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2 Kings 2:5-15 Acts 1:1-11 St. Mark 16:14-20 May 21, 2023 Grace, mercy, and peace be with you from God our Father through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. Ascension is a hard holy day. First, there’s the difficulty of keeping it on the day. In our reading today from Acts, St. Luke specified that Jesus ascended to the right hand of God the Father Almighty forty days after Easter. For anyone who is counting, today is forty-three days since Easter. The second difficulty is whether Jesus lied. Our Gospel reading today came from the closing words of St. Mark’s Gospel. In the beloved words ending St. Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus promised, “I am with you always, [even] to the end of the age” (Matt. 28:20). But where is He? Where is Jesus? Isn’t the Ascension all about Jesus not being with the disciples any longer? That’s why we extinguished the Christ candle today; Jesus’ has withdrawn His visible presence from the earth. So, is Jesus still with us, or not? Is Jesus a liar, or not? This leads to the third difficulty. Because we can’t see Jesus, because He isn’t walking around any longer, some Christians begin to think that Jesus has done His part of dying and rising. But now that He has ascended, now its time for us to do our part. Now its time for us to choose to follow Jesus home to heaven. Now its time for us to ascend with our spirits to join Jesus where He is at the right hand of God’s pearly throne. But is this correct? Long story short, no, no it’s not. But why? To answer that question, we need to talk about two very important related terms: synergism and monergism. Both are based on the Greek, ἐργον, which means “work.” The difference is in the prefixes. Like monologue or monogamy, monergism is the doctrine that there’s only one who works salvation, and that’s God who saves us independent of any of our works. Synergism, on the other hand, like synonym or syndrome, is the doctrine that we cooperate, or literally, ‘work with’ God to achieve salvation. Most American Christians are synergists who believe we must accept Jesus as our personal Lord and Savior. Most American Christians are synergists who believe you must choose to believe in God to be saved. If you don’t choose God, then God’s hands are tied. But this is a false and unbiblical doctrine that steals God’s glory and tarnishes His grace. Think about it this way. There once was a boy. Let’s call him Jimmy. Jimmy wanted to give his dad the best birthday present. He wanted to give something that none of his little brothers or sisters could. But what could Jimmy give his dad that would stand out from the rest? His mom suggested he do some work, earn some money, and buy his dad a present. What a thought! So, Jimmy got right to work. His mom agreed to pay if he cleaned her living room windows. Between a wash bucket and his own sweat, Jimmy made the windows shine. His mom paid up and he took off to town on his bike to buy a present. He went into a store, found his dad’s favorite candy, and hurried home to finish preparations before his dad got home from work. How proud his dad would be of his work and his present! But when Jimmy got home, his little brother, Tommy, was waiting. Tommy was less prepared and even less able to buy something. He had no time, no work ethic, no options. “Well, what if I wrap your present for you?” he offered. What could go wrong? When dad got home, the kiddos lined up to welcome him, sing, and watch him unwrap each present on the table. Jimmy was particularly excited. After all, his hard work was about to put a smile on his dad’s face. His labors were about to provide a sweet treat for his dear old dad. But then, dad read the note on the gift: “To Dad, from Tommy and Jimmy.” What a little thief! Tommy hadn’t done anything, hadn’t cleaned a single window, hadn’t earned a single cent, hadn’t even put Jimmy’s name first on the tag. What a rip off! That’s synergism. Jimmy did all the work, but Tommy took all the glory. Synergism in salvation makes sense to us, but it does nothing more than downplay God’s grace and His love. Jesus died on the cross. Jesus rested in the grave. Jesus rose from death. Jesus ascended into heaven. Jesus sits at the right hand of God the Father. Should we take the credit for His work? No. God alone has done the work of salvation without one bit of effort from you; that’s monergism. To Him alone be the praise and glory. Why? Because He alone has done the work. Or, to use St. Paul’s words, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast” (Eph. 2:8-9). We always love to steal God’s glory. Mankind has been trying to steal God’s glory since Adam and Eve first sinned. We’ve never forgotten that first temptation, “You will