Have you ever heard the phrase, “don’t be so heavenly minded that you are of no earthly good”? People say such a thing to warn Christians against living the kind of life that is so focused on joys of the ever after that they neglect the responsibilities of the here and now. Ascetic Christians in the early centuries of the church fell into this category. Some went to extreme measures to separate themselves from this world so that they could focus on the next. The most bizarre were known as pillar hermits. The pillar hermit would climb a pillar and live there for as long as possible. The taller the pillar the better because that meant you were farther away from this earth and closer to heaven. Simeon the Elder is the most famous pillar hermit. For 42 years he lived on pillars ranging from 3 to 50 feet high. (Village boys would bring him bread to eat and goat’s milk to drink but I have no idea how he dealt with bathroom issues.) While one might admire Simeon’s dedication and commitment, he is a prime example of someone who was so heavenly minded that they were of no earthly good.
Today we are celebrating the ascension of our Savior into heaven. We are going to peer beyond the clouds and see him seated at the right hand of God the Father “21 far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come.” But today, as we look upon our ascended Savior, it is my prayer that we do so in order to be of greater earthly good.
This Sunday is a transition Sunday. The church year is arranged in a cycle in which the first half of the year focuses our attention on the life of Jesus from His incarnation as God’s Son in Bethlehem, to His ministry as the Messiah in Galilee and Judea, to His sacrificial death as our substitute in Jerusalem. In the second half of the church year, we build upon everything that Jesus has done for us and focus our attention on the work of the church and the growth of the Christian. (That is why very soon now our parament will change to the color green to symbolize this cycle of growth.) Right between the first cycle that focuses on the work of Jesus and the second cycle that focuses on the work of the church is the ascension of Jesus into heaven.
The ascension serves as the climax, if you will, of Jesus’ earthly ministry and the commencement of ours. Before the disciples became His “witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth”[1]; before they went out to “make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you [He had commanded them].”[2], our gospel lesson for today tells us Jesus “led them [his disciples]out to the vicinity of Bethany, [where] he lifted up his hands and blessed them. While he was blessing them, he left them and was taken up into heaven.”[3] Before the disciples were of any earthly good, they gazed upon their ascended savior. Today, in his letter to the Ephesians, saint Paul explains how the sight of our ascended Savior equips us for our work as witnesses and disciple makers.
Paul begins his explanation with a declaration of promise. In verse 18 Paul writes, “18 I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints”. Paul prays that the eyes of our hearts be enlightened; that is that we know and believe the promise that has been made to us by Jesus. In the first part of this chapter Paul wrote, “7 In him [Jesus] we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace.” And because of this gracious redemption we have been “13… marked in him [Jesus] with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance”. Paul doesn’t want us to overlook the promise of forgiveness and salvation that has been made to us because of Jesus.
Paul wants the eyes of our hearts to see this promise because it gives us hope. Paul knew better than most how hopeless life can feel. It is likely that Paul wrote these words while sitting in a Roman prison cell. Paul knew that life as a Christian often feels like you are treading water in the middle of a vast ocean. Temptations crash down on you like waves and demons circle beneath you like sharks. Sometimes it feels like you can barely keep your head above the water. If there were no hope of rescue it would be easy to just give up and let yourself slip beneath the surface. But thankfully, there is hope. Jesus dove into the water, He pulled us out of the murky depths, and He is sailing us safely to shore. Knowing that we have been rescued; knowing that we are sailing for safety makes our journey across the roughest of seas bearable. No matter what life throws at you, you who have been promised forgiveness and salvation, you have hope.
The promise of forgiveness and salvation will equip you to navigate the rough waters ahead, but only if the one who has made those promises to you has the power to back them up. Paul continues his explanation with a demonstration of power. In verses 19-20 Paul writes about the “incomparably great power” that backs up our promise of forgiveness and salvation. Paul writes, “19 That power is like the working of his mighty strength, 20 which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead”. I mean absolutely no disrespect to the great saint Paul when I say this but when I read these words, I can’t help but imagine two little boys arguing about whose dad is stronger. Paul says the power that is behind our promise of forgiveness and salvation is like a super-dooper, mega-mighty power that is ten times infinity plus a gazillion-bazillion stronger than any other power.
Paul says God demonstrated that “incomparably great power” when He raised Jesus from the dead. Three days after the mightiest of Empires hung Him on a cross; three days after He was burdened by the curse of the world’s sin, three days after His cold corpse was buried inside a cave, three days after all of that Jesus rose from the dead. He rose from the dead as a demonstration of His “incomparably great power”. Jesus Himself once said, “I lay down my life—only to take it up again. 18 No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again.”[4] By the time the sun had set on Good Friday It may have looked like the cross, or the curse, or the cave had overpowered Jesus, but by the sun had risen on Easter Sunday it was clear that Jesus had the power.
The incomparably great power that raised Jesus from the dead is behind the promise of our forgiveness and salvation. But what proof do we have of this power? Paul concludes his explanation with a display of proof. In verse 21 Paul invites us to see our ascended Savior seated in a place of power that is “21 far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come 22 And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church,”. I honestly cannot make a clear distinction between all of these things. I really wanted to. My OCD mind wanted to give you a simple alliterated list of three things over which Jesus displays His power. However, these items all seem to blend from one to the other. Included in this list are supernatural powers like the devil and demons. There is the inclusion of forces of nature like wind and wave. There is also the inclusion of the institutions of man such as federal and state governments. Finally, but not necessarily finally, there is the inclusion of the rule of time over the past, present, and future. I want to give you a simple alliterated list of three things over which Jesus displays His power, but I think what Paul is trying to communicate to us in these verses is that whatever it is that you can think of, Jesus is seated above it all. All things have been placed under Jesus’ feet. Like an ancient king who put his foot on the neck of a vanquished foe who was lying prostrate before his throne so also all things have been placed under Jesus’ feet.
Everything in all of creation is placed beneath Jesus’ feet, everything, that is, except you. In verses 23 Paul identifies you as Jesus’, “23 body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.” Your place in heaven is not beneath Jesus’ feet. Rather you are Jesus’ feet, and his legs, and His arms, and His hands, you are the body of Jesus. In heaven Jesus will not rule over you in the same way He rules over those other things Paul mentioned. Rather, in heaven Jesus will provide for you and care for you just as one provides for and cares for their own body.
Our ascended savior sits with a foot on the neck of the various powers in creation and provides and cares for us as though we were members of His own body. Our ascended savior is the proof of power that is behind the promise of our forgiveness and salvation.
Before the disciples became His “witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth”[5]; before they went out to “make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you [He had commanded them].”[6], the disciples spent some time staring intently up into the sky. Today we have seen how our ascended Savior is the proof of power that is behind the promise of our forgiveness and salvation, we have spent some time staring intently up into the sky. But now, my friends, it is time for us to be His witnesses, it is time for us to be the makers of disciples; it is time for us to be of some earthly good. Amen
[1] Acts 1:8
[2] Matthew 28:19-20
[3] Luke 24:50-51
[4] John 10:17-18
[5] Acts 1:8
[6] Matthew 28:19-20