Pastor's Ponderings: Monday Bible Study on Acts of the Apostles 1:9-11; The Ascension of Christ (July 21, 2025)

July 21, 2025:  Monday Bible Study on Acts of the Apostles 1:9-11; The Ascension of Christ

Blessings and Peace to you this morning. Melody and I have been away for a brief vacation up in northern Arizona with our youngest son. In our travels we were reminded of the amazing beauty of our state especially on the Navajo reservation which covers northeast Arizona, southeast Utah, and the northwest of New Mexico.

One amazing fact is that we never went through a border patrol check point on our 1200 plus mile journey. We visited Canyon De Chelly, a beautiful Navajo park at Chinle, drove through blowing sand and dust from high winds pulsing through the Mesas with great force on our way to Canyon Lands and Monument Valley 30 miles north of Kayenta, and drove in rain, clay, sand, and plenty of sweet smelling smoke from the fires on the north rim of the Grand Canyon.  On our way south we drove through Sedona, coming south from Flagstaff. One should never underestimate the wonderful beauty of Arizona canyons. I know that we will return at least one more time through some, or all, of the places where we were this past week, especially as we are reminded of the peoples of the First Nation, the Dine, the Navajo tribe. We also drove past the Lutheran Navajo Mission School at Rock Point north of Many Farms. I hope that you will take this trip at some time in your life, to be renewed in the glory of God's creation, and to remember the more than questionable treatment of these beautiful historic peoples.

Today we move on to a historic event in the lives of the disciples and in our own faith. As Luke begins to share the Gospel outreach of the disciples, we have come to name the Apostles, we need to remember that there had to be some way for the Glory of Christ to be defined as He ends His 40 days of caring for and teaching his closest followers.  After the Resurrection, it was almost as if things were going to continue as they had been before Christ death. We can certainly imagine the desire of the disciples for that to be exactly what they expected. However, Christ needed to be restored to His Glory at the right hand of His Father. As we hear from Paul, Christ had humbled Himself to come into the midst of God's children, to preach the Truth of the Gospel, to show the power of God's Grace and Mercy, and to show to God's children that there must be a consequence, a blood price, for sin.  He came to pay that price through His very perfect life. But now, with His disciples, Jesus must prepare them for the work that lies ahead for them, a time when Christ will not be physically present with them as they preach the Gospel with compassion and grace. I do not mean here to infer that Christ will be absent once He ascends. No, He gifts His Spirit and promises Himself to be with those who love Him to the end of the age. I don't know what that means exactly, but it has to do with the second part of this passage, Christ's return. We will get to that. The traditional conception of Heaven comes from the actions of the disciples, as they look up as Christ ascends. Today we understand in a more theologically sophisticated way, that Heaven is the state of being with God eternally after death. We don't know where it is, but we know that we will be in God's constant care and presence when we are there. God will be with us in the fullness of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit! So back to where we were. The Ascension takes place so that the Kingdom work can move on from Jesus' earthly presence. So, according to Luke, both here, and in his Gospel (see Luke 24:50-53) Christ departs in, and to, His Glory with His Father in Heaven. Here this departure of Christ seems to have an abrupt end, but in his Gospel, Luke tells us that the disciples returned to Jerusalem with Great Joy. That tells us that Jesus had assured them of His second coming at some time in the future, a time unknown even to Christ, and only known by His Father. So, it is a great waste of time to speculate. We know, in faith, that God is steadfast in His promises for all of creation, and so here we can be just as confident in the words of Christ about His Second Coming, as Savior and as Judge over the living and the dead.  I don't think that perfection is the answer in our lives for whether we will be carried into Christ's time, but we are to always be working toward that state throughout our lives. After all, that is exactly why Christ came. We are called to confess our sin, regret its consequences on others, learn from the experience of forgiveness of sin, and accept the Grace of Christ's flawless Love for us all. Our merit is only complete when we have faith in the Savior' merit, becoming right before God. In His own singular perfection, we get to live immersed and surrounded by our Savior. We must always trust that no matter what happens The Triune God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are in charge as the LORD'S plans for all of creation, including our participation as His children in this life and the next, continue to the fulfillment which our LORD has planned all along! 

God bless and keep you today and always, 

In Christ's Love, Pastor Kim