be like God.” That’s why we need to continually return to the Scriptures to see our sin and see our Savior. In Mark’s Gospel, we see this distinction clearly. Who’s the sinner in need of salvation? Who’s the one who gives that salvation? Our reading began, “[Jesus] appeared to the eleven themselves as they were reclining at table, and He rebuked them for their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they had not believed those who saw him after he had risen” (Mk. 16:14). The disciples were sinners. They did not believe, even with everything Jesus told them, even with the proof of the empty grave, even with the witnesses who saw Jesus resurrected. We love to be hard on the disciples and scoff at their disbelief. But think about it. Would you have believed, or would you have had a few doubts, or maybe a few clarifying questions? You trust more in your own ability, your own works, your own experiences than in God’s Word. You, like the disciples, are sinners. When you see Jesus rebuke the disciples for their disbelief, read yourself into that rebuke as well. The Bible clearly shows that all mankind is sinful and that you cannot save yourself by your works. You cannot add one good thing to God’s work of salvation. That’s why synergism fails: because you’re a sinner who disbelieves even when its right in front of you. But the Bible isn’t just about your sin. It’s about Jesus. Where Adam and Eve, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, David and Solomon, the disciples and every other person, where all of us were faithless, Jesus was faithful. He remained steadfast. In Mark’s Gospel especially, Jesus’ gaze is locked onto the cross. From the first chapter of Mark, Jesus is rushed along from one miracle to the next. One of the most common words in Mark’s Gospel is “immediately.” Immediately after one thing, He was on to the next. He wanted to get to the cross because that’s where salvation happened. The cross is where you are saved. Salvation doesn’t happen when you ask Jesus into your heart. Salvation happened when Jesus died for the world! But the story doesn’t end at the cross. Jesus was buried in the grave. He rose triumphant. He appeared to His disciples for forty days to show them the physical, flesh and bone proof of his resurrection. Just before Jesus ascended, He sent the disciples out to preach and teach, evangelize and baptize. He also promised that certain signs would accompany their preaching: “And these signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up serpents with their hands; and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover” (Mk. 16:17-18). There’s one more difficulty for Ascension Day. The difficulty is experience. We don’t experience Jesus walking around town performing miracles; He’s ascended into heaven. But there are other experiences. If you saw things like snake handling or miraculous healings or mass exorcisms, wouldn’t you think there’s something to that message? For many American Christians, the experience is the most important part of church. Not God’s Word. Not what’s being taught. Not the forgiveness of sins. But their own personal experience. That’s why synergism is a temptation. You’re tempted to trust in your emotions, your feelings, your experience to know that you’re forgiven. Synergism makes you think that achieving the right experience assures you of your salvation. But trusting in your experience is nothing more than stealing Jesus’ glory. Therefore, do a better work than the disciples. Hear the Scriptures and believe. Trust in God’s Word. Your feelings, emotions, and experiences will lie, but God will never lie. Place your faith in your baptism because God promises, “Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved” (Mk. 16:16). If God desires to add more miraculous works throughout your life, fantastic! But never trust in your experiences or think that you can add anything to what God has done. Give Him alone all the praise and glory. As you do, you join with the angels and archangels and all the company of heaven that are gathered around the throne of the Lamb. You share in the feast of His victory. You rejoice because He has redeemed you, not with gold or silver, but with His holy, precious blood and with His innocent suffering and death so that you may be His own and live under Him in His kingdom and serve Him in everlasting righteousness, innocence, and blessedness, just as He is risen from the dead, lives, and reigns to all eternity. This is most certainly true. Amen. Now may the peace that passes all understanding guard and keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus unto life everlasting. Amen. Pastor Schultz Trinity Lutheran Church Paola, Kansas Return to Top \| Return to Sermons \| Home \| Email Church Office

