( Luke 24:44-53 ) - [ Deutsch ]
What is heaven, dear congregation?
Is it the endless blue skies or is it the seemingly timeless moments when we are happy?
In English we distinguish between heaven and sky. I like the fact that this is not the case in the German language - also on Ascension Day. We remember that Jesus returns to God 40 days after his resurrection. To heaven.
I read from Luke 24:44-53
Then he said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.” Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, and said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance for[3] the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. And behold, I am sending the promise of my Father upon you. But stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.”
The Ascension
And he led them out as far as Bethany, and lifting up his hands he blessed them. While he blessed them, he parted from them and was carried up into heaven. And they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and were continually in the temple blessing God.
Just a moment ago Jesus was still within reach. He sat with them as he often did. Fellowship had been important. And, actually, it could stay that way. Jesus could simply stay with them. Close to them, touchable, with hands and feet. But this happy moment passes. Jesus cannot stay. He will return to his Father in heaven.
Let me say a few words about the biblical concept of heaven. It is coined by the ancient oriental world view, namely three storeys: at the bottom, the waters of depth. Above the sea rests the earth, above the earth the sky reigns. The firmament of the sky was imagined as a solid vault that extended over the earth like a bell. This vault carries the ocean of heaven, which is connected to the primordial sea in the depths. It has windows or sluices through which it rains.
Heaven was created by God and provides a living space for creatures. Like the earth, heaven is subject to the last judgement and will pass away at the end of time. A new heaven and a new earth will replace it.
In the Bible, heaven is also the dwelling place of God. Like a king, God has his throne in heaven. And from there he works in the human world. God's movement from heaven to earth culminates in Jesus Christ. Through him heaven is opened.
The story of Jesus' baptism is impressive. The heavens opened. Where Jesus was, the kingdom of heaven, God's kingdom, became visible and tangible.
Dear congregation, if I were to describe Jesus with a gesture, it would be open arms.
A symbol that Jesus himself has the divine gift of opening:
Namely, and here I am reminded of last year's watchword, where Jesus says: whoever comes to me, I will not turn away, but invite to come to me.
He invited himself into peoples’ lives and opened their hearts. For him, no one was too small, too sick, too old, too poor, too much of an outsider.
Jesus also opens his disciples' understanding of the Scriptures.
And he opens the way to God. He showed people God's love. Where he was, there heaven came to earth.
And now, in the hour of farewell, Jesus has a mission for his disciples. The matter of God's heaven on earth is to continue. They are to preach as witnesses in his name, namely repentance for the forgiveness of sins among all nations. The invitation to repent to God, to return home to the one from whom we all originated applies to each and every one, without exception.
There is Jesus, waiting with open arms for them, for all of us. He sits to the right of the Father. Exalted by God himself.
The disciples stay behind. But before Jesus leaves, he sends upon them what his Father has promised them. They are to wait for the power from above.
Dear congregation, you don't take the Spirit, you have to wait for it. That was true then and of course it is true for us today. We as a church can only be a church with the power from above. Not on the basis of our own strength. The church is God's instrument, field and construction work. We are his co-workers. Sometimes the church forgets this and thinks that we can be great, inviting and growing by our own planning and doing. Always busy, always active.
But at the very beginning, dear congregation, there was waiting.
Jesus' symbol is the open arms. On the cross. On the day of his ascension. He lifted up his hands and blessed them.
And the disciples were always in the temple, praising God. Waiting congregations come together where God wants to get in touch with us. And God's blessing is upon us in our services as a friendly and effective way in which our triune God comes to us.
God has come close to us. Jesus has shown us how to open arms for one another. He personally turned to the people and yet he disappeared into the heavenly expanses of God that we cannot grasp.
Ascension stands for the mystery of God's open heaven, for the fact that God's history is not yet finished, neither in time nor in space.
Meaning: the best is yet to come. We are with God. And Christ is already there. He opens God's heaven for us here on earth, in our daily lives. In every bit of love we give to one another; in every service where we respect one another and praise and glorify God.
What is heaven? Heaven is the sum of all love.