Some people never doubt the...
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Some people never doubt the Bible's veracity. I have. In different stages of my life, I've questioned it. What brought me back to belief? One convincing proof is the Bible's internal testimony -- something within the scriptures.
Writers usually promote themselves, sometimes so discreetly others never suspect their duplicity. They slant their writing to argue their own prejudices, to gain financially, or to favor their own groups. Most newspaper editorial pages demonstrate my point. But the Bible favors no economic, social, or ethnic groups. It's a religious document, yet it contains scathing criticism of religious leaders.
God's word patronizes neither kings nor commoners. The Lord held the great lawgiver and leader Moses responsible. He paid a heavy penalty for his failure to glorify the Lord; God didn't permit him to enter the promised land. David wrote exceptionally well, and governed magnificently. Yet David's disobedience cost the unity of his kingdom. Perhaps the Bible's most convincing proof is its testimony about Jesus, God's Son, and the fact that Jesus fulfilled everything written about him.
***
Many have scoffed at the idea of the ascension of the Lord Jesus as told about in Acts 1:1-11. I believe similar "miracles" are taking place every day for those who have eyes to see. Is there any possible way that a meal with our Lord Jesus could be shared as the first meal ever to take place on the moon?
That possibility entered the planning of Buzz Aldrin. On Sunday, July 20, 1969, when Apollo 11 landed on the surface of the moon, Buzz had with him a miniature communion set. As he prepared, he sent a message back to earth asking listeners to give thanks as they thought about the events of the day. He partook during a radio blackout, having read the verse: "I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in me, and I in him, bears much fruit" (John 15:5).
Astronauts currently are risking their lives to do necessary repair work to the Hubble space telescope. Many prayers are offered in their behalf. How fitting to remember them and to remember Psalm 139:8: "If I ascend into heaven, you are there."
***
In the spring of 2005, students at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology organized the world's first Time Travelers' Convention. Actually, they said, it's the only such convention the world needs, because a time traveler would be able to come there from the future.
The 22-year-old graduate student who organized the convention, Amal Dorai, posted an invitation on his website asking time travelers to bring from the future something that would be useful: a cure for cancer or AIDS, for example, or a cold fusion nuclear reactor. Mr. Dorai said he would welcome travelers from any time in the future. Anyone coming from just a few days in the future was invited to bring him some stock-market investment tips. The student-provided hospitality included a potluck meal with brownies for dessert.
A New York Times article described the arrangements:
While Mr. Dorai has precisely calculated that "the odds of a time traveler showing up are between one in a million and one in a trillion," organizers have tried to make things inviting.
In case their august university does not exist forever, they have posted the latitude and longitude of the East Campus Courtyard (42:21:36.025 degrees north, 71:05:16.332 degrees west).
A roped-off area, including part of an improvised volleyball court, will create a landing pad so materializing time-travel machines will not crash into trees or dormitories.
(Pam Belluck, "Time Travelers to Meet in Not Too Distant Future," New York Times, May 6, 2005)
The outcome? No time travelers showed up. But then again, the organizer knew he was working against long odds.
When Jesus ascended into heaven, he moved beyond space and time. Now, he dwells in all times and in all places.
***
In December 1988, Chuck Close suffered a collapsed spinal artery, leaving him paralyzed and confined to a wheelchair. However, using a device strapped to his wrist which holds a brush, he is able to continue his work as an artist. His style of painting, mostly portraits, involves using a grid of little two-inch squares, which he laboriously fills in, one by one, as he develops his large, nine-by-nine canvases. Even though he is on one side of the room close to the canvas, he can picture the blending of colors and light and the complete portrait without going across the room and viewing it from a distance. He says, "A composer knows how three notes will sound together. I'm doing the equivalent of a musical chord while I have in my mind the whole composition." While an ordinary person can easily see the results of his efforts from a distance, most would not appreciate the intricate plan in the artist's mind.
In the Gospel for the Ascension, Jesus shows the disciples how everything that had happened was according to a grand plan of the heavenly Father for the salvation of the world. It had been foretold in the Old Testament by Moses and the prophets, it was fulfilled by the suffering, death, and resurrection of Jesus, and it is now to be announced to the ends of the earth by his disciples. We are the last chapter in that great plan!
***
Terry Anderson was stationed in Beruit, Lebanon, as a journalist for the Associated Press. On March 16, 1985, after playing a leisurely game of tennis, he was kidnapped by terrorists and not released until 2,454 days later on December 4, 1991. During that time he was badly treated; being beaten, chained-up, ill-fed, ill-housed, taped up like a mummy, and constantly threatened with death. What sustains someone during such an extended period of hellish treatment? After being taken captive, Terry Anderson was on the edge of madness, of losing control, of completely breaking down. To save himself, he told his captors that he needed a Bible or he would go berserk. Amazingly, his guard secured a Bible for him and it sustained him throughout his years of torment. Terry Anderson rediscovered his dormant Christian faith while he was held hostage.
