January 12, 2023 | Be On Mission
The Ascension of Jesus
Scripture: Acts 1:9-11 (NIV)
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.”
Devotional
“Why do you stand here?”
That was the question the two angels asked the eleven disciples when they were gawking into the clouds as Jesus’ feet disappeared into them. To be fair, you can’t blame the disciples for being stunned. It’s not every day that you see someone ascend into heaven.
But they had been given an order to return to Jerusalem. They had been given a promise to receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit. They had been given a mission of taking the good news of Jesus to the ends of the earth. And they weren’t going to accomplish any of that by craning their necks skyward. So, the angels prodded them to action:
“Why do you stand here?”
Could God be saying that to you?
There are so many people in your neighborhood who don’t know Christ. Why do you stand here?
Your school is full of students who are far from God. Why do you stand here?
Your job has coworkers who are spiritually empty. Why do you stand here?
Hunger and suffering and injustice are everywhere in the world. Why do you stand here?
Those eleven disciples had just spent three years walking and talking with the Son of God. They personally witnessed the power and authority of heaven on full display in the words and works of Jesus. Now, they were watching Jesus ascend to heaven at the right hand of God (Mark 16:19). But they weren’t called to bask in the glory of their spiritual experiences. They were called to make a difference. So the question is for them, and for us:
“Why do you stand here?”
Poem
Gazing Heavenward Acts 1: 9-11a
The Nomad
Gazing heavenward
Unable to quell the sorrow
Beheld the barrenness of his life
Who am I?
Why care for one so worthless?
Yet to the soul
Descended the response
Blessing
The Outcast
Gazing heavenward
Unable to shed the guilt of deceit
Beheld the stony-ness of his heart
Who am I?
Why care for one so worthless?
Yet to the soul
Descended the response
Heir
The Shepherd
Gazing heavenward
Unable to shirk his status
Beheld the anointing oil flow
Who am I?
Why care for one so worthless?
Yet to the soul
Descended the response
Royalty
The Psalmist
Gazing heavenward
Unable to number the vast lights
Beheld the smallness of his life
Who am I?
Why care for one so insignificant?
Yet to the soul
Descended the response
Crowned
The Prophet
Gazing heavenward
Unable to lift after spiritual battle
Beheld the loneliness of faithfulness
Who am I?
Why care for one so insignificant?
Yet to the soul
Descended the response
Victor
The Magi
Gazing heavenward
Unable to untangle ancient promises
Beheld the rising of the star
Who am I?
Why care for one so insignificant?
Yet to the soul
Descended the response
Wise
The Son
Gazing heavenward
Unable to breathe during crucifixion
Beheld the abandonment from sin
Who am I?
Why care for one so insignificant?
Yet to the soul
Descended the response
Resurrected
The Disciple
Gazing heavenward
Unable to encompass the vision
Beheld the amazement of glory
Who am I?
Why care for one so insignificant?
Yet to the soul
Descended the response
Commissioned
And I
Gazing heavenward
Unable to comprehend the grace
Beheld the tangled life yarn
Who am I?
Why care for one so insignificant?
Yet to the soul
Descended the response
Mine
