Truck Drivers and Sea Divers: The Feast of the Ascension
The Feast of the Ascension of the Lord into Heaven
[Third Draft. The first one was incomplete, the second one clunky. Let's hope this one's the charm. Your comments are welcome at jms48@fuse.net. Have a great holiday everyone!]
The Feast of the Ascension of the Lord into heaven.
In some ways, the Feast of the Ascension reminds me of a truck backing up.
We’ve all seen this maneuver and how it’s carried out:
the driver glances at the mirrors mounted on the cab;
a loud beeping noise pierces the air,
then, finally, the large vehicle lumbers backward
up a driveway or toward a loading dock.
The backward movement of the truck is altogether different
from the way a truck is designed to go, which is forward.
The sight of a truck backing to a loading dock
is altogether different from that of a semi
barreling full speed down the interstate.
Now apply this backward image to today’s feast
and you’ll see that it’s “inner movement”
works in the opposite direction of most other feasts.
At Christmas, for instance, we celebrate God coming to earth
at the birth of Jesus.
On Epiphany, we recall the story of a star leading the magi
to the Christ Child.
On the Feast of the Lord’s Baptism, the Spirit of God
flutters down from the heavens in the shape of a dove.
On the Feast of Pentecost, the same Spirit
enters the Upper Room like a strong wind
and descends on Mary and the apostles as tongues of fire.
So, do you get the drift?
Do you sense the direction?
It’s a downward movement:
God, the Almighty, swooping down from heaven,
with amazing power, glory and tenderness.
Today’s Feast of the Ascension, however, works against this grain.
It’s about the Lord “leaving” us
as opposed to the Lord “coming” to us.
So, what does the backward nature of this feast have to offer us today?
Well, for one, it’s telling us all to take a step back.
In fact, the admonition in the passage from the Acts of the Apostles
“Men of Galilee, why do you stand there looking up into the sky?”
is about as blunt as any Bible verse comes.
Those words feel like a hand pushing against the chest,
“Back up! Get focused!
Get your head out of the clouds!”
How do we react?
Well, like a truck driver backing up a driveway,
we check the mirrors and move slow.
(Whenever we’re forced to take a few steps back
and lack a clear view of what’s behind us,
it’s important that we move slowly.)
And that’s part of the message conveyed in the Feast of the Ascension:
“Back up.
Go Slow.
Think about what you’re doing.
Be deliberate.
Live your life with precision.”
As I read it, this feast pushes us into considering
the issue of self-confidence.
Think of it this way:
the Lord ascends into heaven and we, in one sense,
are forced to fall back on ourselves.
In other words, it’s about confidence.
This feast is about assessing your level of confidence
as a follower of Christ.
Let me tell you a story about confidence.
It comes from a book called, “What Should I Do With My Life?”
by Po Bronson.
There’s a chapter in this book about a man named Anthony
who works in the marine construction business.
He’s a commercial diver who, each day,
puts on a dry suit and a huge helmet.
His job?
To weld steel on the footings of suspension bridges
while fighting currents 150 feet below the surface
for four hours at a time.
It’s dangerous, specialize work. It pays well.
But, for Anthony, it’s more than a job.
It’s is calling, his passion, his dream.
But it didn’t come easy.
Just three years ago he was an unemployed drifter,
living out of a Chevy Suburban parked on a street.
Then, for awhile, he slept on a mattress in some guy’s garage.
But even then, he knew what his calling was.
He loved to fix things and create things and he was good at it.
In fact, he’d done some apprentice work on oil rigs down in Louisana.
But, after he moved to Seattle, he couldn’t break into the unions.
How did he finally achieve his calling?
Anthony claims it was all about confidence.
“When I approach a situation with confidence,” he says,
“I lean in, I figure it out, I succeed.
When I lack confidence, I stall and withdraw.”
It’s been a pattern with him, he says.
When he was a kid, you see, he had his confidence taken away.
At one point in his life as a boy,
he changed schools and was bullied.
Before this, he had been a bright student.
But, when the daily beatings began,
he felt he had no choice.
He had to hide.
He started to skip class.
He gave up.
And that’s a tendency he’s had to fight against his whole life.
Yet, once Anthony hits his stride, there’s no stopping him.
___________
So, on this Feast of Ascension,
I suggest we ask ourselves what’s holding us back?
What’s got you “staring up into the sky” and scratching your head?
As opposed
to leaning into the task
and being the follower of Christ
that you are called to be?
Is it a matter of confidence?
You know, John the Baptist said we need to prepare the way of the Lord
and a make a straight highway for our God.
