Would you like to hear a poem about clouds?
Very well then.
Clouds
Christina Rossetti, 1830 - 1894
White sheep, white sheep,
On a blue hill,
When the wind stops,
You all stand still.
When the wind blows,
You walk away slow.
White sheep, white sheep,
Where do you go?
It’s a poem about clouds – Poetry is great but wait what does it say in Acts chapter 1 –
10 They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. 11 “Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.”
Why do you stand here?
This is assension Week – 40 days after Easter – and the day the church has long celebrated the time when Jesus was taken up into heaven. Imagine being there on that day on that hill - As Luke records it - 50 When he had led them out to the vicinity of Bethany, he lifted up his hands and blessed them. 51 While he was blessing them, he left them and was taken up into heaven. I think that is a pretty good reason to be standing there staring into the sky. But if we can inject part of Acts chapter one into the report suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. Men of Galilee they said, “Why do you stand here looking into the sky?’
Well actually the reason that they were looking and the word Luke uses is – Intently – the reason is they have just witnessed one of the most amazing events in World history. Jesus the son of God who was born of Mary in Bethlehem has just bodily lifted up from the earth and disappeared into the sky. I think I would be staring intently as well yet the message from the Angels is quite direct and intentional.
“Why do you stand here looking into the sky?’
The suggestion to me is – that there is a mild rebuke here and at the root of that mild rebuke suggestion if you like is – Get on with it!!!!!!
But wait a minute don’t the scriptures say – I will lift my eyes to the hills where will my help come from – my help will come from the Lord the maker of heaven and earth psalm 121?
Jesus once said – John chapter 16 verse 7 But very truly I tell you, it is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you.
The ascension of Jesus is the completion of this verse – Jesus went away when he died but then he returned again in the resurrection over the next 40 days he made many appearances but here he ascends into heaven – he is away. Now the Holy spirit – whom Jesus calls the advocate is free to come and help us.
After Jesus rose from the dead we discover he is transformed – he passes through doors he has a heavenly quality about him and when he ascends into heaven he is transformed again and we are told he sits at the right hand of God interceding or praying for us.
This morning I want to explore the ascension of Jesus under the thought that transformation is possible for each of us.
The first thing I see in the disciples is they are transformed in their minds 45 Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. Many times I have shared the gospel message with people whose minds are closed to the message of God and they look at me blankly. They simply do not know what I am talking about. I remember one time talking to a man from Washington State in the USA – he was working for me at that time. I took him down to the Dunedin Wharf and explained the Gospel message to him. He just looked at me blankly as if he had no comprehension because his mind was just not open to the word of God.
Another person here in our own parish just started attending our services and it is as if the lights were turned on for them – totally transformed and now telling others about Jesus.
The transformation comes when the mind is opened up to God’s truth.
CS Lewis was one of the most brilliantly creative minds of the twentieth century writing many classics likeThe Screwtape Letters, The Chronicles of Narnia, and The Space Trilogy, and for his non-fiction such as Mere Christianity, Miracles, and The Problem of Pain.
. Brilliant English scholar at both Oxford and Cambridge Lewis set out to prove Christianity wrong only to have his mind completely changed by the evidence before him.
“You must picture me alone in that room in Magdalen, night after night, feeling, whenever my mind lifted even for a second from my work, the steady, unrelenting approach of Him whom I so earnestly desired not to meet. That which I greatly feared had at last come upon me. In the Trinity Term of 1929 I gave in, and admitted that God was God, and knelt and prayed: perhaps, that night, the most dejected and reluctant convert in all England. I did not then see what is now the most shining and obvious thing; the Divine humility which will accept a convert even on such terms. The Prodigal Son at least walked home on his own feet. But who can duly adore that Love which will open the high gates to a prodigal who is brought in kicking, struggling, resentful, and darting his eyes in every direction for a chance of escape.
¯ C.S. Lewis, Surprised by Joy: The Shape of My Early Life
What did Jesus do to his disciples 45 Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. We too must let Jesus open our minds
We must be transformed by the renewing of our minds!!!!
Secondly
The Disciples are transformed in their purpose. So must we be.
Ephesians 2:10
For we are God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
we can see drawn out in the message Jesus gives his disciples is we have a call.
It is spelt out in these verses 45 Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. 46 He told them, “This is what is written: The Messiah will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, 47 and repentance for the forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. 48 You are witnesses of these things.
God wants us to be his witnesses – The disciples had seen incredible stuff and now they were charged with the task of being witnesses for Jesus. The Disciples had first hand experience of being with Jesus and were able to be witnesses for him in the end it cost most of them their lives but they were so convinced that they did not hesitate.
Even though we were not there we too are called to be witnesses and our witness normally revolves around what God has done in our lives.
While serving as missionaries overseas, two roommates started praying for a man who had attended church, but didn’t truly understand about Jesus. The two men prayed specifically that the Lord would wake this man up in the middle of the night and give him dreams about God.
A few weeks later, the man came to a meeting and said, “I woke up in the middle of the night and I had this picture I couldn’t get out of my mind.”
A Cru staff member asked him, “What was it? Can you draw it for me?”
While the student drew the images, the staff member recognized the drawing and thought: “Did I ever show him the Four Laws gospel booklet?”
But he hadn’t. So he pulled out the booklet and began going through it with him.
When he got to the diagram, the student asked, “How does this man have my picture in his book?”
“This is the biggest evidence I’ve ever seen that there’s a God,” the staff member told him. “He put the exact picture in your head that I was going to show you in our meeting.”
A few weeks later, the student placed his faith in Christ.
Verse 48 says You are witnesses of these things.
