Musings about Faith

While he was going and they were gazing up toward heaven, suddenly two men in white robes stood by them. They said, "Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up toward heaven? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven." Acts 1:10-11 It is always tempting to want to gaze into the heavens, straining to see Jesus. If we just keep our eyes looking upwards then maybe we will see God and maybe we will not have to deal with life on this earth. Gazing into the heavens after Jesus is a way of escape, a way to remove ourselves from the dirt and darkness of human life. If only I keep looking up then I won’t have to see prejudice and dishonesty and poverty and death and I can pretend they don’t exist, or at least not be bothered or moved by them. Tap, tap, tap – to the disciples who stood gazing into the heavens the angels called them back to reality. “Why do you stand looking up towards heaven?” Jesus has ascen

Below is my sermon from Sunday, May 10, 2009 – Easter 5. The text is Acts 8:26-40 – the baptism of the Ethiopian Eunuch. Pr. S. Blake Duncan+ Measuring Up Have you noticed that within the past 5 years or so there has been an explosion of television shows that deal with measuring up, with competition or being good enough. Among the most popular are shows such as American Idol, Dancing with the Stars and America’s Next Top Model. There are shows that deal with cooking and dating and designing and even pet grooming. The common factor is that all of them contain evaluation, or critical evaluation. Actually I should say negative evaluation. While some are meaner spirited than others, the point is that very few are good enough - very few can measure up. As we all know this is a part of our society. From the time we are very young we find ourselves in competition with others. Evaluation is part of our culture; negat