Are you speeding along that highway
or is your life in Christ stalled right now,
like a broken down Rambler in a side ditch?
That fellow named Anthony once lived in the backseat of car,
but now he’s welding great pylons for highway bridges.
A rewarding and adventurous job.
He’s found his passion.
_____________
How about you?
Are you living your life with that kind of passion?
If not, you’re not living the life
God desires that you live.
So, how do you find our passion?
In his book, Cure for the Common Life,
Rev. Max Lucado has some mighty good advice.
He suggests that you “read your life backward” for a change.
Instead of looking ahead for the answers,
look back for some solutions.
He suggests that you go back to your youth
and recall the things that lured you away from the gray sidewalks of life
and into the amusement park of excitement.
As a kid, what got you excited? What got you involved?
Was it building a model airplane in the basement?
Planting seeds in a garden with your aunt?
Organizing games with the kids on your block?
To this day, you can probably remember the details
of those exciting days
when life was good:
you can smell the airplane glue,
feel the warmth of the soil,
hear the crack of a ball on a bat.
These experiences sparked something in your soul.
Now, fast forward a few years.
Times change, but I bet you a dollar to donuts that
the things that gave you energy and pleasure as a child
are the same things that give you meaning and purpose as an adult.
It’s they way God “stamped” you;
its’ the way you are.
For example, you might get a thrill from fixing things.
Or growing things.
Or organizing events.
Or being a hero to those pushed aside.
What I’m saying is there is a combination of certain passions and talents
that God has given to you, only to you!
They make you who you are.
And if you aren’t “you” the world loses out.
Furthermore, if you aren’t “you,” God loses out.
You play no small part in the plan of God
because there are no small parts to play.
Do you remember the classic movie,
Chariots of Fire?
In that movie, Eric Liddell defended his devotion to running
by telling his sister,
“God made me fast. And when I run, I feel his pleasure.”
_____________
This Feast of the Ascension asks us to “stop looking up at the sky”
and, instead, move out into the world
to be witness of God in the world.
And that won’t happen without passion.
That’s why God wants you to live your life to the full.
Don’t be looking up to the sky.
Rather, live your life passionately…and do it for Him.
_________________________________________________________
(Second Draft)
In some ways, today’s Feast of the Ascension reminds me of a truck backing up.
We’ve all seen this maneuver and how it’s carried out:
the driver glances back and forth at the mirrors mounted on the cab;
a loud beeping noise pierces the air,
warning anyone who might be out the sight-line of the driver;
then, finally, the large vehicle lumbers backward up a driveway
or toward a loading dock.
The backward movement of the truck is altogether different
from the way a truck is designed to go, which is forward.
A truck backing to a loading dock is altogether different from a semi trailer
barreling full speed down the interstate.
Now apply this backward image to today’s feast
and you’ll see that works in the opposite direction of most other feasts:
At Christmas, we celebrate God coming to earth at the birth of Jesus.
On Epiphany, we recall the story of a star leading the magi
to the Christ Child.
On the Feast of the Lord’s Baptism, the Spirit of God appears as a dove.
On the Feast of Pentecost, the same Spirit enters the Upper Room like a strong wind
and descends on Mary and the apostles.
Do you get the drift?
Do you feel the draft?
Do you sense the direction of the current moving through all those feasts?
It’s a downward direction.
God, the Almighty, swooping down from heaven,
with amazing power, glory and tenderness.
But this Feast of the Ascension works against this grain
and it makes it difficult, at least for me, to preach a message
about the Lord leaving us
when we are so used to hearing about the Lord coming to us.
So, what does the backward nature of this feast have to offer us today?
I think it has something highly important lesson.
It’s telling us all to take a step back.
It’s urging us back into ourselves.
In fact, the admonition in the passage from the Acts of the Apostles
is about as blunt as any Bible verse comes:
“Men of Galilee, why do you stand there looking up into the sky…?”
Those words are like a hand pushing against the chest,
“Back up! Get focused!
Get your head out of the clouds
and back to work!”
So, how do we react?
Well, such words give us pause
and our reaction is a bit delayed.
Like a truck driver backing up a driveway,
we start checking the mirrors
because we aren’t used to falling back on ourselves
and suddenly our self-confidence is called into question.
When we’re forced to take a few steps back,
we don’t have a clear view of what’s behind us;
we wonder what might be in the way,
so we start off moving slow.
In other words,
we’re a bit unsure of ourselves.
And that’s part of the message contained within this feast.
It’s a message about confidence.
