Fill All Things / Ephesians 4:1–12/ Pr. Ted A. Giese / Thursday May 29th 2025 / Ascension Day / Grace Lutheran Church

WASCANA Circuit of Central Region of Lutheran Church Canada Ascension Service, Grace Lutheran Church / Pr. Ted A. Giese / Thursday May 29th 2025: Ascension Day / Ephesians 4:1–12 “Fill All Things”

I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call—one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift. Therefore it says,

        “When He ascended on high He led a host of captives,

               and He gave gifts to men.”

        (In saying, “He ascended,” what does it mean but that He had also descended into the lower regions, the earth? He who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens, that He might fill all things.) And He gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ.”

Let us pray: May the words of my mouth and the meditations of all our hearts be acceptable in Your sight O Lord. Amen.

Grace peace and mercy to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Good Christian Friends sin, death, the devil and the world all seek to convince you that you are alone, that you are un-forgiven, that you are separated from God, that you’re too ‘worldly’ for the golden streets of heaven, that you ought not have the gifts He gives. There are aspects of our Ascension Day readings, and other parts of Scripture related to the Ascension of our Lord, that speak to us the exact opposite things about our Christian life.  

For instance the prophet Isaiah some 700 years before the Day of Ascension recorded these words:

        For thus says the One who is high and lifted up,

               who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy:

        “I dwell in the high and holy place,

               and also with Him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit,

        to revive the spirit of the lowly,

               and to revive the heart of the contrite.”

In chapter four of Saint Paul’s letter to the Christians of Ephesus Paul says this of our Lord Jesus’ incarnation and birth, His death and burial, and His resurrection and ascension: “(In saying, “He ascended,” what does it mean but that [Jesus] had also descended into the lower regions, the earth? [This Jesus] who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens, that He might fill all things.)”[1] Fill all things: that He might fill the lowly spirit with comfort and peace, that He might fill the contrite heart with forgiveness; yes and yes, so Saint Paul says “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners,”[2] and Jesus says of Himself, “I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”[3] His call goes out to the contrite heart, the heart sorry for their sins.

With the Ascension the obvious thing that we remember and confess is that 40 Days after His Easter Resurrection Jesus our LORD is both high and lifted up and is now seated at the right hand of His Father in heaven. The less obvious part which we are called to remember as we celebrate the Ascension of our Lord is that in filling all things the LORD is also with you as you sit here in your pew tonight, as you lay yourself down to sleep later this evening, and is with you tomorrow and every day as you walk through this life. This means that Jesus promises to be with you when you are brought low and when your heart is sorry for your trespasses and sins.

Oh you of contrite heart and lowly spirit, your Lord Jesus, at His Ascension, indeed filled all things in order that you will truly never be alone as a Christian.

In Saint Matthew’s Gospel while parting from them into heaven Jesus promises His disciples and you, “behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”[4] Not, ‘behold, I am with you some of the time, to the end of the age,’ not, ‘behold I am with you when you’re having a great day, to the end of the age,’ not, “I am with you only when everything is going well with you, to the end of the age,’ no, Jesus says “I am with you always, to the end of the age,” which is to say ‘rain or shine,’ in the ‘good times and in the bad times,’ in ‘prosperity and poverty’ in ‘sickness and in health.’  

Jesus being high and lifted up didn’t just come out of left field, we find this sort of language in the Old Testament in places like Isaiah but we also find Jesus speaking like this about Himself. And as expected there is a double meaning to unpack when He does: Before His crucifixion Jesus said, “When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He, and that I do nothing on My own authority, but speak just as the Father taught Me. And He who sent Me is with Me. He has not left Me alone, for I always do the things that are pleasing to Him.” [Saint John, who records this, then tells us that] as [Jesus] was saying these things, many believed in Him.[5] In His crucifixion, Jesus — crowned with thorns — was lifted up upon the wooden beams of the cross and ironically as this happens He takes the very lowest seat in His death makes a place for Himself with you in your death and then forty days after His resurrection from the dead Jesus that first Easter Sunday, and then in His ascension to His Father’s right hand, Jesus is crowned with glory and guarantees a heavenly inheritance to all who believe in Him. Earlier in the Gospel of John Jesus had already spoken this way when He said to the Pharisee Nicodemus “the Son of Man [must] be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him may have eternal life.”[6]  Among His Disciples, At The Cross of His crucifixion, it was only Saint John who laid eyes upon the Son of Man, this Jesus stricken smitten and afflicted, high and lifted up, but at The Ascension Saint John is joined with the rest of the remaining disciples and together they see Jesus ascend high and lifted up not in bloody agony but in radiant glory. So, from the depth of death, to the heights of heaven and everything in between the LORD, in Christ Jesus, promises to be with you: This is a significant part of what it means to fill all things.

