May (scratch that) Ascension Day

Have you ever been to NYC—Manhattan I mean. Ever been? You know how you can tell the first time visitors to Manhattan? They’re the ones doing this (gawk upwards, point upwards, take picture upwards). Now, granted, the New York City skyscrapers are an awesome sight to behold. They’re captivating. But, as any native New Yorker would tell you—real life happens on street level.

There you see your pedestrians, your yellow cabs and buses, your food vendors, your shop windows, your various and sundry festivals and parades, and of course—your homeless people. Everyone and everything in a constant state of motion, surging at the cross walks, piling up around the entrances to the subway. It’s a river of humanity, flowing through the streets, nourishing the city with its life.

So, contrary to their first inclinations, tourists in Manhattan would get a better understanding of the city if they stopped looking up, and instead just looked around.

That’s what the angel says to the slack-jawed disciples as they stand on the mountain and watch Jesus slowly ascend into heaven—getting smaller and smaller, until the couldn’t even see him anymore—but couldn’t drag their eyes from the sight, either. “Men of Galilee, why are you looking up?” Jesus has gone to the Father. And he wants you to pick up where he left off. So look around. Assess the situation. Decide what needs to be done, figure out what needs to be said. And then do them and say them. Because life goes on down there, and you’ve got a job to do.

As do we. We are loved by a gracious God, who gave Jesus to take away our sin—we are free. And the promise of the resurrection has us dreaming of that one fine day, when tears will be no more, and sickness fade away, and strife end. We’re looking up to the great by and by. And that’s okay—for a while. But life happens at street level, and Jesus would want us to be there—not on the 100^th floor. So today, get your head out of the clouds. Look around with a Jesus eye. What can you do to tell that story? What can you do to point the way to Christ? And what can you learn from those whom you encounter—on the streets with Jesus?