Ascension, Holy Communion
Service, 2012
Pastor Gregory L. Jackson
The Hymn #221 Hark Ten Thousand
Harps 3:33
The Confession
of Sins
The Absolution
The Introit p. 16
The Gloria Patri
The Kyrie p. 17
The Gloria in Excelsis
The Salutation and Collect p. 19
The Epistle and Gradual Acts 1:1-11
The
Gospel Mark 16:14-20
Glory be to
Thee, O Lord!
Praise be to Thee, O Christ!
The Nicene Creed p. 22
The Sermon Hymn # 216 On Christ’s
Ascension 3:41
Believe
and Confess
The Hymn #316 O Living Bread 3:45
The Preface p.
24
The Sanctus p. 26
The Lord's Prayer p. 27
The Words of Institution
The Agnus Dei p. 28
The Nunc Dimittis p. 29
The Benediction p. 31
The Hymn #294 O Word of God 3:31
KJV Luke 24:49 And, behold,
I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of
Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high. 50 And he led them out
as far as to Bethany, and he lifted up his hands, and blessed them. 51 And it
came to pass, while he blessed them, he was parted from them, and carried up
into heaven. 52 And they worshipped him, and returned to Jerusalem with great
joy: 53 And were continually in the temple, praising and blessing God. Amen.
[The ending of Luke fits
with the opening of Acts, which Luke also wrote.]
KJV Acts 1:1 The former
treatise have I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and
teach, 2 Until the day in which he was taken up, after that he through the Holy
Ghost had given commandments unto the apostles whom he had chosen: 3 To whom
also he shewed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs, being
seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom
of God: 4 And, being assembled together with them, commanded them that
they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father,
which, saith he, ye have heard of me. 5 For John truly baptized with
water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence. 6 When
they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou
at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel? 7 And he said unto them, It
is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in
his own power. 8 But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come
upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all
Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth. 9 And when he
had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud
received him out of their sight. 10 And while they looked stedfastly toward
heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel; 11 Which
also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same
Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as
ye have seen him go into heaven.
KJV Mark 16:14 Afterward he
appeared unto the eleven as they sat at meat, and upbraided them with their
unbelief and hardness of heart, because they believed not them which had seen
him after he was risen. 15 And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and
preach the gospel to every creature. 16 He that believeth and is baptized shall
be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned. 17 And these signs shall
follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall
speak with new tongues; 18 They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any
deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and
they shall recover. 19 So then after the Lord had spoken unto them, he was
received up into heaven, and sat on the right hand of God. 20 And they went
forth, and preached every where, the Lord working with them, and
confirming the word with signs following. Amen.
Ascension
O Jesus Christ, Thou almighty Son of God, who art no longer
in humiliation here on earth, but sittest at the right hand of Thy Father, Lord
over all things: We beseech Thee, send us Thy Holy Spirit; give Thy Church
pious pastors, preserve Thy word, control and restrain the devil and all who
would oppress us: mightily uphold Thy kingdom, until all Thine enemies shall
have been put under Thy feet, that we may hold the victory over sin, death, and
the devil, through Thee, who livest and reignest with God the Father and the
Holy Ghost, one true God, world without end. Amen.
Believe and Confess
KJV Mark 16:14 Afterward he
appeared unto the eleven as they sat at meat, and upbraided them with their
unbelief and hardness of heart, because they believed not them which had seen
him after he was risen.
The moderns decided against the ending of Mark, so they do
not like the traditional Gospel for this day. The modern translations do a lot
of this, so this lesson is a reminder of their cavalier attitude about the
Bible. They began with this lesson, then moved on to changing the actual
meaning of each verse. They know what God would have said in Greek if He had
been a better writer – like them.
Luther pointed out that this lesson has been criticized for
having the wrong times, pushing everything together. But that falls apart when
Mark is seen as condensing the events from the resurrection to the Ascension.
Mark is the shortest Gospel and duplicates almost every single verse in Matthew
and Luke, so it could have been the first Gospel harmony. No one agrees, and it
does not matter for any believer – on for those defending doctoral
dissertations about Mark’s Gospel.