In our Epistle Reading Saint Paul quotes from Psalm 68[7] when Paul says about Jesus, “When He ascended on high He led a host of captives, and He gave gifts to men.” This Jesus who ascends into heaven is better than Moses. Moses brought, by the grace of God, the captive Jewish people out of Egypt giving them spiritual riches and freedom bringing them eventually to the very edge of the Promised Land; Jesus brings, by the grace of God and His personal sinless righteousness, a host of captives now freed not from Egypt but from sin, death, the devil, and the world, freed even from themselves. The ones Jesus brings come not just from the Children of Israel but rather from “every tribe and people and language and nation.”[8] On the one hand Jesus’ ascension promises your ascension while on the other hand Jesus’ ascension and the gifts He know gives as a result promise you His ongoing presence.   

The gifts Jesus gives to men include His word in Holy Scripture and His promised presence in Holy Communion. When you find yourself in the pages of Scripture, when you find yourself hidden away in the Rock of Ages, hidden away in Christ Jesus, you need not feel alone. When you understand and believe that Jesus is present with the bread and the wine of the Lord’s Supper you quickly being to see how you are not alone there at the rail. This is part of the gifts that Jesus brings in His Ascension when He filled all things on that glorious day.    

In the gift of Baptism, and the gift of His Word, in the gift of Holy Communion Jesus revives you. He replaces what is dead and gives you new life, gives you His very life and makes you part of His life. You are left captive to Him and not to sin, death, the devil and the world. You need not be captive to yourself and your own desires and wants that are contrary to Him. Jesus comes for sinners; Jesus comes to set the captives free, Jesus comes to take you unto Himself. And yet even so Jesus says “it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send Him to you.”[9] Saint John records these words of Jesus and what do we hear Jesus say to His remaining disciples as He’s about to ascend today? He says to them, “Stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.”[10] Ten days from now we will celebrate the Day of Pentecost and the coming of the Holy Spirit, yet another gift that issues forth from Jesus in the wake of His Ascension to the Father’s right hand. And again with the Holy Spirit dwelling in you, you know you are not alone.  

And so we can say with Saint Paul: with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, [that we are called in Christ to be ones] eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. [For as Saint Paul teaches] There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call—[Yes dear ones, there is] one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.”[11] Yes, and because this your Jesus has filled all things and has made you into ones who are no longer alone but are together united in Him you and we all together can tell our feelings of loneliness and emptiness, our feelings of worthlessness and purposelessness to go away. We can say this together with confidence in the name of Jesus, the name above all names. This too is a wonderful gift He gives you. Amen.    

Let us pray:

Lord have mercy on us, Christ have mercy on us, Lord have mercy on us, “take our minds and think through them, take our lips and speak through them, take our hearts and set them on fire; for the sake of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, Amen.

[1] Ephesians 4:9
[2] 1 Timothy 1:15
[3] Mark 2:17
[4] Matthew 28:20
[5] John 8:28–30
[6] John 3:14–15
[7] Psalm 68:18
[8] Revelation 13:7
[9] John 16:7
[10] Luke 24:49b
[11] Ephesians 4:2-6

Photo Credit: Main photo detail of 2nd Glorious Mystery Stained Glass Window (Ascension) Cathedral of the Madeleine Salt Lake City from wikimedia commons.