No Gazing Allowed
God has a plan for changing the world and it involves using the church to be the conduit for the gospel to change the world. God has always used the church for that purpose. I think He always will.
Looking at the birth of the church in Acts 1 and 2, we see the call and the empowering of those who are followers of Jesus.
Before ascending into heaven as His apostles looked on, Jesus told them that they would receive power to fulfill the spreading of the gospel around the world. Then, He was lifted up to heaven before their very eyes.
What did they do next? Nothing but gazing upward. Acts 1:10-11 says that while they were gazing up into the clouds where Jesus just disappeared, two angels showed up and told them to quit gazing and get about doing what Jesus told them to do. So, they got scolded for gazing.
As the church, we are not supposed to just sit around gazing at the things that happen around us, including the amazing things that happen around us in a church service. Sometimes, we gaze at the fabulous song that was sung or the incredible message that was preached.
We should be moved to worship as we sing in a service, and we should be impacted deeply by the truth of the word of God being proclaimed. But, neither of those should bring inaction. They should move us to more action in obedience to God’s call. Gazing heavenward is not the proper response to a mighty move of God.
Instead, the apostles and other followers of Jesus gathered together in an upper room and spent the time praying. This is an important thing to grasp. Praying is never gazing. Praying is active. Gazing is passive. Praying contributes to the cause of kingdom work.
Gazing distracts from accomplishing kingdom work. Praying is calling on the hand of God to show the heart of God in life-changing ways. Gazing is soaking in what we have experienced without inviting others to also experience. Prayer is never wrong. And, it never is a time-wasting thing to do.
The last thing that the apostles did in Acts 1 is that they chose a replacement apostle for Judas Iscariot. Most know that Judas Iscariot was the apostle of Jesus who betrayed Him. Judas, then, took his own life. That left the group with eleven apostles. They decided to replace Judas.
Why? Because they saw in Scripture how they were supposed to. Looking at Psalms 69 and Psalm 109, they realized that God knew everything that would happen and said that the betraying apostles should be replaced.
So, in the time of waiting, the apostles searched Scripture and obeyed what they found there. This, too, was not gazing, but seeking God. So, the church should not be gazing but praying and obeying the Bible.
(Questions/Responses jeff.perkins@mbclife.org)