“Jesus’ Exit Strategy”
Luke 24:46-48

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Pastor Kevin Vogts
Trinity Lutheran Church
Paola, Kansas
Seventh Sunday of Easter–Sunday After the Ascension—June 2, 2019

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

There have been disquieting rumors in the news lately about our nation possibly going to war in Venezuela or Iran.  Though our superior armed forces could no doubt win such a battle decisively, the daunting question remains: What then?  What’s our plan for proceeding after winning the war?  What is our “exit strategy”?

Jesus came into this world to fight on behalf of humanity, the ancient battle against sin, death and the devil, a cosmic, spiritual struggle that started back in the Garden of Eden, with humanity’s fall into sin.  Like an elite soldier sent to wage war in foreign territory, for us men and for our salvation Jesus came down from heaven and was made man.  For some 33 years here on earth he fought for us a one-man crusade, decisively winning the spiritual battle against sin, death, and the devil. 

John’s account of the Last Supper begins: “Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God, and was returning to God.”  Three days later, in the garden on Easter morn, he declared: “I am returning to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.”  With his death and resurrection, his epic crusade here on earth was completed, the war he was sent here to wage decisively won.  So, like a soldier returning home after the war is ended, Jesus is going home to his heavenly Father.  But, what is his “exit strategy,” his plan for proceeding after winning the war?

The Lord declared the start of this war, the commencement of this cosmic battle back in the Garden of Eden,, when he said to the serpent:  “And I will put enmity between you and the woman and between your descendants and her Descendant; he will crush your head, and you will bruise his heel.”  With those words the Lord promised that one day a divine Descendant of Eve would crush Satan.  But, in the process he himself would be wounded, like a person bit on the heel while crushing a snake. 

The climax of this cosmic struggle came on Calvary, when the divine Descendant of Eve was crucified, dead, and buried, wounded for our transgressions.  At that point it looked as though he had been defeated.  But, it was actually through this wounding, through his death on the cross, that he crushed Satan and achieved the final victory over all the forces of evil, as Paul says in Colossians, “Triumphing over them by the cross.”  For, by his blood shed on the cross he paid for our sins, and not only for ours, but also for the sins of the whole world. 

His great victory was announced to the world on Easter morn by his resurrection from the dead.  As Paul says in Romans, “He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification. . .  God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood.”  The Book of Acts promises, “Everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name. . .  Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved.”

As a old Easter hymns puts it, “Love’s redeeming work is done, fought the fight, the battle won.”  Today we are celebrating Ascension Sunday.  Forty days after his decisive Easter victory over sin, death, and the devil he ascended into heaven, and just before ascending he announces to his disciples in today’s Gospel Reading his “exit strategy”: “Repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in [my] name to all nations. . .  You will be my witnesses . . .  to the ends of the earth.”

But, does that seem like a viable exit strategy, a prudent plan to proceed winning the whole world for Christ?  Turning the mission over to his disciples and leaving it all in their hands—our hands?  Yet, that is exactly what he has done, as Paul says in 2nd Corinthians, “God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself, not counting men’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation.  We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us.”

There’s an old story told about Jesus’ ascension. Legend has it that upon reaching heaven, Jesus was greeted by the archangel Gabriel, who wanted to know, “Lord, is it finished? Is the war over?” Jesus answered, “Yes, it is finished.” Thrilled by the news, Gabriel asked, “Lord, shall I now send down your angels to tell to the people of earth that atonement has been made for their sins, forgiveness has been won, and that the gates of heaven are open to them?”

Looking down toward the Mount of Olives from where he had ascended, Jesus could see the little group of disciples still looking up at the clouds. “No, Gabriel,” he said.  “I have asked Peter, James, and John and the rest of my followers down there to spread the word. They will tell others, who will tell others, who will tell still others, until the Gospel is spread throughout the whole world.”

Gabriel, however, was skeptical of this plan. “But, Lord,” he said, “suppose after a while Peter forgets, and James and John lose interest? Or suppose the people they tell keep the news to themselves and don’t pass it on?  What if one generation doesn’t tell the next and the Good News is forgotten? Then what?” Back came the quiet, confident voice of the Master, “Gabriel, I have no other plan. I am counting on them.”

The story is fiction, but the point is true: Jesus is counting on us, counting on you.  But, at the Last Supper he promised, “I will not leave you as orphans,” and in today’s Reading from the Book of Acts he says, “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you, and you will be my witnesses.”  Jesus has given his Church a big job, but he also gives power to get the job done.

The big trench that we dug last summer for our new north wing reminded me of when I’ve worked as an archaeologist in the Middle East.  It looked a lot like the excavation trenches we would dig, and the soil in the Holy Land is totally full of rocks, just like we have around here.

In one season we would excavate, over a three-month period, hundreds of tons of dirt and rock.  But, the difference is, we did it all by hand.

