God of Wisdom, send your Holy Spirit to give us fresh understanding of your Word in Scripture. Inspire us to respond with renewed commitment to follow Christ Jesus, your Living Word. Amen.
Gospel Reading: Luke 24:44-53
On the Church’s calendar, today is Ascension Sunday — the day we remember our Lord’s return to the Father and to his rightful place in glory. Yet, for all its significance, Ascension Day often receives far less attention than Christmas, Easter, or even Pentecost, when we celebrate the coming of the Holy Spirit upon the believers in Jerusalem.
And yet, the ascension surely deserves more attention than it is often given. It marks the completion of our Lord’s earthly ministry — the closing chapter of his mission among us in the flesh. At the same time, it signals the beginning of the Church’s ongoing story, a story that will continue in faith and witness until Christ comes again.
For that reason, we should not see the ascension merely as Jesus’ departure, as though it were simply the final scene in his earthly life. Rather, it is the culmination of his first advent — the fulfillment and crowning moment of all he came to accomplish. Everything he did; his teaching, his healing, his suffering, his death, and his resurrection, finds its completion in his return to the Father, who is not only his Father, but ours as well.
Just as a note, Ascension Day falls on a Thursday because it is celebrated forty days after Easter Sunday. In the Book of the Acts of the Apostles, we are told that after his resurrection Jesus appeared to his disciples over a period of forty days, speaking to them about the kingdom of God. The Ascension, described later in that same chapter, therefore takes place on the fortieth day after Easter. Since Easter Sunday is always a Sunday, counting forward forty days (including Easter Day itself as day one) brings us to a Thursday. For that reason, Ascension Day is always observed on a Thursday.
In the opening verses of the Book of Acts, Luke, who was its author, tells us that after the resurrection of Jesus “…he presented himself alive to them by many convincing proofs, appearing to them over the course of forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God.” (Acts 1:3) So, why Jesus didn’t simply rise from the dead and go directly to heaven, after all, the work of redemption was completed. What else is there for him to do? He has made a full atonement, and he has been raised in triumph over death; therefore, why not just go directly to the Father? But instead, he stayed with the disciples, teaching them about what was going to take place in the future.
And at the end of those forty days, as he prepared to depart and go to his father, those disciples had one final question, “‘Lord, is this the time when you will restore the kingdom to Israel?’” Even after those forty days of Jesus teaching them, they still thought that Jesus was going to return the nation of Israel to its position of power. They were hoping for the end of Roman rule and the rise of freedom for Israel.
For three years they had walked with Jesus. For forty days after the resurrection, he had spoken to them about the kingdom of God. They had seen him conquer death itself. Surely now, they thought, the moment had come. Surely this must be the turning point in history. Surely this is when the Messiah will take his throne in Jerusalem, overthrow Rome, and restore Israel’s former glory.
The disciples want to know when, but Jesus instead tells them about the “what” and “how”. He says, “’It is not for you to know the times or periods that the Father has set by his own authority. But 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 ends of the earth.’” In other words, the unfolding of history belongs to God. The Father holds the calendar of redemption. Faith does not mean possessing the timetable; it means trusting the One who does.
Instead of promising political power, he promises the Holy Spirit. Instead of speaking of thrones in Jerusalem, he speaks of witnessing “to the ends of the earth.” The restoration of Israel would not be a narrowing of God’s purposes but an expansion of them. Through Israel’s Messiah, Jesus, blessings would flow to all nations.
And for us, as a congregation who have seen many seasons of change, this is comforting. The future of the Church is not ours to control. It rests in the authority of God. We, too, are often tempted to imagine God’s kingdom in terms that suit our own hopes—security, influence, visible success, cultural strength. We may long for the Church to regain a certain standing or for society to move in a particular direction. Yet the kingdom Jesus establishes is not secured by political dominance but by faithful witness, sacrificial love, and the quiet work of the Spirit.
Jesus then outlines a widening circle: Jerusalem, all Judea, Samaria, to the ends of the earth. It is a geographical movement, but also a spiritual one. The kingdom of God will not be confined to one nation. The promise given to Israel will overflow to the world.
Jesus speaks of renewal that reaches outward without limit. The Spirit pushes the Church beyond familiar boundaries—beyond comfort, beyond old divisions, beyond long-held assumptions. Even Samaria would have startled them, for the Jews and Samaritans were always at odds. So “the ends of the earth” must have seemed unimaginable. And yet, here we are, centuries later, in our own place, thousands of miles from Jerusalem, living proof that Christ’s promise was fulfilled.
