Charged and Equipped

This sermon was preached by Pastor Ted Carnahan for the Ascension of Our Lord and Senior Recognition Sunday, May 17, 2026.

Grace, mercy, and peace be with all of you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus the Christ. Amen.

Today in the church's calendar is the Feast of the Ascension of Our Lord. As Taylor was saying, it is about Jesus going from earth to heaven. It is one of those feast days that gets less attention than a lot of the days in our calendar. We all know Christmas and we know Easter and we even know Lent is the time of preparation for Easter. We know Advent is the time of preparation for Christmas. We know these things. We celebrate these things. They are important milestones in the church's year, but the Day of Ascension kind of gets short shrift. We do not pay attention to it.

Part of the problem is that it is celebrated forty days after Easter, and so that means it always lands on a Thursday. Part of it is just because we sort of gloss over it. And think about this: even when we recite the Creed, we say "he was crucified, died, and was buried, he descended into hell, on the third day he rose again," — and then we want to jump ahead, but — "he ascended into heaven, and he is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again to judge the living and the dead."

This is an important part of our faith. It is an important part of who we are as Christians. And it marks the end of Jesus Christ's earthly ministry.

Living in the In-Between Time

So it marks the end of the time that Jesus is spending bodily here on earth, speaking with his disciples, teaching them, preaching to them. As he is preparing to make his departure, the disciples ask him a question. They ask him, "Lord, is this the time when you will restore the kingdom to Israel?" He reminds them, "No, this is not for you to know the times and places that the Father has set by his own authority," but he says, "In the meantime, you are to be my witnesses to the ends of the earth."

We today live in that meantime, the in-between time, the time between Jesus ascending into heaven and the time when he will come again to judge the living and the dead. We live in the in-between time, where we are living in the already-but-not-yet reality of the Christian life. We are already saved by grace. We are already saved through the cross and resurrection of Christ. And yet the world that we live in is fallen and broken. And we are awaiting that day when Jesus comes to restore all things.

The Charge to Be Witnesses

He tells us that in this in-between time we are to be witnesses. We are to be witnesses sharing the good news of God in Christ. He gives them what I would like to call today a charge. To charge someone with something is to tell them what to do, to give them a command. And he commands them right before he ascends into heaven: "You will be my witnesses to the ends of the earth."

The apostles took that command seriously, so seriously that with the exception only of John, who died on the island of Patmos in exile at a very late age, every single one of the followers of Jesus, the original apostles, died in the process of proclaiming the faith in Jesus to a hostile world. But they still went and did as their Lord had commanded them because they knew that in his hands were the things that make for life.

May-cember: Changes and Charges

Here we are now in May. I was joking earlier with someone here at church that this new term has become popular, that it is not just May but it is May-cember because it has got all the busyness of December, so nobody thinks it is all that busy. Does anybody feel they are suffering under the weight of May-cember right now? I know I do. I know that our high school seniors do. There is something going on practically every day right now, isn't there?

May has become in our society a time of changes and charges, a season of changes and charges. Changes as the school year turns into summer, and even if you are not graduating from high school today, as most of us are not, changes because our lives begin to revolve more around the outdoors, around the warmer weather, about the possibility of storms and all the things that come with the transition from the school year, the program year to the summertime.

Charges because many young people are moving on to new ventures. May is especially a time of changes: changes in career, changes in employment, changes in our schooling. We have a number of college graduations in the congregation over the last few days. We have several young people here graduating from high school today — in less than two weeks, can you believe it?

With these changes and charges come stress — a lot of stress and anxiety, uncertainty and a lack of things that we can control! Especially as these kids get older, it is harder and harder for us to make sure that everything goes smoothly for them. Kids moving off to college, or moving home. Starting jobs or looking for jobs. Celebrations and parties and all the preparations that go into that. And most of all, there are a lot of goodbyes. Saying goodbye is hard.

Equipped by Christ

Which might be why Jesus does not actually say goodbye here. Did you notice that? He gives them a charge. He tells them what he wants them to do and then without saying goodbye he simply takes off — literally — up into the sky, up into heaven where he is now seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

Jesus does two things for them before he departs. He equips them and he gives them a charge. Let us talk about equipping first. First, Jesus reminds them of all that must be fulfilled in Christ. He says this:

"Thus it is written that the Messiah is to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. And behold, I am sending upon you what my Father promised. So stay here in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high."

