Acts 1:8-11 "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." ⁹ After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight. ¹⁰ They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. ¹¹ "Men of Galilee," they said, "why do you stand here looking into 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."

Around 1900, when the world was a little less pseudo-sophisticated than it is today, groups of teenage boys from Chicago liked to play tricks on the folks who had come from the country, seeing the big city for the first time. If there was a group of these visitors, identified by their dress and their general look of confusion, the Chicago boys would suddenly, at an agreed upon spot on the crowded street, stop, tilt their heads and stare at the top of one of the skyscrapers. Not wishing to miss anything, the visitors would also stop, tilt their heads and start staring, too.

The visitors didn't know what everybody was looking at, and they certainly weren't going to embarrass themselves by asking or admitting they didn't see anything. So there everybody stood, looking at, well, nothing in particular. Sometimes, the Chicago boys would take the joke even further by giving a "ho-ho-ho-hoooo" while they looked up. It didn't take too long before the other folks would be " ho-ho-ho-hooooing," too. The spell was broken only when some stouthearted individual would naively or honestly throw caution to the wind and ask, "What's so interesting up there, anyway?"

On the day Jesus ascended into heaven, I think the disciples pretty much felt like those long ago Chicago tourists. There the disciples stood, heads tilted back, staring up into the heavens at ... well, they really didn't know what they were staring at. But they did know, since they knew Jesus, it was going to be pretty interesting. Before we review that story, let's turn back their clock to about three years earlier. During those three years of education these twelve men were given ringside seats to see things that boggled their brains and strained their capacity to comprehend.

They had seen Jesus turn water into wine at Cana. Unbelievable? No, very believable and tasty (John 2:1-11). They were stumped when Jesus challenged them to feed thousands of people on the spur of the moment. "It can't be done!" they said. Then they watched Jesus do what couldn't be done – with a few loaves of bread and a few fish (Matthew 14:15-21). While others ran away from a tomb-residing, chain-breaking demoniac, Jesus didn’t head for cover, but healed the man instead (Mark 5:1-15) While others were weeping and crying, Jesus stopped a funeral procession to tell a grieving mother, "Stop crying," and then with a touch and a command, brought a young man back from the dead (Luke 7:11-15).

The disciples had seen many spectacular things. But, in the spring of their third year with Him, the disciples saw things take a turn for the worse. In spite of Jesus' words of love, His actions of concern, His message of repentance and salvation, there had always been groups who had detested Him and schemed to derail his work. (Mark 12:13). But at the last Passover, Jesus' enemies had been successful with their plots. The disciples saw one of their own bribed and betray Jesus. They had seen their Master arrested and tried on trumped-up charges. Then they saw the unimaginable and unthinkable. They saw Jesus’ blood flowing down a cross and a soldier’s spear pierce Jesus’ side to make sure he was dead. They had seen the end of Jesus’ teachings, Jesus’ miracles, Jesus’ love.

But I misspeak myself. I should say, "It should have been the end of Jesus' teachings. It should have been the end of Jesus' miracles. It should have been the end to Jesus' life and Jesus' love. It should have been, but it wasn't." The disciples would see more. Three days after the crucifixion, some of them looked inside Jesus’ tomb and saw ... well, they saw nothing, other than empty burial shrouds. Jesus' body was gone. That night they saw why. A living Jesus appeared to them in their locked room. A week later, they saw Him again, and again after that. What they saw was not imaginary. They could see and talk to and touch their resurrected Lord.

And now, after they thought they had seen it all, they saw one more thing. Jesus had gone away from them. He hadn't walked away. He hadn't been carried away. He didn't run away and hide. He just went away; rose up into the air – no wires, no tricks, no shenanigans. He went back to heaven and His Father. The disciples saw that, too. Years ago, I heard a first grader come home from Sunday school, very excited. When his parents asked him how he liked his class, teacher and lessons, he replied, "I like it a lot. I just love God. You never know what He is going to do next." Well, the disciples never did know what Jesus was going to do next, what they would see next.

When we look down we see failure and faults, sins and sorrows, ill health and heartache. We listen and we hear crying, fear, worry and doubt. We look around us and we see bloodshed, anger, resentment and depression. If we allow ourselves to only look at this world we will never be able to see the world to come. We will focus on the baubles, trinkets, and meaningless treasures of this earthly kingdom. If we keep looking down, we will only concentrate on where we are and not where we are going.

As a soccer coach, I teach kids to look up when they are dribbling the ball. If they look at their feet and the ball, they will miss so much. They need to look up so they can turn their bodies and protect the ball from opposing players. They look up so they can make that angle pass to an open player. They look up so they can focus on and kick a goal. In this life, we look up so we can move around. We look up to pass the gospel on to others. We look up to turn away from temptation and Satan’s teammates. We look up to see the wide-open goal of heaven.

