The Week In-Between

The text for the week between:

Acts 1: 10 - 11: 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."

What I have always seen here is the challenge, as the old saying goes, to not get so lost in the heavenly that one is no earthly good. To stand around and wait for Jesus to come back is not what he wanted. We can say that over and over yet we are all tempted to a life that looks to feel better, be touched by God, to revel in the wonderful relationship that we are called into.

Instead we need to be doing the work that Jesus did. We talked about this a few weeks ago when considering Jesus' words that we would do even greater works than he did. All that is clear, at least to me. What isn't as clear, though, is how this fits together with the reminder that Jesus would return in the same way he was seen leaving. If he is to return the same way, why not look up in the sky?

Perhaps it is the suddenness of his departure; maybe it was the fact that clouds hid him; maybe it's just more than I can ever begin to understand on my own. Which brings me back to remember that this is the Sunday In-Between: after the Ascension and before Pentecost. It is a reminder of how little I truly know and understand. It is a reminder of the powerlessness that exists in the Christian life without the Holy Spirit.

This is not a deep or profound idea. It is not something that takes a panel of theologians to figure out. It is not about having the incredible human wisdom to have all the answers or even to act like I have all the answers. The Bible- and faith- is filled with mystery and questions that have no answers in our human wisdom. In these ten days in-between Jesus is gone and the Spirit has not yet come. How empty is the life without either.