So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, is this the time when you will restore the kingdom to Israel?” He replied, “It is not for you to know the times or periods that the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” When he had said this, as they were watching, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. While he was going and they were gazing up toward heaven, suddenly two men in white robes stood by them. They said, “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 as you saw him go into heaven.”
Acts 1:6-14
Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day’s journey away. When they had entered the city, they went to the room upstairs where they were staying: Peter, and John, and James, and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James son of Alphaeus, and Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of James. All these were constantly devoting themselves to prayer, together with certain women, including Mary the mother of Jesus, as well as his brothers.
My sermon from Ascension Sunday (May 17, 2026) on Acts 1:6-14.
So about 525 years ago, in what would eventually become the nation of Germany, an artist using the printing press became very influential. His name was Albrecht Durer and he’s known for the images his workshop etched onto blocks of wood. They would make these incredibly detailed pictures, cover them in ink, press the blocks into pieces of paper, and then ship the prints all over Europe. These images were available everywhere and even folks like Leonardo da Vinci wanted to get to know this artist from Northern Europe. Much of his initial work centered around the Bible with pictures depicting the Apocalypse, the Archangel Michael fighting a dragon, and the Passion of Christ becoming best sellers. But Durer also spread out into other areas, becoming the first person to publish star charts for navigation in Europe as well as printing an image of a Rhinoceros after his friend described what one looked like. The images Durer created shaped people’s imagination of what Luther’s Reformation was all about. And one of these influential pieces depicted what we heard in our first reading from the book of Acts. The Ascension is one of the great Christians festivals we really don’t pay much attention to. We didn’t hold a special Ascension Day worship this past Thursday or keep our kids home from school to sing Ascension day songs. This moment in Jesus’ story, though, truly matters and has inspired the minds of artists for nearly two thousand years. And when folks depict this scene, they often draw the disciples gathered on a mountain top while looking up as Jesus’ feet dangle at the top of the page. In your copies of the bulletin, you’ll notice a cropped version of Durer’s version of this scene. As you can see, the disciples are gathered together and Jesus’ feet hanging down from the very top. But one of the things that makes Durer’s print a bit unique is what he chose to keep at the center of it all. In the middle wasn’t a big empty space with the disciples looking confused and full of doubt. Our eyes are, instead, invited to focus on the two empty footprints waiting to be filled.
Now to realize what the Ascension is, we need to remember what happened 40 days before what we read in Acts. On that morning, before the dawn broke, a few women left the city of Jerusalem to visit a tomb. They carried with them the spices and other things they needed to complete the burial rituals for their teacher. They were weighed down by grief, sorrow, and unsure what their future might bring. But when they arrived at the tomb, they discovered Jesus wasn’t there. The Easter morning surprise was repeated over and over again as Jesus kept showing up to his friends. He met up with Peter, secretly walked alongside two disciples as they fled from the city before making himself known in the breaking of the bread, and then joined all of them for a dinner of broiled fish. Jesus’ presence was exciting, unexpected, and gave them so much hope. Yet his being among them resembled what it was like in the days prior to the Cross. Except for a few very long days – the disciples could still share their joys, doubts, and questions with the One who promised to never let them go. But on that 40th day, Jesus knew it was time to break up the routine. He led them a short way to the village of Bethany and then they hiked up the mount of Olivet – also known as the mount of Olives. As they neared the top, they looked out and saw the entire valley full of olive orchards, farmland, vineyards, and the city of Jerusalem itself. It must have felt as if they were on the top of the world and so it seemed like the perfect time to ask the One who even death could not hold if it was now the time for Jesus to become the king they always expected him to be.
And this question is actually a very good one if we remember what happened when they were on that same mountain just a few weeks before. It was there when Jesus had ordered his disciples to find a donkey he could ride on so that he could enter the city of Jerusalem as if he was already its king. Even after all they had seen and experienced, the disciples believed their Messiah would change the world by establishing a political kingdom that would finally push the Romans and everyone else into the sea. Every person or power that believed they were destined to rule the world and who believed it was their right to inflict their wills on others – would now meet a Risen Lord with the power to make everything right. The Romans, who had tried to end Jesus’ story, would soon discover how he’s back and ready to ride once more. All the disciples needed was one more command to go and find another donkey for their king to ride. Many of the disciples imagined Jesus had given them a kind of spiritual and holy armor that would allow them to leave military style footprints in the sand. They assumed they were given the power to fight a war that was righteous and pure. And yet Jesus didn’t deputize his friends or give them the opportunity to inflict violence in His name. The footprints we make while chasing after the symbols of power, success, might, and strength to help us win the day weren’t the footprints Jesus chose to make. He, instead, ascended up to the fullness of the divine so that his footprints, rather than our own, could be the ones we get to fill. With a few words, he reminded those who followed him it wasn’t their responsibility to make God’s kingdom real on earth. Rather, God’s kingdom had already come and it would continue to unfold through those Jesus claimed as his own. The Ascension wasn’t Jesus leaving his disciples behind or inviting them to seek the location of where he was going. The Ascension is Jesus letting everyone know that the Divine has fully integrated into itself every part of our human story. The joy, the tears, the laughter, the pain, the fear, the boredom, and the ways we’re so good at letting Sin win – all of that has been brought into a God who refuses to let our worst days be the only days that define us. Our assumption we need to chase after God has been upended by a God who has already chosen you. And that God has given you a commission to bear witness to what God’s kingdom is all about. Jesus’ expression of healing and wholeness; of grace and hope; of welcome and inclusion; of justice and integrity; of accountability and peace – that is the path Jesus has already filled with his footprints. And these footprints aren’t merely a sign of where Jesus has been. They’re also an invitation for us to follow them and leave our own Jesus sized footprints in all we say and do. This, of course, isn’t easy because kindness and care, mercy and support, and a willingness to be for one another are not the kinds of footprints we raise up, celebrate, or embrace. But the God who’s always included you – and who will publicly welcome Ronan into Christ’s beloved body in just a few moments – trusts we really can live out God’s forgiveness and grace. You are loved so that you can be God’s love in the world. And while we won’t always get this love right we know and we trust that the Ascended Jesus is already in front of us leaving new footprints of hope that we get to fill.
Amen.