BEHOLD

When storm clouds recently layered above our valley—in a brief respite between weather systems that pumped hundred-degree days into our valley—I had two thoughts. One: could these produce lightning, which could ignite more fires in our area? We'd had too many fires already. Two: there was nothing I could do about it.

That sense of helplessness reminded me of an event described at the end of Matthew's Gospel. Here was Jesus, risen from the dead, just as He predicted. His grisly crucifixion—a criminal's death for a sinless Man—was in God's eternal plan to reconcile a holy God and sinful people. Now this inexplicably “alive” Person was giving His followers some final teaching about God's kingdom and their role as witnesses in it. Then:

And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight. (Acts 1:9 KJV)

Beheld. It's an old English word we don't hear much any more, but it was just right for this event. It meant to fix one's eyes on something, to look at it with attention and to observe with care. The disciples watched Jesus' ascension—probably in fear and awe—trying to absorb every mystifying moment. They didn't know what to make of this. There was nothing they could do to reverse the event! Then some “men in white”--angels--admonished them to quit gawking at the sky: “This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven” (v. 11).

How fitting—that this same Jesus whom they “beheld” in His exit, was earlier welcomed into His earthly ministry when his camel-hair-garbed, radical prophet cousin John declared from the Jordan River where he was baptizing: “Behold the lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29). It was a bold, radical statement!

In recent months, some exceedingly wealthy men have financed their own trips into the “clouds,” enjoying the awe and weightlessness of space for a few minutes. But gravity eventually pulled their space vessels back to earth. Christ's ascension defied all laws of the planet. He kept going....and why not? Earth wasn't His real home.

But what of Christ's second coming? What will it mean to return “in the same way”?

Our broken, bruised world—groaning with climate change, disasters, disease, despair, crime—keeps hoping for something better. Instinctively, we look up, our perception of heaven—wherever or however that is God's eternal plan. Someday, our visions will extend beyond our layer of clouds. Our Savior will return--”in the same way” as those followers saw Him leave some 2,000 years ago.

Another “John,” the ninety-something apostle John, when granted special visions of the future, wrote: “Behold [there's that word again] he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him” (Rev. 1:7)

How is that possible—total recognition around the globe? Well, did you watch the Olympics from the other side of the world? But who watched every event in its entirety?

Christ's Second Coming will eclipse that! Every eye will see--BEHOLD--Him!

CLOSER

My bank offers desk-size calendars for customers, and I use mine to help track a medicine I need to take daily.  A few weeks ago, when the 2019 calendar got replaced by the new 2020 one, I had a quick memory of some dear older folks (like 90s) whose door at a retirement home had a sign: “Perhaps today.” The reference, of course, is to Jesus’ Second Coming. Could it be this year—before all those days get crossed off?

I was reminded of that hope recently as I read Paul’s letters to the Christians at Thessalonica. I read these in different translations, including the late Eugene Peterson’s paraphrase, The Message. This time I paused to read Peterson’s introduction, which clarified the historical and cultural background. The Thessalonians really hoped for a soon-Second Coming. Life was hard! But that hope had two possible negative outcomes.  One was paralyzing fear of not being ready for judgment.  The other was a “so-what” attitude that led to what Peterson called “shiftless indolence”—the attitude of “so-what, I may as well indulge myself in sin.” (I know people who think like that, and their hearts are so hard!)

Both of these New Testament letters are packed with encouragement and exhortation, plus some blunt calling-out of lazy and Christ-dishonoring behavior. Two passages stood out for me this time. First Thessalonians 5:14-15 charges believers to show compassionate but tough love to the weak links of the church. That included those who wouldn’t work and who tried the others’ patience. Note the Christ-response to people who wrong and wound us:
  
And we urge you, brothers, warn those who are idle, encourage the timid, help the weak, be patient with everyone. Make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong, but always try to be kind to each other and to everyone else.

We may not see them change, but we need to leave the results with the Lord. Then, right across the page, in 2 Thessalonians 1:11-12, came the spiritual reason for holding on to hope, and for exhorting the backsliders.  Paul said that he and other spiritual leaders (Silas and Timothy are also named) were praying that these folks live worthy of their God-calling through sanctified purpose and righteous, faith-fueled acts. And then the pivoting reason:

We pray this so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ (v. 12).

