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Ascension Day (Observed) – June 1^st, 2025 Trinity Ev. Lutheran Church, Block, Kansas Rev. Joshua Woelmer Text: Luke 24:44–53 “Saying Goodbye to Jesus?” Theme: Jesus ascended to propel the church to share Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father, and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. It’s always hard saying good-bye to friends or family who have had a good time visiting you. Even though you’re sure you’ll see them again, it may be some time. There are many traditions that have developed to assist with this. Sometimes it’s a simple handshake, sometimes it’s walking someone to the door or to the end of your property. I’ve known one family who pulls grass clippings up and throws them at the car as it takes off. I have no idea what that one means. I couldn’t even find an answer on Google. I could ask them, but it would be a weird question after all this time. In addition to these traditions, I find it interesting that we recognize the words for “hello” or “goodbye” in different languages, even if we don’t know any other words from those languages. If I say “Auf wiedersehen,” you probably know what I mean. What about “adios,” “sayonara,” “Au revoir,” “aloha,” “namaste,” or “Ciao”? The truth is, it seems like the Ascension is a “goodbye” to Jesus. And in one sense, it is. We call Jesus’s presence on earth from his conception to His ascension his “local” presence. It means that you can point to him and say, “there he is.” Jesus walked with His disciples. He ate with them, touched them, and interacted with them. He continued this even after his resurrection and things seemed to change. He could walk through walls or disappear at times, but Jesus was still local here on earth. You could point to a specific place where He was or where He wasn’t. However, forty days after his resurrection, Jesus ascended. We get this in several accounts, but he led his disciples out to Bethany, blessed them, and was taken up from them into heaven, covered by clouds. Two angels need to tell the disciples to go back to Jerusalem and wait for the sending of the Holy Spirit in Pentecost. The disciples should have expected this ascension. Jesus had told them multiple times that he was going back to the Father and that he would send the Holy Spirit to convict them. But, like most good-byes, it doesn’t really hit you until the time actually comes. And it’s hard—I’m sure it was initially hard for the disciples. It might even be hard for us today—we might wish that Jesus was still walking this earth with us here and now. But, it was necessary for Jesus to ascend. If Jesus hadn’t ascended, we would be obligated to follow him now wherever in the world He is. Or at the very least, we would need to make pilgrimages to see him, similar to how the Muslims are obligated to go to Mecca once in their lifetime. What this does is create a physical distance from God. You are either walking right next to him, or you are half a world away. This is not what God wanted. Jesus’s ascension was necessary precisely so that He could be in more than one place at any given time. That is a very good thing. This impacts us in three different ways. First, Jesus commands that his Word be preached to the ends of the earth. Second, that Jesus still comes to us today in the Sacrament. Third, Jesus will come again in the same way that the disciples saw him go into heaven. First, the ascension is a missions text. Jesus says, “you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth” (Acts 1:8). In Luke, he opens “their minds to understand the Scriptures” (Luke 24:45) then tells them that “repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem” (47). If we want to hear Jesus speaking to us, He no longer does so directly from his local presence. Rather, we must hear His words as they are found in Holy Scripture. If we want others to know about Jesus, we can direct them to the Bible. We can tell them what He has done for them. John tells us that Jesus is the Word of God who created this universe and who is also found in the words of the Bible. By sharing Scripture with people, we are sharing Jesus with them. In fact, we ought to do this. It is the church’s mission to “go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matt 28:19–20). This leads me to my next point, that Jesus promises in the ascension to be with us always until the Last Day. Jesus ascended so that He could come be with us in an even greater way. He can join Himself to us in ways that He could not by his local presence. We are joined with Him in Baptism. His death is the death of our sin. His resurrection means our resurrection. Our fates are linked. He gives us His Body and Blood in the Lord’s Supper. He can only do this if He can be on altars all around the world at this very moment. What we receive in the Lord’s Supper is not a symbol but it is really Jesus. Finally, Jesus promises to come again. The angels promise as such: “This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven” (Acts 1:11). Jesus’s ascension is a promise to us that He will come again. It will be in a similar way as the disciples saw him go. It will be glorious and wonderful, and our faith looks forward to that day, whether we are still alive in that day or God raises our bodies to see Jesus face-to-face, with our own eyes. Christ’s ascension is a promise that he will come again in his local form, and all of us will see him. So is it a goodbye to Jesus? Yes and no. Yes, the disciples said goodbye to him in his local form. We cannot see him now with our own eyes. We too must say an “Auf Wiedersehen” to Jesus, for that phrase means “until we meet again.” But the ascension is also not a goodbye to Jesus, for He remains with us by His Word and Sacrament, by our side, in our minds and hearts, and dwelling in us—until we meet again. Now may the peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Amen. Return to Top \| Return to Sermons \| Home \| Email Church Office

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Ascension Day (Observed) – June 1^st, 2025

Trinity Ev. Lutheran Church, Block, Kansas

Rev. Joshua Woelmer

Text: Luke 24:44–53

“Saying Goodbye to Jesus?”