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2 Kings 2:5-15

Acts 1:1-11
St. Mark 16:14-20

May 21, 2023

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

Amen.

Ascension is a hard holy day. First, there’s the difficulty of keeping it on the day. In our reading today from Acts, St. Luke specified that Jesus ascended to the right hand of God the Father Almighty forty days after Easter. For anyone who is counting, today is forty-three days since Easter.

The second difficulty is whether Jesus lied. Our Gospel reading today came from the closing words of St. Mark’s Gospel. In the beloved words ending St. Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus promised, “I am with you always, [even] to the end of the age” (Matt. 28:20). But where is He? Where is Jesus? Isn’t the Ascension all about Jesus not being with the disciples any longer? That’s why we extinguished the Christ candle today; Jesus’ has withdrawn His visible presence from the earth. So, is Jesus still with us, or not? Is Jesus a liar, or not?

This leads to the third difficulty. Because we can’t see Jesus, because He isn’t walking around any longer, some Christians begin to think that Jesus has done His part of dying and rising. But now that He has ascended, now its time for us to do our part. Now its time for us to choose to follow Jesus home to heaven. Now its time for us to ascend with our spirits to join Jesus where He is at the right hand of God’s pearly throne. But is this correct? Long story short, no, no it’s not. But why?

To answer that question, we need to talk about two very important related terms: synergism and monergism. Both are based on the Greek, ἐργον, which means “work.” The difference is in the prefixes. Like monologue or monogamy, monergism is the doctrine that there’s only one who works salvation, and that’s God who saves us independent of any of our works. Synergism, on the other hand, like synonym or syndrome, is the doctrine that we cooperate, or literally, ‘work with’ God to achieve salvation. Most American Christians are synergists who believe we must accept Jesus as our personal Lord and Savior. Most American Christians are synergists who believe you must choose to believe in God to be saved. If you don’t choose God, then God’s hands are tied. But this is a false and unbiblical doctrine that steals God’s glory and tarnishes His grace.

Think about it this way. There once was a boy. Let’s call him Jimmy. Jimmy wanted to give his dad the best birthday present. He wanted to give something that none of his little brothers or sisters could. But what could Jimmy give his dad that would stand out from the rest? His mom suggested he do some work, earn some money, and buy his dad a present. What a thought! So, Jimmy got right to work. His mom agreed to pay if he cleaned her living room windows. Between a wash bucket and his own sweat, Jimmy made the windows shine. His mom paid up and he took off to town on his bike to buy a present. He went into a store, found his dad’s favorite candy, and hurried home to finish preparations before his dad got home from work. How proud his dad would be of his work and his present!

But when Jimmy got home, his little brother, Tommy, was waiting. Tommy was less prepared and even less able to buy something. He had no time, no work ethic, no options. “Well, what if I wrap your present for you?” he offered. What could go wrong?

When dad got home, the kiddos lined up to welcome him, sing, and watch him unwrap each present on the table. Jimmy was particularly excited. After all, his hard work was about to put a smile on his dad’s face. His labors were about to provide a sweet treat for his dear old dad. But then, dad read the note on the gift: “To Dad, from Tommy and Jimmy.” What a little thief! Tommy hadn’t done anything, hadn’t cleaned a single window, hadn’t earned a single cent, hadn’t even put Jimmy’s name first on the tag. What a rip off! That’s synergism. Jimmy did all the work, but Tommy took all the glory.

Synergism in salvation makes sense to us, but it does nothing more than downplay God’s grace and His love. Jesus died on the cross. Jesus rested in the grave. Jesus rose from death. Jesus ascended into heaven. Jesus sits at the right hand of God the Father. Should we take the credit for His work? No. God alone has done the work of salvation without one bit of effort from you; that’s monergism. To Him alone be the praise and glory. Why? Because He alone has done the work. Or, to use St. Paul’s words, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast” (Eph. 2:8-9).

We always love to steal God’s glory. Mankind has been trying to steal God’s glory since Adam and Eve first sinned. We’ve never forgotten that first temptation, “You will be like God.” That’s why we need to continually return to the Scriptures to see our sin and see our Savior.

