There are so many signs in life; some of which we are looking for, like speed limit signs while driving, and others that just show up when we are least expecting them. From the physical signs that overwhelm our views to the point that they seem to blend into the surroundings to the signs we look out for when you are making major life discernments and are trying to figure out in which direction we should go. Or, if you want to look at the Bible, the Gospel writer, John, uses the language of signs instead of miracles to talk about the fantastical things that Jesus is doing; calling them signs because they point to who Jesus is and the purpose of his ministry. Sometimes, signs help us to make sense of what is going on around us, and other times they just add even more confusion, like in today’s Acts reading. I, for one, have always enjoyed the comical nature of signs that get shared online where the intention was there, but the outcome was definitely not what they were expected; like the signs that say: “One way only,” except the arrow points in both directions. Honestly, that isn’t the worst metaphor for navigating daily life and what our lives of faith feel like often too though!
There is a lot happening in the Ascension story, obviously some parts being more dramatic than others, which means we often overlook the one little line in Luke’s Gospel: “Then Jesus opened their minds to understand the scriptures…” (Luke 24: 45). There is something that feels both comical and also a bit frustrating that it is at the very last moment when he could possibly teach them anything else that Jesus, finally, opens the disciples’ minds to be able to understand the scriptures. They have literally been with him for years as he taught and preached, never quite getting what it is that they were supposed to from what he was doing, and he just kept on teaching them anyway. Dropping sign after sign while they still didn’t have a clue why! If I were one of the disciples when this happened, I honestly don’t know whether I would want to laugh or fume because, if it was that easy to open their minds, why didn’t Jesus just do that in the very beginning! Although, from a literary perspective, their confusion does add quite a bit of comic relief to some otherwise intense moments.
Despite how frustrating it must have been to take years for Jesus to finally help them understand more fully, this also feels like a good example of what it means to faithfully live. It’s not that God is intentionally making it difficult for us, but I think it matters that we get to wrestle with our faith, ask the questions, and try to figure out what it means for us, each in our specific contexts, to be a person of faith. It matters that there isn’t just some guide that we instantly understand that is the same for all people across all time and space because God has also gifted us with these remarkable brains and this beautiful diversity of thought and experience. How boring and robotic would it feel if all the answers were just automatically downloaded into our brains. Maybe some people would like that, but as a person whose brain seeks novelty, I feel like I would get bored pretty quickly if there wasn’t more for me to explore and analyze from every possible perspective.
However, there are times when I wish we could have a bit clearer instruction, or at least that we were all on a more similar page; I’d even settle for feeling like we are in the same book sometimes! Now, we often get into the weeds of translation a bit more with next week’s readings regarding the story of Pentecost, but it is important to pay attention to the way we hear the commission in Luke and Acts to go be witnesses… “in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1: 8). This has been interpreted in many harmful ways throughout history, including forced conversions, where people literally had to choose between death or baptism; I’m fairly confident that this is not what Jesus meant by being a witness! After all, Luke’s Gospel says, “Thus it is written, that the Messiah is to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things” (Luke 24: 46b-48). It doesn’t seem like we should intentionally sin against our neighbor more in an attempt to get them to really feel God’s forgiveness of sin.
My sarcasm aside, we often have read this commission throughout history as sending us out to all places to make them see the “rightness” of Christianity and the “wrongness” of the way they are living and believing. Even there, we neglect the various ways that God is already present and active in communities around the globe, especially in faith practices that are different from our own, because instead of just telling our story to others, we try to force them into living and being just like us. Or, at least, that has been a very common model throughout Christian history. And, in many ways, it gives us a “Savior” complex, in which we feel it is our duty to save others, instead of trusting that the Holy Spirit is at work when we tell about our experience with Jesus and our understanding of the forgiveness of sins in his name. I’m always reminded of the time when my fellow chaplains and I were on the bus in Iowa City, heading back to our cars after a long shift at the hospital, and a man got angry with us when we said we didn’t save anyone today because he told us it was our job as chaplains to do so. We so often forgot that we are not the Savior, but Jesus is, the one whom we are supposed to be sharing about. The other problem with this “Savior” complex is that we often neglect the spaces which we already inhabit because “those people” over there need us to save them.
When I was in college, I was able to meet and listen to Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, Leymah Gbowee, talk about her experience being a Christian in Africa and how frustrating it felt to have so many people come thinking that they needed to “save” the people of Africa when they are ignoring the problems that are in their own backyard. We appreciated her bluntness when she said that we needed to fix up our own neighborhoods and country before we start trying to fix others. It makes me think about what they always tell you on flights, that you need to put your own oxygen mask on first before helping others with theirs. I bring this story up because when we hear the commission in today’s readings, it seems like Christians throughout history and into today often only selectively hear the “to the ends of the world” part and we ignore the “beginning in Jerusalem” part (Acts 1: 8b; Luke 24: 47b). What does it look like for us to be intentional about being witnesses, through word and deed, in our local communities, not with the intention of being the Savior, but focusing on inviting all of us to see what God is already up to in our lives and in our neighborhoods? To begin where we already are.
As we look at the challenges that the world is facing, on a global, national, or statewide level, it often feels like there is nothing that we can do to make a difference. Yet, as Pastor Judy reminded us a few weeks ago, it’s frequently the small, intentional actions that add up to bring great change over time. So, as we hear the story of the Ascension, may we see that there is beauty in the wrestling with our own faith and creating spaces for people to share their stories of faith because that it where we grow, change, and come to understand ourselves in relation to God and the world. This is a part of the practice of being a witness; we don’t just magically get the script! May we see the importance of listening to all of the teachings instead of just jumping straight to the end, even if it means slowing down a bit more than we would like sometimes. And, may we recognize the ways that, throughout this process, we might find ourselves like the disciples, looking up to heaven in confusion as others try to figure out what the heck is going on with us, and as we try to figure out what to make of the way our faith is interacting with the world around us and what it means to be a witness to these things. Jesus is setting us up for a journey, so we might as well prepare for the unknown paths ahead as best as we can and maybe ask for a few more signs along the way too.
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Sunday May 10th, 2026 Worship