***
Jonathan Edwards, who in 1995 became the first man ever to jump over 18 meters (60 feet) in the triple jump, is recognized as one of the nicest people in the world of track. Previously, his rearing as the son of an Anglican vicar influenced him never to compete on Sundays. But when people began to compare him with Eric Liddell, the British sprinter and devout Congregationalist, Edwards realized that it was not really a matter of conscience with him. Instead, he showed the world his faith in other ways. He is always encouraging fellow competitors, he shows appreciation to the officials, and in every way he exhibits surpassing dignity. A former competitor who is now a member of Parliament said, "Jonathan is truly a ray of light in athletics." Before Christ ascended into heaven, he charged all Christians to strive fervently to witness to the Gospel of salvation to the world in whatever way we can.
***
Charles Townsend Copeland, beloved Harvard University professor of English, was well known for his excellent translations of the classics. For many years he used a couple of cramped and inconvenient rooms on the top floor of Harvard's Hollis Hall. Time and again the university administration offered, and tried, to move him to more accessible and spacious accommodations. Copeland replied that the top floor suited him wonderfully. He said, "It's the only place in Cambridge where God alone is above me. He's busy -- but he's quiet." The Ascension of Our Lord is God's announcement, and reminder, that above the turmoil and confusion of this world, the One we know and need for life and eternity is at work, busily but quietly, on our behalf.
***
Community Church planned a special celebration for its 150th anniversary. Several people did research, sharing information with the congregation on what life was like in the mid-19th century. Displays, complete with drawings and old pictures, were placed in the narthex as part of the yearlong celebration.
For the celebration, people were encouraged to dress as people would have at the time of the church's founding. Former pastors were invited and asked to say a few words. Members who moved away or were once part of the congregation were also invited for the grand celebration.
It was a former pastor who spoiled the event. He reminisced about the founding of the church as well as his years as pastor. He should have sat down then, but he continued. He told them that they could not rest on their history but needed to continue to reach out to people moving in the neighborhoods near the church. Looking at the gathered congregation, he asked who among them would be around in 25 years to celebrate their 175th anniversary.
He might have simply let them enjoy the moment, but what he said was true. If we fail to reach out to the next generation with the love of Jesus, the church will be in trouble.
When our Lord ascended into heaven, the believers stood gazing upward toward heaven. Two men (angels) challenged them, "Why do you stand looking up toward heaven?" In other words, why are you looking to heaven when there is work to be done! Let's be about the church's business.
***
It is an annual spring ritual if you own a boat. You begin by scraping off the old paint. Next comes the sanding and filling and more scraping. Finally, you move into the last step, which consists of applying layers of sealer and primer and then at least two coats of the finest marine paint.
You would think you were ready for many hours of smooth sailing by this time, but not so -- at least not so if your boat is made of wood. The last step with a wooden craft might surprise you. Before you launch a wooden vessel, you must fill it with water. During the winter, the boat has dried out so much that sometimes you can see spaces between the planks. At first the water just pours through the bottom of the boat. Slowly the planks soak up the water and begin to swell, and the flow of water slows to a trickle and finally stops. When that happens, the vessel is seaworthy.
The same is true of teaching. Sometimes the lessons have to "soak in" until all the "cracks" are filled. So it was when Jesus taught the disciples many things while he was with them, and then to give the lessons time to settle into the empty spaces of their faith and to swell their understanding, he sent them to Jerusalem to wait for the promise of the Father before launching his Church.
***
What goes up must come down. Dazed and confused, the disciples of the risen and now-ascended Jesus stood on a hillside staring into space. "Where did he go?" "What happened?" "Bartholomew, did you see that?" "What happened, Nathaniel?" "I don't know! He went up!" They stood on the hillside staring into space, until they were suddenly joined by two men in white. Remember the last time someone showed up dressed in white? It was at the empty tomb. Once again, a divine visitor tells the disciples what they need to know. They have a message from God. "Men of Galilee! Why do you stand there staring into space? 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." And so there is juxtaposed with the Ascension the promise of a Second Coming, the promise that Jesus will come again, from heaven, in the same mysterious, spiritual way that he left us. What goes up must come down.
So the disciples of Jesus sat down on the hill and waited for him to come home. Not! Rather, they remembered how Jesus had told them not to worry about when things beyond their understanding would come to pass. Instead, they got busy witnessing to what they did understand: that God was at work in Jesus Christ, saving us from our sin and calling us to new life. The going up and the coming down of Jesus are simply bookends. In between are the chapters of our lives lived in faithful obedience and joyful praise to God.
