This is Your New Normal
It was just two months ago when the whole world went crazy. Schools dismissed for Spring Break and didn’t go back. We had one in-person service on March 15th in the gym at Memorial Lutheran Church and we’ve been online ever since. Everything has been turned upside down. As if we weren’t divided enough before this all started, arguments about social distancing and wearing masks and what’s more dangerous: the disease or the cure.
It was just two months ago. Seems like a lifetime. We started walking into the unknown and we’re still walking. These are strange and dark days. Economic uncertainty, skyrocketing unemployment, sickness and literal death—anxiety and a feeling of being overwhelmed, or just flat out sick of it is at an all time high. I’m feeling it, I’ll bet you are too.
Everyone keeps talking about “the new normal.” Everyone’s tired of that phrase so I figured I’d build the whole sermon around it today.
Today’s the last Sunday in Easter. It was forty days between the resurrection and the ascension. Jesus came back from the dead and walked around teaching, hanging out with people, showing them His scars—He was kinda proud of them. Think about how long ago Easter was—seems like forever ago, right? That’s how long they had been hanging out with a guy they had seen crucified but was okay now. They had kinda gotten used to it. It was their new normal.
It doesn’t take long before we get used to things. Tired of things. Bored. Jaded.
At the end of the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus has come back from the dead, He’s with the disciples and a bunch of His friends, they’re having a great time. It says they worshiped Him but some doubted.
Some doubted. They’re standing there face to face with a guy who came back from the dead. A guy who told them that’s what He was going to do before He did it. A guy who had done a ton of miracles before that and said the most amazing things every time He opened His mouth. But they were used to it, they had been hanging out with Him for forty days. Seriously, what’s it gonna take for some people? Some doubted!? They were bored of the resurrection. “So what else you got, Jesus?”
Forty days ago we celebrated Easter. It was online. Churches were empty but more people heard the Gospel than on any Easter in the history of the world. More people worshiped than any other time in history.
But some doubted. I'm sure of it. It was true 2,000 years ago and it’s true now. Sure, Jesus might have come back from the dead, but what has He done for us lately?
I mean, just look at the headlines. The world has been in a state of semi lockdown for two months. People are attacking each other. Impatient with each other. Walk around judging people who don’t react to the headlines the same way they do. Some people are nervous and fearful. Some people are angry and dismissive. Some people seem to think they’re above it all and are entitled to be treated special. It’s a world full of bad news.
Right in the middle of all that was Easter. Hold those two ideas in your mind at the same time: light and dark, death and life. Easter is part of your story now. The hope, the confidence in the resurrection of Jesus. That His resurrection is the sure sign and promise of your resurrection. That you don’t have anything to be afraid of anymore. Nothing can separate you from the love of your God (Romans 8:38), The one who sacrificed His Son for your eternal salvation — certainly not a pandemic, or social isolation, or economic hard times. Not even death. Especially not death. This is your new normal.
But Easter was forty days ago, seems like a lifetime doesn’t it? That must have been what it was like for the disciples. They had gotten used to the idea that Jesus was alive again.
In Acts chapter 1, Luke continues the story he was writing about Jesus for a someone named Theophilus, it says:
“In my first book I told you, Theophilus, about everything Jesus began to do and teach until the day he was taken up to heaven after giving his chosen apostles further instructions through the Holy Spirit. During the forty days after he suffered and died, he appeared to the apostles from time to time, and he proved to them in many ways that he was actually alive. And he talked to them about the Kingdom of God.
Once when he was eating with them, he commanded them, “Do not leave Jerusalem until the Father sends you the gift he promised, as I told you before. John baptized with water, but in just a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”
So when the apostles were with Jesus, they kept asking him, “Lord, has the time come for you to free Israel and restore our kingdom?”
