There they were gazing up at the sky. Their risen
Lord is alive! He has been with them again for 40 days after his
resurrection. He has patiently taught them and prepared them for this
moment. Jesus has ascended into heaven to be at the right hand of God to
reign there forever just as he said he would. Now, at his Ascension,
these men of Galilee and those who follow with them are the Body of Christ
in the world. They are to carry on in the power of the Gospel in his
name. Pondering all of this, Jesus’ disciples gaze up at the sky. In
that moment, those two men in white robes who suddenly appear beside them
name for them and for us the greatest challenge the church ever faces:
Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking….?
Acts 1:11
In the Ascension of our Lord Jesus there is hope
and joy in the fulfillment of his promises. But the Ascension also brings
to us a radical change in how we perceive the presence of Christ in our
lives. Just as the disciples were so we are so easily tempted to succumb
to the belief that, with Jesus gone on to heaven, we are left with no
resources, no strength of our own to carry on and lead the healthy life to
which we are called. There so easily comes upon us the fear that we are
here all by ourselves, alone to face the difficulties and challenges and
mission of life. So overtaken by this fear we so often deny ourselves the
healthy life Jesus has already given us. We so easily just stand there
looking.
This sense of helplessness is so often a part of
our everyday experience.
That’s what’s happening when a young child cries the whole day
until his mother finally
comes to pick him up from his first day of preschool.
That so easily happens to a family whose teenager finds herself
in juvenile legal difficulties.
That’s what’s going on when a widow feels she has nothing else
to live for following the
death of her husband.
That’s what happens at school when you feel that the teacher
just doesn’t like you.
It can happen in families, in workplaces, in groups and
organizations.
This can also happen so easily in the church when a congregation
is faced with loss or
change or difficult decisions.
In the face of all of these challenges we so often fear that we are all by
ourselves, we have no resources, we just cannot face the future. It is
then when we need to hear those encouraging words of two emissaries from
the household of God:
…why do you stand looking…?
What is life like at your house? That’s the
continuing question before us as we explore together life in the household
of God. The household of God is a community of love where people know and
support one another and where every idea is respected and everyone is
committed to the common goal for which the whole community strives. The
household of God—you know, the place where God lives, where the peace of
Christ reigns. Is that what life is like at your house?
The first key to a healthy life (which we discussed
in the previous sermon in this series) is accept differences. The
second key to a healthy life is focus on strength.
In a study of patients with a terminal disease
researchers have identified styles of coping. These ways of coping with
terminal disease rang from “a fighting, feisty spirit” on the one hand to
“helplessness and hopelessness” on the other. It is no surprise to any of
us that those patients who exhibited “a fighting, feisty spirit” lived
with a higher quality of life and lived longer than those who felt
“helpless and hopeless.” Persons, groups, organizations, and
congregations are the same way. When preoccupied with weakness,
limitation, and problems situations deteriorate. This preoccupation with
weakness and lack of imagination and courage can become so ingrained in
the relationship system that nobody ever gets anywhere. They find
themselves locked in pathology of blame, deficits, and weakness. But
whenever a person, a family, a group, an organization, or a congregation
can look at options, identify resources, seek out support, ask imaginative
questions, find the courage to reach goals, and make clear, thoughtful
decisions, that person, that family, that group, that organization, that
congregation is well on its way to healthy relationships and a healthy
life.
There are three things that a focus on strength can
bring us to face the difficulties of life. There are three things that we
can do when we focus on strength that we are not able to do when we remain
focused on weakness and limitations. When we focus on strength:
We can learn;
We can mourn;
We can be gracious.
First of all, when you focus on strength you can
learn. When you focus on weakness and limitations your imagination is
stifled. You cannot see the future. Options are closed to you. You are
temporarily unable to learn, to adapt, to bounce back. You just stand
there looking. When you focus on strength and possibilities, you can
learn how to adapt. It has been pointed out that the human body “learns”
to be healthy. That’s how the immune system works. The immune system
“memorizes” the shape of alien substances and learns to reject harmful
invaders. The body develops what has come to be called “wise blood.”
“Wise blood” also makes for healthy relationships and a healthy life.
When we focus on strength we can learn.
Secondly, when you focus on strength you can
mourn. When you focus on weakness and limitations the experience of loss
can be utterly devastating. When you feel there are no resources
available to face difficulties of life, grief leaves you numb, lost, and
aimless. When you cannot mourn appropriately and face the reality of
loss with dignity and grace, emotional scars of unresolved loss and grief
can result. You just stand there looking. The same thing happens in
families, groups, organizations, even congregations. When systems of
relationship such as these cannot mourn they become locked in time. They
refuse to let go of yesterday’s memories, the present is never satisfying,
and they dread the future. When they cannot mourn and let go their
relationships with one another, rather than being a real resource of
healing, can become a continuing source of pain. If you can manage to
focus on strength in such a moment and not weakness, the natural process
of mourning a deep loss can begin to bring healing. Healthy organisms
adapt to change. When we suffer a cut or sprain, the body rushes blood to
the site. We feel faint but the healing process has begun. To grieve is
to empower. When you focus on strength you can learn. When you focus on
strength you can mourn.
Finally, when you focus on strength you can be
gracious. A focus on weakness is such fertile ground for negativity, lack
of confidence, misery, and depression. You just stand there looking. Hans
Selye, a pioneer in charting the effect of emotional states on physical
health, noted that the two emotions most detrimental to health are
vengeance and envy. Conversely, the most nourishing attitude is
gratitude. Healthy persons, healthy families, healthy groups, healthy
organizations, healthy congregations are graced and gracious, foster a
caring spirit, and are generous with one another and others.When you focus
on strength you can learn. When we focus on strength you can mourn. When
you focus on strength you can be gracious.
Lance Armstrong focused on strength. Following his
cancer diagnosis he endured his treatment and rehabilitation with courage
and returned to win the Tour de France once again.
Homer Avila was a noted dancer and choreographer.
He died just one month ago in Manhattan at the age of 48. In April of
2001 he underwent treatment and surgery for cancer. Soon after the
operation he returned to dance class and was performing again in less than
a year. He focused on strength. What makes his recovery so remarkable is
that the treatment for his particular form of cancer was the amputation of
his right hip and leg. Homer Avila could learn. He could mourn. He
could be so gracious. You can see a “streaming video” of his performance
last fall of November 19, 2003 (and others as well) on the website of the
Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.
What is life like at your house? At your school?
At your workplace? At your church?
The writer of the letter to Ephesians prays for you
when he prays for the church as he says
I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of
glory, may give you a
spirit of wisdom…so that…you may know what is the hope to which
he has called
you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance among the
saints, and what is the
immeasurable greatness of his power for us who believe…
Ephesians 1:17-19
He describes here life in the household of God
where there is immeasurable power and grace to focus on the strength given
us by God through Jesus Christ our Lord. He has ascended and sits at the
right hand of God. But we are not left here with no resources all alone
to face the difficulties and challenges of a healthy life. We just need
to be nudged by certain emissaries of the household of God who, from time
to time, stand beside us and ask,
…why do you stand looking…?
So why do you?
based upon
Healthy Congregations by Peter L. Steinke,
Lutheran Brotherhood 1999,
Workshop 1, Session 4, pp. 31-34
