Why Are You Looking UP?

'text-align:center'>Why Are You Looking Up?Old Testament: Psalm 68:32-36

New Testament: Acts 1:8-11

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Old Testament: Psalm 68:32-35

32 Sing to God, O kingdoms of the earth,

sing praise to the Lord,

33 to him who rides the ancient skies above,

who thunders with mighty voice.

34 Proclaim the power of God,

whose majesty is over Israel,

whose power is in the skies.

35 You are awesome, O God, in your sanctuary;

the God of Israel gives power and strength to his people.

The Word of the LORD

THANKS BE TO GOD!!

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New Testament: Acts 1:8-11

8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

9 After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight.

10 They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. 11 ”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.”

The Word of the LORD

THANKS BE TO GOD!!

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If you had looked at your calendar last Thursday

you might have seen the heading

“Ascension Day”,

but then it might not be there

because Ascension Day is

one of the most neglected days

of the Christian church.

That would be sad enough

but in ignoring the ‘day’,

the opportunity is lost

for reflecting on the message of the Ascension.

If we gloss over its truth

we rob ourselves of a most important doctrine,

for without the Ascension,

the work of Christ would be incomplete.

Think about it …

If all of a sudden you find yourself in a country where you could choose only 2 of all the Christian holidays, which two would you choose?

Christmas?

The birth of Jesus is absolutely essential, but all of the tinsel & wrappings of the Christmas season? …

Good Friday?

The death of Jesus is absolutely essential, but we certainly can’t leave him on the cross!! …

Easter?

The resurrection of Jesus is absolutely essential, but Easter eggs & Easter bunnies and new outfits? …

Ascension Day?

The culminating event of Jesus’ earthly life and His triumphal entrance into heaven … why “so neglected”? Could it be because it ALWAYS occurs on a midweek day?

Pentecost?

Well, Pentecost is probably the longest observed Christian holiday because – starting next Sunday – there will be 25 Sunday s after Pentecost … all the way until we come to Advent and are introduced to the Christmas season!!

So, which would you choose??

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A few days ago I was on the internet and “googled” the word “change” and came across some light bulb jokes and it serves well to introduce this AM’s sermon.

How many Christians does it take to change a light bulb?

Charismatic: Only one; his hands are already in the air.

Pentecostal: Ten.

· One to change the bulb, and

· nine to pray against spirit of darkness.

Presbyterians: None. Lights will go on and off at predestined times.

Roman Catholic: None. Candles only.

Baptists: At least 15.

· One to change the light bulb, and

· three committees to approve the change and decide who brings the potato salad and fried chicken.

Episcopalians: Three.

· One to call the electrician,

· one to mix the drinks, and

· one to talk about how much better the old one was.

Mormons: Five.

· One man to change the bulb, and

· four wives to tell him how to do it.

Unitarians: We choose not to make a statement either in favor of or against the need for a light bulb.

· However, if in your own journey you have found that light bulbs work for you, that is fine.

· You are invited to write a poem or compose a modern dance about your light bulb for the next Sunday service in which we will explore a number of light bulb traditions, including: incandescent, fluorescent, three-way, long-life and tinted, all of which are equally valid paths to luminescence.

Methodists: Undetermined.

· Whether your light is bright, dull, or completely out, you are loved.

· You can be a light bulb, turnip bulb, or tulip bulb.

· Church-wide lighting service is planned for Sunday.

· Bring bulb of your choice … and a covered dish.

Lutherans: None. Lutherans don’t believe in change.

Amish: What’s a light bulb?

Ok, you know what’s next …

how many Christian Reformers does it take to change a light bulb?

· Well, six to form a committee to study it and review church lighting policy.

· The property committee will actually change it.

· The fellowship committee organizes a pot-luck dinner, and

· after it’s changed, people will look back and lament that the old one is gone, because that one shone the way light bulbs were supposed to shine.

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Well, light bulb jokes are silly, but like many jokes, it’s the kernel of truth that makes them funny.

And we church members do have a way of looking back and hanging on to the past.

No, not just church members.

Members of the human race.

We remember the good old days

and

look back to what was,

to what worked,

to who or what we loved.

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“Men of Galilee, why do you stand here looking into the sky?”

Now why do you think the angels asked the question?

Was it because they were just awestruck?

I don’t think so, because they had seen so many miracles that Jesus had already performed.

I mean after all, He had already risen from the dead, how could His going up into heaven top that?

Was it because of the question they just asked: “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?” (verse 6)

Did Jesus sort of leave them hanging?

Absolutely not, he had already settled the issue for them by telling them that it was not their concern:

Verses 7 & 8: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

Why, then, the question?

The implication here is they were focusing on the wrong thing.

They were focusing on the sky.

Jesus was already out of sight.

They were standing there gazing at the sky.

The work that needed to be done, them being witnesses, needed to be the priority.

Not the fascination with the event.