With the Lord ascending into heaven,
we are left to assess the strength of our faith
and our ability to live good and decent lives
at those times when, for whatever reason,
we experience temptation or discouragement
and the Lord seems far away…
“up there somewhere”
as opposed to
“down here by my side.”
The Feast of the Ascension
is a feast about assessing your level of self-confidence as a Christian.
Let me tell you a story about confidence.
It comes from a great book called, “What Should I Do With My Life?”
by Po Bronson.
There’s a chapter about a man named Anthony
who works in the marine construction business.
He’s a commercial diver who, each day, puts on a dry suit and a huge helmet
and descends into the water with a blowtorch in hand
to weld steel on the footing of suspension bridges
while fighting currents at 150 below the surface for four hours at a time.
Such dangerous, specialize work pays well.
But, for Anthony, it’s far more than a job.
It’s is calling, his passion, his dream.
But it didn’t come easy.
Just three years ago he was an unemployed drifter,
living out of a Chevy Suburban parked on a street.
Then, for awhile, he slept on a mattress in some guy’s garage.
But even then, he knew what his calling was.
He loved to fix things and create things and he was good at it.
In fact, he’d done some apprentice work on oil rigs down in Louisana.
But, after he moved to Seattle, he couldn’t break into the unions.
How did he finally achieve his calling?
Anthony claims it was all about confidence.
“When I approach a situation with confidence,” he says,
“I lean in, I figure it out, I succeed.
When I lack confidence, I pull back and withdraw.”
It’s been a pattern with him, he says.
When he was a kid, you see, he had his confidence taken away.
At one point in his life as a boy,
he changed schools and was bullied.
Before the daily beatings he had been a bright student.
But he had no choice, he had to hide.
He started to skip class.
He gave up.
And that’s a tendency he’s had to fight against his whole life.
But, once Anthony hits his stride, there’s no stopping him.
___________
So, on this Feast of Ascension,
I suggest you ask yourself what’s holding you back?
What’s keeping you “staring up into the sky and scratching your head”
as opposed
to leaning into the task
and being the follower of Christ
that you are called to be?
Is it a matter of confidence?
You know, John the Baptist said we need to prepare the way of the Lord
and a make a straight highway for our God.
Are you speeding along that highway
or is your life in Christ stalled right now,
like a broken down Rambler in a side ditch?
That fellow named Anthony once lived in the backseat of car,
now he’s welding pylons for highway bridges beneath the water.
A rewarding and adventurous job.
Are you living your life with the same kind of passion?
If not, how do you find it?
In his book, Cure for the Common Life,
Rev. Max Lucado has some mighty good advice.
He suggests that you “read your life backward” for a change.
Instead of looking ahead for the answers,
look back for some solutions.
He suggests that you go back to your youth
and recall the things that lured you away from the gray sidewalks of life
and into the amusement park of excitement.
What got you excited? What got you involved?
Was it building a model airplane in the basement?
Planting seeds in the soil of a garden with your aunt?
Organizing games with the kids on your block?
To this day, you can remember the details of those days
when life was good, really good:
You can smell the airplane glue,
feel the warmth of the soil,
hear the crack of a ball on a bat.
Fast forward a few years,
the scenery changes,
but you’ll see things giving you energy and life:
Fixing things.
Growing things.
Organizing events.
Being a help to those pushed aside.
There are certain passions and talents
that God has given to you.
They make you who you are.
And if you aren’t “you” the world loses out.
Furthermore, if you aren’t you, God loses out.
You play no small part in the plan of God
because there are no small parts to play.
Do you remember the classic movie,
Chariots of Fire?
In that movie, Eric Liddell defended his devotion to running
by telling his sister,
“God made me fast. And when I run, I feel his pleasure.”
_____________
This Feast of the Ascension asks us to “stop looking up at the sky”
and, instead, move out into the world
to be witness of God in the world.
The will of God
is for you to live your life passionately…for Him.
__________________________________________________________________
(First Draft)
In some ways, today’s Feast of the Ascension reminds me of a truck backing up.
We’ve all seen this maneuver and how it’s carried out:
the driver glances back and forth at the mirrors mounted on the cab;
a loud beeping noise pierces the air,
warning anyone who might be out the sight-line of the driver;
then, finally, the large vehicle lumbers backward up a driveway
or toward a loading dock.
The backward movement of the truck is altogether different
from the way a truck is designed to go, which is forward.
A truck backing to a loading dock is altogether different from a semi trailer
barreling full speed down the interstate.
Now apply this backward image to today’s feast
and you’ll see that works in the opposite direction of most other feasts:
At Christmas, we celebrate God coming to earth at the birth of Jesus.
