Stop Looking Back

During the last 6 weeks I have been exploring with children through Godly Play some of the many ways those first disciples came to know Jesus in new ways after his resurrection. Imagine with me that we had shared so many wonderful experiences with Jesus. We had learned so much from him. We would follow him anywhere. Then the unthinkable happened and Jesus was crucified. Our whole world turned upside down and nothing was as we had known it. Then many of us, even though grieving were surprised by his presence. It was different from when he was with us before but we knew it was him. After a while we came to expect these experiences. Then one day about 5 weeks after his death, we heard him say that we were to go into all of the world to make disciples. What?! This is huge – impossible! Before he left he assured us that he would be with us always and he was gone. About a week or so later Jesus appeared to us again and led us outside the walls of Jerusalem. He looked at each of us and blessed us and then he withdrew in a cloud. Where did he go? We kept looking up until we heard a couple of voices ask us what we were looking at. Feeling foolish we looked over to see two men dressed in white. Those angels answered their own question: “Jesus is gone now as you have known him.” In this moment everything changed A burden was lifted. I have always struggled with why that was good news to them. Jesus was gone as they had known him! As I told this story to the children last week, the message was made clear for my life as we have all been living through a pandemic. Life as we knew it was gone in a day and everything has been turned upside down. For weeks I have grieved the way things were, hoping to just wake up from this bad dream. I want to see all of you tomorrow but that is not happening. I heard for myself those words that the angels spoke to the first disciples. It was like being told that it was time to begin to look at the new things that God is doing and stop thinking about the way things were. It does not mean that we will never be back but this seems to be a time in our lives like that which the disciples had experienced, full of unknowns that require much patience and prayer. It was only after the disciples received the angels’ news that they were able to go back to Jerusalem, call a disciple to replace Judas, and await the coming Holy Spirit. They had no idea what the Holy Spirit would be like or how it would guide them but they had to move on – they felt stronger. It was good news for me as well. I heard to stop looking for how I think that things should look and wait for the Holy Spirit. Some of the most incredible creations come out of chaos. We are in a new day together. Lets watch and listen for surprises from God. Remember that Jesus said he would always be with us. Let us look forward together and be energized for new direction.