We cannot lead others until we learn to follow

Reading 1 - Acts 1:12-14

Reading 2 - 1 Pt 4:13-16

Gospel - Jn 17:1-11a

We're told by Matthew they worshiped, but they doubted. And that's probably why they weren't out teaching. Preaching or baptizing anybody because they were so sure what exactly was going on. And even after Jesus ascended, that confusion would remain until the day of Pentecost, the birthday of the church. What we will celebrate one week from today, when all of a sudden a holy wind came from heaven with tongues of fire and drove out the darkness, took their fears away, and replaced them with faith. So the apostles, yes, they need to be witnesses, but without the Holy Spirit, they will amount to nothing. They will achieve nothing for the glory of God. But today isn’t so much about them. It is really about Jesus. After His mission was accomplished here on Earth, taking to the cross our sins and their conquering our greatest fears and foes sin, Satan and death. Now he returns to heaven, a conquering hero. We don't really have ticker tape parade in America anymore, but if we remember the good old days, you can see these clips on YouTube and watch as the astronauts who went to the moon went down the streets of New York City with everybody in the streets and throwing confetti out the windows. So we think of Lindbergh after he crossed the Atlantic. Everybody united in celebration of a single cause. That's what the streets of heaven must have been like when Jesus finally came home to the father's house and he had pried Open Heaven's Gate, he used that cross as a key to unlock it not only for himself, but for all who believe it. So if we can follow his great command to be his witnesses in the world, then one day we who share in his cross at Calvary will share in his great victory. But it's the second command that Jesus gave on the Ascension Day that we want to focus on this morning, and especially with regard to the graduating seniors of the class of 2023 and the last verse of Matthew's Gospel, Jesus gives the command go out to all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the son and the Holy Spirit. And He wants us to go out to all the world to announce the good news. He wants us to make disciples, to make followers of the way, the truth and the life. Who is Jesus Christ risen from the dead. But as the apostles realized, as we come to realize in our own experience, we can't make a follower for Jesus unless or until we become a follower of Jesus. And that's where the Apostles kept tripping over themselves in that first Easter season, and why that season was a cause of confusion, not celebration. If they were convinced that Jesus was risen, then they weren't really convinced that he has a God who is capable of doing all things, and that's why they couldn't convince anyone else. Bless you. Those who want to be followers of Jesus must first learn to follow Him ourselves. If we're going to make anyone else do it, we have to lead by example. We have to be a follower. If we're going to make a follower, we cannot lead others until we learn to follow. And that's the great lesson not only for graduating seniors who have been taught by their parents, their teachers, their professors and their coaches and how to play by the rules and how to think outside the box. But we want to think, how can I love God? How can I be his witness in the world, in the life that I'm going to live? How can I make out a part of whatever witness I'm going to give by the choices I make, the places I go, and the things I do? That's a lesson for all of us. But it's Jesus last words that are a source of great comfort for us this morning. What did he say as he's disappearing into the clouds? He said, I will be with you always, even till the end of time, even to the end of the age. He was leaving, but he was staying. How does he do that? Further proof that he's God and he can do whatever he says and whatever he wants. But he's still in our midst today. Present in the souls of all the baptized, present in his word, present in the priesthood. But most particularly present when bread and wine still become his body and blood, that was Jesus lasting testament to continue to be among us. It's a vitamin that we need for our souls as a medicine, for the sickness of sin, to give us strength for the journey until he calls all of us to make that Ascension journey to pass through Heaven's Gate. And so the Easter season continues, and we pray that next Sunday we will gather here once again and that there will be a new Pentecost in the church that's perhaps not with tongues of fire, but with hearts full of faith. We too, might go forth to proclaim Christ risen from the dead and now we want to bless the class of 2023.