You will be witnesses

Date: Tuesday, May 14

Scripture: Acts 1:6-11

Verse: They said, “Men of Galilee, 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.” (Acts 6:11)

Have you every played the game where you go to a public place with a group of people who all look off in the distance pointing from time to time. The object is to see many people you can lure into attempting to find what you are looking at? It can be fun to play with human nature. I know when I drive past the scenic overlook on I-25 by the Air Force Academy (behind the construction barriers now), if there is a group of people gathered, I will look over too, even though I’ve driven by it more times than I can count. We can each be easily distracted by those who seem to be looking at something. Isn’t that how videos go viral on YouTube?

I wonder at times if the church hasn’t been caught up in a similar exercise. A segment of Christians, like those early disciples, seem to be looking up into the sky, waiting for Jesus to come back. Twice in these 6 verses, someone attempts to refocus their attention. First it is Jesus. They ask if now is the time he will usher in his Kingdom. Jesus replies, that is not for us to know and then he gives them what they are to do in the meantime – be his witnesses locally, regionally, and across the globe. Then just a few moments later, they are caught by two men, presumably angels, staring up into heaven. The men tell them to stop sky-gazing and get to work doing as Jesus had called them to do. They were pretty easily distracted. 

As Shane Claiborne writes,  “Much of our theology has become so concentrated on heaven that it invalidates any concerns for earth…Christianity is not just about going up when we die; it’s about bringing God’s kingdom down” (Claiborne 302-303). In other words, it is not just about sky-gazing. There is work to be done. 

Prayer: Forgive my sky-gazing, Holy Spirit, and remind me of your call for my life. Amen. 

Action: See if you can get other people at school, in the office, or at the mall to look up to try and find what you are looking at. Or see how easily you can be distracted by looking at some popular viral videos here: Saturday Morning Cereal from Storylineblog.com

Respond: Are you easily distracted? Answer by clicking “Leave a Comment” below. If you are receiving this via email, click the title at the top of the email to take you to the devotion webpage where you can leave a comment.

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Claiborne, Shane, Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove, Enuma Okoro. Common Prayer: A Liturgy for Ordinary Radicals. Grand Rapids:Zondervan, 2010.