The Ascension of our Lord – What Does This Mean?

Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

The theme for this Ascension Day is this: I will be with you always.

When the wind blows in the night, it wakens the children. At first, sister and sister try to console one another. “It’ll be alright. It will go away soon.” But the more frightened one of the two usually won’t go back to sleep. No, the child will open the door, walk down the hallway, and knock on the door, and say, “Daddy, I’m scared.” And Dad gets up, opens the door, and holds his child. And they talk and the child gets back into bed, tucked in just right, and Dad says, “Do not be afraid, my child. I will be with you always.” Holding that promise, the frightened child goes back to sleep calmed and secure.

When a man loves a woman, he asks her on a date. And they get to know one another, spend time together, talk about their lives, and enjoy one another’s company. Inevitably, after the passage of time, the man finds that he cannot live without her. He finds that he cannot share her with any other. He loves her. And so, he heads to the jewelry store and buys a ring with all the money he has saved. And on one knee, he says to this woman, “I will be with you always.” And that is that, and they get engaged and soon to be married, and they have made promises and commitments to one another for as long as they live.

“I will be with you always.” These words cast out our fears, and these words bring us to tears. These words tell us we are never alone, and that some other person cares about us. These are not just the words of father to child or of a husband to a wife, these are the words that comfort us during our greatest sufferings and our greatest moments in life.

But even more, the God of heaven becomes man on earth, and God Himself Jesus Christ, was born of the Virgin Mary in Bethlehem. And what is the promise? God with us. Far greater than a child’s comfort in the storm or a husband’s promise to his wife, God promised to be with us, to be born like us, to grow up like us, to be baptized like us, to be tempted like us, and even to suffer like us. Through every moment, every struggle, every suffering, every sin, and every moment, our Lord God is with us. There is no other god in this world than our God and Lord.

Quite often, we want to be left alone with our sins. I certainly don’t want you to know that about me. And every time, we find ourselves alone when our loved ones die. And the devil loves to tempt us to go through life alone, to deal with our problems alone, to make us feel like we are all alone.

And this is why Jesus has established His Church, so that He can tell you as He tells you today, “I am with you always.” And this is why Jesus has established His Church, that no matter what our family life is, no matter what our social life is, no matter who is missing or who we are missing, that I will be with you always and you will be with me always, and we will be here together always.

This is why we go to church, not for ourselves, but for those around us. I will never forget Stan and Vivian, Frank and Arlene, Marion, and Wanda. These were the elderly members that showed me how to be a Christian, and they showed me how to love one another. They weren’t at church to see what they could get out of it, but to train up a child in the way he should go, and now he’s a pastor in the Lord’s Church. They reminded me often, I will be with you…when you usher, when you acolyte, when you are confirmed and when you graduate. When I got married, they came to the wedding, when my parents were divorced, it was those examples of faith who I called for help.

For this is how the church works. What good is an eye if it has no ear? What good is a foot if it has no leg? What good is a heart if there is no head? Our Lord has knit us together as one body. If one part is missing, then the whole body suffers. If one part is sick, then the whole body is sick. If one part is alone, then it must be rejoined. The last words of Jesus must be the first words of His Church. “I will be with you always.”

This is important for me to say, for this is what my vows have said and this is what the Lord has commanded: I will be with you always. And this is important for you to say, to one another as often as you need, I will be with you always.

But I suppose this only goes so far. What if we can’t stand each other? What if we don’t care about one another? What if we are afraid or alone and unable to be comforted? What if we want to be the Church, but we just don’t know how?

Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, promises you this: I will be with you always. And we may ask, But how is Jesus with us always, even now, even today? Jesus has told us. By baptizing and teaching. These are the ways that He is with us, by making us part of the family, part of the body, part of the Church. By teaching us like a father with his child in the darkness of the night. By telling us His promises more than once because maybe we didn’t hear it the first time. By explaining to us how much He loves us and how much He suffered for us.

When we were baptized, our Lord said unto us, “I will be with you always.” When we are taught the Scriptures and have learned what they say, then we can be sure and certain, that the Lord will be with you always. This is why we always say the salutation in every one of our services. I tell you, “The Lord be with you,” and He is. And you tell me, “And also with you.” And thus we are the Church together, walking together, believing together, never alone and never afraid of whatever the world may throw at us.

This promise of Christmas begun at the Incarnation is the final promise of our Lord when He ascended. His whole life declares to us that He is with us. And He has shown us how He is with us, in His Word and His Sacraments. This means even today, we have the Lord in our midst, not as a thought, but in His own Body and Blood. We have the Lord with us always because Jesus has promised it to be so.

What is true for us now, what is true in this world, will be true for us then, will be true in the world to come, that the Lord our God is with us, even to the end of the age, and ever and ever. Amen.

Rev. James Peterson
First Lutheran Church
Phillipsburg, Kansas