On Epiphany, we recall the story of a star leading the magi
to the Christ Child.
On the Feast of the Lord’s Baptism, the Spirit of God appears as a dove.
On the Feast of Pentecost, the same Spirit enters the Upper Room like a strong wind
and descends on Mary and the apostles.
Do you get the drift?
Do you sense the direction of the current moving through all those feasts?
It’s a downward direction.
God, the Almighty, swooping down from heaven,
with amazing power, glory and tenderness.
But this Feast of the Ascension works against this grain.
And it makes it difficult, at least for me, to preach a message
about the Lord leaving us
when we are so used to hearing about the Lord coming to us.
So, what does the backward nature of this feast have to offer us today?
I think it has something highly important lesson.
It’s telling us all to take a step back.
It’s urging us back into ourselves.
In fact, the admonition in the passage from the Acts of the Apostles
is about as blunt as any Bible verse comes:
“Men of Galilee, why do you stand there looking up into the sky…?”
Those words are like a hand pushing against the chest,
“Back up! Get focused!
Get your head out of the clouds!
Get back to work!”
So, how do we react?
Well, such words give us pause
and our reaction is a bit delayed.
Like a truck driver backing up a driveway,
we start checking the mirrors
because we aren’t used to falling back on ourselves
and suddenly our self-confidence is called into question.
When we’re forced to take a few steps back,
we don’t have a clear view of what’s behind us;
we wonder what might be in the way,
so we start off moving slow.
In other words,
we’re a bit unsure of ourselves.
And that’s part of the message contained within this feast.
It’s a message about confidence.
With the Lord ascending into heaven,
we are left to assess the strength of our faith
and our ability to live good and decent lives
at those times when, for whatever reason,
we experience temptation or discouragement
and the Lord seems far away…
“up there somewhere”
as opposed to
“down here by my side.”
The Feast of the Ascension
is a feast about assessing your level of self-confidence as a Christian.
Let me tell you a story about confidence.
This story comes from a great book called, “What Should I Do With My Life?”
by Po Bronson.
There’s a chapter in that book about a man named Anthony
who works in the marine construction business.
He’s a commercial diver who, each day, puts on a dry suit and a huge helmet
and descends into the water with a blowtorch in hand
to weld steel on the footing of suspension bridges
while fighting currents at 150 below the surface for four hours at a time.
Such dangerous, specialize work pays well.
But, for Anthony, it’s far more than a job.
It’s is calling, his passion, his dream.
But it didn’t come easy.
Just three years ago he was an unemployed drifter,
living out of a Chevy Suburban parked on a street.
Then he slept on a mattress in some guy’s garage.
Even then, however, he knew what his calling was.
He’d done some apprentice work on oil rigs down in Louisana.
But, after he moved to Seattle, he couldn’t break into the unions.
How did he finally achieve his calling?
Anthony claims it was all about confidence.
“When I approach a situation with confidence,” he says,
“I lean in, I figure it out, I succeed.
When I lack confidence, I pull back and withdraw.”
It’s been a pattern with him, he says.
When he was a kid, you see, he had his confidence taken away.
At one point in his life as a boy,
he changed schools and was bullied.
Before the daily beatings he had been a bright student.
But he had no choice, he had to hide.
He started to skip class.
He gave up.
And that’s a tendency he’s had to fight against his whole life.
But, once Anthony hits his stride, there’s no stopping him.
___________
So, on this Feast of Ascension,
I suggest you ask yourself what’s holding you back?
What’s keeping you “staring up into the sky and scratching your head”
as opposed
to leaning into the task
and being the follower of Christ
that you are called to be?
Is it a matter of confidence?
You know, John the Baptist said we need to prepare the way of the Lord
and a make a straight highway for our God.
Are you speeding along that highway
or is your life in Christ stalled right now,
like a broken down Rambler in a side ditch?
That fellow named Anthony once lived in the back of car,
now he’s welding supports for highway bridges beneath the water.
A rewarding and adventurous job.
This feast of the Ascension pushes us back on ourselves,
makes us step back and assess our abilities
so we can once again lean into the life God has given us,
and rise to the challenge he’s given us.
That challenge is to go out into the world
and to be his witness in the world.
And the best way to give witness to the glory of God in your life
is to find your passion in life and live it.
There’s a lot that can stand in your way:
the fear of failure
wounds from the past
feelings of guilt or of not being “worthy” of a fulfilling life
the opinions of others
we could go on and list many reasons that keep us looking at the sky
wondering what we should do.
But the will of God
is a deep desire for you to live your life to the full.
And the fullest life is found in living your life…and everyday of your life…
focused on Him,
focused passionately on Him.
