Ascension and its gifts to apply in our lost world

 Second Lesson Evening Prayer (Ascension)

Ephesians 4:1-16
1 I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called,
2 With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love;
3 Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
4 There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling;
5 One Lord, one faith, one baptism,
6 One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.
7 But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ.
8 Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men.
9 (Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth?
10 He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that he might fill all things.)
11 And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;
12 For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:
13 Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:
14 That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;
15 But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ:
16 From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.

The Gifts we Practice at Ascension Ephesians 4

The Fact of the Ascension of our Lord is well known . Ephesians 1:20 . God has raised Christ from the dead and " set Him (Christ) at His own right hand in the heavenly places....and gave Him to be head over the church....which is His body..." 

We as Christians have been " raised up and made to sit in heavenly places in Christ Jesus" 2:6 In chapter Ephesians 4 it says when He ascended He gave "gifts" to Christians. Some were pastors and teachers, some evangelists....to " edify the body of Christ." Note to every one of us as Christians grace is given to serve and do His Will vs. 7

This makes me think of the shiny bright car that will not start. If we are Christians and live in the Spirit we have been given faith in Christ who has ascended into heaven by God's power. Our gifts are not to be just shown but to be used . The shiny car that will not start is not any use but to look at , but it cannot get you anywhere. I would rather have an old beat up VW that actually runs than a good looking car that does not do anything.

This is what the Apostle says in ch. 4 in the beginning. " Walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye were called." He then enumerates what this looks like. " With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love, endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace."

2 With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love;

3 Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

4 There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling;

5 One Lord, one faith, one baptism,

6 One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.

I like what Henri Nouwen said in the devotional this week:"As fearful people we are inclined to develop a mind-set that makes us say: “There’s not enough food for everyone, so I better be sure I save enough for myself in case of emergency,” or “There’s not enough knowledge for everyone to enjoy; so I’d better keep my knowledge to myself, so no one else will use it” or “There’s not enough love to give to everybody, so I’d better keep my friends for myself to prevent others from taking them away from me.” This is a scarcity mentality. It involves hoarding whatever we have, fearful that we won’t have enough to survive. The tragedy, however, is that what you cling to ends up rotting in your hands."

1. " With all lowliness of feeling" -Humility The Greeks did not have humility as a virtue. "Fulness of life" to most non-Christian people in any generation left no room for humility. ( Robinson in Epistle of Paul to the Ephesians , Foulkes) Christ was humble and is an example to us.

What does lowliness of feeling do for our interaction with others?

"I recently read a quote from Francis Frangipane –

I have learned that much of my spiritual progress does not come directly from God, but through my ability to humble myself and hear Him speak through imperfect people." growingmedaily.com  ( that seems to go counter to our belief as Anglican reformed Christians, but it rings true if we think about it for a minute....)

The Cross on the Hill in Kerrville, TX  when I was there as the pastor/priest in a 1928 Book parish has many sculptures. The one that I like is the One that is of Christ washing the disciples' feet. I was talking with Max  ( the actual artist and sculptor...)about this one and He said a little girl who went there said, " You can only see the face of Christ if you kneel at His feet." Powerful!  I have not forgotten that one. 

2. Meekness. This is the same word as " blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth."- gentleness Matthew 5:5- and also same Greek word . Numbers 12:3- " Now the man Moses was very meek above all the men which were upon the face of the earth." ( here it is Hebrew OT obviously not Greek)

2 Timothy 2:25 is a key vs of this and says " in meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to acknowledging of the truth"

" The man who is meek does not assert his own importance or authority." Ephesians by Foulkes.

"A story tells of a corporal at Valley Forge who was directing three men as they tried to lift a log into place. It was too heavy, but the corporal commanded again and again, “All right, men, one, two, three, lift!” A man in an overcoat came by and said to the corporal, ‘Why don’t you help them?” The corporal pulled himself up to full height and replied, “Sir, I am a corporal.” Without a word the man stepped over and with his help the log went easily into place. The man was George Washington.

Gentleness includes true humility that does not consider itself too good or too exalted for humble tasks. enrichmentjournal.ag"

3. Lastly as we think about Ascension and what it means practically, " with longsuffering (patience), forbearing one another in love, endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace."

Someone said to me the other day," you will have to wait. " I said, " that takes patience, and I preach about that!"  Whoops-got me. 

To forbear means lit. to

hold up oneself against, in other words bear with or endure.

Conclusion- Christ has ascended into heaven. O Come let us Adore Him. Alleluia. This is the preface we sing before the Venite in Morning Prayer, and which I said on Friday at the parish before we sang the Venite, Psalm 95.

The Apostle has said that Christ ascended to give gifts unto His people " for the work of the ministry...(that we would) edify the body in love" Eph 4:16

This is as I said in the introduction--- doctrine with practice is not the idea, the car that does not start is not much good . The Christian who wallows only in doctrine without its practice is like that car that goes nowhere. We have been given much. Let us practice His love in doing His work in our world.  

Unfortunately we are all very guilty in this area of Christian maturity if we are honest. We have to be first, or right instead of humble to listen to others in their anguish and sorrow.  

But each day is a new opportunity to be His body in the culture that so needs God and His love.  After I graduated from seminary I has all the right answers, I thought.  That was not the point.  It was a good starting point but not the ending.  The process of living the Christian life in this world is challenging but very rewarding if we see that instead of lording it over others , we can be a part here for those( all) who need Christ's compassion.  Perhaps the old adage was correct, " Practice makes perfect."  So let us lovingly apply the applications of the Asension of our Lord.

Amen.