Writers usually promote themselves, sometimes so discreetly others never suspect their duplicity. They slant their writing to argue their own prejudices, to gain financially, or to favor their own groups. Most newspaper editorial pages demonstrate my point. But the Bible favors no economic, social, or ethnic groups. It's a religious document, yet it contains scathing criticism of religious leaders.
God's word patronizes neither kings nor commoners. The Lord held the great lawgiver and leader Moses responsible. He paid a heavy penalty for his failure to glorify the Lord; God didn't permit him to enter the promised land. David wrote exceptionally well, and governed magnificently. Yet David's disobedience cost the unity of his kingdom. Perhaps the Bible's most convincing proof is its testimony about Jesus, God's Son, and the fact that Jesus fulfilled everything written about him.
***
Many have scoffed at the idea of the ascension of the Lord Jesus as told about in Acts 1:1-11. I believe similar "miracles" are taking place every day for those who have eyes to see. Is there any possible way that a meal with our Lord Jesus could be shared as the first meal ever to take place on the moon?
That possibility entered the planning of Buzz Aldrin. On Sunday, July 20, 1969, when Apollo 11 landed on the surface of the moon, Buzz had with him a miniature communion set. As he prepared, he sent a message back to earth asking listeners to give thanks as they thought about the events of the day. He partook during a radio blackout, having read the verse: "I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in me, and I in him, bears much fruit" (John 15:5).
Astronauts currently are risking their lives to do necessary repair work to the Hubble space telescope. Many prayers are offered in their behalf. How fitting to remember them and to remember Psalm 139:8: "If I ascend into heaven, you are there."
***
In the spring of 2005, students at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology organized the world's first Time Travelers' Convention. Actually, they said, it's the only such convention the world needs, because a time traveler would be able to come there from the future.
The 22-year-old graduate student who organized the convention, Amal Dorai, posted an invitation on his website asking time travelers to bring from the future something that would be useful: a cure for cancer or AIDS, for example, or a cold fusion nuclear reactor. Mr. Dorai said he would welcome travelers from any time in the future. Anyone coming from just a few days in the future was invited to bring him some stock-market investment tips. The student-provided hospitality included a potluck meal with brownies for dessert.
A New York Times article described the arrangements:
While Mr. Dorai has precisely calculated that "the odds of a time traveler showing up are between one in a million and one in a trillion," organizers have tried to make things inviting.
In case their august university does not exist forever, they have posted the latitude and longitude of the East Campus Courtyard (42:21:36.025 degrees north, 71:05:16.332 degrees west).
A roped-off area, including part of an improvised volleyball court, will create a landing pad so materializing time-travel machines will not crash into trees or dormitories.
(Pam Belluck, "Time Travelers to Meet in Not Too Distant Future," New York Times, May 6, 2005)
The outcome? No time travelers showed up. But then again, the organizer knew he was working against long odds.
When Jesus ascended into heaven, he moved beyond space and time. Now, he dwells in all times and in all places.
***
In December 1988, Chuck Close suffered a collapsed spinal artery, leaving him paralyzed and confined to a wheelchair. However, using a device strapped to his wrist which holds a brush, he is able to continue his work as an artist. His style of painting, mostly portraits, involves using a grid of little two-inch squares, which he laboriously fills in, one by one, as he develops his large, nine-by-nine canvases. Even though he is on one side of the room close to the canvas, he can picture the blending of colors and light and the complete portrait without going across the room and viewing it from a distance. He says, "A composer knows how three notes will sound together. I'm doing the equivalent of a musical chord while I have in my mind the whole composition." While an ordinary person can easily see the results of his efforts from a distance, most would not appreciate the intricate plan in the artist's mind.
In the Gospel for the Ascension, Jesus shows the disciples how everything that had happened was according to a grand plan of the heavenly Father for the salvation of the world. It had been foretold in the Old Testament by Moses and the prophets, it was fulfilled by the suffering, death, and resurrection of Jesus, and it is now to be announced to the ends of the earth by his disciples. We are the last chapter in that great plan!
***
Terry Anderson was stationed in Beruit, Lebanon, as a journalist for the Associated Press. On March 16, 1985, after playing a leisurely game of tennis, he was kidnapped by terrorists and not released until 2,454 days later on December 4, 1991. During that time he was badly treated; being beaten, chained-up, ill-fed, ill-housed, taped up like a mummy, and constantly threatened with death. What sustains someone during such an extended period of hellish treatment? After being taken captive, Terry Anderson was on the edge of madness, of losing control, of completely breaking down. To save himself, he told his captors that he needed a Bible or he would go berserk. Amazingly, his guard secured a Bible for him and it sustained him throughout his years of torment. Terry Anderson rediscovered his dormant Christian faith while he was held hostage.