[Third Draft. The first one was incomplete, the second one clunky. Let's hope this one's the charm. Your comments are welcome at jms48@fuse.net. Have a great holiday everyone!]
The Feast of the Ascension of the Lord into heaven.
In some ways, the Feast of the Ascension reminds me of a truck backing up.
We’ve all seen this maneuver and how it’s carried out:
the driver glances at the mirrors mounted on the cab;
a loud beeping noise pierces the air,
then, finally, the large vehicle lumbers backward
up a driveway or toward a loading dock.
The backward movement of the truck is altogether different
from the way a truck is designed to go, which is forward.
The sight of a truck backing to a loading dock
is altogether different from that of a semi
barreling full speed down the interstate.
Now apply this backward image to today’s feast
and you’ll see that it’s “inner movement”
works in the opposite direction of most other feasts.
At Christmas, for instance, we celebrate God coming to earth
at the birth of Jesus.
On Epiphany, we recall the story of a star leading the magi
to the Christ Child.
On the Feast of the Lord’s Baptism, the Spirit of God
flutters down from the heavens in the shape of a dove.
On the Feast of Pentecost, the same Spirit
enters the Upper Room like a strong wind
and descends on Mary and the apostles as tongues of fire.
So, do you get the drift?
Do you sense the direction?
It’s a downward movement:
God, the Almighty, swooping down from heaven,
with amazing power, glory and tenderness.
Today’s Feast of the Ascension, however, works against this grain.
It’s about the Lord “leaving” us
as opposed to the Lord “coming” to us.
So, what does the backward nature of this feast have to offer us today?
Well, for one, it’s telling us all to take a step back.
In fact, the admonition in the passage from the Acts of the Apostles
“Men of Galilee, why do you stand there looking up into the sky?”
is about as blunt as any Bible verse comes.
Those words feel like a hand pushing against the chest,
“Back up! Get focused!
Get your head out of the clouds!”
How do we react?
Well, like a truck driver backing up a driveway,
we check the mirrors and move slow.
(Whenever we’re forced to take a few steps back
and lack a clear view of what’s behind us,
it’s important that we move slowly.)
And that’s part of the message conveyed in the Feast of the Ascension:
“Back up.
Go Slow.
Think about what you’re doing.
Be deliberate.
Live your life with precision.”
As I read it, this feast pushes us into considering
the issue of self-confidence.
Think of it this way:
the Lord ascends into heaven and we, in one sense,
are forced to fall back on ourselves.
In other words, it’s about confidence.
This feast is about assessing your level of confidence
as a follower of Christ.
Let me tell you a story about confidence.
It comes from a book called, “What Should I Do With My Life?”
by Po Bronson.
There’s a chapter in this book about a man named Anthony
who works in the marine construction business.
He’s a commercial diver who, each day,
puts on a dry suit and a huge helmet.
His job?
To weld steel on the footings of suspension bridges
while fighting currents 150 feet below the surface
for four hours at a time.
It’s dangerous, specialize work. It pays well.
But, for Anthony, it’s more than a job.
It’s is calling, his passion, his dream.
But it didn’t come easy.
Just three years ago he was an unemployed drifter,
living out of a Chevy Suburban parked on a street.
Then, for awhile, he slept on a mattress in some guy’s garage.
But even then, he knew what his calling was.
He loved to fix things and create things and he was good at it.
In fact, he’d done some apprentice work on oil rigs down in Louisana.
But, after he moved to Seattle, he couldn’t break into the unions.
How did he finally achieve his calling?
Anthony claims it was all about confidence.
“When I approach a situation with confidence,” he says,
“I lean in, I figure it out, I succeed.
When I lack confidence, I stall and withdraw.”
It’s been a pattern with him, he says.
When he was a kid, you see, he had his confidence taken away.
At one point in his life as a boy,
he changed schools and was bullied.
Before this, he had been a bright student.
But, when the daily beatings began,
he felt he had no choice.
He had to hide.
He started to skip class.
He gave up.
And that’s a tendency he’s had to fight against his whole life.
Yet, once Anthony hits his stride, there’s no stopping him.
___________
So, on this Feast of Ascension,
I suggest we ask ourselves what’s holding us back?
What’s got you “staring up into the sky” and scratching your head?
As opposed
to leaning into the task
and being the follower of Christ
that you are called to be?
Is it a matter of confidence?
You know, John the Baptist said we need to prepare the way of the Lord
and a make a straight highway for our God.
Are you speeding along that highway
or is your life in Christ stalled right now,
like a broken down Rambler in a side ditch?
