Last night I preached the Ascension Day service at Trinity Great Bend.
Audio available from Pastor Daenzer's Blog:
Text: Mark 16:14-20
Christ is risen,
he is risen indeed! Alleluia Amen. Our text today comes from the Gospel reading,
especially these words, “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel
to the whole creation.” Thus far
our text.
Dear friends in
Christ. Jesus ascends into heaven, but
he still does not leave us alone. Yes,
he now is taken up into heaven and sitting down at the right hand of God, but
still his words ring forth through the mouths and writings of his blessed
apostles. The Word of Christ comes into
your ears, as Christ commanded – “Go into all the world and proclaim the Gospel
to the whole creation.” And so it is for
you, that Gospel has come to you.
It has come to you
in the preaching of God’s word. It has
come to you in the waters of baptism, when God’s word came to you in and with
the water. It has come to you in with
and under bread and wine. And it always
comes to you with the forgiveness of sins, as Christ our Lord said that it
would. In that word, you are connected
to the savior of all, who sits now at the right hand of God the Father
interceding for you with groanings too deep for words.
Christ’s word,
which he sent out with the apostles in our Gospel lesson, is powerful. It does what it says it will do. It does forgive sins. It does give you eternal life. It creates the church apart from our
work. It does all of this without any
merit or worthiness in us.
But we don’t
believe that do we? No, sad to say,
unbelief is so strong in us too, that we cannot escape the condemnation of this
text, “He rebuked them for their unbelief and hardness of heart.” God’s word goes forth all around us, and our
stubborn sin so often causes us to doubt and deride it.
We don’t believe
that the Gospel of Jesus Christ will keep our churches going. Instead, we worry about whether our pastor is
dynamic enough, or about the length of his sermons, or perhaps all we can
manage to do is bicker about money or lack-there-of. We think God’s word isn’t enough, so we try
to tickle our emotions into making us feel
Christian. We’ll listen to false
teachers who tell us it’s up to us, rather than trust God’s promise to do all
that’s necessary for our salvation. We
rely more on our sight and senses than on God’s word to determine what is right
and wrong in the world. We decide that
God’s word can’t really mean that we sin, and so we do what we want regardless
of what it says.
We do this in
regards to our doctrine so often also.
It is easier to practice open communion, even if Christ’s word clearly states
whoever eats unworthily does so to their spiritual harm. It is easier to believe that baptism is just
a symbolic gesture we do, even though Christ says, “Whoever believes and is
baptized will be saved.” We would so
rather believe the weak theology we see on T.V. and read in pan Christian bible
studies, than spend time learning the deep theology of our own Lutheran
faith.
Woe to us hard
hearted, stubborn people, who won’t believe the word of those who have seen the
resurrected Lord. Woe to us whose faith
at times is superficial and worldly. Woe
to us because our hearts love ourselves more than they love God. For as Christ says, “Whoever does not believe
will be condemned.”
And you see, it is
because of our stubborn hardened hearts that Christ does what he does in our
Gospel lesson. It’s because of our
stubborn hearts that he sends out the 11 apostles. They have seen and spoken to the resurrected
Christ. They have been witnesses to
everything that he has done. And he has
given them his word, breathed it upon them really. And so off they went. To the whole world. Before Kings, and emperors. Upon the temple mount, upon the acropolis, to
ears that were stubborn and hardened like yours. And as they went it was God’s word that did
the work.
And they wrote the
word down for all time. Matthew, Mark,
Luke and John, wrote down God’s word for us to hear and see. That word has been passed down, with the
truth of salvation through Jesus alone even to today, where it is proclaimed in
our ears, and delivered into our stubborn and hard hearted heart. That word of Jesus, in its truth and purity,
breaks your heart of stone. It crushes
your selfish desires and wants. It cuts
out your idolatry and fears, killing your sinful nature – drowning it in the
waters of baptism.
And then, that
word makes you alive.
It breathes life
into you. It comforts you. It forgives you all your sin, because it
brings Jesus Christ to you. It brings
his forgiveness to you. It comforts
you. It does all these things because it
connects you directly to the crucifixion and resurrection of our Lord Jesus
Christ. His blood is what is behind his
words – and his blood washes you and makes you well. His blood feeds you with the food of
life. His death counts in your place so
that death is not your master. For in
Christ’s death and resurrection you shall live.
And his death creates faith in you through his word, and through his
blessed sacraments.
And so it is for
you that Jesus sends out his word before his ascension. It is for you that he said to his apostles, “Go
into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation. Whoever
believes and is baptized will be saved.” It is for you that Christ is present here
tonight in his body and blood. It is for
you that he sends his word here into your ears.
And his word breaks your stubborn hard heart, to make it alive
again. Because you are baptized, and
because you believe according to his word, you shall be saved. In the name of Jesus. Amen.
