Ask a child where Jesus is, and he or she probably would say in heaven. Ask an adult where Jesus is, and you might get a variety of answers: He�fs in my heart. He�fs everywhere. He�fs in heaven. I do not know where he is. Jesus is no where, he doesn�ft exist. And so forth. Ask a Christian where Jesus is, and you might get an answer based on experience or on theological study. Ask me, and I will say that Jesus is in my heart, close enough to hear my prayers, and also in heaven, far above to see and to control the universe.

Today we remember the Ascension of Jesus. For a period of forty days after Jesus rose from the dead, he appeared to his disciples. During this time he spoke to them about the kingdom of God. He led them in Bible study to understand the Old Testament prophecies that spoke of his death and resurrection, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins through Christ must be preached to all nations. The disciples were witnesses to all these things. Then on the fortieth day, Jesus led them out of Jerusalem to near-by Bethany, the Mount of Olives. He blessed them and then he left them and was taken up into heaven. The angels explained that this same Jesus would come back. The disciples returned to Jerusalem, full of joy, worshiping God at the temple, and waited for the coming of the Holy Spirit.

The Ascension of Jesus means more than just a change of address for Jesus. As the Apostles Creed and Ephesians 1:20 say, Jesus is seated at the right hand of the Father. This is not about the furniture and placement of thrones in heaven. This means that Jesus has the power and authority of heaven to rule, not only over all things on earth, but overall the universe, too. Jesus is no longer bodily present on earth and so is not imitated by place or time. For a time, Jesus humiliated himself to take on the form of a human, to be born of his mother Mary, to suffer thirst and hunger, to be tempted but without sinning, to participate in the joy of his friends and in their sorrows, to suffer injustice, to suffer pain and death, and then to experience resurrection. All of this was to show the love of God. In His mercy, God took upon himself our pain and death. And on the cross he even took upon himself our sin, in order that our sin might be destroyed in his death. He rose that we might be forgiven and brought close to God who loves us. In his ascension, we see that this Jesus, who was born a human child, was really the Son of God. We see that his suffering and death was for a wonderful purpose. It was for our salvation. We see that Jesus did this because he loves us. And we know that this Almighty Savior really does have power to hear our prayer and give us eternal life.

When Jesus was taken up to heaven, I�fm sure his disciples were sad at first that he went away from them. He had given them a mission to evangelize the world, and they might have felt helpless for this task, since their teacher was not with them. We too can feel confused without Jesus near us. It would be nice to be able to talk directly to him and ask for guidance about life�fs problems. But Jesus said it would be better if he went away, because then he would send the Holy Spirit. Then ten days later on Pentecost, the disciples would begin this mission through the power of the Holy Spirit. The Ascension of Jesus tells us that we have the same mission. We are to proclaim what Jesus did. We are to proclaim his death and resurrection. We are to proclaim what that means: namely, that through Christ we have the forgiveness of sins. And where there is forgiveness of sins, there is eternal life and salvation. Just hearing that gives joy to a believer�fs heart. Jesus Christ who has ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father wants you and me to rejoice in our salvation.

The two angels said to the Disciples, �gMen of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.�h Don�ft be sad. Don�ft just mope around. There is hope and meaning for our lives because Jesus will return. At the Last Supper Jesus spoke to the disciples. He was speaking of both his death and resurrection, and about his ascension and return. The disciples would miss him, but he told them, �gI will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. Yet a little while and the world will see me no more, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live.�h As we wait for the return of Christ, what shall we do? Just as Jesus told his disciples at the Last Supper. We too are to �gkeep his commandments.�hThe commandments are to love God, to the love the neighbor, and to love one another. In other words, we are to live our lives as Baptized children of God.

When we feel lonely, when we are looking for direction from Jesus, where should we look? Should we look �gup�hto heaven? Which way is �gup�h? �gUp�his not a direction as much as it is a word of respect. We are not to look at anything less than God. Look up, look around us, and look in the Bible. That is where Jesus is. That is where we find our mission. And this is where we will find Jesus next to us.

Amen.

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