Now the scripture doesn’t say that they were wrong for being awestruck.

But the implication is they were not focused on the work.

Why else would two angels appear and ask them “Why are you standing around?”

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Has your boss ever ask you that question before?

You’re not getting the job done.

You’re wasting time.

You’ve already had all the encouragement that you needed.

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Jesus had just told them that they would soon be baptized with the Holy Spirit.

It is not encouragement that the angels came for.

Jesus had given explicit instructions and they were not being carried out.

They needed to be making a game plan as to how they were going to reach Jerusalem, Judaea, Samaria and the world.

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Jesus had ascended into heaven, and his disciples stood looking up to where he had been.

They were looking up to the last place they had seen their Lord.

But he was gone.

Who knows how long they would have stood looking back, looking up into heaven

if the two heavenly beings hadn’t tapped them on the shoulders and asked them why they were looking up toward heaven.

It was time to move on.

Time to do something else.

And so they did.

They went back to Jerusalem, back to the room upstairs where they were staying.

And they prayed.

A good thing to do when it’s time to change.

As your Pastor Search Committee is aware: The whole search and calling process needs to be bathed in prayer if you are going to be led by the Holy Spirit to your next pastor.

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For the disciples, there was no going back.

Jesus had returned to heaven.

But he had told them to stay in Jerusalem and wait for the helper, the Holy Spirit that he was sending to them.

So now they were caught in this in-between time of waiting.

The time between Jesus and the Holy Spirit.

They didn’t know when it would come.

They didn’t know what would happen next.

They didn’t know what their next assignment would be.

So they turned to the Lord in prayer –

· not to turn back to what was,

· but to wait and to discern what was to be

so that they could be witnesses to Christ

· in Jerusalem,

· in Samaria, and

· to all the ends of the earth.

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The church of Jesus Christ is also in an in-between time right now …

· we are in a period of waiting …

· and we’ve been waiting for almost 2thousand years!

The Holy Spirit has come … but we continue to wait for Jesus to return to the earth.

And we have been given an assignment.

To be witnesses to the lordship of Jesus Christ to in this area.

And to be witnesses beyond here – to all the ends of the earth.

And like Peter and James and John, and the rest of the disciples, it is the power of the Holy Spirit that enables us to do that.

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But (like the disciples), we sometimes are caught gazing up – gazing back at what was –

to the good old days when the church was successful:

by that they generally mean:

a person’s social life generally revolved around the church.

They think of the good old days,

· when most Americans went to church and brought their children.

· When there were no soccer fields and baseball fields that were busy on Sunday mornings.

· When there were no stores open to be filled with shoppers on Sundays.

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But things have changed.

People have a lot of choices now on Sundays.

· Old fashioned hymns aren’t familiar to as many people.

· Stately liturgies confuse visitors instead of drawing them into worship.

· Some people dress up, some people dress down.

· Some people come to hear the choir or the message,

· some come to soothe their souls,

· some come to be nourished by the Lord’s supper, and

· some come for all of the above reasons.

But whatever it is that draws people in,

the need is the same as it was

· 20 years ago,

· 100 years ago,

· 2000 years ago.

The need is still to hear the good news of Jesus Christ.

People still need to hear that

God loves them – God loves you and

He has provided a way of salvation for you!

No exceptions.

God loves you.

· Even if you feel unlovable.

· Even if you’re having a bad day, and

· it’s the 500th straight bad day in a row.

· God loves you – neat or sloppy.

· God loves you – whether you have the voice of an angel or the growl of a lion.

God loves you – whether you get straight A’s or you’re an average student or even if you didn’t make it through school.

God loves you.

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And here’s some more good news.

God loves us so much that he doesn’t leave us the way we are.

When we are open to being changed by God,

you will find that life changes

much more drastically than a light bulb.

And when we, as the people of God,

(as the church of Jesus Christ in southeast Michigan) are open to change,

you will find that

God will change your church as well.

You might enjoy looking back to the way things were,

but you need to be looking around

· at the way things are,

· at who you are witnessing to

· so that you may witness in ways that people will hear.

Because the important thing about being the church is not that we carry on lovely traditions, as nice as they may be.

But the important thing is that

we continue to grow as Christians,

and that we continue to make the good news of Jesus Christ known.

The message is the main thing.

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Like the disciples, we do need to look toward heaven.

After all, heaven is the place where we all hope to be going to as well, right?

Think about what it’s like when you get on an airplane …

All of us airline passengers have just squeezed down that narrow aisle to our seats and everyone is just getting settled in.

And the ground agent comes onboard and says,

“Ladies and gentlemen, this is a destination check.

This is flight so-and-so to Detroit.”

The next part is what I love –

it’s so diplomatic, it’s almost ridiculous.

“If Detroit is not in your travel plans for today, this would be a good time for you to exit the aircraft.”

Translation:

“Hey, pal - make sure this flight is going where you want to end up!”

