declares the whole world innocent of sin, and for those who here receive Him, His righteousness is imputed, declared, and put upon all men as their own, is put upon each and every one of us, personally by the hand of Him who, ascended, sits at the right hand of His Father.

So rightly we are here gathered and celebrate this most Holy Communion. Many in the Christian community happily preach of the Christ risen from the dead thinking they have preached all that needs to be said. But with the Holy Spirit, that is not the end of the story. Yes, having risen from the dead, Jesus conquered death and the battle is over, but in His Ascension shows us what His rising from the dead means. Of course it was a great miracle that He had risen from the dead at all. But God had raised others from the dead before. In Jesus’ day, who could have forgotten Lazarus. And how about Jairus’ daughter: “Talitha cum…”? Yet both Lazarus and the little girl fell asleep again.

But no so with Jesus, he was not subject to death. And the Disciples witnessed the perfect bookend to Jesus’ resurrection: “He was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight.”

Why is this day regarded as one of the pillars of the Church’s Year, a Chief Festivals? To the Church, namely to those that “believe and are baptized,” Christ says, “Where I go, you can not follow me now; but you shall follow me afterward.” And even more clearly remember He said, “And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going.” As Christ ascended to heaven and sitts at the right hand of the Father, *even so shall we His Church.*

Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection.

And indeed we who remain until that day, when one day, like our Lord Jesus Christ in an instant, “… in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump…” we too “shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.”

For the Lord Himself shall descend, from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.” And the Holy Spirit has appointed that we should “comfort one another with these words.

And comfort one another He will for at that very moment, the Church—who now finds Herself weeping and wailing, crying and mourning on account of our manifold afflictions—at *that* moment all will be changed and our mourning will be forever turned to joy. And we will continue with the angels and archangels and all the company of heaven in that eternal song of “Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God of Sabaoth!” and “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain…”

We will there again be gathered, much like today, as “Happy objects of His grace…” not only “destined to see His face”, but then in its fullness, the promise of our Baptism delivered then in its fullness. And as fantastic as all that is, that’s still not all there is to Ascension. For we worship neither a Jesus or a promise which is far off, for the ascending Christ says, “Lo, I am with you always.” And “always” He is.

The feast before us tonight is not a Feast of Christ’s leaving, but as we said, His Coming—again and again and again. And thus he comes to us again tonight, “For I have received from the Lord that which I delivered to you, ‘That the Lord Jesus the same night in which He was betrayed took bread: And when He had given thanks, He broke it, and said, ‘Take, eat: this is my body, which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me.’ After the same manner also He took the cup after supper, saying, ‘This cup is the New Testament in My blood: this do as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.’ For as often as you eat this bread, and drink this cup, you do show the Lord’s death until he come.”

Yes, “until He comes” we shall drink as He says, “Drink…” for the remission of all our sins. His unbelieving disciples made faithful by His Voice, “went forth” praising and preaching the Lord who died and was raised, and even more than that, ascended. What greater sign can there be than the God who created all things, who now sits at the Father’s Right Hand, what greater sign can there be to the Faithful than the coming of His Body and His Blood, this heavenly treasure borne here of humble bread and wine to strengthen and preserve us in the One True Faith unto life everlasting.

God grant us, the happy objects of His grace—you and I who are destined to see Him face to face—to see Him here now in these humble means. God grant us the grace to faithfully eat His Holy Meal which secures us in that heritage of our baptism which is the one and only true faith, unto life everlasting,

Hark! ten thousand harps and voices
Sound the note of praise above;
Jesus reigns, and heaven rejoices,–
Jesus reigns, the God of Love.
See, He sits on yonder throne;
Jesus rules the world alone.

Come, ye saints, unite your praises
With the angels round His throne;
Soon, we hope, our God will raise us
To the place where He is gone.
Meet it is that we should sing,
“Glory, glory, to our King!”

Sing how Jesus came from heaven,
How He bore the cross below,
How all power to Him is given,
How He reigns in glory now;
‘Tis a great and endless theme,
Oh, ’tis sweet to sing of Him!

Jesus, hail! Thy glory brightens
All above and gives it worth;
Lord of Life, Thy smile enlightens,
Cheers, and charms Thy saints on earth.
When we think of love like Thine,
Lord, we own it love divine.

King of Glory, reign forever;
Thine an everlasting crown.
Nothing from Thy love shall sever
Those whom Thou hast made Thine own,
Happy objects of Thy grace,
Destined to behold Thy face.

Savior, hasten Thine appearing;
Bring, oh, bring, the glorious day
When, the awe-full summons hearing,
Heaven and earth shall pass away;
Then with golden harps we’ll sing,
“Glory, glory, to our King!”

Hark! Ten Thousand Harps and Voices
by Thomas Kelly, 1769-1854

First  preached at: St. Luke, Clinton Twp., MI
May 29, 2003
Exegetical notes from Concordia Pulpit Resources

Luke 24:36-49

Preached at Trinity/Cherokee, IA
Confirmation Sunday

I don’t imagine it is different here in Cherokee than it is anywhere else: a family’s busy schedule pulls children, even parents, in a dozen different directions at once. Everyone’s on the go and so meals have the tendency to be on the go too. There was a time in our American culture, where the family dinner table was a place of fellowship. Maybe you parents, certainly you grandparents, remember this. The evening dinner table was where the members of the family gathered together, not just to share the food, but also to share the conversation; to catch up on what was going on in each other’s life; to talk about the joys and the sorrows of each individual, and to strengthen and support each other through the love and unity of the family bond.

