Ascension is the celebration of Jesus visibly rising into the sky 40 days after Easter – which would have been this past Thursday. Even though Ascension may not seem as glamorous as Christmas or Easter, it is a high festival in the church year. This is why we are celebrating it with such a special worship service this morning. Today we see just the kind of king our King Jesus really was.

Isaiah’s prophecy proclaims that Jesus is a King of Peace. That’s awesome, since true peace is such a rare and priceless commodity in this world. People look for this peace in so many wrong places. Some think money brings peace. Some think drugs bring peace -- a way of escaping problems. Some think that overlooking sins and trying not to let guilt bother them brings peace. Some think meditating on nature, or bending your body this way and that in yoga brings peace. Some think that more government programs or laws will bring peace. Humans have been trying to find peace in these ways for centuries. So where is our Golden Age of peace?

Only the Prince of Peace can bring true and lasting peace. The peace Jesus brings calms the troubled heart. He speaks words of peace to our guilty conscience: "Son, Daughter, be of good cheer! Your sins are forgiven!" He brings peace by showing he cares: "I am the Good Shepherd. I lay down my life for my sheep. My sheep know me and follow me. No one can pluck them out of my hand." He promises eternal peace: "Today you will be with me in paradise."

The angels sang: "Peace on earth, good will toward men!" That's what this baby came to bring -- and did bring. Nations are in uproar; they always will be to the end of time. But for those who believe, as the shepherds did, in this baby born in a stable, they have the peace of God which surpasses all understanding. Amen.

One day a British scientist discovered a large anthill in his kitchen garden. These were different from any ants he had observed before, so he was eager to study them. But each time his shadow fell across the anthill, the terrified ants scurried off in terror. "I stepped back," the scientist wrote in his diary, "and sat down on the grass to think out the situation. I had only good will for the ants, did not wish to harm one of them. But how could I make the ants aware of my good will?

"My imagination played with the problem. To those tiny ants, I was an all-powerful creature - somehow up there, whose thoughts they could not guess, whose ways and intentions they could not know.

"If only I could communicate," the scientist wrote. "But even that would not be enough. Even then, I would be a gigantic being to the ants, and they would never believe that I understood their problems - the minute organization of the hill, their struggles for food, their battles with other ants.

"Only one thing could give them complete confidence. That is, if by some alchemy, I could - for a time - become an ant."

Think how much Jesus must truly love us. He became one of us. This British scientist desired to humble himself and become an ant in order to study the ants. God’s Son humbled himself and became a human in order to save humans. That is why Jesus’ incarnation – God being born as a man was necessary. When Jesus stepped out of his throne in glory to come to the earth and live and die for us, he left behind all that he had. He exchanged wealth for poverty – out of the ivory palaces into a rude cattle shed. He exchanged kingship for servanthood. He allowed his kingly glory to be concealed.

He said, "Foxes have holes, and birds have nests, but the Son of man has nowhere to lay his head". What an irony ... the King of glory – heir apparent to the throne of the universe - doesn’t even have a place to call "home". He has no earthly security. He was loaned accommodations by those who loved him. He borrowed a coin to tell a story. He borrowed a donkey to ride into Jerusalem. He was even buried in a borrowed tomb! (It was just as well that He didn’t need it for too long!) He had nothing!

But here is where we see his glory shining! Jesus gave it all up, so that he might give us everything! He became one of us to save us! He became poor so we might become rich! He suffered hell on the cross so we might receive heaven in glory! He endured God’s wrath so we might enjoy God’s love! Our King concealed his glory so his glory might be revealed in us! Amen.

Early on Easter Sunday morning, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been moved from the entrance. So she came running to Peter and John, and said, "They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him." (John 20:1-2)

Mary Magdalene was filled with panic, confusion, and emptiness. Her heart was already heavy with grief as she prepared for one last act of love for the man she thought was her Savior. She would help anoint his body for burial and then leave the tomb without hope and without help. But now this was too much to bear! Not only was her friend dead, his body was missing too!

First, panic set in. Mary must have thought, "What could have happened? What can I do now? Who would do such a thing?" Then confusion followed. "How could just a few days change my life so much? Just days ago, I thought I had found the Messiah. How I loved listening to him! His words freed me from my burdens. I really thought Jesus was the one. But now he’s gone. What am I to do?" And now her life felt empty – oh so empty. No Jesus. No hope. No help.

And that’s how all of our lives would be, if Jesus had never been seen alive, or if his dead body would have been discovered in the tomb or elsewhere. Without a risen Savior we could have no hope, no help. Without a risen Savior we could have no forgiveness, no life. "If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men" (1 Corinthians 15:17-19). Then we would have every reason to panic. Then confusion and emptiness would be our lot in life. As Mr. T used to say on the A Team: "I pity the fool!" We would be pitied and hopeless indeed!

Here is the good news: "But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep" (1 Corinthians 15:20). Thank the Lord, we know where our risen Savior is! He’s not in the grave. He is alive! Now we have the certain hope that we live eternally. He is not powerless. He is all-powerful. He rules and reigns in heaven. He will use his power to raise our dead, lifeless bodies from the grave one day. He is no longer humiliated and humbled. He is glorified. He is once again receiving the honor, glory and praise due him. One day we will join with the saints and the angels in giving our king the perfect glory he deserves from us.

Jesus is alive and well and able to help. Trust replaces panic. Certainty steps in where confusion once dwelled. Confidence and God’s gift of life fill our emptiness. We have traveled to the tomb and found it empty. But we know where our Savior is, and that makes all the difference! He is the King of glory! Amen.

A legend recounts the return of Jesus to heaven after his ascension from earth. He returned bearing the marks of his earthly pilgrimage with its cruel cross and shameful death. The angel Gabriel approached Jesus and said, "Master, you must have suffered terribly for the people down there." "I did," Jesus said. "And," continued Gabriel, "do they now know all about how you loved them and what you did for them?" "Oh, no," Jesus said. "Not yet." Right now, only a handful of people in Judah know."

Gabriel was perplexed. He asked, "Then what have you done to let all people know about your love for them?" "Well, I’ve commissioned Peter, James, John, and a few others to tell people about me. Those who are told will in turn tell others, and the Gospel will be spread to the farthest reaches of the globe. Ultimately, all of humanity will hear about me and what I have done on their behalf."

Gabriel frowned and looked skeptical. He knew that people weren’t dependable. He said, "Yes, but what if Peter and James and John grow weary? What if the people who come after them forget? And what if, way down in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries people get too busy to bother telling others about you? Haven’t you made any other plans?" Jesus answered, "No, I’ve made no other plans, Gabriel. I’m counting on them."

The King is sending you to be his witnesses. That is his plan – his only plan. Let’s get the word out about Iesus Christus Rex – Jesus Christ our King. He’s counting on us. Amen.