WHY DO YOU STAND GAZING UP INTO HEAVEN?
“Now when He had spoken these things, while they watched, He was taken up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight. And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as He went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel, who also said, ‘Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven.’ Then they returned to Jerusalem…” (Acts 1:9-12)
What did the eleven disciples do, after they returned to Jerusalem? Did they onlypray and wait for the coming of the Holy Spirit? No. They did, indeed, pray in “the upper room” with the rest of the community, ca. 120 people, as we learn from the Book of Acts 1:14: “These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with His brothers.” But they also had other work to do, and “in those days” (before Pentecost) they cast lots and elected Matthias, to replace Judas as one of the twelve, “and he (Matthias) was numbered with the eleven apostles.” In other words, they also tended to a church-administrative matter, a matter of church order, for which they would be held accountable when “this same Jesus, who was taken up” from them returned, as the two men in white apparel reminded them.
As we celebrate the great feast of the Ascension today, I’m thinking that we also have work to do, to order the small or big set of responsibilities we are given, according to our vocations. We don’t just “stand gazing up to heaven,” although we do a bit of that as well, whenever we ascend the “mountain” of focused prayer. Thank You, Lord, for dignifying me with my small set of responsibilities, and for lifting all of us up in Your Ascension. Glory be to You for all of it.
From "Coffee With Sister Vassa"
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Perhaps the real challenge is to keep our gaze on heaven "for you have died, and your life is hid with Christ in God;" (Col. 3:3) and simultaneously fulfill our earthly responsibilities in a manner pleasing to God. One has the distinct impression that that is precisely what the apostles accomplished, by the grace of God, which they all received with the descent of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost.