Ascension Sermon: Set Your Heart on Things Above

What do you think the disciples felt after watching Jesus ascend to heaven?

Jaw dropping awe? Certainly. 
Thankfulness? Yes.
Excitement? Probably.

But I also wonder if they didn't feel a sigh of relief?          

Matthew, the tax collector says, "Phew. Now that he's gone, I can finally get back to work. I've fallen behind on my work and I gotta catch up on my collecting."  

Peter might have chimed in, "You guys have no idea how long my wife's 'honey-do-list' is. I need to get to work on that."

James says, "Hmmm. That speech ran a little long. Now I gotta book it in order to get little Avram to swim practice at the Sea of Galilee on time."

Simon the political Zealot says, "I can go back to devoting my time to politics. There's a protest at Pontius' Pilate's palace tomorrow and I need to get a few witty signs painted before then!"

I think it's a fair assessment that they had thoughts like this. After all, the disciples were human. Humans struggle to stay focused. In our age of hyper-busyness and attention span shortening SmartPhones, this couldn’t be more true. Even (or perhaps “especially” is better) with spiritual things!

Now we can’t go the Ascension mountain to test this theory out, but...consider for a moment how well you focus on spiritual things for an hour in church on a Sunday morning. 

• Do you struggle to focus during the sermon, because you're thinking about all the things you     have to do right after church?
• Do you get distracted during the prayer of the day because your phone buzzed and you are excited to see who scored on your Fantasy Baseball team?
• Are you doing stretches during the final blessing so that you can be sure to leave on time?
• Do you put on your Dale Earnhardt Jr. sunglasses and peel out of the parking lot in order to get to Golden Corral before all the other churches get out?

This world pulls out hearts in forty different directions all at once. That's why it's important to hear Jesus' reminder from Colossians 3, "Set your hearts on things above!"

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Listen to what it says in Colossians 3:1-3 "Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God."

Hidden. That word jumps out at me. This section explains that when our hearts are set on Christ above, then we are hidden with him.

But we don’t usually hide in Christ. In fact, this is one of the big reasons that we are so focused on earthly pursuits. We want to hide. We have failures, guilt, terrible past decisions that we cannot get past. So we find ourselves trying to 'cover up' our past sins with earthly solutions:

"If I just finish this bottle of whiskey, then the 'booze fog' will cover up all the things I've done wrong in my life and I won't have to think about it."

"If I just have another sexual experience, it'll be the only thing that makes me stop feeling guilt and shame from the last sexual experience I had."

"If I just get a respectable enough career, then I will no longer be remember in my family as the black sheep that I was in my younger days."

“If I just make enough money, then it doesn't matter that my marriage is a mess.”

“If I just keep myself busy with extracurricular activity after extracurricular activity for the kids, then I can hide myself from the feelings of inadequacy and failure from the early years in raising this child.”

When I went to Wisconsin where I grew up last week, I have to admit that I was  doing a lot of this. I caught myself thinking, "I'm a pastor. I'm respectable. I can't wait for my former principal and Kindergarten teacher to see me and comment things like, "How respectable that man is."

But as respectable as I thought I was, it didn’t stop me from feeling guilty as we passed a classroom that I used to cause a ruckus in. It didn’t stop me from struggling to look the teacher in the eye whom I had been disrespectful to in high school. It didn’t stop me from looking down in shame after seeing a former classmate whom I had not been all that nice to.

 Here's the problem: Covering up our pasts with earthly pursuits is like taking a blanket and tossing it over your head during a game of hide or seek. It doesn't work. Sometimes, in front of people, yes, it does. But before God? Not at all.

God can see past a blanket. And God can see past your earthly pursuits to the very core of your  soul. He sees and knows who you are. Raw. Pained. Sinful. Rebellious.

Do you feel confident standing before the all holy, divine, all powerful God in the cesspool of your sins? Because he can't stand sin and threatens eternal hell for it!

                Confident?

                Me neither.

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There is a better way. Rather than turning to earthly things in order to set ourselves right before God, Scripture urges us to turn to God himself!. "Therefore, set your hearts on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God."

Note what it says: "your life is hidden with Christ in God." Not "part of your life." Not "the first three years of your life." Not "the smaller moment of your life." Not even "most of your life, but you need to do some good things to help fill in the gaps of this eternal blanket of love."

Your life is hidden with Christ in God. Every part of it. The sins of your youth. The repeated sins of your teenage years. The dark sins that you can't even hide from yourself no matter the amount of pursuit you put in to earthly things.

All of your sinful life is hidden in Christ!

How does that work?

Well, how does it work that a human being could be talking out on a hill. Then, without any wires or tricks of the camera. Without any smokes and mirrors, he is lifted up above the clouds?

For that matter, how does it work that the same man healed people with incurable diseases simply by speaking? How does it work that he stopped storms with his words? How does it work that people died and he raised them with his touch? How does it work that he died and rose again!?!

It worked because Jesus is God! And through faith in Christ, your life is covered with Christ, because you are being covered with God!!!

Sometimes, when I'm getting dressed for the day, I put on a sweater vest. Not because it looks good, but because it covers up wrinkles, a missing button, or a mustard stain. No one can see these things!

Covered with God. Covered with Christ, your heavenly Father cannot see your sins. Jesus completely covers up every sinful stain and every guilty wrinkle. In Jesus God sees you only as “without guilt” and he promises to give you the reward of heaven in the future.

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That's one of the biggest problems with setting your hearts on earthly things. You never know if they will come true.

                Will I ever get my dream job?
                Will I ever get the raise?
                Will I ever have the 5 kids, 2 dogs, and a cat that I desire?
                WIll I ever retire in the Outer Banks like I hope to?

Maybe. Then, again maybe not. Or maybe you accomplish your goal, but then it isn't what it was cracked up to be or it only lasts for awhile. It's temporal.

With faith in Jesus, God gives you a promise for the future that is CERTAIN and EVERLASTING. "Set your minds on things above...When Christ who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory!" (v.2 ,4)

Listen to the certainty of God's promise! When Christ appears, whether it's at your death or at the last day of this earth, you will appear with him.

It doesn't say, "You might appear with him." Not, "You could possibly appear with him." Not even, "Let's Hope you appear with him." Through faith in Jesus, you will appear with Jesus. In  glory!

Brothers and sisters, that's heaven. The eternal escape from the guilt of our sins, the pain of our past, and the struggles of the present life.

And heaven lasts forever! It's not your dream home that one day needs repairs. It's not your dream relationship that grows farther apart from the dream. It's not your dream job which becomes obsolete. Heaven lasts forever! It is yours through faith in your ascended Savior!

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So, friends, set your heart on things above!

I have a friend named Georg that I visit on Fridays. He has been coming religiously to a Bible Study that I hold at a retirement close to this church. Afterwards, he tells a joke. We talk about politics and he appreciates the banter.

But not the other day. The other day he had a tear in his eyes. He told me it was an anniversary. The anniversary of his wife’s death.

They had been married over 60 years. He told me how much he missed her. He told me how much he loved her. He told me about what she was like.

Then….then he told me something that I will never forget.

He said, “This is why I come here. This is why I learn about Jesus. Because the only way I’ll see her again, is through Jesus.”

Wow.

Talk about setting your heart on things above.

Brothers and sisters, set your heart on Jesus. Set your kids hearts on Jesus. Do it this summer when you will be pulled in hundreds of different earthly directions. Come to church. Read your Bible. Listen to devotions. Pray with your kids. Teach them about Jesus. Surround your life with the Lord. Set your heart on the One above. The One who set his heart on you.

Amen.