***
Jonathan Edwards, who in 1995 became the first man ever to jump over 18 meters (60 feet) in the triple jump, is recognized as one of the nicest people in the world of track. Previously, his rearing as the son of an Anglican vicar influenced him never to compete on Sundays. But when people began to compare him with Eric Liddell, the British sprinter and devout Congregationalist, Edwards realized that it was not really a matter of conscience with him. Instead, he showed the world his faith in other ways. He is always encouraging fellow competitors, he shows appreciation to the officials, and in every way he exhibits surpassing dignity. A former competitor who is now a member of Parliament said, "Jonathan is truly a ray of light in athletics." Before Christ ascended into heaven, he charged all Christians to strive fervently to witness to the Gospel of salvation to the world in whatever way we can.
***
Charles Townsend Copeland, beloved Harvard University professor of English, was well known for his excellent translations of the classics. For many years he used a couple of cramped and inconvenient rooms on the top floor of Harvard's Hollis Hall. Time and again the university administration offered, and tried, to move him to more accessible and spacious accommodations. Copeland replied that the top floor suited him wonderfully. He said, "It's the only place in Cambridge where God alone is above me. He's busy -- but he's quiet." The Ascension of Our Lord is God's announcement, and reminder, that above the turmoil and confusion of this world, the One we know and need for life and eternity is at work, busily but quietly, on our behalf.
***
Community Church planned a special celebration for its 150th anniversary. Several people did research, sharing information with the congregation on what life was like in the mid-19th century. Displays, complete with drawings and old pictures, were placed in the narthex as part of the yearlong celebration.
For the celebration, people were encouraged to dress as people would have at the time of the church's founding. Former pastors were invited and asked to say a few words. Members who moved away or were once part of the congregation were also invited for the grand celebration.
It was a former pastor who spoiled the event. He reminisced about the founding of the church as well as his years as pastor. He should have sat down then, but he continued. He told them that they could not rest on their history but needed to continue to reach out to people moving in the neighborhoods near the church. Looking at the gathered congregation, he asked who among them would be around in 25 years to celebrate their 175th anniversary.
He might have simply let them enjoy the moment, but what he said was true. If we fail to reach out to the next generation with the love of Jesus, the church will be in trouble.
When our Lord ascended into heaven, the believers stood gazing upward toward heaven. Two men (angels) challenged them, "Why do you stand looking up toward heaven?" In other words, why are you looking to heaven when there is work to be done! Let's be about the church's business.
***
It is an annual spring ritual if you own a boat. You begin by scraping off the old paint. Next comes the sanding and filling and more scraping. Finally, you move into the last step, which consists of applying layers of sealer and primer and then at least two coats of the finest marine paint.
You would think you were ready for many hours of smooth sailing by this time, but not so -- at least not so if your boat is made of wood. The last step with a wooden craft might surprise you. Before you launch a wooden vessel, you must fill it with water. During the winter, the boat has dried out so much that sometimes you can see spaces between the planks. At first the water just pours through the bottom of the boat. Slowly the planks soak up the water and begin to swell, and the flow of water slows to a trickle and finally stops. When that happens, the vessel is seaworthy.
The same is true of teaching. Sometimes the lessons have to "soak in" until all the "cracks" are filled. So it was when Jesus taught the disciples many things while he was with them, and then to give the lessons time to settle into the empty spaces of their faith and to swell their understanding, he sent them to Jerusalem to wait for the promise of the Father before launching his Church.
***
What goes up must come down. Dazed and confused, the disciples of the risen and now-ascended Jesus stood on a hillside staring into space. "Where did he go?" "What happened?" "Bartholomew, did you see that?" "What happened, Nathaniel?" "I don't know! He went up!" They stood on the hillside staring into space, until they were suddenly joined by two men in white. Remember the last time someone showed up dressed in white? It was at the empty tomb. Once again, a divine visitor tells the disciples what they need to know. They have a message from God. "Men of Galilee! Why do you stand there staring into space? 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." And so there is juxtaposed with the Ascension the promise of a Second Coming, the promise that Jesus will come again, from heaven, in the same mysterious, spiritual way that he left us. What goes up must come down.
So the disciples of Jesus sat down on the hill and waited for him to come home. Not! Rather, they remembered how Jesus had told them not to worry about when things beyond their understanding would come to pass. Instead, they got busy witnessing to what they did understand: that God was at work in Jesus Christ, saving us from our sin and calling us to new life. The going up and the coming down of Jesus are simply bookends. In between are the chapters of our lives lived in faithful obedience and joyful praise to God.