The disciples stood on the Mount of Ascension and looked up. They stood like Chicago tourists, their heads tilted back as far as possible, their eyes staring at ... well, they didn't know what. That's how the angels found them that day. And the angels asked, "Men of Galilee, what are you doing standing around looking into the heavens?" The disciples didn't stand around gazing in an aimless sort of way for very long. According to Jesus' command, they returned to Jerusalem, and in ten days, the Holy Spirit came upon them. From that moment on, their witness to the world began. They told anyone who would listen, and many who would not, about the things they had seen. They told about the One who had been born in a Bethlehem barn in order to be crowned the Virgin’s Son. They told about the One who had died a criminal’s death in order to be crowned the Lord of love. They told about the One who had been buried in a borrowed tomb and crowned the Lord of life. They told of the One who had now ascended to the right hand of God to prepare a room for us in heaven and rule all things for our good and so He was crowned the Lord of heaven.

They asked the world, "What are you looking for?" Then they told the world what it needed to see: God’s Son who accomplished what we could not to give us what we did not deserve.

Under the great persecutions of Rome, when Christians were led away to die for their faith, they went singing, praying, laughing. Unbelievers wondered, "What are these Christians seeing? What image can hold their gaze that even the sight of the tormentor's tools and the executioner's equipment, could not turn their eyes away?" For decades, the Communist elite wondered, "What do these Christians see? What revelation can hold their eyes so they are unafraid of the gulags and Siberia?" Today, the forces of Islam understand our armies and our bombs, but they are confused when they see confessing Christians "fixing their eyes on Jesus, who is the Author and Perfecter of their faith." Islam is prepared to fight, with a great vengeance against invading infidels, but how can anyone fight against the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world?

Wherever and whenever Christianity and the Gospel has been presented in its truth and purity, the skyward gaze of the Christian has caused amazement, argument, antagonism and anger among atheists and agnostics. They cannot see that which is the most beautiful sight that heaven has ever produced.

Look up and see Jesus. Look to your Christian neighbors. See how the Christian widow hurries to church every Sunday morning. What is she looking at? In worship her eyes are lifted up to see her Savior. He has promised a resurrection reunion for all who believe. See the Christian family come together. All through the week they've been going their separate ways. But on Sunday, they stop. What do they see? They see a Lord who has brought strength to a mother and father; a unique love and direction to a son and daughter. See the sick, the elderly, the cancerous struggle make the painful trip to worship, but they go. What do they see? They go so their eyes may be lifted up to the Lord who is their refuge and strength, a very present help for them in time of trouble (Psalm 46:1).

As fellow believers, you know what I'm talking about. The Lord has turned your eyes heavenward. You have seen the cross and the crucifixion. You have seen the resurrection and the redemption. You have seen the ascended Savior who 2,000 years ago saved you from your sins and today is with you, supports you, and helps you carry the crosses of life.

For many years, Ellis Island was the processing spot for more than 22 million immigrants to America, thousands every day. Those folks left behind everything they had, and for a myriad of reasons came to seek their fortune, their freedom, their future in America. Although they had never seen the promised land, they still believed and that belief was enough to bring them here. In New York harbor, they tilted their necks and gazed for a long time at the statue called "Liberty Enlightening the World." Then they would go through the lines of immigration and inspection.

On occasion, the newcomers might be compelled to stay in a dormitory room while they were being processed. I wouldn't be surprised if some of the immigrants, having lived in utter poverty, thought the dormitory place to be a palace. Some might have thought, "It can't get any better than this. This must be all there is." If they felt that way, they might eagerly have unpacked their few possessions and settled in. A foolish thought, isn't it? What they were seeing was a small room on a small island. There was more, so much more to have, to experience, to see.

Such a sad immigrant would be very much like any of you who allow yourselves to think the material stuff in this world is all there is. You allow yourself to be worried with finances or burdened by health issues or broken by failed relationships. If you only see the small room of this world, you are missing the glory and the grandeur of the world to come.

"What are you looking at?" Where are your eyes fixed? Are they drawn downward to the dust at your feet? Are they cast down because of a love that is lost or wandering children or insecure finances or unsound health? All of these problems and so many other pains can cloud your vision. They can drag down your gaze so the sight of your soul is misted over with discouragement, difficulties, depressions. Is your head bowed down with shame and sin you believe can never be forgiven?

Look up. There is no trick. There really is something to see up there. Look up and see Jesus who shows us hope and purpose for this life, heaven and joy for the next. Look up and see Jesus who puts our needs, our necessities, our agonies into their proper perspective. Look up and see Jesus. Let Him show you the peace you long for, which has proven so elusive. Look up and see Jesus, your Savior and your Lord. Amen.