In Mark’s Gospel, we see this distinction clearly. Who’s the sinner in need of salvation? Who’s the one who gives that salvation?

Our reading began, “[Jesus] appeared to the eleven themselves as they were reclining at table, and He rebuked them for their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they had not believed those who saw him after he had risen” (Mk. 16:14). The disciples were sinners. They did not believe, even with everything Jesus told them, even with the proof of the empty grave, even with the witnesses who saw Jesus resurrected. We love to be hard on the disciples and scoff at their disbelief. But think about it. Would you have believed, or would you have had a few doubts, or maybe a few clarifying questions? You trust more in your own ability, your own works, your own experiences than in God’s Word. You, like the disciples, are sinners. When you see Jesus rebuke the disciples for their disbelief, read yourself into that rebuke as well. The Bible clearly shows that all mankind is sinful and that you cannot save yourself by your works. You cannot add one good thing to God’s work of salvation. That’s why synergism fails: because you’re a sinner who disbelieves even when its right in front of you.

But the Bible isn’t just about your sin. It’s about Jesus. Where Adam and Eve, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, David and Solomon, the disciples and every other person, where all of us were faithless, Jesus was faithful. He remained steadfast. In Mark’s Gospel especially, Jesus’ gaze is locked onto the cross. From the first chapter of Mark, Jesus is rushed along from one miracle to the next. One of the most common words in Mark’s Gospel is “immediately.” Immediately after one thing, He was on to the next. He wanted to get to the cross because that’s where salvation happened. The cross is where you are saved. Salvation doesn’t happen when you ask Jesus into your heart. Salvation happened when Jesus died for the world!

But the story doesn’t end at the cross. Jesus was buried in the grave. He rose triumphant. He appeared to His disciples for forty days to show them the physical, flesh and bone proof of his resurrection.

Just before Jesus ascended, He sent the disciples out to preach and teach, evangelize and baptize. He also promised that certain signs would accompany their preaching: “And these signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up serpents with their hands; and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover” (Mk. 16:17-18).

There’s one more difficulty for Ascension Day. The difficulty is experience. We don’t experience Jesus walking around town performing miracles; He’s ascended into heaven. But there are other experiences. If you saw things like snake handling or miraculous healings or mass exorcisms, wouldn’t you think there’s something to that message? For many American Christians, the experience is the most important part of church. Not God’s Word. Not what’s being taught. Not the forgiveness of sins. But their own personal experience. That’s why synergism is a temptation. You’re tempted to trust in your emotions, your feelings, your experience to know that you’re forgiven. Synergism makes you think that achieving the right experience assures you of your salvation. But trusting in your experience is nothing more than stealing Jesus’ glory.

Therefore, do a better work than the disciples. Hear the Scriptures and believe. Trust in God’s Word. Your feelings, emotions, and experiences will lie, but God will never lie. Place your faith in your baptism because God promises, “Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved” (Mk. 16:16). If God desires to add more miraculous works throughout your life, fantastic! But never trust in your experiences or think that you can add anything to what God has done. Give Him alone all the praise and glory. As you do, you join with the angels and archangels and all the company of heaven that are gathered around the throne of the Lamb. You share in the feast of His victory. You rejoice because He has redeemed you, not with gold or silver, but with His holy, precious blood and with His innocent suffering and death so that you may be His own and live under Him in His kingdom and serve Him in everlasting righteousness, innocence, and blessedness, just as He is risen from the dead, lives, and reigns to all eternity. This is most certainly true. Amen.

Now may the peace that passes all understanding guard and keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus unto life everlasting.

Amen.

Pastor Schultz
Trinity Lutheran Church
Paola, Kansas

Return to Top | Return to Sermons | Home | Email Church Office

Pastor Schultz Trinity Lutheran Church Paola, Kansas

Pastor Schultz
Trinity Lutheran Church
Paola, Kansas