5/21/23 Sermon
LUKE 24: 44-53
Jesus said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you—that everything written about me in the Law from Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms must be fulfilled.” Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures. He said to them, “This is what is written: the Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and a change of heart and life for the forgiveness of sins must be preached in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. Look, I’m sending to you what my Father promised, but you are to stay in the city until you have been furnished with heavenly power.”
He led them out as far as Bethany, where he lifted his hands and blessed them. As he blessed them, he left them and was taken up to heaven. They worshipped him and returned to Jerusalem overwhelmed with joy. And they were continuously in the temple praising God.
WORD OF LORD
I’ve never really preached on the ascension before. I’ll be honest, I don’t really know what to do with this passage but Randy said I should at least make some mention of it and one piece of advice I was given in seminary that has proved useful is don’t anger the music director. I think part of my hesitancy of this passage is that I’m not exactly sure about anything when it comes to heaven or the afterlife. Jesus ascends into heaven leaving us with the impression that Heaven resides above the clouds. But in the 1980s, Carl Sagan did the math and showed that if Jesus left the ground and accelerated to the speed of light, he would have been just getting to Pluto in the 80s. I don’t think this passage is meant to be taken that literally but it’s an interesting point…
But it got me thinking about what is that I believe about death, about where we go, and about what heaven may or may not be. So, this sermon may not be about the ascension of Jesus so much but rather inspired by it. And I’d like to share with you this morning what I’ve been thinking about…
Not that I want it to happen any time soon, but I’ve been thinking about my own death. And I’ve come to the conclusion that I don’t think I’m that scared of dying. I know one day I’m going to die and to be honest, I think I’m okay with that. I don’t think I actually would want to live forever. It’s kind of ironic to me that a lot of times people pray for eternal life and they don’t even know what to do with a rainy day. I don’t want to live forever. I eventually want to die. And I know that sounds morbid to some people but I don’t want to die tomorrow. Just eventually, I think. Because I’m not that scared of dying.
There are things I’ve come to understand about dying and there are other things that I just don’t know. I understand what happens. I know that my body will be buried or burned to ash. One way or another, it will return to earth. I know that my physical body will disappear. But I don’t know what happens to that part of me that I call the soul. Other people call it other things. Some people may call it personality others call it consciousness. But I mean things like my memories, or my laughter, and feelings, the love I feel towards my children and other people. I don’t know what happens to these things. I don’t know what happens to a soul without a body. I can’t really picture or imagine what it’d be like to be a bodiless soul.
But I do know I’m not going to live forever. I know one day I’ll face my mortality and that question will be answered in absolute certainty. So, I asked my faith this week - Yes, I ask my faith questions. I have conversations with it. I sometimes even argue with it. But I asked my faith how do I cope with the fact that I will, in fact, die one day. And my faith told me that it is by understanding that it isn’t death that I’m afraid of.
Rabbi Harold Kushner said once, “It is not the idea that we are going to die one day that scares us. It is the anticipation, the sense that our time is limited. It is the shadow that falls over our lives because we have the knowledge that no other living creature has, the knowledge that one day we will no longer be here. And he says, “The good news is that people, I have discovered, are not really afraid of dying.”
Kushner says it isn’t death itself that scares us but the fact that our time is limited. And therefore there’s a sense of urgency and a sense to have meaning in our limited time. What I’m afraid of when I think of dying, isn’t the act of dying itself; what I fear is knowing whether or not I utilized all the time up to that point. When I think think of dying, it isn’t the afterlife that I worry about. What I worry about is my time here.
And I think that the answer that religion gives us to dying is that even though our time is limited, it isn’t meaningless. That our lives, if we choose it, have meaning. I don’t know what happens to us when we die. I don’t know what we’ll look like. If we’ll see our loved ones or if we’ll have eyes to even see. I don’t know if we will have feelings like we feel now or thoughts like we think now. I don’t know if I even necessarily understand the question of what happens when we die let alone the answers. One way or another these questions will be answered. And I’m looking forward to getting those answers. So, I guess I’m more curious about dying than I am afraid.
I think what causes fear about our limited time is that we worry about if we’ve contributed to the world. Have we lived lives of meaning? Have we done something in this world that makes a difference? Have we made a lasting impression? When time runs out did we get done something that needed done? At least when I worry about death and that my time is limited, that’s what I worry about.
And the good news, I think, is that we do make a difference. Our lives do have meaning. When we’re contributing to this world, our lives have meaning. And what makes me happy about this is that we don’t have to do one great big thing in order for that to be true. We don’t have to write the Great American Novel or a book that stands the test of time. We don’t have to do a great deed that will be written and told about forever for our lives to have meaning and impact.