Another point - the first three Gospels describe the public
ministry of Jesus as one year, the Fourth Gospel as three years. People accept
the three-year ministry and understand that the first three Gospels are not
trying to be travelogues or diaries, but passion accounts (about 25% of each
Gospel).
This account makes modern man address a basic question in
the theme Luther raised – believe and confess. Ever since the Age of
Rationalism, from the 18th century on, the Bible has been subjected
to analysis based on man’s reason. If it is not within man’s reason and
experience, it cannot be true.
This is where the revelation of God’s Word transcends all
human reason, knowledge, or wisdom. Faith in the Word sets aside what man
claims to be true and trusts in the message from God.
KJV Mark 16:9 Now when Jesus
was risen early the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary
Magdalene, out of whom he had cast seven devils. 10 And she went and
told them that had been with him, as they mourned and wept. 11 And they, when
they had heard that he was alive, and had been seen of her, believed not. 12
After that he appeared in another form unto two of them, as they walked, and
went into the country. 13 And they went and told it unto the residue:
neither believed they them. 14 Afterward he appeared unto the eleven as they
sat at meat, and upbraided them with their unbelief and hardness of heart,
because they believed not them which had seen him after he was risen.
Although Jesus led His
disciples gently along, He also rebuked them for lack of faith. This happened
during His public ministry and also after His resurrection. Of course, we say,
“How could they doubt after the empty tomb, seen by others, after all He
promised?” The same could be said of us, since we know that and more, after
many centuries of Christian teaching.
I can see the conclusion of
Mark being used as a concise catechism or lesson about the resurrection and
ascension of Christ, with additional passages used in study to supplement the
main message.
After all, there are
references to the two Emmaus disciples (verse 12 – the two of them) but the
complete story is told only in Luke.
The rebuking reminds us that
the primary work of the Holy Spirit is to convict us of sin, because we do not
believe. In all of Luther’s sermons, this is emphasized. Faith implies thought
and action. In the first sermon for Ascension, Luther preaches and believing
and confessing.
There is quite a difference
between knowing/seeing and believing. As we see in the calming of the storm,
when fear enters in, faith flies out the window. It is easy to believe in
Christ, but to keep believing in Him is a struggle against our Old Adam, the
unbelieving world, and the deceptions of Satan.
Some might say, “I would
believe in Him if I saw someone risen from the dead.”
The rich man said that in
his torment, wanting someone to warn his brothers who were still alive. The
answer was stern – They have Moses and the prophets.
Faith comes from the
efficacy of the Word. The Holy Spirit speaks to the hearer or the reader,
planting or confirming faith in that person. Jesus taught thousands of people.
The Holy Spirit teaches millions, bringing Christ to them in every corner of
the globe.
Believe and confess. To
believe without confessing the truth is not genuine faith. Confessing the truth
means convicting the unbelieving world of sin – because they do not believe.
That is bearing the cross –
to be met by scorn, mockery, anger, insults, and slander – and not just from
clergy and church officials. Cult members and atheists are just as bad.
Luther once said, “The cross
means being willing to be slugged in the mouth.”
Satan is a powerful creature
of a thousand arts, and he knows where we are weak. He uses his troops to
exploit those weaknesses.
But the Holy Spirit is the
master of 100,000 arts, and can vanquish Satan with one Word of God. (Large
Catechism – marked in blue on the blog post.)
Unbelief causes hardness of
heart and blindness. Trying to teach the Word makes the blindness and hardening
worse. But the cause is not ours, and that is God’s will when people refuse to
hear the Word. They may rejoice at the moment but they pay a terrible price
later.
Mark 16:15 And he said
unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.
One way to test the meaning
of a passage is to compare it to a parallel. This parallels the Great
Commission in Matthew. It does not say “you have to make disciples” but “Go into
all the world and preach the Gospel.”
Ever since man has tried to
turn the Gospel into a law of some kind:
- Leave the world and become monks praying for
your own salvation.