He is telling them in just ten short days, fifty days from Easter, on the Feast of Pentecost (which by the way is next weekend, so wear red, because that is the tradition) that the power of the Holy Spirit is going to fall on them and they are going to be given the power to do what Christ has commanded them to do. God never gives us a task to accomplish without also giving us the means to do so.

He reminds them of what he has already said to them and we need those reminders. I know I do not like to be told things twice. Is there anybody here who loves it when people repeat the same information to them over and over again? I have found that my kids really dislike that. My kids really hate being told to do something more than once, but I know that I am in the same boat. As they say, ladies, there is no need to remind your husbands of things that they need to do. Once every six months is enough.

We need constant reminders. We need to be called back to faith in Christ. We need to be called back to God's loving purpose for us in Jesus, that the scriptures have been created for our good, that we have been given power for living in between times, and that those reminders come to us through the proclamation of this beautiful message of the gospel, which we find in no other place in this world but in Christian worship.

Empowered for the Task

So he reminds them what he has already done for them, what God has been doing for them from the beginning of time. And then to equip them, second of all, Jesus empowers them. He empowers them with a message, but that message is not a message of power. It is a message that empowers them to share God's reconciling love, this love which draws all people to himself. This is God's will for each one of us, for you and me and everybody in this world, that we would be drawn into a regular loving community with God through Jesus Christ.

So then he also says that they will be given power. But what power are they given? The power to preach, the power to teach, the power to have courage in this world, in this in-between time, to boldly step out of their comfort zones and out into the world in faith. In other words, he empowers them to live out his teachings in the world.

A Feast of New Beginnings

And then finally Jesus gives them a charge. He says, "Get started. Get going." Can you imagine if you were one of the original apostles, the eleven standing there and watching Jesus ascend into heaven, what would you look like? As you watch him go up into the clouds and disappear from your sight, going off to be seated alive at the right hand of God the Father, I guarantee you, you would look something like this: slack-jawed amazement. But God does not allow them to remain standing there, gazing up at the clouds forever.

He sends two angels to them and they say this: "Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up toward heaven? This Jesus who has been taken up from you into heaven will come in the same way you saw him go into heaven."

Pastor Ted translation: "Why are you still staring at the sky? Get to work. You have things to do. You have been given a charge. You have been told to be witnesses of the love of God. You have been sent out from this place to share the love of God with the whole world so that all may come to believe that Jesus really truly is the Christ and the Son of God."

I claim today that the Feast of the Ascension is not a feast of the ending of Jesus' earthly ministry among us. I mean, yes, it is that, but more importantly, it is a feast of beginnings. And similarly, as our high school seniors are stepping now into new ventures, this is not just a celebration of endings for them, but also a celebration of new beginnings: beginning new jobs or careers, beginning new educational opportunities, beginning new and interesting things that you will do with the one beautiful life that God has given to each one of you.

When we feel anxious or sad or scared, we need to remember this day. Remember the warmth of your family's love. Remember the care of this church. Remember most of all the love of Jesus Christ. And about Jesus in particular, remember this: that while he did ascend into heaven and that we live in this in-between time where he is seated at the right hand of the Father and he will eventually come to judge the living and the dead, restore all things, wipe every tear from every eye, that here in the in-between time he is not distant from you. He is not far away. He is seated on the throne at the right hand of God the Father. And what is he doing there? He is not putting his feet up and relaxing. He is praying for you. He is interceding on your behalf with the Father. He is calling you. He is praying for you. And he is encouraging you.

So maybe we do not need to feel quite so overwhelmed. Maybe we do not need to feel so alone. As we face the changes and charges of this life, maybe we can trust and cling to Jesus. Therefore, brothers and sisters, take heart: remember the love of God in Christ Jesus. For God is on the throne and Jesus is interceding and praying for you even today. Remember that he loves you and cares for you very much. In Jesus' name, Amen.