Part of You Is Already in Heaven (The Ascension Changes Everything)

[00:00:00] What's up, you guys? Greetings from beautiful Westchester, Pennsylvania, where I just went to morning mass and met some of the most awesome people. I'll show you a clip from that at the end of this video, but I want to talk about the ascension of our Lord into Heaven and what it means for us and how thinking about the ascension can actually change how you see absolutely everything in life. [00:00:17] Seventeen years ago, we had a miscarriage. [00:00:21] I don't often talk about that. [00:00:24] It's moving to think about it. [00:00:25] So she was about 10 weeks in. It wasn't very far, but we knew we definitely had a miscarriage and raced off to the hospital. [00:00:35] And they did an ultrasound and just saw a little peanut in there with no heartbeat. [00:00:44] And my wife was inspired to say, look again. [00:00:49] So the doctor didn't give up, and he kept looking with the ultrasound, and we found another little peanut with a heartbeat, and that was Eloise. [00:01:00] What a great consolation prize in the midst of that grief and mourning right there. [00:01:04] But, guys, the instant consolation before realizing that we had a twin was this thought that overcame Natalie and I just on our way to the hospital that, wow, there's a part of our flesh, a part. Part of who I am, that's already on the other side, that's already with the Lord, that's already in Heaven. [00:01:25] And what a consolation, because it just. Honestly, like, ever since that happened, it's made the thought of dying less scary, you know, Like, I'm gonna see that little guy, and maybe he'll look like me, you know? [00:01:41] What a cool thought. That part of my flesh is already there, so to speak. [00:01:46] Guys, this is the consolation offered to every single Christian because of the ascension of our Lord into Heaven. [00:01:54] That literally part of our flesh of our humanity is already there, is already in glory with the Blessed Trinity. [00:02:05] What? [00:02:06] And, guys, when I say part of our humanity, I mean our full humanity. All right? I think a lot of us misunderstand the ascension and the importance of it because we misunderstand the incarnation. [00:02:16] Jesus is not God in a costume. [00:02:21] He didn't take on a costume when he took on flesh, when the Word became flesh. The Incarnation means that he took on the fullness that everything it is to be a human being. [00:02:31] So when people think of Jesus as God with human skin on, you're getting it all wrong. [00:02:38] He is fully God and fully man, which means this. He didn't just have a human body and a human brain. [00:02:47] He had a human soul and has a human soul. With although he is infinite in his wisdom, infinite in his divine intellect, he also has a finite human intellect. [00:03:00] So when we talk about the ascension of our Lord into Heaven, that part of our humanity, our full humanity, is already there, inserted into the life of the Trinity, not absorbed by it, not dissolved in the Trinity, but there. Father, Son, Holy Spirit. And in the midst of it, in the midst of that heavenly glory, is a human what? [00:03:30] We're already there, guys. See, because when we talk about the church being the body of Christ, that means Jesus is our head, we're the body. Where the head is, the body will go. [00:03:39] And we could live our life with all its trials and all its pains and all of its tragedies and a miscarriage or whatever the heck you might be going through today, knowing that part of us has already made it. [00:03:52] What a joy that is throughout life, guys. It also answers our deepest longing. See, because we have a God who made us for heaven, which is why we're always longing for more, for something more that no amount of bungee jumping will deliver for you. [00:04:06] No amount of dreams come true, no amount of zeros in the bank account will deliver for you. [00:04:12] And midlife crisis often hits when we have that longing and don't know where it's ultimately going to be answered. [00:04:18] We have that longing, and we experienced life disappointing us, and we didn't quite have things pan out as awesome as we thought they would. [00:04:30] But we can have the rest of knowing that whatever you long for, it pales in comparison to what the Lord made you for. And you're already there if you have faith. Listen, there's a part of you that's already there if you have faith, even if you don't have all the job stuff, the health stuff, the relationship stuff all figured out. You already have the most important part of it all all figured out already because you got Jesus. [00:04:56] And the glory that he is currently in is a glory that he's right now pulling you to. [00:05:03] So while you strive through life and while you experience the pains of life, take a minute as you think about the ascension of our Lord to rest in the glory that you've already grabbed hold of, or rather, it's already grabbed hold of you and is at this moment pulling you to Himself. [00:05:20] God bless you. Oh, and here's my friends that I just met after church, and one of the prettiest churches I've ever been in. [00:05:26] I just left one of the prettiest churches I've ever gone to for Mass, and awesome people waiting outside who apparently recognize me. But I'll tell you what, this. She just started a young adult group with like 30 people going. And she's just a volunteer. He's like, I just want to do this. And what happened? You just did. Yeah. So there it is. And her cousin works for me. What? And then these ladies started a young adult, a women', women's Bible study. And there's like, how many people going? 110. 110 people going. If you just. If you see something that needs to be done in your church, just do it. Instead of thinking, well, someone should do it, maybe God's saying, you're the someone who should do it. [00:06:02] Just saying. There it is. [00:06:05] I also have to show you the inside of this church, cuz it's absolutely stunning. Hold on. [00:06:08] Is that door open? Is that door shut? It's open. Okay, I'll be. I'll be right back. [00:06:16] So pretty. Just too pretty to keep to myself. [00:06:29] Thank you, Jesus. [00:06:32] Man, I could just sit in there forever. [00:06:35] Have a blessed day.