John 16:7.  "But I tell you the truth: It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you."

Acts 1:1-11 - The Ascension

Acts 1:8 – The Empowerment.  "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."

Ascension Sunday honors Jesus’ return to heaven after His resurrection. For you and me it is a significant situation. For the disciples it was a total change in what they perceived their ministry to be.

From that moment on, they would appear to be on their own.

However, we know that they were not on their own because the Holy Spirit lived in them to teach, guide and comfort them in all situations. We have that same power available to us today.   How important is the Holy Spirit?   Simply put, we cannot accomplish the work of the Lord without His help.   But sometimes we fail to recognize who He is and what He does.

We are not unlike the wife of an army officer at the end of World War II.  Her husband was stationed in Japan. Because Japan had been devastated by the war the post-war economy was in shambles.  Unemployment approached 60%.  A lot of Japanese stopped by the Army wife's door looking for work.

One of the men said that he could do wonders for her garden if she would only give him a chance.  For the first time in her life, this young Army wife hired a gardener. He spoke no English, but the wife, through sign language and pencil and paper gave him instructions about where to plant, prune, and pamper her garden. He listened politely and followed her instructions exactly. The garden emerged as the finest in the neighborhood.

Finally it occurred to her that the new gardener knew far more about the gardening than she, so she stopped giving him directions and let him freely care for the garden. It was magnificent.

Then one day the gardener came with an interpreter who expressed the appreciation but the regrets of the gardener. "He will no longer be able to care for your garden. He must leave."

The wife expressed her regrets and thanked him through the interpreter for making hers such a fine garden. Out of politeness, she asked the interpreter, "Where is he going?"

The interpreter replied that the gardener was returning to his old job as the Professor of Horticulture at the University of Tokyo.

Can you imagine her surprise when she discovered that her gardener was the university professor of horticulture? No wonder he knew so much about gardening.

Her amazement and surprise was much like what the disciples of Jesus were feeling as they stood gazing intently into the sky after Jesus returned to heaven.  Two men in white clothing stood beside them; and they asked, "Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into the sky?"

That's a good question. But, wouldn’t we be doing the same thing?

Admittedly, some people still struggle with the accuracy of the Bible. The world has a lot of problems understanding how the Bible can be true. They stumble over creation, the virgin birth of Christ and His sinless life, just to mention a few ideas. Many try to make Him a mere man, setting aside the fact that He was truly God as well as being truly man.

So can you imagine the world trying to understand Jesus ascending into heaven?  Jesus stood there on a mountain discussing the future with His followers.  Suddenly He starts rising into the sky until He is hidden by a cloud!

Only one of two things could have happened. Either He went “poof” into nothingness, or He physically ascended into heaven. If He physically arrived in heaven, then heaven must be a physical place somewhere out there in space!

It's a problem to many people. Yet the disciples were so convinced that this story made it into the Scriptures. They obviously wanted us to know this happened.

It was a true mountaintop experience. Peter, James and John had a mountaintop experience on the Mount of Transfiguration. Apparently the 11 disciples – and perhaps even more believers experienced the ascension.

Why were the disciples standing there looking into the sky?

I. First of all, they were in awe at who Jesus was and what they had experienced.

For three years they had walked, talked and eaten with Jesus. They saw many, many miracles. We only know of a few of them, but there were many more.

After a while the miracles probably became a little more common place, but now we see Him ascending into heaven. One author stated, “I would have taken off my shoes. This was holy ground.”   Many of us have seen God do some amazing things… we see people get well that were not supposed to, we have seen our finances come around when we thought we were headed to the poor house. We know that God is alive and well.

But, ascend into heaven?

II. They were also amazed at what Christ had called them to do.

Our text for this morning was one of the last words they heard from Jesus. "You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth."  Earlier Jesus had told them that they would do even greater things then He had done because He was returning to the Father.

The Commission we are given is very important. A powerful commission from our leader means that he trusts us.

General Douglas MacArthur was a 38-year-old brigadier general and brand new brigade commander in France during World War I. On one occasion he went forward and waited in the trenches with the battalion that was going to lead the way in a major attack.  When the battalion commander arrived MacArthur said to him, "Major, when the signal comes to go over the top, I want you to go first, before your men."   He paused and then continued, "If you do this, your battalion will follow. You will earn the Distinguished Service Cross and I will see that you get it."

He looked the Major over for several long moments. "I see you are going to do it," MacArthur said. "You have [the medal] now."   So saying, MacArthur unpinned a Distinguished Service Cross from his own uniform and pinned it on the uniform of the Major.

