Scripture: Acts 1:1-11
Preached 05/25/2014
“Missing
woman unknowingly joins search party for herself.” Maybe you remember this headline from a few
summers ago? Let me remind you of what
happened. It was first reported that a woman had gone missing from an Icelandic
tour bus, and a frantic search for her followed. There were more than 50 people searching,
both by air and by foot. And it all
started with a simple outfit change. The
woman broke off from her group, changed clothes, and then returned to the group
in her new outfit.
Her tour group
no longer recognized her in that new outfit, and the “missing” report went
out. They offered the description of an
Asian woman who speaks English well and is in dark clothing. That outfit was apparently pretty important
to them! The woman who everyone thought
was missing joined the search party, and they searched well into the night and
the early hours of the morning before anyone realized that the woman for whom
they were searching was right there searching with them. The search was called off, and the tour
continued.
It’s hard to
hear this story without feeling at least a little bit incredulous. Seriously- how could no one recognize that
this woman was already with them? All
she did was change her clothes. Yes, she
left, but not for long and then she was working right alongside them the whole
time.
As much as I
have to shake my head at this story, I do also have a job, being a pastor,
meaning that I’m also supposed to be pastoral.
So, as part of that I’m supposed to be empathic, caring, and forgiving,
right? So, in applying those kinder
attitudes to this story, it’s really not all that hard to see how this kind of
thing could and did happen.
It’s very
easy, and very human, to get focused on the wrong thing and ignore everything
else. It’s actually a skill we have
evolved to have, to help us pay attention to the important stuff in our
environment- for example hopefully what I’m saying right now- and ignore the
less important stuff, like what our socks feel like on our feet. There’s just too much going on and we can’t
take it all in. A lot of times, this is
a helpful ability. Other times, it
hinders us.
This
not-actually-missing woman scenario is one of those hindering times. All those well-meaning searchers had their
focus on the wrong thing. The woman had
been wearing dark clothes. They were
looking for and were going to find a woman in dark clothes. Except instead of being helpful, that
description of a woman in dark clothes ended up focusing them on completely the
wrong thing.
Kind of like
Jesus’ ascension into heaven, huh? To be fair, it’s a lot more important and
flashy than a simple change of clothes-the change from the bodily Christ to the
Holy Spirit. Nonetheless, as we hear in our scripture reading, it’s also the
kind of thing that can wrongly capture and hold our attention. Those early apostles who were present for the
ascension certainly fell into that trap.
The risen
Jesus had been talking to them about all kinds of important things: the coming
baptism by the Holy Spirit, the continuation and expansion of his earthly
mission in the absences of his bodily presence- really important stuff. And those early follower, as they often did,
and we often do, missed the point. They wanted to know dates and times, they
why’s, how’s, and specifics. Jesus was
there to remind them that those specifics weren’t the important stuff. But then, as he’s talking to them, the really
fantastic thing happens.
So Jesus is
taken up to heaven in a cloud. I’ll say
right now that I’m not going to touch on the question of what actually happened
here, whether you choose to understand this story in a literal sense, or
whether you have a different sense of the truth is expressed here is fine with
me. Getting stuck on that question puts
us in the same stuck place the early followers ended up- staring up at the sky
in wonder at something that we can’t quite understand. Which is, of course, the wrong place for us
to focus. As we hear, the early sky-starers
had some help in realizing their focus was off.
Let’s take
just a moment to imagine just how strange that scene must have looked. The two men in white come along this group of
people staring up at the sky and realize their focus is on the wrong thing.
“Men of Galilee,” they say, “why do you stand looking up toward 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.”
And now,
thousands of years later, many of us have made the same mistake as the
sky-starers. We’ve gotten ourselves
focused on the wrong thing. How many of
us have asked this question at some point- “Why does God let X,Y, or Z
happen?” Right, why did God let slavery
happen, why does God let homelessness happen, why does God let people get
addicted to substances, why does God let all kinds of brokenness happen all
around and within us? And when we ask
these questions we look skyward Jesus to come off a cloud, come back down here,
and do something about what we see. We
feel or think that Jesus is somehow that missing person, even in fact he’s the
not-really-missing woman already among us.
We’re
focusing on the wrong thing, and we’re looking in the wrong place. Yes, in his
ascension Jesus ends up looking different.
We’re not looking for a 30
something Middle Eastern man anymore.
We’re looking for his presence in the Holy Spirit, which means that he
can be and is everywhere and anywhere.
Jesus never
actually goes missing. Even in slavery, addiction, pain, and brokenness,
they’re there. He’s in the voices
advocating and the hands working for freedom, they’re the glimmer of hope, the
counselor offering help, the words of comfort spoken, the hand held, the tears
shared, and sometimes even in the simple act of survival, and living to face
another day. He’s in the helpers, as Mr.
Rogers would say. Jesus is right in
front of us, and offers us a richness of faith, hope, and love, if only we
realize he’s not missing, and is searching for and even being the good right along
with us, beside us, and within us.
We just have
to avoid getting distracted by the wrong stuff- the pain, the brokenness,
sadness, and even the flashy claims and stories that we sometimes hear that get
us to question our own faith and experience.
I am confident that we can do this- focus our attention on the right
stuff. This is what Jesus asked his early followers to do, and this is the Holy
task we inherit as those who claim to follow him now. To see his continued presence, and to be
witnesses to that living presence to the ends of the earth.
I know,
asking you to witness can sound like a very scary request. But it’s not really as scary as it
seems. It’s just telling a story. Telling Jesus’ story, and your story, and
where the two of them have met up. Maybe
it’s something like a hymn that always stirs your soul, the time you went on a
mission trip, or served food to the homeless, but I’m confident we all have
these stories. And I’m very seriously
asking you to share them. We’ll start
here, in a safe place.
I’m going to
turn on some background music, and for about the next five minutes, I’d like to
spend some time thinking of the stories you have of encountering the ascended
Jesus in the Holy Spirit. A time you
have found Jesus right in front of you.
. . . .
Remember
this. Jesus is not missing. Jesus is right here, right now, moving and
working among us, and this community around us.
You have seen his face, and nothing like a little outfit change can
throw you now. So when you leave this
place, gaze skyward every now and then, but remember if you want to find Jesus,
all you have to do is look around right in front of you, and right beside
you. He’s already there.
(The
benediction included the charge to go out and share this story with someone)
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