Redirected

May 21, 2023, 2023

Rev. Mary Erickson

Hope Lutheran Church

Acts 1:6-14

Redirected

Friends, may grace and peace be yours in abundance in the knowledge of God and Christ Jesus our Lord.

As I interact with our Rachel’s Place Day Care, I’ve come to admire the abilities of the teachers to redirect their young charges. When a child is focused on a negative thought or behavior, a skilled teacher can redirect them. They present different choices to their charges or they refocus their attention onto something else.

Truth be told, we can all use redirection now and again. It’s not just for children! Sometimes we become fixated in a negative train of thought. We keep hammering at ourselves over a poor choice we made years ago. It’s time to redirect. Or we get caught in a behavioral rut: we’re becoming hardened couch potatoes. It’s time to get up and redirect!

In our reading today from the book of Acts, the disciples are redirected two different times. The first time happens with Jesus.

Jesus’ resurrection doesn’t seem to have sunk in at all with his disciples. They’re still thinking with their old mindset. Jesus is the Messiah, and now he’s conquered even death. So when exactly is he going to restore the kingdom of Israel? When is he going to kick out their Roman overseers? When is he planning to take over the throne and become the powerful heir to King David?

Jesus redirects them. He kindly tells them that some knowledge only lies with God. Why Israel was under foreign rule when they were God’s chosen people falls within that category.

And then he redirects their focus. Instead of fixating on the powers and glory that once were, look forward.

At its heart, the disciples’ question was about power. When would the old glory and power of the days gone by return? Jesus redirects them with the power that will COME. “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And when that happens, you’ll be my witnesses way beyond just the borders of Israel. You’ll be my witnesses to the ends of the earth!”

There are times when we as the church need redirecting, too. We, too, can become focused on past glories. Remember when we packed this church on Sunday mornings? Remember when they used to let children out of school early on Wednesdays so that they could get religious education? Remember when nearly everyone in the neighborhood belonged to one church or another? When will the glory days return?

The greater church can become focused on past glories, too. Remember when our seminaries were full? Remember when we opened hundreds of new churches every year?

Jesus redirects his disciples and us. Look forward, he says. You will be empowered, empowered by the Holy Spirit. Jesus reminds us that God is still at work in the world. God is about to do a NEW thing. God is not finished acting in human history! God has a plan for our future!

Alexander Graham Bell once said: When one door closes another door opens; but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door that we do not see the one which has opened for us.

When we look backwards, out of sentimentality or regret, we become inert. In contrast, mission leans into the future. Mission sets us on a forward course in hope.

Isaiah says: “See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?”

And in the book of Revelation, John relates the words of the Almighty: “Behold, I am making all things new.”

Throughout the scriptures, God’s message continually redirects us into forward vision. Our hope and direction are rooted in God’s future promise.

God had a plan for the disciples. God has a plan for us. God has a plan for you. Today we celebrate the accomplishments of our High School seniors. We send them into their futures with a blessing. God has a plan for them, too.

Jesus redirects his disciples for their mission to come. And then we’re told he’s lifted upwards into heaven. He transitions from this realm into the eternal from whence he came.

The disciples watch him as he rises – higher, higher, until he’s just a small speck in the sky. And then he’s gone. They keep looking up, looking for their beloved friend, rabbi, savior.

And here’s where our story’s second redirection comes. As Jesus had gone up, two angels must have come down, because next thing we know, they’re standing beside the disciples.

They say, “Why are you still looking up?” And then they state a promise: “Jesus will come back to you in the same way you saw him leave.” Jesus will come back to you. As Jesus said in our text last week, “I will not leave you orphaned. I will come back to you.”