"But if I say, ‘I will not mention him or speak any more in his name,’ his word is in my heart like a fire, a fire shut up in my bones. I am weary of holding it in; indeed, I cannot" (JEREMIAH 20:9).
The second area we need to be transformed in is discovering God’s purpose in our life.
Jesus makes it very clear to his disciples…. 45 Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. 46 He told them, “This is what is written: The Messiah will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, 47 and repentance for the forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. 48 You are witnesses of these things. 49 I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.”
48 You are witnesses of these things.
When you live your life in Christ you are a witness for him.
Jesus said you will be witnesses – Your life is a witness whether you like it or not!!!!
These disciples were transformed in the direction of their lives they were now witnesses for Christ it didn’t matter that they were not natural born evangelists their very lives were a witness for God!!!!
But interestingly enough most Christians just don’t witness enough about Christ
Former American President Jimmy Carter and well known Christian writes
He was asked to speak at a church in Preston, Georgia.
-The topic he was assigned was "Christian Witnessing."
-As Carter sat in his study writing and thinking, he decided he would make a great impression upon the audience by sharing with them how many home visits he made for God.
-He figured in the fourteen years since returning from the Navy he had conducted 140 visits.
As Carter sat there, he began to reflect on the 1966 governor’s election.
-As he campaigned for the state’s highest office, he spent sixteen to eighteen hours a day trying to reach as many voters as possible.
-At the conclusion of the campaign Carter calculated that he met more than 300,000 Georgians.
Sitting in his study the truth became evident.
-"The comparison struck him--300,000 visits for myself in three months, and 140 visits for God in fourteen years!"
Jesus said 48 You are witnesses of these things.
52 Then they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy.
Combine that with you are witnesses of these things these guys go out fired up ready to share and when we get what happened at the ascension we too should be fired up
These guys go out after seeing Jesus ascend and they are filled with great joy – and they change the known world in fact
The disciples are transformed into joyous people – We read 50 When he had led them out to the vicinity of Bethany, he lifted up his hands and blessed them. 51 While he was blessing them, he left them and was taken up into heaven. 52 Then they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy. 53 And they stayed continually at the temple, praising God.
They worshipped him and returned into Jerusalem with great joy!!!!
Despite all the advances of modern civilisation we are not living in a joyful generation
But anyone can be joyful – are you feeling a bit down listen to this guys story
(sermon central)
“I have everything I need for joy!” Robert Reed said.
His hands are twisted and his feet are useless. He can’t bathe himself. He can’t feed himself. He can’t brush his teeth, comb his hair, or put on his underwear. Strips of Velcro hold his shirts together. His speech drags like a worn out audiocassette.
Robert has cerebral palsy.
The disease keeps him from driving a car, riding a bike, and going for a walk. But it didn’t keep him from graduating from high school or attending Abilene Christian University, from which he graduate with a degree in Latin. Having cerebral palsy didn’t keep him from teaching at St. Louis Junior College or from venturing overseas on five mission trips.
And Robert’s disease didn’t prevent him from becoming a missionary in Portugal.
He moved to Lisbon, alone, in 1972. There he rented a hotel room and began studying Portuguese. He found a restaurant owner who would feed him after the rush hour and a tutor who would instruct him in the language.
Then he stationed himself daily in a park, where he distributed brochures about Christ. Within six years he led seventy people to the Lord, one of whom became his wife, Rosa.
I heard Robert speak recently. I watched other men carry him in his wheelchair onto the platform. I watched them lay a Bible in his lap. I watched his stiff fingers force open the pages. And I watched people in the audience wipe away tears of admiration from their faces. Robert could have asked for sympathy or pity, but he did just the opposite. He held his bent hand up in the air and boasted, “I have everything I need for joy.”
His shirts are held together by Velcro, but his life is held together by joy.
SOURCE: Max Lucado.
What was the source of the disciples joy.
Well we find it or begin to in the ascension of Jesus
They were joyous because they had seen Jesus ascending into heaven – they were joyous that the two angels had come and they had seen them I mean they saw angels – that is fantastic – But more than that when they stared into those clouds and they saw that Jesus had disappeared into heaven – they saw hope hope that as the bible says will not disappoint. They stared hope in the face and it produced joy in their hearts. They knew that they soon would be with jesus in heaven and they were absolutely convinced of his existence and his purpose in life.
After all had they not walked and ministered with him for three years?
Had they not seen him tortured and crucified and did they not witness that he had risen from the dead. Suddenly their future hope became an absolute reality it was banked in the security of heaven and no one could take it from them
Before they were behind locked doors because of fear of the Jews but now you could not wipe the smile off their faces and they were now meeting openly in the temple and their joy was infectious.
Christians throughout history have carried that ascension joy with them all around the world and have changed nations and rebirthed civilisations. Even in this dark age the world can’t help but recognise the joy produced from knowing Christ and living in the certainty of his death for our sins and his resurrection and ascension.
This joy is not human joy which delights in good news but quickly fades.
It is in fact inexpressible joy – it is of the Holy Spirit and is one of the fruits of the Spirit as Galations chapter 6 reveals.
The Christian who gets the ascension, reall gets it, is filled with joy and a joy that lasts.
The Disciples listened to jesus and stared into the clouds as he ascended into heaven and they were transformed in the process.
We too can be transformed when we
1. Allow ourselves to be transformed in our minds.
2. Discover that we are called to be witnesses
3. Are filled with joy at the hope we have in Christ.
Galatians 4
15 Where is that joyful and grateful spirit you felt then? I am sure you would have taken out your own eyes and given them to me if it had been possible.