That great American institution seems to be on the wane. And, chances are, what goes with it is a regular time of mutual conversation and consolation. American families are growing up apart rather than together. Conversations have moved from face-to-face and intimate, to text messages and whatever can be expressed in 140-character tweets. Rugged American individualism has turned into isolated individuals, even between family members living under the same roof.

I am sure the youth are thinking-maybe some of you adults are thinking-that I am making way too much of not sitting down together with the family for dinner. But, you only need to look at the history of the Bible to see that a time of sharing food and conversation together was essential part of the life of God’s people; not just for social reasons, but for spiritual reasons as well. Think of the vital role that meals played throughout the history of the Scriptures. There is the matter of all of the Jewish Feasts in the Old Testament which always included precisely what the name implies-a feast or banquet of rich foods. But they were also times of prayer and recalling the grace and mercy of God. Remember the high feast of the Old Testament?: the Passover Supper that time when God’s people ate the memorial meal which marked their deliverance from slavery in the land of Egypt.

Maybe there is one meal from the Old Testament that you don’t think of. The story of man’s salvation begins with the eating of a meal a meal of fruit, the fruit of that especially forbidden tree in the Garden of Eden. And the Scriptures close with a meal, as the book of Revelation depicts the saints in the glory of heaven gathered together for what is called the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. It is for all this, that the eating which takes place in today’s text carries a much more profound significance than what we might first think. The disciples were frightened by the sudden appearance of Jesus. They thought, the text says, that He was a ghost. At that point, Jesus asked the disciples for something to eat. And, we are told that He ate a piece of fish in their presence.

The point is, Jesus didn’t do that simply to prove that He was not a ghost. Yes, He did have flesh and bones. That message was part of the resurrection message. His physical body was alive again. But, in addition to that, He partook of that simple meal to establish the rapport; to fellowship with them; to say that the unity was still there among them.

The disciples really needed to be reassured of that fact. For, if you will remember, back on the night when Jesus was betrayed and arrested, the Scripture says that they all deserted Him. They scattered. They broke off from that fellowship. It was as if each one of them had betrayed Jesus.

It is little wonder then, that when Jesus chose to calm the troubled, guilt-ridden hearts of the disciples, He came and eat with them. In Jesus’ day, eating with someone carried the significance of establishing fellowship together.

Remember the charges that the Jewish church leaders levied against Jesus during His ministry, when He shared a meal with Matthew the tax collector, when He sat down at the table with that wee little man Zaccheus? They said, “This fellow eats with sinners.” Jesus was always sharing meals with the public sinners of His time. And, once again, that act of sharing a meal together meant so much more than just spending a few hours in friendly socializing. It was a sign that the participants were in fellowship with one another; that there were no barriers; that they shared something in common. It was the way in which Christ demonstrated that He came into this world for these very kinds of people He came for the sinners. He came to seek and to save the lost.

And just as Jesus demonstrated this type of outreach to those public sinners, He now reaches out to His disciples. He did the most personal thing one could do to re-establish a bond of unity with His disciples. He shared a meal with them.

And all of a sudden Christ our Lord raises the matter of sharing a meal to a much higher level. “Then he said to them, ‘These are my words which 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.’ Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures, and said to them, ‘Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be preached in his name to all nations.’ “

This is no everyday meal, this is no everyday conversation! This is heavenly talk. This is a meal joined together with Words from the mouth of God Himself. It is about Jesus suffering and dying for us for the forgiveness of our sins. At the heart of both the meal and the message is the very heart of Christianity.

And in this very same way Christ reaches out to frightened, guilt-ridden sinners still today. He comes to us as the resurrected Savior so that we might share a meal in His presence and be comforted by His Word to us.

Throughout the history of the Christian Church, two components have formed the basis of the believer’s worship life: teaching and eating in the presence of Christ. The first half of our divine service centers upon the Word-God’s Word as it is proclaimed in the liturgy, in the Scripture readings and in the sermon. In this way Jesus talks to us. He comforts our troubled hearts with His eternal Word concerning the forgiveness for all our sins.

You and I have betrayed Christ in so many ways. You and I break the commandments by our thoughts, words, and deeds. There is no one of us who is righteous, not one. But Christ is not like us prideful sinners. He doesn’t stop speaking to those who have offended Him as we so often do. He keeps the lines of communication open. St. John tells us in the first chapter of his first letter that God’s Word is always there to say to us “But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

Jesus is here to teach us. Jesus is here to eat with us. And the meal which our Lord has established for us is no ordinary meal; He has elevated it to a more glorious level; for the food He offers us is His own body and blood which was offered up as the all-atoning sacrifice for us. The same body and blood, which was given into death on the cross for the forgiveness of our sins, is given to us in the Lord’s Supper. It is Christ’s way of establishing fellowship with us-telling us that everything is all right between Him and us; not by virtue of what we have done, but by virtue of His mercy; His death gives us life, His righteousness makes us righteous, His resurrection assures us that there is for us life after death.

There is something about breaking bread together, and enjoying each other’s company and conversation, which prove to be memorable blessings. Maybe you recall the family gathering for Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner; the celebration of an anniversary or birthday maybe a confirmation meal today will become one of meals your family will remember. But as special as these meals are, none of these bring with it the blessing we receive when it is Christ Himself Who serves as the host as He does here in our worship together. He speaks to us, He teaches us, and then He invites us to partake of His heavenly banquet. In the Lord’s Supper we share a meal, not just with those Christians kneeling next to us, but with all true believers in this world and with all the company of heaven.

While the family tradition of sharing mealtime fellowship together may be on the decrease, here at Trinity is one place where fellowship will always be on the increase as Christ brings more and more into His fellowship by His Word and Sacrament.

So, dear children of God (confirmands), so all you dear children of God (the whole congregation), welcome to the Feast of Victory. Welcome to the foretaste of the Feast to Come.