That fellow named Anthony once lived in the backseat of car,
but now he’s welding great pylons for highway bridges.
A rewarding and adventurous job.
He’s found his passion.
_____________
How about you?
Are you living your life with that kind of passion?
If not, you’re not living the life
God desires that you live.
So, how do you find our passion?
In his book, Cure for the Common Life,
Rev. Max Lucado has some mighty good advice.
He suggests that you “read your life backward” for a change.
Instead of looking ahead for the answers,
look back for some solutions.
He suggests that you go back to your youth
and recall the things that lured you away from the gray sidewalks of life
and into the amusement park of excitement.
As a kid, what got you excited? What got you involved?
Was it building a model airplane in the basement?
Planting seeds in a garden with your aunt?
Organizing games with the kids on your block?
To this day, you can probably remember the details
of those exciting days
when life was good:
you can smell the airplane glue,
feel the warmth of the soil,
hear the crack of a ball on a bat.
These experiences sparked something in your soul.
Now, fast forward a few years.
Times change, but I bet you a dollar to donuts that
the things that gave you energy and pleasure as a child
are the same things that give you meaning and purpose as an adult.
It’s they way God “stamped” you;
its’ the way you are.
For example, you might get a thrill from fixing things.
Or growing things.
Or organizing events.
Or being a hero to those pushed aside.
What I’m saying is there is a combination of certain passions and talents
that God has given to you, only to you!
They make you who you are.
And if you aren’t “you” the world loses out.
Furthermore, if you aren’t “you,” God loses out.
You play no small part in the plan of God
because there are no small parts to play.
Do you remember the classic movie,
Chariots of Fire?
In that movie, Eric Liddell defended his devotion to running
by telling his sister,
“God made me fast. And when I run, I feel his pleasure.”
_____________
This Feast of the Ascension asks us to “stop looking up at the sky”
and, instead, move out into the world
to be witness of God in the world.
And that won’t happen without passion.
That’s why God wants you to live your life to the full.
Don’t be looking up to the sky.
Rather, live your life passionately…and do it for Him.
_________________________________________________________
(Second Draft)
In some ways, today’s Feast of the Ascension reminds me of a truck backing up.
We’ve all seen this maneuver and how it’s carried out:
the driver glances back and forth at the mirrors mounted on the cab;
a loud beeping noise pierces the air,
warning anyone who might be out the sight-line of the driver;
then, finally, the large vehicle lumbers backward up a driveway
or toward a loading dock.
The backward movement of the truck is altogether different
from the way a truck is designed to go, which is forward.
A truck backing to a loading dock is altogether different from a semi trailer
barreling full speed down the interstate.
Now apply this backward image to today’s feast
and you’ll see that works in the opposite direction of most other feasts:
At Christmas, we celebrate God coming to earth at the birth of Jesus.
On Epiphany, we recall the story of a star leading the magi
to the Christ Child.
On the Feast of the Lord’s Baptism, the Spirit of God appears as a dove.
On the Feast of Pentecost, the same Spirit enters the Upper Room like a strong wind
and descends on Mary and the apostles.
Do you get the drift?
Do you feel the draft?
Do you sense the direction of the current moving through all those feasts?
It’s a downward direction.
God, the Almighty, swooping down from heaven,
with amazing power, glory and tenderness.
But this Feast of the Ascension works against this grain
and it makes it difficult, at least for me, to preach a message
about the Lord leaving us
when we are so used to hearing about the Lord coming to us.
So, what does the backward nature of this feast have to offer us today?
I think it has something highly important lesson.
It’s telling us all to take a step back.
It’s urging us back into ourselves.
In fact, the admonition in the passage from the Acts of the Apostles
is about as blunt as any Bible verse comes:
“Men of Galilee, why do you stand there looking up into the sky…?”
Those words are like a hand pushing against the chest,
“Back up! Get focused!
Get your head out of the clouds
and back to work!”
So, how do we react?
Well, such words give us pause
and our reaction is a bit delayed.
Like a truck driver backing up a driveway,
we start checking the mirrors
because we aren’t used to falling back on ourselves
and suddenly our self-confidence is called into question.
When we’re forced to take a few steps back,
we don’t have a clear view of what’s behind us;
we wonder what might be in the way,
so we start off moving slow.
In other words,
we’re a bit unsure of ourselves.
And that’s part of the message contained within this feast.
It’s a message about confidence.
With the Lord ascending into heaven,
we are left to assess the strength of our faith
and our ability to live good and decent lives
at those times when, for whatever reason,
we experience temptation or discouragement
and the Lord seems far away…
“up there somewhere”
as opposed to
“down here by my side.”
