You are One with God, and God is with You

This is my first sermon from my internship at Living Waters, and my first Ascension Sunday sermon.

Gospel: Luke 24:44-53

Grace and Peace to you, from God the Creator, and our Resurrected Savior, Jesus the Christ, Amen

Ascension - the act of ascending. To be lifted up. In Spanish, the word for an elevator is ascensor. Today in the life of the Church, it is Ascension Sunday. Traditionally, the Day of Ascension is on the fortieth day after Easter, and signifies the ending of the Church’s season of Easter. That’s right, this will be the last Sunday to use those bulletins of yours, so use them well.

The readings from Acts and Luke today, depict the scene of Jesus’ physical departure from Earth, and where he sends his disciples and us, out into the world. The disciples must have been in a tailspin, trying to figure out all that had been going on. In the last month or so, Jesus had supper with his friends, got betrayed by the people, beaten by the people, stuck on a cross by the people, died… and then came back to life. Now he had been with them for a while, spending time with them and telling people on the road to Emmaus about all that had been going on and now Jesus tells his friends - that he’s leaving again. Jesus, the man that had seen it all, done it all, died and lived again to tell about it - was now leaving, and asking, calling us all to carry on the Message.

The message that Jesus the Christ - was here to save us all - from ourselves. Our sin, our hatred, our bigotry, our dischord, our hurt, our pain, our sadness, our misuse of God’s Creation… On that hill outside Bethany, Jesus called us all to spread the Good News, and ascended to return once again.

But he’s still here, with us, everyday. Jesus is here with you, with me, with us all - everyday. God shows up in everyday life, in the daily interactions we have with people, in the love that we show and share with one another. In Jesus’ life, he taught us how to love, to show God’s love to one another in his actions. In the way he taught among the people in the temple, shared loaves and fishes with the thousands, in his preaching and teaching of parables, in his healing of the injured and curing of the blind. Jesus taught us and showed us what love is. Love to and for our neighbor, love to and for our enemy. Jesus was here on this earth to live among the people, show us how to love, and in the process - save us all from ourselves.

Because there’s a whole lot of hurt out there. People have lost their loved ones. Bombs are going off, killing children. Water is rising on island nations. Water is deadly to drink in some parts of this country. Water is scarce in other parts of the world. Millions of people are in danger of losing their healthcare, jobs, security and safety in this country. Thousands of people are on the street every night, a few dozen of them in this area alone.

Meanwhile, we have some people in power that are either oblivious to some of these realities or helping to cause them. People are in need of a savior on the ground, willing to get in the thick of it and turn things around… and he left… ascended like a dove to be with the rest of the Trinity.

I can easily imagine that there was a lot of hurt around in Jesus’ day as well, with ancient empires still conquering distant lands and waging wars, people still hungry, thirsty, leprous, diseased, blind, and greedy with power and wealth.

The troubles of this world that we live in, are nothing new. We have seen leaders in power ignoring the populace, ignoring the cries of their people in pain, in anguish, and we ourselves have sat on the sidelines watching it all happen around us.

Jesus had just died, miraculously come back to life, walked and talked among his friends and within a month, left again. The disciples, dumbfounded as the day they met their Savior, had one last piece of parting wisdom from their friend and Savior. Go, and Do likewise. Receive the power of the Holy Spirit and GO. Go out into the world and make it a better place for us all. Jesus came to this earth, fulfilling prophecy and living among us, doing all that he did - so that we might in turn Go and Do likewise.

During Lent this year, Living Waters underwent a minor transformation and covered the windows in the sanctuary, leaving all to wonder what was inside. Like the metaphorical wilderness of Lent itself, Living Waters found itself in a journey through an epic tale of both good and evil, light and dark, life and death. Stars were projected on the back wall here, and movie trivia played before the service. Celebrating it’s 40 year anniversary this year, that’s right, it’s Star Wars!

