“When He had led them out the vicinity of Bethany, He lifted up His hands and blessed them.  While He was blessing them, He left them and was taken up into heaven.  Then they worshipped Him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy.  And they stayed continually at the temple, praising God.”
    ----- Luke 24:50-53


"At His Ascension, our Lord entered heaven --- and He keeps the door open for humanity to enter."   ---Oswald Chambers

"Jesus departed from our sight that He might return to our heart.  He departed, and behold, He is here!"   ----Saint Augustine


This week begins with what many in the Christian Church call Ascension Sunday, the celebration of the remarkable departure that culminated Jesus’ post-Resurrection period on earth.  As the passage above from Dr. Luke’s gospel indicates, Jesus’ limited time with His disciples after He rose from the grave came to its appointed end.  It was time for “what comes next” for them as well as for Him.  Sadly, for much of Evangelical Christianity, the event of Christ’s Ascension is relegated to relative obscurity in the theology and calendar of most churches.  A surprising number of Christians know very little about this day --- the exception being that most have some knowledge of the “Great Commission” given just prior to His reentry into heaven.

Our ignorance of this moment in the life of our Lord can leave us without some wonderful encouragement and blessing.  Considering the tone and negative environment of the places where so many of us live, work, go to school, or have other interaction with people, one of our greatest needs is encouragement!  Many Christians feel as though they are under attack so much of the time, and most of us grow weary dealing with the sinful aspects of daily life.  A “good word” would be like a rejuvenating tonic to us --- and that’s exactly what this marvelous passage can be to us this week!

In my years of Christian ministry, I have been continuously amazed at the similarities of the stories I’ve heard about the churches that were formative in many Christians’ lives.  Sometimes Christians attended “home churches” many years ago; however, these churches still wield a large influence in their lives.  If the home church’s teaching and nurture was healthy, this is a very good thing.  BUT --- in so many cases, the influence was predominantly negative, guilt-ridden, and manipulative.  Their God was disappointed in them and angry at them.  They came to believe they were, as we used to say in the South, “a day late and a dollar short” with their heavenly Father.  This is quite a burden to carry every day!

However, what a contrast this is with Jesus’ approach to His disciples.  Having arrived in the vicinity of the little community of Bethany, the Scriptures tell us that He raised His hands in the typical Middle Eastern fashion and “blessed them.”  Imagine that!  He gave His divine blessing to the same disciples who had abandoned Him during His trials and ultimate crucifixion.  He pronounced God’s benediction upon the same men who initially refused to believe the testimonies of the women that He had risen from the dead!  To frail, woefully human disciples, He gave His approval and blessing!  AND --- those who are His disciples now also receive His blessing every daily!

What a difference it should make in our lives that we are living under the scope of His approval.  Rather than being tentative in our spiritual lives, our prayers, and our worship, we should revel gloriously in the knowledge that God loves us, that He accepts us, and that He embraces us as His own!  One of the greatest lessons from the Ascension is that this divine pronouncement of blessing and approval was the final, culminating activity of Jesus just prior to leaving the earth.  It was the last thing He did and it was one of the most important.  Your life and mine are lived out under the scope of this blessing.  With that in mind, what manner of life should we live, then?

As He was blessing the disciples, Luke records that “He left them and was taken up into heaven.” The great fact of the Ascension is echoed by the Apostles Creed each Sunday in its ancient words, “He ascended into heaven and sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty.”  The One who blesses us and gives His approval of those who are His now has taken His appropriate place at the right hand of the Father in heaven.  What is He doing there?  Making intercession for His own --- advocating for His covenant people --- interceding for those whose who belong to Him!  Imagine that --- we have a “friend at court” Who knows us intimately and stands up for us before the God of the Universe.

Therefore, in our most lonely moments, you and I are never really alone!  In our weakest times, the strength and power of Jesus Christ are employed on our behalf.  When we’re guilty of sins and responsible for breaking God’s law, Jesus Himself appears before the Father pleading our case.  We stand vindicated before God --- not because we are personally innocent, but because our Advocate at court has paid for our sins Himself once for all and pleads our case before the Judge of the universe!  You are I can live without looking over our shoulders because we know Someone --- Someone who loves us and freely advocates for us with God the Father Almighty.

