Given on May 8, 2005, at the Lynnville (IL) UMC. The ‘main’ Scripture is from the Book of Acts, chapter 1, verses 6-14.

       “Twenty-thousand comedians out of work and you’re still trying to be one!” This was one of my friend Henry’s favorite retorts to someone trying to make a joke, and I seem to have adopted it as one of my own over the years. And he and I had one such comedian-wanna-be in our 8^th-grade math class way back when.

       Arthur was our ‘class clown’, and as such was always coming up with something that was almost guaranteed to get the teacher riled and the class laughing. On one day, in particular, I recall him staring fixedly at the ceiling tile. Soon, many of the rest of us were all staring up as well, wondering, of course, just what he was looking at. Finally, determined to put a stop to it, the teacher demanded, “Arthur! What are you looking at?!” Pointing up, he said, dead seriously, “There’s turtle tracks on the ceiling!”

       As anyone who has been around me for more than a week-or-so will attest, that line has also been indelibly inscribed upon my memory!!!

       And one of the pictures that came into my mind as I was reading these verses was this large group of men all standing and staring up into the sky at the point where Jesus disappeared, when these two men dressed in white suddenly appear and ask them, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand here looking into the sky?” Can’t you just imagine one of them pointing up and saying, in deadpan seriousness, ‘There’s turtle tracks on that cloud!’

       The Life Application Commentary reminds us that Jesus had just described… “the manner in which the gospel would spread geographically… It would begin with devout Jews in Jerusalem and Judea, spread to the mixed race in Samaria, and finally be offered to Gentiles in the uttermost parts of the earth.

After giving this important charge, Jesus was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. This cloud symbolized the glory of God. In the Old Testament, we read that a cloud led the Israelites through the wilderness and that God made his presence known to the people by appearing in a cloud. A cloud also enveloped Jesus and three of his disciples at the Transfiguration as a visible symbol of God’s presence. So when Jesus returned to glory, he returned in a cloud that took him “out of their sight.”

The disciples needed to see Jesus make this transition. The Ascension confirmed for them that Jesus truly was of God. In addition, they witnessed the fact that he had physically left earth and had returned to his heavenly home…”

(Still reading from The Life Application Commentary)

So, “After forty days with his disciples, Jesus returned to heaven. The two men dressed in white were angels who appeared to them in a humanlike form and proclaimed to the disciples that one day Jesus would return in the same way he had left — bodily and visibly.

History is not haphazard or cyclical; it moves continuously toward a specific point — the return of Jesus to judge and rule over the earth. We should be ready for his sudden return, not by standing around “staring at the sky” but by working hard to spread the Good News and help build Christ’s church so that others will be able to share in God’s great blessings, as well.”

“As you saw him go, he will return!”

I have probably told most of you at some point in time that I don’t think much of ‘televangelists. I’m sure that there are some who strive to be truly sincere to their beliefs, but most of the ones I have ever chanced to see have never struck me in that way, and when you combine that with the fact that I’m usually pretty busy, myself, on Sunday mornings, I seldom have an occasion to listen to any such nonsense. But on one Sunday that found me in in Branson, MO., I was killing time by flipping through channels and chanced to hear one of them saying something about… ‘These are not my words… this is Catholic Church prophecy’… or something to that effect. Knowing him to be far removed from anything Catholic, it caught my attention long enough for me to listen, briefly, to the point he was trying to make, and I have found some evidence on-line to back up at least some of his claims.

Sometime during the Middle Ages, (the man on TV said during the 1200’s) a certain St. Malachy made a startling prediction. I must note, here, that an article I found on the internet said to… “Keep in mind that the St. Malachy prophecies are steeped in controversy and many critics within the church claim the prophecies are mere forgeries because they were “lost” for 400 years and were unknown from inception until 400 years later. The prophecies, written by St. Malachy after having allegedly witnessed a vision were supposedly given to the reigning Pope, who apparently shelved them in a shroud of secrecy only to be uncovered 400 years later.”

According to this prophecy, there would be 112 future popes, and the person who became Pope after that number would actually be the antichrist and mark the beginning of the end of time on earth. The scary part was that according to how you count your Popes, this could have been Any of the last 3-or-4-or-so! Either way, to those taking note, it would seem the end of the world is at hand!

       Poppycock!!!

       I will grant you that there are many things going on in the world today that a person who knows his Bible prophecies could construe as signs that the ‘end is near’. But in these verses from Acts, Jesus says, very bluntly, that… “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority.” Nobody but God knows which day and what time will mark the end for this world of ours… But we do know it’s coming! There is no disputing the promise — Jesus is coming back… The angels said to those watching, “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.”

       No one here knows when that might be… but as I have said on numerous occasions before… it doesn’t matter! Any one of us might be ‘called home’ at any time… and that will mark the end of time on this earth for whomever that individual might be! And that is why we all need to be living every day as if that day is our last!

       In the 17^th chapter of John, verses 1-11, Jesus is praying to His Father when he says… “I have revealed you to those whom you gave me out of the world. They were yours; you gave them to me and they have obeyed your word. Now they know that everything you have given me comes from you. For I gave them the words you gave me and they accepted them. They knew with certainty that I came from you, and they believed that you sent me. I pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, for they are yours.” He was… and is… praying, not just for the disciples that surrounded Him at that moment, but for you… and you… and you… and me… ALL of His followers!

       And in various verses of chapters 4 & 5 of 1 Peter , we’re told to… “Humble ourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift us up in due time. We’re to Cast all of our anxiety on him because he cares for us.

We’re to Be self-controlled and alert…our enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings.”

Live the life that you know Jesus would have you live! Be the Christian that you know God wants you to be! Don’t let Satan distract you with worries and troubles that don’t mean a thing! Concentrate on living for God… today! Then, on whatever day God chooses to call you home, the words that Peter speaks (in verse 10 of chapter 5 of 1rst Peter), will truly apply to you…!

“And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. To him be the power for ever and ever. Amen.”