The Feast of the Ascension
is a feast about assessing your level of self-confidence as a Christian.
Let me tell you a story about confidence.
It comes from a great book called, “What Should I Do With My Life?”
by Po Bronson.
There’s a chapter about a man named Anthony
who works in the marine construction business.
He’s a commercial diver who, each day, puts on a dry suit and a huge helmet
and descends into the water with a blowtorch in hand
to weld steel on the footing of suspension bridges
while fighting currents at 150 below the surface for four hours at a time.
Such dangerous, specialize work pays well.
But, for Anthony, it’s far more than a job.
It’s is calling, his passion, his dream.
But it didn’t come easy.
Just three years ago he was an unemployed drifter,
living out of a Chevy Suburban parked on a street.
Then, for awhile, he slept on a mattress in some guy’s garage.
But even then, he knew what his calling was.
He loved to fix things and create things and he was good at it.
In fact, he’d done some apprentice work on oil rigs down in Louisana.
But, after he moved to Seattle, he couldn’t break into the unions.
How did he finally achieve his calling?
Anthony claims it was all about confidence.
“When I approach a situation with confidence,” he says,
“I lean in, I figure it out, I succeed.
When I lack confidence, I pull back and withdraw.”
It’s been a pattern with him, he says.
When he was a kid, you see, he had his confidence taken away.
At one point in his life as a boy,
he changed schools and was bullied.
Before the daily beatings he had been a bright student.
But he had no choice, he had to hide.
He started to skip class.
He gave up.
And that’s a tendency he’s had to fight against his whole life.
But, once Anthony hits his stride, there’s no stopping him.
___________
So, on this Feast of Ascension,
I suggest you ask yourself what’s holding you back?
What’s keeping you “staring up into the sky and scratching your head”
as opposed
to leaning into the task
and being the follower of Christ
that you are called to be?
Is it a matter of confidence?
You know, John the Baptist said we need to prepare the way of the Lord
and a make a straight highway for our God.
Are you speeding along that highway
or is your life in Christ stalled right now,
like a broken down Rambler in a side ditch?
That fellow named Anthony once lived in the backseat of car,
now he’s welding pylons for highway bridges beneath the water.
A rewarding and adventurous job.
Are you living your life with the same kind of passion?
If not, how do you find it?
In his book, Cure for the Common Life,
Rev. Max Lucado has some mighty good advice.
He suggests that you “read your life backward” for a change.
Instead of looking ahead for the answers,
look back for some solutions.
He suggests that you go back to your youth
and recall the things that lured you away from the gray sidewalks of life
and into the amusement park of excitement.
What got you excited? What got you involved?
Was it building a model airplane in the basement?
Planting seeds in the soil of a garden with your aunt?
Organizing games with the kids on your block?
To this day, you can remember the details of those days
when life was good, really good:
You can smell the airplane glue,
feel the warmth of the soil,
hear the crack of a ball on a bat.
Fast forward a few years,
the scenery changes,
but you’ll see things giving you energy and life:
Fixing things.
Growing things.
Organizing events.
Being a help to those pushed aside.
There are certain passions and talents
that God has given to you.
They make you who you are.
And if you aren’t “you” the world loses out.
Furthermore, if you aren’t you, God loses out.
You play no small part in the plan of God
because there are no small parts to play.
Do you remember the classic movie,
Chariots of Fire?
In that movie, Eric Liddell defended his devotion to running
by telling his sister,
“God made me fast. And when I run, I feel his pleasure.”
_____________
This Feast of the Ascension asks us to “stop looking up at the sky”
and, instead, move out into the world
to be witness of God in the world.
The will of God
is for you to live your life passionately…for Him.
__________________________________________________________________
(First Draft)
In some ways, today’s Feast of the Ascension reminds me of a truck backing up.
We’ve all seen this maneuver and how it’s carried out:
the driver glances back and forth at the mirrors mounted on the cab;
a loud beeping noise pierces the air,
warning anyone who might be out the sight-line of the driver;
then, finally, the large vehicle lumbers backward up a driveway
or toward a loading dock.
The backward movement of the truck is altogether different
from the way a truck is designed to go, which is forward.
A truck backing to a loading dock is altogether different from a semi trailer
barreling full speed down the interstate.
Now apply this backward image to today’s feast
and you’ll see that works in the opposite direction of most other feasts:
At Christmas, we celebrate God coming to earth at the birth of Jesus.
On Epiphany, we recall the story of a star leading the magi
to the Christ Child.
On the Feast of the Lord’s Baptism, the Spirit of God appears as a dove.