Is there any wonder, then, why the closing verses of Luke’s gospel records that they had great joy and continuing worship?!  With such a grand blessing and the knowledge of our heavenly “friend at court,” our lives, too, may be filled with personal and corporate joyful worship!  I pray that you and I will be gripped and changed by these wonderful facts, and that our lives and the worship of our churches will reflect such a joy!  May Almighty God give you a week filled with unrestrained joy --- even in the midst of a sinful, crazy world!  Live without fear and worry this week --- after all, you know Someone important at court!
-------
2004

The idea for Mother's Day was born in a small Methodist church in Grafton, West Virginia.  It was 1876 and the nation still mourned the Civil War dead. While teaching a Memorial Day lesson, Mrs. Anna Reeves Jarvis thought of mothers who had lost their sons.  She prayed that one day there could be a "Memorial Day" for mothers.  The prayer made a deep impression on one of Mrs. Jarvis's eleven children.  Young Anna Jarvis had seen her mother's efforts to hold the war-split community and church together.  As she grew into adulthood, the younger woman harbored Mrs. Jarvis's dream in her heart.  On the day of her mother's death, Anna was determined to establish Mother's Day in her honor.  Finally, on May 12, 1907, a local observance was held which later spread to Philadelphia.  By 1910, Mother's Day was celebrated in 45 states, Puerto Rico, Hawaii, Canada, and Mexico.  Elated, Miss Jarvis told a friend, "Where it will end must be left for the future to tell. That it will circle the globe now seems certain."  The day became official for the nation on May 8, 1914, when President Woodrow Wilson designated the second Sunday in May as Mother's Day "for displaying the American flag and for the public expression of love and reverence for the mothers of the country."

Hopefully, if you've ever wondered where the celebration of Mother's Day originated, this explanation will satisfy your curiosity.  Tomorrow is indeed Mother's Day and florists are working furiously to get flowers ordered and delivered for mothers everywhere.  Telephone lines will be jammed with calls from far-flung sons and daughters who wish to remind their Moms once more that they are loved intensely.  Through the incredible and mind-boggling spread of the internet, even soldiers, sailors, airmen, and Marines deployed to the most remote locations on land and sea will be communicating their undying love and appreciation to their Moms.  From the most senior Generals and Admirals to the newest Privates and Ensigns, one great unifying factor is that everyone has a Mother or Grandmother who is proudly loving them on this special day!

Notice how the most ferocious looking football lineman or sweat-soaked baseball player (or basketball player, wrestler, etc...), when they are featured by some television sports announcer, will suddenly look straight into the camera and flash a big toothy grin with a bellowed, "Hi, Mom!"  Somewhere deep inside most of us is a hallowed place where we store all the good memories and images of our Mothers.  Of course, for some, the place is taken by a Grandmother or some other significant woman, but the principle is the same.

During the years I spent on active duty in Army Chaplaincy, I consistently heard soldiers say of their Mothers, "She always believed in me!"  There seems to be something in so many of our Mothers that allows them to see far beyond our present with all its limitations and unfulfilled dreams to the great possibilities of our future.  More than one of us in the Christian ministry today are there because a Mother never gave up and continued praying long after it appeared to be for naught!

Mothers and Grandmothers pass along a great legacy to their children and grandchildren.  A love of learning, a curiosity about life, a respect for others, and a tenacious loyalty to liberty are all qualities that were obtained from significant women at one time or another.  The old saying, "She who rocks the cradle rules the world," is truer than ever!  No wonder God demands in the Ten Commandments that we are to "honor your father and mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you."  (Exodus 20:12)

There is undeniably a legacy of faith that good women leave behind for those in succeeding generations.  This certainly was the case with young Timothy in the New Testament.  In 2 Timothy 1:3-7, the Apostle Paul expresses his regard and love for Timothy, and he exhorts Timothy to bolder and more earnest Christian service.  And.....what does Paul use as his "hook" to motivate young Timothy?  He reminds him of the FAITH he received as a legacy from his grandmother Lois and his mother Eunice!  The Scripture reads like this:

"I thank God, Whom I serve, as my forefathers did, with a clear conscience, as night and day I constantly remember you in my prayers.  Recalling your tears, I long to see you, so that I may be filled with joy.  I have been reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also.  For this reason, I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands.  For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love, and of self-discipline."  (2 Timothy 1:3-7)

So, what's your response to be at the beginning of this week?  First, THANK GOD for your wonderful legacy received from godly women!  If you have been blessed with a grandmother and/or mother of strong faith, thank God for her!  Thank her, too!  Of all the blessings that get passed down from one generation to another, the eternal gift of faith is the most valuable!  Thank God for women who are the unsung heroes of faith for us!

Second, mark it well that now YOU are constructing a legacy that will be passed down to others, too!  Whether you are a woman or not --- whether you have children or not --- whether you are married or not --- REGARDLESS, you are building in the lives of others, particularly children, a legacy.  Make sure what you pass down includes a strong faith!  Make it a faith that is loyal to the house and worship of God, a faith that is lived as well as spoken, and a faith that is Biblical and eternal.

This Mother's Day, renew your commitment to believe and live the Good News of God and those things that do not "perish or fade away."  Live so that others will thank God for YOU!  That would be the greatest testimony to your own fore-mothers and their legacies to YOU!  May Almighty God give you His presence and power to do this in the days ahead.
-----
2002