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It doesn’t matter

· how nice the plane is,

· how nice the people are,

· how sure I was that this was the right one

– if it isn’t going where I want to go,

then I cannot afford to be on it.

That’s obvious when it comes to our travel destination.

It should be obvious when it comes to our eternal destination.

But often we don’t do a destination check.

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In a recent survey, 78% of Americans said they thought their destination when they die would be heaven.

Since this is the one thing you can’t afford to be wrong about,

there’s an important question that those folks need to consider – all of us do.

On what can do you base your eternal expectations?

· How nice the people are?

· How nice the religion is?

· How much you think this ought to be the way to get to God?

It’s not true for an airplane flight – and it’s not true for getting to God and to God’s heaven.

Only God can tell us how to get to Him, what He says – and only what He says – is the final word.

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Jesus says: “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father but through me!”

You really can’t get it any clearer than that.

You have no more important thing in your life to do than to make sure you have boarded the flight that is going to the Father through Jesus Christ.

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So, like the disciples, we do need to look toward heaven, to turn our hearts toward God.

But we can’t do just that alone.

We need to look at our neighbors as well, and see how we can share the love of Christ with them.

· A love that came to earth for us.

· A love that went to the cross for us.

· A love that abides with us forever.

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Jesus even prayed for his disciples – and the ones to come after. (That would be us.)

He prayed that the Father would protect them – and us – in the time to come.

Our savior intercedes for us – that is, He prays on our behalf – for what we need.

And He always has time to listen to us and comfort us –

· when we are hurting,

· when those we love are hurting,

· when we face difficulties or don’t know what to do next, and

· even when we miss the good old days – the way things were.

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And so, our focus needs to be

· making sure we are headed in the right direction;

· making sure our neighbors are well-aware of in which direction they are headed as well.

Our focus, too, needs to be on kingdom work.

If we took more time to focus on God’s work,

rather than focusing on the things that we like to work on,

the church would be a different place.

So, let’s change our focus to a kingdom focus.

As the saying goes:

Expect Great Things from God and

Attempt Great Things for God!

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Amen!!

PRAYER FOR INTERCESSION AND GRATITUDE

* SONG

“Shine, Jesus, Shine”

Sing a New Creation#128

SHARING OF JOYS AND CONCERNS

PASTORAL PRAYER

Our Father in heaven,

On this Ascension Sunday

we rejoice in the return of Your Son, our Savior, Jesus Christ,

to His rightful place in glory with You.

We give you thanks and praise for the PERSON and WORK of Jesus,

who promised to prepare a place for US in heaven.

Give us the grace to see our lives on earth

as worthy tributes to the good news:

• we dedicate our lives to the One who now intercedes for us

• at Your right hand, Jesus Christ, our Lord.

And Father,

• because Jesus Christ has walked the way of death and conquered the

power of sin and Satan ....

• because He has now ASCENDED and is

in a position of AUTHORITY & POWER,

We can confidently hear Him say to all who confess their sins:

“Your sins are forgiven”

and

to all who resolve to lead a new life You say:

“Follow me.”

You have given us the Good News that

“Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners”

• to forgive us our failures

• to accept us as we are

• to set us free from Satan’s power

• to make us what we were meant to be.

Through Christ Jesus You now come to us and say:

“You are accepted. You are forgiven. I will set you free.”

Father,

• how deep Your wealth, Your wisdom, and Your knowledge!

• how unsearchable Your judgments,

• how untraceable Your ways!

And now, Father, in the name of Jesus Christ,

we ask You to send the Holy Spirit into our lives.

Open our EARS

to hear what You are saying to us in the things that happen to us and in the people we meet.

Open our EYES

to see the needs of the people round us.

Open our HANDS

to do our work well to help when help is needed.

Open our LIPS

to tell others the good news of Jesus

and bring comfort, happiness and laughter to other people.

Open our MINDS

to discover new truth about You and Your world.

Open our HEARTS

to love You and our fellow man

as you have loved us in Jesus Christ.

Lord Jesus, compassionate Savior,

have mercy upon all those who are suffering.

To the ill in body and mind,

be the Great Physician.

To the grieving,

be the Understanding Comforter.

To the handicapped,

be the Insurer for Basic Human Rights.

To the lonely,

be the Reassuring Companion.

To the prisoner,

be the Liberator from all sin and wrong.

To the wanderer,

be the Light be which to walk.

We praise You, Lord, for the freedom and release we find in You.

You truly have set us captives FREE.

We pray that Your Spirit will work within our hearts

that we may become more open to meeting the needs

of those whose lives are made difficult.

As we are ourselves being daily restored by You may we be willing to

be

• Your lips that speak Your Truth,

• Your hands that reach out in love,

• Your arms that lift up the weak,

• Your feet that go into places of despair,

• and

• Your heart that reaches out in love.

To You, Almighty Triune God, Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit, one God, be

all honor and praise shall be given now and for ever. AMEN.