He replied, “The Father alone has the authority to set those dates and times, and they are not for you to know. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere—in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
After saying this, he was taken up into a cloud while they were watching, and they could no longer see him. As they strained to see him rising into heaven, two white-robed men suddenly stood among them. “Men of Galilee,” they said, “why are you standing here staring into heaven? Jesus has been taken from you into heaven, but someday he will return from heaven in the same way you saw him go!”
At the end of the Gospel of Luke it says
“Then Jesus led them to Bethany, and lifting his hands to heaven, he blessed them. While he was blessing them, he left them and was taken up to heaven. So they worshiped him and then returned to Jerusalem filled with great joy. And they spent all of their time in the Temple, praising God.”
In Matthew it says,
“Then the eleven disciples left for Galilee, going to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. When they saw him, they worshiped him—but some of them doubted!”
Jesus came back from the dead and hung out with the disciples for forty days. He spends that time teaching them how all of the Scriptures had been pointing to Him all along. He was the fulfillment of everything they had ever hoped for or ever wanted or ever needed. Him. Christ alone. That it’s all about the Kingdom of God now. But they were always like, “Yeah that’s great. Eternal life. Salvation. Forgiveness of sins. Right with God. That’s all fantastic. But when are you going to overthrow Rome? When are you going to fix everything? When are all the troubles in this world, all the day to day problems, when are You going to take care of all that stuff? When are you going to restore OUR kingdom?”
Sounds like us, doesn’t it. “Resurrection, eternal life, that’s great but what have you done for me lately?” How long do we have to put up with this COVID thing? With all these nasty inconveniences?
And Jesus is like, “That’s not really the point guys. God’s gonna eventually make everything right, dry every tear, heal every sickness, make every wrong right—but He’s gonna do it in His own time. “The Father alone has the authority to set those dates and times, and they are not for you to know.”
In other words, it’s none of your business when God says enough is enough and pushes the reset button. That’s not your concern. Here’s what you should be thinking about, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere—in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
That’s what the kingdom of God is all about now. Believers of Jesus are filled with the Holy Spirit in the here and now, on this earth, so they can walk around this troubled mixed up world and let people know that He’s alive. That God came to earth and died for them, then raised from the dead so they don’t have to be afraid of death anymore. We need to tell as many people as possible before God presses that big reset button.
It’s been forty days since Easter. Jesus came back from the dead. This is our new normal.
But we act like we’re “over it.” Yes, Lord, You rose from the dead but when are You going to fix everything else? When are you going to fix my kingdom? We act like we’re bored of the resurrection. Jaded.
Jesus offers true and living hope to all of us but most of us usually act like we want something else. Most of our prayers, if we’re honest, are more about trying to keep from getting sick or dying instead of praying that God will use us to share our hope and faith with people who don’t believe. We spend more time trying to keep people out of heaven than trying to get them in. I wonder if another way to say that might be “we worshiped but some of us doubted.”
In those last moments with His disciples, He reminds them one more time that He’ll always be with them, reminds them of what they’re supposed to be focused on doing. Then He flies up up and away like Superman into the wild blue yonder. This was the last time they were going to see Him in this life. And they all stood there staring at the sky, straining until they couldn’t see Him anymore. We would have done the same thing.
Suddenly two men, or two angels, show up and say, “Why are you looking at the sky you bunch of sillies. “Jesus has been taken from you into heaven, but someday he will return from heaven in the same way you saw him go!”
So they went back to Jerusalem, their hearts full of joy. It was a lot to process—Jesus not only came back from the dead, He flew into heaven and is hanging out with God the Father. Taking their prayers and praise to Almighty God. They were feeling particularly motivated to pray and worship, knowing that their friend was delivering the message directly to God for them. This why they spent all their time in the Temple, praising God.
This event is called the Ascension. It used to be celebrated bigger than Christmas. It’s considered the coronation of King Jesus. It’s probably worth our time to remember the day when Jesus was crowned King of kings and Lord of lords.