You know, the other day I was reading this part in Exodus where God does this huge miracle by saving the Israelites. God opens the sea and Moses conducts the Israelites through the waters toward the promised land. And as the Egyptians were coming through they were wiped out. What caught my attention was the part where the Israelites are celebrating and talking about how wonderful God is for doing this. They say at the beginning of Chapter 15 how wonderful God is and they will exalt him forever. Yet, if we keep reading, three days later everyone is complaining about everything.
The food is bad, the trip is bad, everything is horrible. So this God, who did this great miracle for them, who they are going to praise forever, gets nothing but complaints three days later. Forever is 3 days here. So, not even God gets away with one great act to secure a reputation forever. But you know, God is God. And God doesn’t give up. And God doesn’t stop with just one big bang or one big miracle. The fact is that God is God because God doesn’t go anywhere and is in it for the long haul with us. That’s why we remember God and why we continue to praise God. It’s important to remember that. Part of what we do here is thank God and celebrate a Steadfast and continual God who remains with us even in the shadow of death and who provides for us. Albeit in some unexplainable and strange ways sometimes, but God still provides. God realizes you can’t feed people tomorrow on yesterday’s miracle. You have to keep it going. Not even God can get away with doing one big miracle and that’s it.
So, our lives have meaning and it isn’t the big things that give us that meaning. Consistently feeding our children. Consistently loving them. Kids are good at spotting phonies and they’re good at knowing who loves them. And you may impress them with a big show one time, but they know who is consistently there. It isn’t a big miracle like parting waters or bringing people back from the dead, but how we love and care for our families and those around us does impact and leave a mark on the world.
That’s something we can do. We don’t have to do one huge thing, but we can look at the little things we do and realize that they do change the world and that they do have meaning and give our lives meaning.
You know it’s funny. I read Rob Bells book that is supposed to be so controversial called “Love Wins”. Funny that a book called that would create such a stir. But he tries to answer the question of heaven and hell and that can be a bit controversial. And I’ve read all these books that my seminary professors recommended and ones people have given to me on Heaven and Hell and I can’t say that I’m any closer to understanding what Heaven and Hell actually are, but I can tell you that I believe in them.
Maybe not in the way that Dante or Milton would have me. Maybe not in the sense of eternal reward or punishment. I don’t know what happens when we die. The Bible can be pretty vague. And To be honest, I don’t waste much time on wondering about it in that sense. I don’t sit and really dream what Heaven is going to be like or who is and isn’t going to Hell. But I think they do exist in some form here on earth. Maybe not as places but as times.
What’s heaven to me is that sense of satisfaction I get, that sense of joy, when I can walk away from a situation knowing that I made it better and knowing that I helped. Do you ever get that? That kind of outer body joy, that smile that creeps on your face when you get in the car after you helped someone? You know that feeling? I get it a lot when I spend good, quality time with my kids. When I know that I was a good dad that day. I probably should get it when I clean the kitchen and know that I was a good husband. I’d do it more, that’s for sure. But to me that’s heaven.
Hell is knowing that when I lie to get out of an embarrassing situation I just contributed to a deceitful world. And my family has to live in that deceitful world. Hell is knowing that if I beat and tear down my kids, they’ll beat and tear down my grandkids and it’ll be my fault. Hell is knowing that my jealousies and anger and my selfishness leads me to see and live in a world where people are out to get me and in a world that’s self-interested and is constantly unfair and unjust. Heaven and Hell aren’t clouds and harps or fire and brimstone but the realities I create for myself here and now.
It’s just like our bodies. If we feed them unhealthy and harmful things it kills our body. If we feed our souls with with unhealthy and harmful thoughts and behaviors we ruin our lives. But if we feed our souls healthy things, we might find that the Psalmist is right; that when we walk through the dark valleys we won’t have anything to fear. There’s an old rabbinical saying that goes something like God is a mirror. The mirror doesn’t change but everyone who looks in it sees a different face. And I think the world works very much the same way. What you’re looking for is what you’re going to find. And so the question is are you looking for heaven or are you looking for Hell?
So, I want to put a little challenge out there. Every week, try to go out of your way to help someone else three times. Just three times a week try to really help someone. I bet you’ll start to feel stronger, and happier, and better about yourself and about life in general. Just by doing it three times a week… And I think if we do that, maybe what we’ll find is more and more glimpses of heaven right here on earth in this life and a little less Hell. If we really try to help someone even just 3 times a week, I think we could begin to see just how meaningful and wonderful our lives are and can be…