Why do you stand looking toward heaven?
Acts 1:6-14 The Ascension of Jesus
So when they had come together, they asked him, ‘Lord, is this the time when you will restore the kingdom to Israel?’ He replied, ‘It is not for you to know the times or periods that the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.’ When he had said this, as they were watching, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. While he was going and they were gazing up towards heaven, suddenly two men in white robes stood by them. They said, ‘Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up towards heaven? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.’
Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a sabbath day’s journey away. When they had entered the city, they went to the room upstairs where they were staying, Peter, and John, and James, and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James son of Alphaeus, and Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of James. All these were constantly devoting themselves to prayer, together with certain women, including Mary the mother of Jesus, as well as his brothers.
There are just a few things I want to highlight from this scriptural account of Jesus’ ascension that are important for us as we (still) await the return of Jesus Christ.
1) We are not meant to know then when and how of God’s plans for the second coming. Whether it be another hour or another century, the clock is ticking for us. God is God and we are not, thank goodness.
2) We are not to stand around gawking at the sky, scratching our heads as we wait. Again, the clock is ticking for us, we are not meant to be idle (nor busy ourselves with meaningless distraction).
3) The Holy Spirit is given to us so that we may have the ability to be witnesses to the good news of Jesus Christ. We need not fear that we are not equipped for the task.
4) We are meant to stick together in this work of witness, to be in community and not become siloed. Witnessing takes many forms; it is in the warm greeting of a stranger, the carefully packaged box of food, in the hands of those who open the doors.
5) We are to devote ourselves to constant prayer for our mission. There is no person too close to Jesus who need not pray without ceasing, see even his mother was a participant. There is no individual who can do this work without being in conversation and relationship with the triune God. And so, let us pray.
Lord of life,
We do not know the face of the future,
any more than your disciples did.
Like them, we have many questions:
how to live
how to bear witness.
Like them, we thirst for the spring waters of the Spirit
to inspire us in our living
to give us a heart language in our testimony.
You have been raised in glory
that we might rise with dignity
You live in power that we might live in peace
You are present everywhere
that we might be fully present in our own lives
This we believe
This we step out on.
~ Prayer originally posted on the Monthly Prayers page (now Weekly Worship) of the Christian Aid website. https://www.christianaid.org.uk/churches/weekly-worship