Hello all and welcome to the May 20 2020 post from Peachtree Baptist Church, my name is Paul Capps pastor and today we continue our look at the ascension of Jesus and what it continues to mean for us today, especially as we are unable to meet in our sanctuary.

Yesterday I was listening to All Things Considered on the way home, as I usually do, and though my commute is very short now, I heard an interesting but slightly disturbing story about churches and church life now that most churches haven’t been able to hold services for almost 10 weeks now. Read or listen for yourself, but the story ends with this interpretation: “support, solace, a spiritual bond - the things that matter in the worship experience but, for some people, the things they now see their church was not providing.” What struck me was that the church was being described as a place designed for people to receive something. As if they are the audience and are there to be entertained or inspired or in some other way get something they otherwise could not get if they weren’t physically present in that space, with that kind of choir, or that kind of architecture, or that kind of preaching.

It was a good reminder to me that when I am in the pews of a church, or on my couch at home, if I am in worship, regardless of the kind of building I am in, God is the audience of my worship. I am the worshiper. I am submitting to God my praise, my thanks and my love. I am not worshiping to receive something I have not already received, because God has already given me everything. 

We are not able to be in our church building, but it doesn’t mean we can’t live out our faith. It would be as though the disciples saw Jesus ascend into heaven and said, “Well, I guess that’s it then. It was a good ride, but now that he’s gone, I guess I’m realizing that I wasn’t actually being provided the support, solace, or spiritual bond that I had when I was able to worship him in person.”

What is that the disciples do? Let’s look at the last verses of Luke 24 again:  “When he had led them out to 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 worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy. And they stayed continually at the temple, praising God.”

How do the disciples respond to his ascension? They worship him first. And they were constantly in prayer. They put their focus on Jesus, regardless, and Jesus gave them the connection they needed to maintain the support, solace and spiritual bond they already had to continue the work of worship - they were given the Spirit of God. For a deep dive into those relationships, head to the several days worth of study on Acts 2 and the early church that I began on April 15. The early church modeled in the present the future that Jesus promised. They preached the gospel with their voices but also their lifestyle, sharing what they had in common with each other but their greatest priority was worship.

The work of Jesus, to model perfect well-being for all creation, is no longer limited by his physical presence. And we don’t need that kind of presence to continue that work. Neither do we need to be physically present with each other or physically present in a building to praise him for his work. God can, does and will do the work of Jesus in us by the power of the Spirit wherever we are when we focus on worshipping Him as King. I’m not saying it isn’t hard. But we shouldn’t associate being in a building with having faith, regardless of the activity. True worship is remembering that Jesus is the full measure of God and that all people everywhere can have full access to perfect well-being by faith in him. There are no barriers to that kind of hope, nothing can break the bond. I miss seeing all you, a lot, but I can still be confident that God can be represented in me by my worship.

When the disciples witnessed Jesus going away from them, they didn’t assume they were being abandoned. When we can’t access a church building because of the threat of sickness, we shouldn’t assume we are no longer being provided something that we couldn't otherwise receive. We can do great things through Christ by the gift of His Spirit no matter what obstacles come our way because we have hope. God, as the audience of our worship, empowers us to do the work of Jesus by the power of His Spirit even if there were no church buildings on this entire planet. In fact, there are places in this world where worshippers of Jesus can only meet in homes. I feel confident that they are finding support, solace, and a spiritual bond despite their adversity. They worship a God who gave them life through Jesus and through the power of the Spirit, they are working for a future life where only worship will remain.

The Peaceable Kingdom by Edward Hicks. Hicks painted about 60 versions on this theme.