- Obey these rules to qualify for eternal life.
- Transform the world.
- Create a just society with the New Deal (based
on the Social Gospel Movement’s platform of legislation).
- Form cell groups.
The Gospel causes and
encourages faith because the Holy Spirit conveys Jesus to us in its message. We
need that constant nurturing because we can do nothing by ourselves.
Although people wonder about
God allowing the world to continue so long, we should also consider His
patience and His constant providing for the Gospel to reach new people.
I published Bente’s Historical
Introductions on the blog – for pastors and interested laity. The first one
to thank me was a classmate from Moline, a woman who drives trucks. She is a
Lutheran. And she said, “Thanks for sending this over. I enjoy the study
material and thirst for more!” I always think others think the same way. I hear
from quite a few, and 2,000 pages are read each day now.
Today, also, an Appleton
Lutheran pastor informed me that I was a nut for doubting Obama and the
authorship of Shakespeare’s plays. You would think a pastor would say, “Thanks
for making my sermon preparation easier and faster, with all the Book of
Concord and Luther materials – plus hymn graphics, Biblical graphics, and
doctrinal graphics – so I don’t have to steal from Groeschel anymore.”
That illustrates what we
should do – broadcast in the old fashioned sense of the word, scattering the
living Word in all directions and letting God accomplish His will through the
Word. Jesus did not say, “Be successful” but “Preach the Gospel.”
Luther – First Ascension
Sermon:
Therefore, I will
form for myself another people, which shall know me and love me. When they see
that I will not regard their works but will give them every good thing freely,
their hearts will teem with joy and will never weary of my praise.
8. Therefore,
beware of glossing the text and seeking to improve upon the words of Christ.
Our doctors and colleges have tried to better them and have said these words
must be understood thus: “He that believeth” (understand: and doeth good
works), “shall be saved.” Who authorized them to make that insertion? Do you
think the Holy Spirit was too stupid to make it? Thus they have utterly
obscured, yea, perverted, this precious statement with their insertion.
Therefore, take heed and let no one make an insertion for you, but abide by the
text as it reads and understand it thus: “He that believeth shall be saved”
without his merit, without any works.
Mark 16:16 He that
believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be
damned.
This is a good concise statement of salvation only through
faith, damnation from not believing. This is not a way to belittle baptism at
all. The Word is used with water for our benefit. An adult may ask for baptism
to fit in with others, to benefit himself. He is not saved by baptism but by
faith in Christ.
For instance, someone asked me for baptism because “she had
tried everything else.” I did not refuse but asked her to look into her other
problems, because she had an obvious medical condition.
Babies become believers through the Word in baptism, but
parents also have the responsibility to nurture that faith.
There is no comfort in this verse for people to say they
were saved before believing or without believing. That is the false message of
UOJ, getting more strident every year.
But the message of faith in Christ is comforting -
Luther – First Ascension Sermon, Lencker edition:
12. Now, place the two side by
side, and you can rightly conclude: Where there is faith, there cannot be so
many sins, but they will surely be swallowed up and exterminated by faith;
where there is unbelief, you will never be able to do good works enough to blot
out the least sin. Little, therefore as sin can stand in the presence of faith,
so little can good works abide with unbelief. Therefore, nothing is needed, in
order to do good works, but faith; and nothing more is required, in order to do
sin and evil works, than unbelief. Thus it follows that he who believes has no
sin and does nothing but good works; on the other hand, he who does not believe,
verily, does no good work, but all he does is sin.
13. Therefore I say, however, you
cannot have committed so many sins, neither is Satan such an invincible enemy
of yours, but that all is taken away and forgiven as soon as you begin to
believe. For through faith you have Christ as your own treasure, who was given
to you for the very purpose of taking away sin; and who will be so bold as to
condemn Christ?
Mark 16:17 And these
signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils;
they shall speak with new tongues; 18 They shall take up serpents; and if they
drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the
sick, and they shall recover.