Theme: Jesus ascended to propel the church to share

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

It’s always hard saying good-bye to friends or family who have had a good time visiting you. Even though you’re sure you’ll see them again, it may be some time. There are many traditions that have developed to assist with this. Sometimes it’s a simple handshake, sometimes it’s walking someone to the door or to the end of your property. I’ve known one family who pulls grass clippings up and throws them at the car as it takes off. I have no idea what that one means. I couldn’t even find an answer on Google. I could ask them, but it would be a weird question after all this time.

In addition to these traditions, I find it interesting that we recognize the words for “hello” or “goodbye” in different languages, even if we don’t know any other words from those languages. If I say “Auf wiedersehen,” you probably know what I mean. What about “adios,” “sayonara,” “Au revoir,” “aloha,” “namaste,” or “Ciao”?

The truth is, it seems like the Ascension is a “goodbye” to Jesus. And in one sense, it is. We call Jesus’s presence on earth from his conception to His ascension his “local” presence. It means that you can point to him and say, “there he is.” Jesus walked with His disciples. He ate with them, touched them, and interacted with them. He continued this even after his resurrection and things seemed to change. He could walk through walls or disappear at times, but Jesus was still local here on earth. You could point to a specific place where He was or where He wasn’t. However, forty days after his resurrection, Jesus ascended. We get this in several accounts, but he led his disciples out to Bethany, blessed them, and was taken up from them into heaven, covered by clouds. Two angels need to tell the disciples to go back to Jerusalem and wait for the sending of the Holy Spirit in Pentecost.

The disciples should have expected this ascension. Jesus had told them multiple times that he was going back to the Father and that he would send the Holy Spirit to convict them. But, like most good-byes, it doesn’t really hit you until the time actually comes. And it’s hard—I’m sure it was initially hard for the disciples. It might even be hard for us today—we might wish that Jesus was still walking this earth with us here and now.

But, it was necessary for Jesus to ascend. If Jesus hadn’t ascended, we would be obligated to follow him now wherever in the world He is. Or at the very least, we would need to make pilgrimages to see him, similar to how the Muslims are obligated to go to Mecca once in their lifetime. What this does is create a physical distance from God. You are either walking right next to him, or you are half a world away. This is not what God wanted. Jesus’s ascension was necessary precisely so that He could be in more than one place at any given time. That is a very good thing.

This impacts us in three different ways. First, Jesus commands that his Word be preached to the ends of the earth. Second, that Jesus still comes to us today in the Sacrament. Third, Jesus will come again in the same way that the disciples saw him go into heaven.

First, the ascension is a missions text. Jesus says, “you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth” (Acts 1:8). In Luke, he opens “their minds to understand the Scriptures” (Luke 24:45) then tells them that “repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem” (47). If we want to hear Jesus speaking to us, He no longer does so directly from his local presence. Rather, we must hear His words as they are found in Holy Scripture. If we want others to know about Jesus, we can direct them to the Bible. We can tell them what He has done for them. John tells us that Jesus is the Word of God who created this universe and who is also found in the words of the Bible. By sharing Scripture with people, we are sharing Jesus with them. In fact, we ought to do this. It is the church’s mission to “go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matt 28:19–20).

This leads me to my next point, that Jesus promises in the ascension to be with us always until the Last Day. Jesus ascended so that He could come be with us in an even greater way. He can join Himself to us in ways that He could not by his local presence. We are joined with Him in Baptism. His death is the death of our sin. His resurrection means our resurrection. Our fates are linked. He gives us His Body and Blood in the Lord’s Supper. He can only do this if He can be on altars all around the world at this very moment. What we receive in the Lord’s Supper is not a symbol but it is really Jesus.

Finally, Jesus promises to come again. The angels promise as such: “This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven” (Acts 1:11). Jesus’s ascension is a promise to us that He will come again. It will be in a similar way as the disciples saw him go. It will be glorious and wonderful, and our faith looks forward to that day, whether we are still alive in that day or God raises our bodies to see Jesus face-to-face, with our own eyes. Christ’s ascension is a promise that he will come again in his local form, and all of us will see him.

So is it a goodbye to Jesus? Yes and no. Yes, the disciples said goodbye to him in his local form. We cannot see him now with our own eyes. We too must say an “Auf Wiedersehen” to Jesus, for that phrase means “until we meet again.” But the ascension is also not a goodbye to Jesus, for He remains with us by His Word and Sacrament, by our side, in our minds and hearts, and dwelling in us—until we meet again.

Now may the peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Amen.

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