Deciding to meld both a celebration of the 500th Anniversary of Reformation and the epic tales of Star Wars, our intrepid pastors came up with six ways to put them together… forgetting to ask their resident seminarian and amateur Star Wars scholar about how to do this… I’ve decided to give my first sermon as your intern, with an added Star Wars flavor. But I’m gonna go off the beaten path a bit with this, so bear with me…

Like the disciples wondering what they were to do without their friend and Savior, in the realm of Star Wars, the people resisting the Evil Empire lost their Messianic saviors as well, the Jedi. Without giving too much of the plot away, in the realm of the now 8 and soon to be 9 Star Wars movies, the Jedi were all but extinct at the end of Episode 3. Except for a few remaining Jedi who hid after their collective extinction, the Jedi had left the realm of Star Wars.

Rogue One, the beautiful and recent Star Wars movie that fell in between Episode 3 and the original Star Wars movie, tells the tale of the fledgling Rebellion, fighting a war without the mystical Messianic Jedi. Before the dawn of the Empire, the Jedi were the peacekeepers of the galaxy, standing for all that was good in the galaxy. After the Empire came to rule, there was no Jedi around, so the fledgling Rebellion had to figure things out by themselves. Rogue One tells the epic tale of Jyn Erso, the daughter of the lead architect of the Death Star, the ultimate power in the universe. With the help of the Rebellion and a few other Rebels, Jyn travels around the galaxy, finding people and resources she needs to then steal the plans for the Death Star. With the plans for the Death Star, the Rebellion can then battle their way to eventually have Luke Skywalker save the day by utilizing a flaw the architect initially put into the design of the Death Star, so it could be destroyed, saving the galaxy from this machine. Until they make another, and it blows up, so they make a third one, and that one blows up, and on goes the epic of Star Wars.

If I lost you, I apologize. Star Wars is simplistically complicated, and it’s kinda hard to explain in the context of a sermon. If you followed along, that’s great. Either way - here’s the point and the crux of what I’m trying to get to -

Jesus ascended, the Jedi were all killed - and yet - humanity lived on. The disciples were given the power of the Holy Spirit and spread the Good News throughout the land, leaving the giant footprint Christianity is today. The Rebellion survived without the Jedi, and pressed on. Even when their Only Hope, Obi-Wan Kenobi was sought out by the Rebels and killed by Darth Vader, Luke Skywalker took on the role of savior Jedi, alongside the Rebellion to become the powerful force the Rebellion became, saving the galaxy again and again.

Because the truth is - even with Jesus ascending and the Jedi being wiped out - They were never really gone. Jesus ascended, but he didn’t leave humanity. God did not abandon humanity after humanity killed God’s beloved child. Humanity overcame with God there all along. God has been there since before the beginning of time, and will be when all the lights go out. God was there when Jesus was handed over to die a criminal’s death, when all the world went dark and the ground shattered. God was there in death. God was there in life. God was, is, and will be there for us. God experienced death firsthand, so that we could experience life with God. God saves us all, from ourselves. Our sin, our broken humanity - God saves you and me from the darkness of sin, because God has been there with us in the darkest and happiest of times. By God’s grace, that is freely bestowed on all through Jesus’ life, death and resurrection - God is there for you now, because God was there for you then.


One last mention of Star Wars - in the previously mentioned Rogue One, there is a character that has a connection with the Force - the mystical life force that binds all beings together in the Star Wars realm - but he’s not a Jedi. Usually, Jedi are the ones directly connected with the Force, that can wield it to their will. In Rogue One, Chirrut isn’t a Jedi but he has a devotion to the will of the Force. Throughout the movie, Chirrut repeats the phrase, “I am one with the Force, and the Force is with me”. It’s to symbolize Chirrut, and by extension, everyone’s connection to the Force.

When life is dark, God is still there. Jesus, the Emmanuel, may have left the tomb and left his walking shoes, but God is still with us. In the waters of baptism, you are named and called a beloved child of God. You are a beloved child of God. We are all called to be God’s hands and feet in the world, to see God’s face in the face of our neighbors.

When you’re out in the world, having a hard day, or in here having a hard day, remember that you are God’s, and God is with you. I’m going to adapt Star Wars for a bit and ask you to say this with me -
I am one with God, and God is with me. I am one with God, and God is with me.
Now, go out into the world and Proclaim to all you see, that you are a child of God, and God is with you.

Amen