This may make many moderns
uncomfortable. When the Church was being established, the apostles performed
great miracles, just as Jesus did. There were so many frauds in those times
that this showed the genuine divine power of the early followers.
Miracles have not gone away,
because every Holy Communion service is a miracle, with the Word consecrating
the elements. However, we do not manufacture fake miracles, although
unbelievers crave them. Jesus performed many profound, visible miracles, but
people walked away as soon as He began to teach (John 6). Thus, miracles are not
sufficient for unbelievers, since the Word annoys and vexes them, as it does
today.
This group of miracles is to
show – they can do all things through faith. We see many examples of that
today, when people do not take counsel of their experience and reason, but
trust completely in God’s wisdom and power.
All things done in faith are
God-pleasing, but no venture without faith is anything but a sin. So we should
perform all our duties in faith and consider it a blessing to serve God in such
a way.
Many clergy have thought
they were not “doing anything” when they were being faithful but seeing no
visible results. It is not for us to judge the results but to discern the
difference between true and false doctrine.
I told a pharmacist I could
not do his job because I mix up the medicine names. That caused one child to
die, when the wrong pills were pulled from storage. The medicine he needed
sound just like the one he was prescribed. It was a terrible tragedy because no
one sought to look at the pills. I have taken pills in to be matched on a chart
– they are not the same.
Biblical doctrine is
similar. Some people say, “There is no real difference,” but there is. If a
pastor cannot tell the difference he should study more or find another
vocation. Nothing is true because a synod voted on it or because it helps one’s
career. It is true only if the Bible teaches it.
Mark 16:19 So then after
the Lord had spoken unto them, he was received up into heaven, and sat on the
right hand of God. 20 And they went forth, and preached every where, the Lord
working with them, and confirming the word with signs following. Amen.
Moderns explain patiently
that we no longer live in a three-storey universe. Oh, how primitive ancient
man was. But that shows how foolish the rationalists are, because they force
one view onto the Biblical story. Jesus rose and disappeared from their sight.
It does not say He went to the stratosphere or ionosphere. Things beyond mortal
life are beyond our knowing, so we are told what we need, and we trust in this
truth.
When rationalistic man
reduces the message to what he can understand and experience, nothing is left.
Thus honest atheists have a passionate hatred for the Word, because they feel
the condemning effect of the Holy Spirit and counter with hatred, doubt, and
blindness.
Luther says in one of the
sermons that it is the nature of faith to grow constantly. I take issue with
that wording, because faith shrinks when it is not nurtured. He probably saw
less of that in his time, when people still believed in divine power.
When people remove
themselves from the Means of Grace, they lose the growth in trust that we receive
and need in the Gospel.
Luther, First Sermon,
Ascension:
30. Again in
still another Psalm, David says ( Psalm 68:18): “Thou hast ascended on high,
thou hast led away captives; thou hast received gifts among men, yea among the
rebellious also, that Jehovah God might dwell with them.” And all the prophets
took great pains to describe Christ’s ascension and his kingdom. For, as his
sufferings and death are deeply founded in the Scriptures, so are also his
kingdom, his resurrection and ascension. In this manner we must view the
ascension of Christ. Otherwise it will afford us neither pleasure nor profit.
For what good will it do you if you merely preach that he ascended up to heaven
and sits there with folded hands? This is what the prophet would say in the
Psalm Christ is ascended on high and has led captivity captive. That is to say,
not only does he sit up there but he is also down here. And for this purpose
did he ascend up thither, that he might be down here, that he might fill all
things and be everywhere present; which thing he could not do had he remained
on earth, for here in the body he could not have been present with all. He
ascended to heaven, where all hearts can see him, where he can deal with all
men, that he might fill all creation. He is present everywhere and all things
are filled with his fullness. Nothing is so great, be it in heaven or on earth,
but he has power over it, and it must be in perfect obedience to him. He not
only governs and fills all creation (that would not help my faith any nor take
away my sins), but also has led captivity captive.
Thus faith is the victor,
this faith which the Holy Spirit gives us through the Gospel.
