Leave Us Not Comfortless

Good morning again, Encouragers.

The Ascension teaches us this: Christ has carried our humanity into the presence of God. The King of glory has entered the everlasting doors. And by grace, where He’s gone, His people shall also follow.

But the fire of Pentecost hasn’t yet fallen, and the apostles aren’t yet preaching with boldness. The Church stands between Ascension and Pentecost, and learns to pray a very honest prayer:

“O God, the King of glory, who hast exalted thine only Son Jesus Christ with great triumph unto thy kingdom in heaven; We beseech thee, leave us not comfortless.”

That’s a bold prayer. It’s not unbelieving. It begins with firm belief in the Ascension: God has exalted His only Son with great triumph. And then it says, Lord, do not leave us comfortless.

That’s where many Christians live more often than they admit. We confess Christ reigns. We know He’s risen, ascended, seated at the right hand of the Father. But we still know what it is to feel weak, uncertain, and sometimes very much alone.

And the Prayer Book doesn’t scold us for that. It teaches us how to pray in the face of doubt and uncertainty.

Leave us not comfortless doesn’t mean, Lord, make everything easy, or let us skip the hard parts of faithfulness. It means, Lord, send us the Holy Ghost. Keep us in Christ. Lift our hearts where our Saviour has gone before.

In the Gospel, our Lord says, “When the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me.”

The Holy Ghost doesn’t come to give the Church a new message. He comes to testify of Christ. He keeps the Church from becoming fascinated with herself, her grievances, or her survival.

The Spirit says, Look to Christ. Christ crucified, risen, ascended, reigning, interceding, coming again.

That’s the comfort of the Church. Not comfort as soft sentiment. Not comfort as a pleasant feeling for a difficult week. The Comforter strengthens, steadies, teaches, and keeps. He bears witness to Christ in us and among us, so that we aren’t left to keep the faith by our own willpower.

And thank God for that, because our own willpower wouldn’t be enough.

Our Lord tells the disciples plainly that their witness won’t be easy. “These things have I spoken unto you, that ye should not be offended.” He’s warning them so they won’t stumble when trouble comes. “They shall put you out of the synagogues.” And worse: “the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service.”

Jesus doesn’t build His Church on false expectations. He doesn’t say, Follow Me and everyone will understand. He says the opposite. You will bear witness, and some will reject you. But He tells us beforehand so we won’t think that hardship means Christ has abandoned His Church.

The ascended Christ hasn’t abandoned His Church. He sends the Comforter.

That matters for us in our little corner of Bellville. We’re not likely to be put out of a synagogue. But every Christian knows the pressure to keep Christ at a polite distance.

And every small parish knows another pressure. Discouragement. Wondering what comes next. Limited strength, limited people, limited time. There are days when the Church can look very small from the ground.

But Isaiah lifts our eyes. “The Lord is exalted; for he dwelleth on high.”

Not our strength. Not our size. The Lord is exalted.

And then: “Thine eyes shall see the king in his beauty: they shall behold the land that is very far off.”

That’s the vision the Church needs. We need to see the King in His beauty. When we see only ourselves, we become anxious. When we see only our limitations, we become discouraged. But when the eyes of faith see the King in His beauty, the heart begins to be steadied.

Isaiah goes on: “The Lord is our judge, the Lord is our lawgiver, the Lord is our king; he will save us.”

That’s not theory. That’s comfort. The Lord is our judge, so the world’s verdict isn’t final. The Lord is our lawgiver, so the world doesn’t get to rewrite righteousness. The Lord is our king, so the world doesn’t finally rule us. He will save us.

That’s why Psalm 24 rings out so powerfully on this Sunday: “Lift up your heads, O ye gates; and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in.”

The ascended Christ is the King of glory. The One whose hands were pierced has entered heaven, not as a visitor, but as King.

And yet Psalm 24 also asks, “Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord? or who shall rise up in his holy place?” The answer is, “Even he that hath clean hands, and a pure heart.”

Now, if we stop there, we’re in trouble. We know our hands. We know our hearts. We know what pride hides under respectable clothing.

So, who shall ascend? Christ shall.

Christ has clean hands and a pure heart. He’s ascended into the hill of the Lord. And by grace, in Him, His people are brought near.

We don’t climb into heaven by moral achievement. We’re lifted by union with the ascended Christ. That’s grace, and it’s adoption: the Father receives us as sons in His Son, and where the Son has gone, the sons may follow.

And that grace doesn’t make us passive. It makes us faithful.

That’s why St. Peter speaks the way he does in the Epistle. “The end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer.”

Not frantic. Sober. Not panicked. Prayerful. Awake to God.

The Christian life after the Ascension isn’t idle waiting. It’s watchful faithfulness. The King reigns. The Spirit is given. The Church prays, loves, speaks, serves, and waits for the appearing of her Lord.

And above all, Peter says, “have fervent charity among yourselves: for charity shall cover the multitude of sins.”

That’s very practical and necessary. A parish is sustained by grace, and grace teaches charity. Fervent charity means we don’t treat one another’s weaknesses as opportunities for contempt. We forgive. We bear with one another. We remember that Christ has had great mercy on us.

And then Peter says, “Use hospitality one to another without grudging.”

Without grudging. That little phrase knows us pretty well. It’s possible to do the right thing with a sigh loud enough for the whole house to hear. It’s possible to be hospitable in deed and resentful in spirit. Peter says, don’t do that. Open the door without grudging. Serve without grudging. Encourage without grudging.

“As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.”

The manifold grace of God. Grace has many forms. Some speak. Some serve. Some pray quietly. Some give. Some visit. Some simply remain faithful year after year, and that itself becomes a gift to the Church.

But the source is the same. “As of the ability which God giveth.” Dependence on grace. “That God in all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ.”

So, Encouragers, don’t measure the comfort of God by whether life feels easy. Measure it by Christ. The Son has been exalted with great triumph. The King of glory has entered in. The Spirit of truth has been promised and given. The Church isn’t orphaned. We’re not comfortless.

And as we come to the altar this morning, we come to the ascended Lord who still feeds His people.

Leo the Great taught that what was visible of our Redeemer has passed over into the sacraments. Christ hasn’t departed from His Church. He’s changed the mode of His presence. He’s more truly with us at this altar than the disciples saw Him on the day He ascended.

The Preface today prays it plainly: He ascended “to prepare a place for us; that where he is, thither we might also ascend, and reign with him in glory.”

So, we lift up our hearts. We come with unclean hands and divided hearts, asking to be cleansed by mercy, strengthened by grace, and made faithful by the Holy Ghost.

May the Lord give us sober minds, watchful prayer, fervent charity, and willing service. May He make this little parish a quiet habitation of His grace. May He keep our eyes fixed on the King in His beauty. And may He send to us the Holy Ghost to comfort us, and exalt us unto the same place whither our Saviour Christ is gone before.

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.