Looking Upward and Outward

They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. "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." -Acts 1:10-11 (NIV) 

One of the quotes that I remember hearing as a teenager was this: "As a Christian, don't be so heavenly-minded that you're of no earthly use." Oftentimes the Christian faith is reduced to being concerned only about getting to heaven. Yet Jesus spent a lot more time talking about living out our faith on this side of eternity than he did about what's waiting on the next.

Today's reading is a good example. Jesus tells his followers that the Holy Spirit is coming upon them and that they should be his witnesses. He is then lifted up into the sky and disappears. His disciples stare upward, perhaps wondering what to do next or perhaps wondering what Jesus will do next. Suddenly two men in white robes appear and ask the disciples, "Why do you stand here looking up into the sky?" It's as they're trying to help the disciples realize that faith is not just about looking upward; it's also about looking outward. Remember that just before his ascension, Jesus tells the disciples that they are to be his witnesses in Jerusalem, in Judea, in Samaria, and to all the ends of the earth. They're supposed to preach and teach about the Good News of Jesus Christ. Christians reading this devotional today are followers of Jesus because of the witness of these early disciples and the disciples that have come along since that time.

This past Sunday, I preached a sermon on the ministry of presence. In it, I hope I conveyed the importance of opening ourselves up to the presence of God, especially in worship (looking upward). But it's also important for us to open ourselves up to the presence of God in God's people (looking outward). There are opportunities all around us to testify about what Christ has done in our lives and what Christ desires to do in the lives of others.

May God grant you the grace to not just look upward in faith, but to look outward in faith as well.



Tomorrow's readings are Nehemiah 9-10 and Acts 2.


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