The archaeologists like me would slowly peel away the layers with trowels and hoes, and a long line of local workers would carry the debris away with buckets and wheelbarrows.  We did it that way due to the careful nature of the archaeological process.  But, that’s also how they still build things, even big things, in the many parts of the world, with shovels, picks, and wheelbarrows. In many parts of the world it would take dozens of people weeks of excruciating hard work to do what one man did here in a couple of days, without even breaking a sweat. That’s because he had a huge excavator with a massive jackhammer, that could break up and dig out more in one scoop than a man with a pick and shovel could in a whole day.

In the same way, Jesus has given to his Church mighty power tools for the job of winning the world for him: His Word and Sacraments, mighty power tools for the task of spreading the Gospel and making disciples of all nations.  “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you, and you will be my witnesses.”

Sometimes dynamite is used to break up a big rock ledge, like the one we had to remove for our building.  Paul says in Romans, “I am not ashamed of the Gospel, because it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes.”  The Greek word used for “power” in that verse is “dynamis,” from which we get “dynamite.”  God’s Word is literally “dynamite,” packed with God’s own power to bring us to faith and sustain us in faith.  “It is the power of God for salvation.”

Paul says in Titus, “He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit,” and Peter says, “Baptism that now saves you.”  Holy Baptism is not just a symbolic ritual.  It is a means through which God makes you born again as his child.  As Paul says in Acts, “Be baptized and wash away your sins.”

In 1st Corinthians Paul writes, “The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ? . . .  For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.”  Our Holy Communion today is also not just a symbolic ritual.  It is the “cup of blessing . . . for the forgiveness of sins,” through which you receive your Lord’s very body and blood, in with and under the bread and wine, to spiritually nourish and strengthen you steadfast in the true faith unto life everlasting.

Jesus has given his Church a big job: “Make disciples of all nations. . .  You will be my witnesses to the ends of the earth.”  Are we up to the job?  No, not in ourselves.  As Jesus said at the Last Supper, “Apart from me you can do nothing.”  But, “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you.”  Jesus has given his Church a big job, but he also gives his own mighty power tools to get the job done.

Jesus has also given you many other big jobs in your life, serving him not only in the Church but also in your work, your family, your community.  Just as the command to make disciples of all nations must have seemed overwhelming to those first disciples, all the demands of your life can seem overwhelming too.  Are you up to the job?  No, not of yourself.  “Apart from me you can do nothing.”  But, the same mighty power tools Jesus gives to the Church to get the job done he also gives to you.  The Word and Sacraments are like the Holy Spirit’s jumper cables, to give you the boost you need. Our worship here each week, and your own Scripture reading and devotions and prayer, is the Lord’s power boost for your life from his Word and Sacraments. 

Two thousand years ago a rabbi in a far-off corner of the world told his handful of disciples, “This is what’s going to happen.  The Spirit is going to fill you with new life. He’s going to bring you my forgiveness. He will assure you of my presence.  He will live in you and pray for you and you will be so filled with his joy and peace that it will spill right over into the lives of those around you, and in turn, overflow from them to others in ever-widening circles until the whole earth is told I am its Savior.”  And that is exactly what happened, and is still happening around the world, right now, right here.

Our cemetery looks so beautiful right now, with all the peonies blooming.  It’s fascinating to stroll through the gravestones and look at the names and dates—including two men buried here who were born in the 1700’s!  It’s especially inspiring to read the testimonies of faith that our ancestors engraved into these stones. Many feature Bible verses:

“For me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.”

“I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far.”

“The gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”

“Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord.”

On my great-great-grandmother’s gravestone, topped with a cross in the front row of our cemetery, is a verse from 1st Corinthians:

“The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable; it is sown in brokenness, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power.”

On the Mount of Olives at Jerusalem in 33 A.D, Jesus told his disciples that they would carry the Gospel and faith in him to the ends of the earth.  Well, you couldn’t get much more remote from that time and place than here in the New World, at Block, Kansas, nearly 2,000 years later.  It seems impossible that this faith should have been delivered across 20 centuries and to the other side of the world.  And yet, beginning in the first row with my great-great-grandmother, and down the rows across 150 years to the most recent burials, our cemetery bears witness to hundreds who have died here in that exact same faith proclaimed by our Lord and believed by the first Christians, so long ago and far away.

Today’s Gospel Reading concludes: “He left them and was taken up into heaven. Then they worshiped him . . . with great joy, and they stayed continually at the temple, praising God.”  And 2,000 years later, here we are, gathered in this temple we have built on the other side of the world, just like those first disciples worshipping Jesus as our Savior and Lord.

So, there is nothing wrong with the Savior’s exit strategy.  Like everything else he has done, it too is perfect. He has taken no foolish risk. When Jesus says, “You will be my witnesses to the ends of the earth” it is not really a command, but a statement of fact.  He is looking into the future and confidently proclaiming to the disciples and us what is to come, what is still coming true today all around the world.  “Repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in [my] name to all nations. . .  You will be my witnesses . . . to the ends of the earth.”