6/01/03 -- S. a. Ascension INI Psalm 122

Dear Fellow Redeemed, loved by God,

Our Lord has ascended with a shout! Now, what are you about! For nearly 2,000 years our ascended Savior has been conducting his New Testament, soul-saving work from the right hand of power in heaven. For 38 of those years we've been coming to Holy Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church, Pella Ave. to worship Him, and to hear and learn His saving word.

But why have we and our children needed more sleep on Sunday mornings than on any other day of the week? Why have our tongues been sharper and our bodies slower? Why have the toaster, the plumbing, the car, and nearly everything else given us fits on Sunday morning. Because we have been getting ready to go to church, that's why.

The Devil can make us feel glad to do something else on Sunday morning besides going to church and Sunday School. Then we are robbed of the opportunity to receive the blessings of God's Word in this house. Or, the Devil can make us feel that we must come to church out of a sense of duty. It's good for us to go into the house of the Lord. But it's much better to do so with JOY.

David speaks here of his own joy: "I was glad when they said to me, 'Let us go into the house of the LORD.' He was speaking of the glorious Jerusalem Temple, built by Solomon at a cost of over 2,000 million dollars at that time! Solomon's Temple was a far more glorious place than our humble church. Can we be as glad to come here as David was to go into that great Temple? Absolutely! "For God does not dwell in temples made with hands" like an idol. The great Temple of Jerusalem was leveled to the ground in 587 B.C., yet our God still has houses like this where His Word of power and grace are preached, where His honor dwells, and where He is truly worshiped as THE God of salvation.

It's not the glory of our building, but the presence of God's believing people that moved the Lord to dwell here. YOU are His real temples! "Do you not know," Paul wrote to the Christians in Corinth, "that YOU are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in YOU?" (1 Cor. 3:16) In writing to the Ephesian Christians, Paul says nothing of the glory of their church building. But he does rejoice with them that by their living faith in the Gospel of Christ they are

"No longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, . . . built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ being the chief cornerstone, in Whom the whole building being joined together, grows into a HOLY TEMPLE of the Lord, in Whom YOU ALSO are being built together for a habitation of God in the Spirit." (Eph. 2:19 ff.)

Individually, each one of you is a temple of the Spirit of God. together, you are "being built together for a habitation of God in the Spirit." Let us come with joy to sit in this "house of the Lord" because of our standing in the Church of Christ!

In v. 2 David speaks of the joy of "standing within the gates of O.T. Jerusalem" -- the city of PEACE. But Jerusalem is a symbol of the Church of Christ for us N.T Christians. While by true faith in Christ we stand in Christ's invisible Church we are at peace with God. Outside the Church is sin's destruction, hopelessness, and eternal death! But inside the Church is safety, and hope that leads to life eternal! Every true Christian among us stands in awe of the grace and mercy of the Lord toward sinners. Our faith never tires of hearing the Word of grace by which we stand in the kingdom and fellowship of almighty God. But let's be more specific about our joy in coming to the Lord's house . . .

We come with joy because of the strength and unity of the Church. David rejoices that "Jerusalem is built as a city that is compact together." Jerusalem was built on a mountain of rock; the walls surrounded the entire city. The buildings were of solid rock -- a massive unity. The people within Jerusalem had a strong sense of unity.

So does the Church of Christ. Because He ascended, all power was given to Him "in heaven and earth." The Church has been built on Christ, the Rock of our salvation. The powers of hell shall not prevail against His Church (Mt. 16:18)

As individual members of Christ's body, you and I draw our strength from Him through His Word and Sacrament. For 38 years we've had His Word and Sacrament in abundance.

But how skinny some of you look! Some of us are so mal-nourished, we are like the children of a father wrongly accused of child abuse. For although he was an experienced chef who used the best food to prepare good meals for his children, they would often skip their meals and refuse to come and eat when he called them to the table. Look in the mirror and see whether you are one of those children, and start eating before you become even less able to serve your Lord and you perish from Him entirely!

For 38 years we have been united -- of "one lord, one faith, one baptism." Among us there is "one God and Father of all, Who is above all, and through all, and in you all" -- Eph. 4. Whatever differences there may be among us, we share the same confession of faith, the same hope. We are one in love and sympathy. Every gathering in this house of worship is a celebration of the strength and unity we share in our Lord Jesus Christ through His Word and Sacrament!

Furthermore, this faith we share wants to give thanks to our gracious Lord in the public assembly. We have countless blessings, both spiritual and material, for which to give thanks and magnify our Savior God. What a wonderful, happy privilege to be able to do so in word, prayer, and song, with those who share your faith in Christ -- people who know their own unworthiness, like you do; people who will not laugh at you or ridicule you for your humble thanksgiving.

Finally, we continue to go into the house of the Lord with joy because of the wonderful judgments that are declared by our King. In the days of the O.T. people of God, when anyone had need of wise and fair judgment, and could not get it from the judges in their villages, they could go up to Jerusalem. "Judgment seats" had been established there. But not just any judgment seats -- these were the judgment seats of "the house of David." When we come to the house of the Lord to hear His Word, we are coming to the throne of our ruling Savior and King -- David's Son! Here the Lord Jesus proclaims only the truth of His Word, only righteous judgments, which are for the good of those He came to savve.

Does Satan accuse us of our sins and seek to move us to despair of salvation? In the Lord's house we hear those words of divine pardon again and again: Not guilty because of the life, sufferings, death, and resurrection of My Son."

Do we feel overburdened by the pressures of our day-to -day callings in life? HERE it is declared to us by our ascended Savior and King that we need not be anxious, but only take every care to Him in prayer.

Does the world outside act towards us as if we don't count because we don't go along with its ways? Are we despised or forsaken by friends because of our appearance or our faults? HERE, in the Lord's house we hear Him tell us over and over that He loves us ALWAYS, that "He has overcome the world" (Jn. 16:33), and that "now we are the sons of God" awaiting the day of our Savior's coming when we will share His glory! (1 Jn. 3:1 ff.)

For all of these reasons, and many more, we continue to come with joy to the Lord's house. Let us PRAY for the PEACE AND PROSPERITY of the whole, invisible Church of Christ, of which we are a part. And for the sake of one another, "our brethren and companions," let us pray that PEACE may be within THIS house. Because the LORD our God is pleased to dwell in this house with His word of grace, let us always be seeking whatever is truly "GOOD" for each one of us, and works for the peace and prosperity of His kingdom rule among us! Our Lord has ascend with a shout! So what are YOU about? May your joy in coming to His house never diminish and may your zeal to live your lives for him never slacken. Amen.