On the Feast of Pentecost, the same Spirit enters the Upper Room like a strong wind
and descends on Mary and the apostles.
Do you get the drift?
Do you sense the direction of the current moving through all those feasts?
It’s a downward direction.
God, the Almighty, swooping down from heaven,
with amazing power, glory and tenderness.
But this Feast of the Ascension works against this grain.
And it makes it difficult, at least for me, to preach a message
about the Lord leaving us
when we are so used to hearing about the Lord coming to us.
So, what does the backward nature of this feast have to offer us today?
I think it has something highly important lesson.
It’s telling us all to take a step back.
It’s urging us back into ourselves.
In fact, the admonition in the passage from the Acts of the Apostles
is about as blunt as any Bible verse comes:
“Men of Galilee, why do you stand there looking up into the sky…?”
Those words are like a hand pushing against the chest,
“Back up! Get focused!
Get your head out of the clouds!
Get back to work!”
So, how do we react?
Well, such words give us pause
and our reaction is a bit delayed.
Like a truck driver backing up a driveway,
we start checking the mirrors
because we aren’t used to falling back on ourselves
and suddenly our self-confidence is called into question.
When we’re forced to take a few steps back,
we don’t have a clear view of what’s behind us;
we wonder what might be in the way,
so we start off moving slow.
In other words,
we’re a bit unsure of ourselves.
And that’s part of the message contained within this feast.
It’s a message about confidence.
With the Lord ascending into heaven,
we are left to assess the strength of our faith
and our ability to live good and decent lives
at those times when, for whatever reason,
we experience temptation or discouragement
and the Lord seems far away…
“up there somewhere”
as opposed to
“down here by my side.”
The Feast of the Ascension
is a feast about assessing your level of self-confidence as a Christian.
Let me tell you a story about confidence.
This story comes from a great book called, “What Should I Do With My Life?”
by Po Bronson.
There’s a chapter in that book about a man named Anthony
who works in the marine construction business.
He’s a commercial diver who, each day, puts on a dry suit and a huge helmet
and descends into the water with a blowtorch in hand
to weld steel on the footing of suspension bridges
while fighting currents at 150 below the surface for four hours at a time.
Such dangerous, specialize work pays well.
But, for Anthony, it’s far more than a job.
It’s is calling, his passion, his dream.
But it didn’t come easy.
Just three years ago he was an unemployed drifter,
living out of a Chevy Suburban parked on a street.
Then he slept on a mattress in some guy’s garage.
Even then, however, he knew what his calling was.
He’d done some apprentice work on oil rigs down in Louisana.
But, after he moved to Seattle, he couldn’t break into the unions.
How did he finally achieve his calling?
Anthony claims it was all about confidence.
“When I approach a situation with confidence,” he says,
“I lean in, I figure it out, I succeed.
When I lack confidence, I pull back and withdraw.”
It’s been a pattern with him, he says.
When he was a kid, you see, he had his confidence taken away.
At one point in his life as a boy,
he changed schools and was bullied.
Before the daily beatings he had been a bright student.
But he had no choice, he had to hide.
He started to skip class.
He gave up.
And that’s a tendency he’s had to fight against his whole life.
But, once Anthony hits his stride, there’s no stopping him.
___________
So, on this Feast of Ascension,
I suggest you ask yourself what’s holding you back?
What’s keeping you “staring up into the sky and scratching your head”
as opposed
to leaning into the task
and being the follower of Christ
that you are called to be?
Is it a matter of confidence?
You know, John the Baptist said we need to prepare the way of the Lord
and a make a straight highway for our God.
Are you speeding along that highway
or is your life in Christ stalled right now,
like a broken down Rambler in a side ditch?
That fellow named Anthony once lived in the back of car,
now he’s welding supports for highway bridges beneath the water.
A rewarding and adventurous job.
This feast of the Ascension pushes us back on ourselves,
makes us step back and assess our abilities
so we can once again lean into the life God has given us,
and rise to the challenge he’s given us.
That challenge is to go out into the world
and to be his witness in the world.
And the best way to give witness to the glory of God in your life
is to find your passion in life and live it.
There’s a lot that can stand in your way:
the fear of failure
wounds from the past
feelings of guilt or of not being “worthy” of a fulfilling life
the opinions of others
we could go on and list many reasons that keep us looking at the sky
wondering what we should do.
But the will of God
is a deep desire for you to live your life to the full.
And the fullest life is found in living your life…and everyday of your life…
focused on Him,
focused passionately on Him.
posted by BlueCollarPreacher at 10:25 PM
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