Why Do You Stand Looking Up Toward Heaven?

Acts 1:6-14

My daugher has begun to develop this habit while riding in the car to ask, over and over, even though I know she knows better, “Are we there yet?”

Its amazing how quickly we can be conditioned to focus on the destination rather than be present in a given moment. Now, to her credit, she doesn’t do this every time we are riding in the car. But with that being said, aren’t we all guilty of being in “are-we-there-yet” mode?

The study in Christian theology about the nature and significance of our “end times” is called eschatology. In Christian “eschatology” is that when the “end” comes, it will consist of Jesus’ return to humanity. In Acts 1, the dumbfounded disciples who were staring up at Jesus after his ascension were interrupted by two men in white robes that said “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up toward heaven? This Jesus, who has been tkaen up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.”

I grew up within a specific Christian culture that highly emphasized the spiritual significance of Jesus’ second coming and placed especial priority on where one “went” after they died. The sermons I heard regularly prioritized the importance of believing the right thing in order to get into heaven. I didn’t hear as much emphasis on the actions we took in this life.

While I don’t ascribe to that version of Christianity, I do think that the angels’ question to the disciples remains pertinent. “Why do you stand looking up toward heaven?”

Why sit and wait? Why focus on a place we don’t get to until we die? Jesus is coming. When doesn’t matter. How is already prescribed, for he “will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.” When Jesus DOES come, and we are on either side of the grave, what will Jesus find? Christians who are staring up into the sky, or Christians who are staring in the eyes of their struggling neighbor with compassion? Will Jesus find Christians focused on their reward after death, or Christians who live their lives in the present with gratitude and humility as they pursue mercy and justice?

Our faith is not asking “are we there yet,” and hyper focused on something that hasn’t happened yet. Our faith calls us to proclaim good news in the moment and to live lives that bear fruit.

We aren’t there yet—but until “yet” comes, let’s do something with the life we are living and the faith that we are growing.