It was a powerful moment! What do you think happened when that signal came to go over the top? The Major, proudly wearing a Distinguished Service Cross which he had not yet actually earned, charged out in front of his troops. And as MacArthur had forecast, his troops followed behind him. H. M. Boettinger, MOVING MOUNTAINS, Macmillan Publishing Company, New York, 1969 Found at www.esermons.com.

Like us, the disciples did not know what lay before them. But they knew that their Commander had confidence in them. So they responded in kind.

"Men of Galilee," asked the two figures in white. "Why do you stand looking into the sky?"

Perhaps we should ask ourselves if we are standing around looking in the sky when we should be busy doing the work that God has called us to do?

What keeps us from doing more – or even getting started? I believe that we have an assignment from heaven… build this local church. Reach the people in and around Loyal with the glorious gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ!

Those early disciples had questions about their assignments – and they knew how many mistakes they had made while Jesus was still present. You and I carry the burden of our own past failures and knowledge of our own weaknesses.

We need to follow the admonition of Paul in Philippians 3:13-14 (NLT), “No, dear friends, I am still not all I should be, but I am focusing all my energies on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I strain to reach the end of the race and receive the prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us up to heaven.”

If we are going to succeed in the work of God we need three things:

1. Acknowledge God’s call on our lives – and His right to call us.

2. The empowerment of the Holy Spirit – and submission to God.

3. The courage to take action – then take the action!

4. Teamwork among the members of the church.

Followers of Jesus have a bond that ties us together -- a bond that should lead us to support one another, to reach out to each other in love -- a bond that seeks to pull each other up higher and higher into God's presence.

When Sir Edmund Hillary and his native guide, Tensing, made their historic climb up Mount Everest, Hillary slipped, lost his footing, and fell into a treacherous crevice. Fortunately, Sir Edmund and the guide were tied together by a strong rope. The Nepalese guide, Tensing, pulled his British friend, Hillary, inch by inch back to safety. Tensing was later asked about this event and said, "Mountain climbers always help each other." There was a bond between them -- figuratively and literally. Lee Griess, Taking the Risk Out of Dying, CSS Publishing

God has called us to do a work. No, we cannot see Jesus face to face today, but the scripture tells us that we are to “walk by faith, not by sight.” Not being able to see Jesus in person does not diminish that calling.

And when we are called to do a special work, we must work. Christ will help us accomplish His will, but He will not do the work for us, but rather He does the work through us. (Message written with help from King Duncan at www.esermons.com.)

For instance, Linda Down discovered real power… and she needed it. She had dealt with the limitations of cerebral palsy all her life. But one day, she got this crazy idea of running the New York Marathon.

How was Linda going to do this? She walked with difficulty, so running seemed out of the question. What was the chance of success? Look at the problems. She used Canadian canes with arm clamps to steady her arms. Secondly, she was 25 pounds overweight. Thirdly, she was jobless. The more she considered the obstacles, the more depressed she got. Linda began reading in the scriptures about the power of God at work in people's lives.

She read Philippians 4:13, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." While training, she listened for God. She thought as she was running in the dark at night: "Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction about things not seen" (Hebrews 11:1) She thought about her limited dreams, her inability to see beyond the obstacles of life. Faith, she said to herself, was running in spite of the insurmountable obstacles.

When the NY Marathon began that cold morning, some ten years ago now, she wore gloves on her hands to soften the impact of the crutches. It was windy on the bridge and uphill. She had not expected the beginning to be so difficult. As she finished the mile-long Verrazano Narrows Bridge, there were no runners in sight ahead of her. Spectators were gone for the most part. But one little girl ran out into the street and cheered her on, "You can do it!" Others on the curb later applauded and cheered and shouted. Their encouragement brought tears to Linda's eyes and increased her determination to complete the course.

Ten hours later Linda was still running in the dark through dangerous neighborhoods. Some admiring spectators walked with her for safety. Then an ABC-TV camera crew showed up and followed the story of her courage. She continued to run. She wore a hole in one sneaker from dragging it across the ground; her hands ached and throbbed; her arms became black and blue and swollen; she couldn't speak to anyone because of fatigue, but she continued to run because she prayed: "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me...I can do all things."

Then two parks and recreation trucks in Central Park came by and stayed with her to light the way. After 11 hours of struggle and over 27 miles, Linda crossed the finish line. People were crying -- even the TV crew was crying --and Linda was crying at the response and support that she had received from God and these people. She thanked God for the power to do such a miraculous thing.

Later she was invited to the White House and was pictured on the front page of the New York Times. Her story was not just a story of a noble effort; it was the story of the power of God at work. Brett Blair, www.eSermons.com, May 2001. Adapted from a sermon by Gary Ritner at Hillcrest UMC on April 17, 1994.

Sincerely, Pastor Leon

May 4, 2008