Acts 1:9-11 – Distracted From Present Glory
9 Now when He had spoken these things, while they watched, He was taken up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight. 10 And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as He went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel, 11 who also said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven.” New King James Version
I had a former pastor who used to talk about the relationship between the whistle and the steam engine. People paid attention to the whistle. Sometimes they wanted it blown. But the steam which on occasion blew the whistle actually existed to power the whole train.
That happens, he would say, with the spiritual gifts. We are attracted to the flashiness and the novelty of the gifts, to the times when they found the whistle rather than like steam, power the train. This could be the point at which we take off on a tangent on the evils of the distractions of the modern age.
We could enlist such notables as Francis Chen who was quoted in David Mathis's Habits of Grace as saying that our inability to focus, especially in prayer, is a primary concern. We could, tracing backward, enlist heavyweights like Neil Postman who in his Amusing Ourselves To Death presaged our tendency to lose focus on the subtle intricacies of daily life.
The problem, though, is older than Amusing Ourselves to Death, which debuted in 1985 before so many of the gadgets we blame. A diverted focus is evident by Acts 1:9-11, in the most protean stages of the Church. Jesus, resurrected, has given His disciples direct orders, first to wait for the Holy Spirit, and then to go and make disciples to the uttermost parts of the Earth. Yet, His ascension, the end of one manifestation, is what transfixes their attention rather than the beginning of another chapter in the adventure of serving Him.
I note not only how much we need to see ourselves in the over-focus on signs and wonders rather than steady, daily obedience to the dictates of His Word, I note His grace in prioritizing that Word. Precise Luke takes down in Acts 1:9 as a meticulous part of the Church's case history that Jesus ascended after He had spoken the Great Commission.
If I'm cribbing for words, I leave that out. If I'm worried about losing my audience's attention, I leave that out. It's understood. So much about life as Christians, though, is there, though. Even with fireworks at His command, even with His amazing validation by ascension pending, He is still venerating and engaging with the Word.
In our focus on the loudest thing, the last thing, I note that we may miss Heaven's gentle prodding of Christ's purpose among us in the here and now. The disciples' gaze was so resolutely upward, so fixed on what they had come to expect of how Jesus was displaying His glory, that they missed Angels right there among them. Dr. Luke isn't given to exclamation, but he says BEHOLD to draw our attention. One chapter closes. One way Christ is reviewing his character is curtailed. As we look about, brothers and sisters, by His grace, another means of direction and intimacy with Him is already present.
Likewise, we never LOSE in the transition from one emissary to another. As time passes, Christ turns the diamond of His glory to show us something different about Himself, or about our evolving role as He grows us in His grace. How manifold are the subjects in which angels could instruct dumbstruck men, and yet their refrain in Act 1:11 is that Christ is returning.
By looking around at what He is still doing in our midst on Earth, by actively tarrying with our brothers and sisters in prayer and under teaching as we wait for specific power and direction unjust which spot in the gates of Hell is ours to storm, our eschatological readiness need not suffer.
The enemy of our souls, He warns us in advance, will try to tell us we will miss His coming if we truly engage with what and where He has laid out for us today. Don't worry, He says. Go about the business I have given you, which we, as post-Pentecost, filled with the Holy Spirit believers can do without further delay, and My coming will be visible from horizon to horizon.
With John at the Bible's end, part of our hearts is reserved for the cry that He come quickly. More than an occasional gaze is reserved for the direction He went and from which He is coming again. And yet, we can also experience Him in today's business, right here among us.
I had a former pastor who used to talk about the relationship between the whistle and the steam engine. People paid attention to the whistle. Sometimes they wanted it blown. But the steam which on occasion blew the whistle actually existed to power the whole train.
That happens, he would say, with the spiritual gifts. We are attracted to the flashiness and the novelty of the gifts, to the times when they found the whistle rather than like steam, power the train. This could be the point at which we take off on a tangent on the evils of the distractions of the modern age.
We could enlist such notables as Francis Chen who was quoted in David Mathis's Habits of Grace as saying that our inability to focus, especially in prayer, is a primary concern. We could, tracing backward, enlist heavyweights like Neil Postman who in his Amusing Ourselves To Death presaged our tendency to lose focus on the subtle intricacies of daily life.
The problem, though, is older than Amusing Ourselves to Death, which debuted in 1985 before so many of the gadgets we blame. A diverted focus is evident by Acts 1:9-11, in the most protean stages of the Church. Jesus, resurrected, has given His disciples direct orders, first to wait for the Holy Spirit, and then to go and make disciples to the uttermost parts of the Earth. Yet, His ascension, the end of one manifestation, is what transfixes their attention rather than the beginning of another chapter in the adventure of serving Him.
I note not only how much we need to see ourselves in the over-focus on signs and wonders rather than steady, daily obedience to the dictates of His Word, I note His grace in prioritizing that Word. Precise Luke takes down in Acts 1:9 as a meticulous part of the Church's case history that Jesus ascended after He had spoken the Great Commission.
If I'm cribbing for words, I leave that out. If I'm worried about losing my audience's attention, I leave that out. It's understood. So much about life as Christians, though, is there, though. Even with fireworks at His command, even with His amazing validation by ascension pending, He is still venerating and engaging with the Word.
In our focus on the loudest thing, the last thing, I note that we may miss Heaven's gentle prodding of Christ's purpose among us in the here and now. The disciples' gaze was so resolutely upward, so fixed on what they had come to expect of how Jesus was displaying His glory, that they missed Angels right there among them. Dr. Luke isn't given to exclamation, but he says BEHOLD to draw our attention. One chapter closes. One way Christ is reviewing his character is curtailed. As we look about, brothers and sisters, by His grace, another means of direction and intimacy with Him is already present.
Likewise, we never LOSE in the transition from one emissary to another. As time passes, Christ turns the diamond of His glory to show us something different about Himself, or about our evolving role as He grows us in His grace. How manifold are the subjects in which angels could instruct dumbstruck men, and yet their refrain in Act 1:11 is that Christ is returning.
By looking around at what He is still doing in our midst on Earth, by actively tarrying with our brothers and sisters in prayer and under teaching as we wait for specific power and direction unjust which spot in the gates of Hell is ours to storm, our eschatological readiness need not suffer.
The enemy of our souls, He warns us in advance, will try to tell us we will miss His coming if we truly engage with what and where He has laid out for us today. Don't worry, He says. Go about the business I have given you, which we, as post-Pentecost, filled with the Holy Spirit believers can do without further delay, and My coming will be visible from horizon to horizon.
With John at the Bible's end, part of our hearts is reserved for the cry that He come quickly. More than an occasional gaze is reserved for the direction He went and from which He is coming again. And yet, we can also experience Him in today's business, right here among us.
Comments
Post a Comment