There’s a contemporary chorus with the refrain, “Glorify your name in all the earth.”  This isn’t about the beauty of nature, but about the redemption of the fallen nature.  In our daily relationships and choices, as mundane as they may seem, His honor should reign. His coming could be....perhaps today.

Look up!

"Big Sky Country”—I understood that description of Montana when I traveled across it nearly forty years ago. Ever-changing clouds floated above the encircling horizon. The rolling scrublands of southeast Washington state provide a similar impression, and when we recently traveled through them, this cloud formation almost took my breath away. Sometimes scripture you haven’t thought about in a while just pops into your mind, and this is what came to me:

From the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another. (John 1:16)

The context of this verse is God’s amazing grace in sending The Light, His son Jesus, who showed us and taught us about God the Father. As I saw the clouds stacked one after another, they seemed to symbolize “one blessing after another.”  I not only have sufficient food and housing, the love of friends and family, and skills I can use to God’s glory, I have HIM. When the woes of this world drag me down, especially when I am attacked personally, I have HIM. I have the gift of salvation, His assurance of help now, and the anticipation of a glorious future in Heaven.

Recently, while finishing a sewing project, I put on a praise tape for background music. As though God knew I needed it, I heard the song “Be exalted,” based on Psalm 57:6: “Be exalted, O God, above the heavens; let your glory be over all the earth." I immediately thought of this photo and the “glory” of even clouds—water vapor, part of God’s exquisite creation design!—expressing His glory over the landscape.

Only two of the gospels describe Jesus’ ascension into Heaven, both just saying “he was taken up into heaven” (Mark 16:19, Luke 24:51). But when Luke gathered his research of the history of the early church, he added this detail:

 “After he [Jesus] had said this [the “great commission” to witness about Jesus] he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight” (Acts 1:9, boldface added).

But that’s not the end of the “cloud” story.  Luke’s Gospel includes Jesus’ teaching about the end of the world with all sorts of havoc. Luke quotes Jesus:

At that time they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.  When these things begin to take place, stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near (Luke 21:27-28, boldface added).

As you finish reading this, look outside.  Are there clouds to lift your thoughts heavenward?  Even if not this day, look up and take courage! He is coming again!

Waiting for the Glory

They were greenhouse bargains, and past their prime. When my husband brought home three sickly chrysanthemum plants late last fall, I doubted anything would come of them. Re-planting them in a barrel by our door, I was surprised they were still alive by spring. But all summer, all I saw was a growing mound of leaves. A friend counseled, “Give them time.” A few weeks ago, they burst into glorious color.

Give it time. That counsel also applies as I pray for people who aren’t living for Christ. Some are pre-Christians. Others claim to be Christians, but their behavior negates the label. They’re living for pleasures now, not for God. In learning to pray for them, I’ve taken comfort and clues from the six prayers of the apostle Paul recorded in scripture. His prayer in 2 Thessalonians especially seemed to articulate the concerns I have for my struggling friends.

Paul was writing believers who had fallen into despair, thinking the world would end soon. Many were living in idleness, not even working. Paul wanted them stirred out of lethargy with a fresh vision of what God wanted them to do. Christ still hasn’t come, but He could, any day. I want to be ready, and I want those I care about to be ready, too! In studying Paul’s prayer, I realized it could be broken into seven parts for praying through the week.

SUNDAY:  “We constantly pray for you”--Pray for their constant awareness of God’s care, that He loves them more than they can know and that He hears others’ prayers on their behalf.

            MONDAY: “That our God may count you worthy of his calling”--Pray for a fresh vision of God’s high calling on their lives.

            TUESDAY: “And that by his power he may fulfill every good purpose of yours”—Pray that they may sense a compulsion toward godly living, empowered by the Holy Spirit.

            WEDNESDAY: “And every act prompted by your faith.” Intercede that their creed for life be based on the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

            THURSDAY: “So that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you”—Pray that they will copy the example of Jesus, so others will be shown the glory of God through their character.

            FRIDAY: “And you in him”--Ask for conviction of places in their lives (like habits or fears) that they have resisted turning over fully to Christ.

            SATURDAY: “According to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ”—Pray for fresh confidence that God is at work in their difficult circumstances and supplying grace for each day.

Consider either tucking this prayer outline into your Bible or copying it into a prayer notebook for a guide in praying for others. And if you’re the one going through difficult times, speak this passage back to God as your own prayer. Even doing so is, as verse 11 says, “an act prompted by your faith,” and God hears.