Looking in the Wrong Direction

Ruby had some problems... of course we all do, but Ruby's seemed pretty awful. No, they were not health problems really, though, she did complain about pains in her sciatic. Her pains were more than physical. She was angry most of the time. Angry at her neighbors, her ex-husband, her community... the whole world really. Nothing was ever the way it was supposed to be. And when it came to church, it was never long before she up and left for a new one. Over her lifetime she had tried all of the churches in her small community.

The pastor was never what she expected in pastor. The ministries of the congregations never matched her idea of what church should be like. "If only it could be the way it was when I was growing up" is a phrase she often used. A smile would come to her face when she thought of her youth and her time in "show business." But that smile would turn upside when Ruby remembered that those days were long gone. When she died three years ago, she died angry and bitter. Oh the wonderful things she missed.

I've been looking closely recently at the Bible text about Jesus' ascension in Acts. The resurrected Jesus reassures his followers they will not be alone. The Spirit will be given to them in a few days and they have a calling to "me my witnesses... to the ends of the earth." But the disciples don't understand what Jesus means. They are still expecting him to establish the Kingdom of God. Jesus is the new King David and certainly he is going to build something great in Israel that will rival the power of Rome. But of course that wasn't the mission of the Messiah at all. (Was Rome really that powerful once?)

The disciples, like Ruby, don't understand what the Kingdom of God means. They cannot grasp the concept that wealth and power are temporary. They cannot understand that the Kingdom is experienced today when someone is helped, when the hungry are fed, when the injured are comforted. They cannot understand how love is the cornerstone of a kingdom.

So they look in the wrong direction. After Jesus is taken away two angels appear with the disciples. They speak loudly and publicly: "Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up toward heaven?" Strange question in light of what just happened. Its a strange question especially if you are convinced the Kingdom of God lies in the future and lies somewhere far from here.

Ahh, but the angels' question is not strange at all if indeed the disciples are looking in the wrong direction. The Kingdom of God is not found in some nostalgic look at the golden age of King David 1000 years ago. The Kingdom of God is not found in space and is not reached in a Space Shuttle. the Kingdom of God is not a promise of the future when Christ will take us away from this lousy place called Earth.

Now is the Kingdom and now is the day. Yes Jesus was taken away at his ascension... but yet we know that Jesus is with us right now. Yes Jesus will return again to establish his kingdom... but at the same time we know Jesus comes to us each time we celebrate Holy Communion and that Jesus is with us now because the assembly of believers is the body of Christ. This is a both/and situation here. We wait for Christ's Kingdom by living for Christ's Kingdom now.

And let me tell you living for Christ's Kingdom is not about being served by your local parish. Living Christ's Kingdom is not about power, wealth, blind ritual and structure. Living Christ's Kingdom today is centered on the main concept of all Jesus' actions and teachings: love. When we love others we are looking in the right direction. When we serve rather than look to be served, we are working for the Kingdom of God.

Before they received the Holy Spirit at Pentecost the disciples could not understand this concept of a Kingdom of God powered by God's love. Oh how things changed after Pentecost though. Today I believe that everyone who has been baptized in Christ has been given this same Holy Spirit. But even so, too many people ignore that Spirit convinced that life ought to be found in a different direction. I think this is what happened to Ruby. And because she was looking in the wrong direction she never saw what was around her the whole time: God's Kingdom.

Jesus is with you now. The Kingdom is unfolding above, below, and all around you. Do you see it? Are you serving it? Or are you looking in the wrong direction?