Sermon for the Sunday after the Ascension, May 16, 2010
“ The end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer. And above all things have fervent charity among yourselves: for charity shall cover the multitude of sins. ”
“And ye also shall bear witness, because ye have been with me from the beginning.”
WHEN YOU come to the end of yourself, you come to the beginning of God. When you come to the end of your own abilities, your own reason, your own strength—and you find yourself without options, without any solutions to suggest, and you apprehend that only God can help you now, it is as though you've just wakened from the dream of living to the actual reality, suddenly and at long last, and faced the way things really are. All of that old “I am captain of my own fate, master of my own destiny” stuff were the substance of a mere dream, a great and elaborate fake, the story you told yourself about yourself, a legend in your own mind. And now, waking to the real stark truth of just how much you are able to do, and how much greater the problem is than what you can ever overcome, you find your need for a Savior, for a Great Giant Friend, for the One True and Only God finally appallingly before your eyes and you have the choice: between denial or insanity or faith. The end of your former life has opened the one and only possibility for your real life finally to begin.
The men, all of various ages and social strata, training and former professions, found themselves looking up at a partly cloudy sky. They might have stood there staring into the heavens for some time, unable to voice the many feelings that stirred within them, unsure if staying or leaving was the next step. His final words were in answer to their incessant quest for the timing of His glorious kingdom coming to overcome the powers of the world. He responded, “It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power. But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.” He had said to them also, “ Go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Matt 28:18-20 His command for them to continue the mission He had begun was clear, and His return was something future , that would come some time later. His words about the Comforter somewhat baffled them, but encouraged by the fact that all He ever said was truthful, they eagerly expected whatever was yet to come.
Still they looked up to the place where they'd last seen Him, ascending out of this world and finally hidden by the clouds. A voice jarred them and they looked down to find a pair of strangers standing close by, clothed in spotless white, their faces bright with joy, saying, “You men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? The very same Jesus, who is taken up from you into heaven, shall also come in the same manner as you have seen him go into heaven.” They looked at one another, with questions more than answers in their astonished faces, then looked back toward the strangers, but they were no longer there. A meaningful joy then overtook them and, hugging one another, clasping arm and arm, they began the short hike back to the holy city, where they took up a continuous prayer and praise, awaiting His next instruction from above.
The end of Jesus' earthly appearance was not the end of His Incarnation, for that remains forever. He is ever after God and man. His departure didn't mean the end of His mission to earth, but the next stage, the all important indwelling of His believers with the Holy Spirit and their cause to give this light to the people of the entire world. The end of Christ's sojourn on this planet was only the beginning of the story, the entrance of the Church. The Church is so much more than a human attempt at organization and dispensing of lessons in good living. The Church is God and man working jointly as Christ's continued Body on earth.
A hundred years ago, Bishop Charles Grafton of Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, wrote: “The Church is the end of God's original design in creating. God designed the universe that now is, as a preliminary to creating the Church. He created the material universe and man, that He might eventually develop out of the existing order of things, a new organism. The Church is this new organism. It is the primary purpose and the ultimate object of the creative activity.” Lineage of the American Catholic Church, 1911 By saying The Church is the end of God's design, he means it is the purpose , or final stroke of creation , the reason it all happened . In our poor experience, no church ever lived up to that lofty description perhaps, but it raises our concept of what these Apostles were given by their Lord and that we have received from them. The life of Jesus Christ, all He did, what He accomplished, the thing He left on earth are not two thousand year old news. The end was the beginning, and it goes on.
Many in these days are looking at the signs of world disorder, global power, rampant wickedness, the decline of the Church in the West, earthquakes and other natural disasters, and Israel's fulfillment of ancient prophecies as precursors of the end of the biblical narrative, the end of this age. They look up again for the return of Jesus, coming with clouds and power to overturn worldly princes, to rule and reign at last over all mankind, as He told us. Some even foolishly predict a date. Christ's imminent return is some churches' literal doctrine. I've known fervent believers that sincerely believe they will not die before His Second Coming. May God reward their faith. I don't know . The same Apostles who stood in that huddle on Mount Olivet looking skyward believed for years that they weren't going to die before He returned. The Church has many times thought their age was so wicked that He surely must come back soon. At the turn of the 2 nd millennium at the year 1000 AD, many thought it was time to sell all and pack. 150 years ago another great movement saw people watching the skies, only to be disappointed. Not yet.
He will return. We have His word on it. But He left here in order for us to begin great things. Jesus told us, “I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father.” John 14:12 He means for us to be His hands and feet, His words to come from our mouths, His healings to flow from our prayers, His truth to go into all the world from our Churches. His life's end here was the beginning of His life in redeemed humanity throughout the globe. That end was truly a beginning, in a way the beginning of the creation as He had meant it to be. We don't need to seek the way out of this world. This world is temporary, but the lives we encounter each day are eternal. Making every encounter impacting for the souls perishing around us is our blessed assignment, the end for which He created us and saved us.
It is noteworthy, nonetheless, to listen to what Jesus answered when asked about the end of the world. We are surely closer than they were to the fulfillment of these events. Many will come claiming to be Messiah returned. And indeed, we have seen some in our day. Sun Myung Moon of the Unification Church of Korea, the “Moonies,” claims to be Christ reincarnated. Wars and rumors of wars will upset us, but they will not signal the end. Famines, diseases, earthquakes and such will only be the start of an age of sorrow, He said. Then real persecution of the Church will begin in earnest. It will be a crime to worship Jesus, and this has been true in many parts of the earth. Movements in our country to pull down crosses, remove Under God from the Pledge of Allegiance, and In God We Trust from the money, and declaring the National Day of Prayer unconstitutional are only hints at what will eventually come. Someday we will be hated by all nations.
He says that many who were in the Church will leave, offended by Him and too afraid to remain. There will be treachery, betrayal and a great apostasy. This has also begun, in a small way. False prophets will rise to tell many lies, deceiving a great number. The message of the Church will be lost in noise, and failing to preach against sin, the Church will lose its voice in the world. After this, a great lawlessness will prevail, and that also has begun. A love of crime, vice and ugliness is common in our generation, vulgarity and sexual perversion unheard of above whispers in my own childhood is today shouted in public schools, actually obtaining the status of civil rights. We have no idea how bad this all will get, but it's nowhere near bad enough for a powerfully wicked world ruler to arise and seem to answer the need for all people. When that day comes, run. Then start looking up. Not yet.
“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. Then God said, ‘Let there be light'; and there was light.” Gen 1:1-3 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.” John 1:1-4 That beginning was not the beginning of God, nor even of the Son, for God's Son has been with the Father from eternity without beginning . He said, “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End,who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.” Rev 1:8
As we live in Him—our beginning, and our end—let us forget what we once knew, or thought we knew about self-esteem, self-realization, self-accomplishment, talents, gifts, achievements, recognition, fame or fortune: fantasy . All we will ever be, in the end, are the servants of Jesus Christ or else clingers-on to a dying planet. Captains of fate, masters of destiny , your end is your beginning. Give it up. Jesus is all. And He alone empowers your life to become part of His great battle, His army arrayed so unexpectedly in ordinary walks of life. Great generals are what seem to our eyes mere housewives. Heroes look like children. Battalion leaders are arranging flowers for their church altars. Squadron leaders are on their knees in prayer. The end of all things is at hand. Be ye therefore sober and watch in prayer.
PFH+