So the disciples and friends of Jesus stood on the ground watching Jesus go up into heaven—that’s one angle of the story. In Daniel chapter seven we see a little glimpse of what it looked like from the other perspective—like if there was also a camera in the throne room of heaven.
It says, “As I looked,
thrones were placed,
and the Ancient of Days took his seat;
his clothing was white as snow,
and the hair of his head like pure wool;
his throne was fiery flames;
its wheels were burning fire.
A stream of fire issued
and came out from before him;
a thousand thousands served him,
and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him;
the court sat in judgment,
and the books were opened.
(Daniel 7:9–10) And behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man, and he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him. And to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed.”
Come on! That’s awesome. Trippy and psychedelic like a dream but awesome.
The day Jesus traded His crown of thorns for the crown of heaven and earth.
It’s been forty days since Easter. Two months since this Coronavirus thing started sucking all the joy out of our lives. You probably know this but corona means crown. It’s been two months since the world has made this virus the most important thing, since they’ve crowned this virus the king of everything. Everything must bow in submission to it. Everyone must comply. You must worship with fear and trembling.
I’m glad it’s called the Coronavirus though, it’s a good reminder that we shouldn’t let it rule us.
In about the same amount of time that we’ve gotten used to the idea that people are going to walk around wearing masks and getting PTSD everytime someone sneezes in public, the disciples had gotten used to the idea that the Son of God had raised from the dead and could literally show up anytime, anywhere and start frying some fish and teaching about the kingdom of God. That was their new normal, they were used to it. Sure, they worshiped but some doubted.
This is our new normal: Jesus has risen from the dead. The Son of God is alive. You have hope that is far beyond anything you’ve ever seen in this world.
Jesus has ascended into heaven. He is King of kings, Lord of lords. He wears the Crown of crowns.
Not some stupid virus. We’re Christians. Followers of Jesus. We’re people of faith. That means something. It means everything.
Ephesians chapter one says, 1:15–23
“Ever since I first heard of your strong faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for God’s people everywhere, I have not stopped thanking God for you. I pray for you constantly, asking God, the glorious Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, to give you spiritual wisdom and insight so that you might grow in your knowledge of God. I pray that your hearts will be flooded with light so that you can understand the confident hope he has given to those he called—his holy people who are his rich and glorious inheritance.”
I pray that you would understand what your faith means—the hope that it brings.
“I also pray that you will understand the incredible greatness of God’s power for us who believe him. This is the same mighty power that raised Christ from the dead and seated him in the place of honor at God’s right hand in the heavenly realms. (There’s that ascension thing again) Now he is far above any ruler or authority or power or leader or anything else—not only in this world but also in the world to come. (But what about all the scary things in this world, the COVID, the news, the power hungry politicians?) God has put all things under the authority of Christ and has made him head over all things for the benefit of the church. (Who is the church? You are. The people of God who are gathered in Christ’s name) And the church is his body; it is made full and complete by Christ, who fills all things everywhere with himself.”
It’s been two months since COVID-19 was crowned the most important thing in the world. Since we’ve all been told to bow in fear before its invisible power to bring death.
It’s been about the same amount of time since we celebrated the resurrection of Jesus and the hope of new life that He brings. His message is very different: you don’t have to be afraid. Of anything.
In these uncertain times, we have to confess the certainty we have in Christ. In all this anxiety and stress, we have to trust in the comfort He gives us. In the suffocating darkness of all this doubt and fear, we have to reflect His light for all those who are losing their hope.
We need to spend more time praying people into heaven than trying to keep them out.
Let’s not lose focus. Let’s not get jaded. This is the last Sunday in Easter. It's been forty days since we celebrated the resurrection of Jesus. Things will never go back to the way they were before that. This is the new normal, that dead people come back. That’s part of your story now. That’s what we have to let people know. This has to be our prayer: “Lord, fill us with Your Spirit so we can bring the light of the kingdom of God to all the people around us who don’t know You and don’t have hope.” This is your new normal. AMEN