"Looking into the Sky"

 

"Men of Galilee," they said, "why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven."

 

            Last week the theme of the sermon was "Look up!" When we depend on our own strength, we fail. When we look to God and act in his power, we do his will. This week there is a corrective word to "Look up." The angel says, "Why do you stand here looking into the sky?" It is good to look up to God the Father, but not so good to just stare into space.

            The resurrection of Jesus finds completion in his ascension into heaven and the giving of the Holy Spirit. The Ascension of Jesus means that the Risen Lord is now in a place, the Right Hand of God, which is the location of all true authority and power in the universe.  That gives assurance to the disciples. The Risen Lord is not mysteriously appearing and disappearing. He is in a particular place, and his place is one of authority.

            Ephesians 1:20 – "That power is the same as the mighty strength he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at  his right hand in the heavenly realm."

            Philippians 2:9 – "Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow and tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord."

            Acts 2:33 – "Exalted to the right hand of God, he has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear."

            The Ascension showed the disciples that Jesus is in heaven at the right hand of God and that he will return in the same way. The Ascension provides a primary source of Christian hope.

            Closely connected to the Ascension are the last words of Jesus to the disciples, the giving of the Great Commission: "You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samarian, and to the ends of the earth." In Matthew it says, "Go and make disciples of all nations." In Luke 24 it says "repentance for the forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem."

            That is a big task. It will take some time. Howard Marshall summarizes it, "Don't expect a speedy winding up of history." So the disciples stand there staring into space and the angels tell them they have work to do. The sky is not falling just yet. The Ascension of Jesus provides a motivation for the disciples to become active in disciple making that will extend throughout the whole earth. But they must wait for the gift of the Holy Spirit.

            Columnist David Brooks wrote a piece recently about college graduations.

            "If you sample some of the commencement addresses being broadcast on C-SPAN these days, you see that many graduates are told to 'Follow your passion, chart your own course, march to the beat of your own drummer, follow your dreams and find yourself.' This is the litany of expressive individualism, which is still the dominant note in American culture.

           "Today's graduates are told to find their passion and then pursue their dreams. But most successful young people don't look inside and then plan a life. They look outside and find a problem, which summons their life. A relative suffers from Alzheimer's disease and a young woman feels called to help cure that disease. Most people do not form a self and then lead a life. They are called by a problem, and the self is constructed gradually by their calling."

            I thought that was well stated, but for a follower of the Risen Lord Jesus Christ the call does not come from a problem that needs to be fixed. The call comes from a commission from the Lord and the self is then constructed by that commission because of the authority of Jesus and by the gift of the Holy Spirit.

            I think that some people do have a clear inner passion that can be discovered, developed and followed. But I also feel that the passion in our lives needs to be connected to the commission of Jesus. That requires submission and sacrifice and losing oneself. But God does not waste what he places within us. It is amazing what the Lord can use for his purposes if we let him. The passion in our hearts needs to be consecrated and offered to the Lord. Passion itself can lead you away from the Lord. Remember, in this passage in Acts, Jesus was talking about the Kingdom of God, but the disciples' passion was for the Kingdom of Israel. They needed to put the Kingdom of God first in their hearts. Whenever our personal passions for music or art or drama or sports or the betterment of ourselves become disconnected from the heart of God we put ourselves in a dangerous place.

            Some people find their calling in life by responding to problems around them. They sincerely want to solve or be part of a solution. Many young people today are very willing to give themselves to helping others, to causes of justice, to improving life somewhere in the world. But our response to problems in the world needs to connect to our response to Christ and his commission.

A few of us were at a meeting of "Feed My Starving Children" this week. That organization began when one man saw first-hand the devastation of malnutrition on a trip to a poor part of the world. He was so moved by that experience that he began finding surplus supplies of food and sending them to where there was need. But soon a message came, "Please stop sending this food. It is doing more harm than good." He discovered that his solution to the hunger problem was hurting rather than helping. Children who are malnourished need a particular kind of food that their bodies can process and use beneficially. So he found help to develop the kind of meal they now pack. That is the caution about following a call that comes from a problem or a need. Our rush to fix the problem quite often makes things worse. Problem solving needs to be connected to the Great Commission and authority of Christ.

            Recently some of us were doing some work for a family who needed some practical help. On the way home one of our number asked "Did we do Kingdom work today?" We thought so, but we are not always sure. Sometimes we wonder if what we do really makes a difference in disciple making. We have a tendency to question ourselves, to feel defeated. That is when it is important to confess that Jesus is indeed King of Kings and Lord of Lords. We can trust him. The exalted Christ does not leave us alone. He sends the Holy Spirit and he will return. We commit ourselves to pray, and to serve, to participate in the great commission to be disciple makers. It is good to "Look Up" to God, and then to act, because the Spirit gives us hope. We are a people with a Great Commission and a great hope. Every day he gives us strength. He is Lord.

            Amen.