This passage gently challenges us. When we become preoccupied with times and periods, Jesus calls us back to trust. When we long for control, he offers the Spirit. When we seek security, he sends us out in witness. We are not called to predict the Church’s future; we are called to be faithful in the present. For any congregation, that faithfulness takes ordinary forms: prayer, compassion, hospitality, truth spoken in love. The power promised by Jesus is shown through the steady strength to bear witness to Christ in word and deed.
And this power will come through the gift of the Holy Spirit. It is not political strength, not military force, not persuasive technique. It is the quiet, transforming power of God at work within human lives.
The Holy Spirit does not merely energize the Church; the Spirit reshapes the heart. Fearful disciples become courageous witnesses. Divided communities learn reconciliation. Hard hearts grow tender. The power promised by Christ is the power to become what we could never become on our own.
Later, in his Letter to the Galatians, the Apostle Paul describes the fruit of the Spirit as “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.” (Galatians 5:22–23) These are not dramatic signs in the worldly sense, but they are signs of deep transformation. Where the Spirit is at work, character changes. Relationships heal. Communities reflect something of Christ’s own life.
After Jesus promised that the Holy Spirit would descend upon the disciples, this is what took place, “…as they were watching, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. While he was going and they were gazing up towards heaven, suddenly two men in white robes stood by them. They said, ‘Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up towards heaven? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.’” This is one of the most remarkable statements in Holy Scripture. It’s the Ascension of Christ into heaven.
All the major Christian creeds, such as the Apostles’ Creed, which we recite every Sunday, speak about the Ascension, and Christians of every tradition have believed it. There are not many teachings that all Christians everywhere have agreed on, but this is one of them. Christians believe that after his resurrection, Jesus truly and physically returned to heaven. This is not just a symbol or a spiritual idea. It is something that really happened. Because of that, the Ascension is one of the basic beliefs of the Christian faith. To be a Christian is not only to believe that Jesus died and rose again, but also that he now reigns with the Father.
We’re not sure who the “two men in white robes” were, but it’s quite likely they were angels. This is similar to the scene in the Gospel of Luke when the women entered the tomb where the body of Jesus had been laid and found it to be empty. This is what happened next, “While they were perplexed about this, suddenly two men in dazzling clothes stood beside them. The women were terrified and bowed their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, ‘Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here but has risen.’” (Luke 24:4-5)
And what’s more important than who they were is what they say to the disciples, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up towards heaven?” There’s work to be done, the time for watching the sky is over; the time for witness is about to begin. Jesus had told them that they would be witnesses for him starting in Jerusalem and going to the ends of the earth, and it was time to begin. And as we look back, 2,000 years later, we can see that they fulfilled his command, the Good News of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ has spread to the ends of the earth.
And that’s the job we’re to continue today. We are not meant to be sky gazers; God has a job for us to do. We need to be concerned with accomplishing the task God has given us, not sitting idle on the sidelines.
And to carry on Jesus’ work, he has entrusted us with what we need: the firm foundation of his resurrection and the message of his kingdom; the empowering presence of the Holy Spirit; the clear calling of the Great Commission; and the sure hope of his coming again. These gifts may seem simple, yet they are deeply powerful and fully sufficient for the life and mission of the Church.
So, here is the invitation for us today: look for what the Spirit is already doing here and now. Ask how you might take your place within this community as it moves forward and outward in faith. We all come with our own needs, yet those needs are often most fully met when we join ourselves to the work God is already accomplishing among us.
Ascension Day reminds us that it is the Spirit at work in the Church who makes the impossible possible—working in ways even more mysterious than Jesus rising into the heavens. Some of you have been witnesses to Christ for many decades. You have prayed faithfully, served quietly, given generously, and endured patiently. The Ascension reminds us that none of that has been in vain. The risen and ascended Lord reigns even now, and he gathers up every act of faithfulness into his eternal purposes. Let us receive the gift of the Ascension with gratitude, allow Christ’s Spirit to lift our hearts, and rejoice in the living hope God has given us.
Let us Pray:
Risen and ascended Lord, we thank you that you reign in glory and yet remain near to us through your Spirit. You have not left us alone. You have given us a sure foundation in your resurrection, a clear calling in your commission, and a living hope in your promised return.
Lift our eyes when they are fixed only on earthly concerns. Steady our hearts when we are anxious about the future. Fill us anew with the power of your Holy Spirit, that our lives may bear the fruit of love, joy, and peace.
Send us out as your faithful witnesses—not in our own strength, but in quiet confidence that you are at work among us. May our words reflect your truth, our actions show your compassion, and our fellowship reveal your grace.
Keep us watchful, hopeful, and obedient until the day we see you face to face.
In your holy and exalted name, we pray. Amen