Jesus is Lord
by Frank Fisher

Acts 1:1-11 and Luke 24:44-53

To Luke,
the physician;
the chronicler
of the Great Physician.

Greetings
and many blessings to you,
my brother in the faith.
Tell all my sisters and brothers
that I,
Peter,
also send them
greetings in the name
of Jesus the Christ.

You can't imagine my delight
at hearing from you
Luke.
Not only
have I not heard from you
for a very long time.
But truthfully,
while the rest of Rome
may be interesting,
there really isn't too much to do
here in my jail cell.

Of course I remember
your patron Theophilus.
I know
he's always looking for more details
of our Lord's story.
So I'll be delighted
to tell both of you
more
about the day
when Jesus
was taken up to heaven.

All of us
were gathered in Jerusalem
on that incredible day.
We'd just finished hearing
how Jesus had appeared
to two of our companions,
while they traveled
on the road to Emmaus.
Every one of us
were still burning
at the wonder and joy
that Jesus was alive again.
And how could our joy
not be multiplied many fold
by hearing
about his continued presence.
I remember
I'd  just opened his mouth
to tell how Jesus
had appeared to me.
Then suddenly
he was there!
He was right there
standing
 in the middle of the room.

Of course
we were all frightened.
If you see a human figure
pop up
out of now where,
its pretty understandable
to think
you're seeing a ghost.
And when the ghost
begins to talk to you,
saying things like,
"peace be with you,"
its time
to run away.

So anyway,
I was leading the retreat
to the door
when the "ghost"
spoke again.
"Why are you frightened,"
it asked?
"And why do doubts
 arise in your hearts?
Look at the wounds
on my hands
and on my feet;
see
that it is I
myself!
Touch me and see;
for a ghost
doesn't have flesh and bones
as you see I have."

A feeling
of awe and wonder
overcame us then
Luke.
For we could see
it was Jesus
who stood in our midst.
He must have seen
that we couldn't quite believe
what our eyes were telling us,
for he asked us
for something to eat.
Then he sat down
and joined us
for lunch.

While we were eating
he began to teach us;
just as he did
on all those days in Galilee.
He told us
why he had to suffer and die.
And he showed us
where scripture
had predicted
all that had happened.
Most importantly
he told us
how we would be sent out
in his name
and how the Creator
would send us,
something,
to aid us
in our task.

Then,
Jesus said,
"its time.
Come with me."
That,
made us nervous.
For the last time
Jesus had said something like that,
he meant
it was time
for him to die.
But this time
he didn't seem at all upset.
In fact,
it was if he was glowing
with confidence.

So off Jesus went
with us trailing along
just as before.
Naturally
my mouth
 started giving me trouble;
just as it always had
countless times before.
But Luke
the day was so beautiful
and being with Jesus again
was so fantastic,
that I was sure
the time had come
when Jesus would finally
take charge
of God's people.
"Lord,"
I asked,
is this the time
when you'll
restore the kingdom
to Israel?"

"That's not for you to know,"
Jesus answered.
"But you will receive the power
to be my witnesses
in Jerusalem,
in all of Judea and Samaria,
and to the ends of the earth."

Just as Jesus had finished speaking,
I noticed his glow
I'd called confidence
was getting brighter and brighter
until he beamed
just the way he did
when he'd been on the mountain top
with Moses and Elijah.
Then all of a sudden
he began to rise up from the earth.
He just kept going higher and higher
until
he was gone from our sight.

For awhile
all of us just stood there,
craning our necks
to get another glimpse of him.
We stood there
looking up
for what seemed like hours.
Then,
we heard a noise.
It sounded like the polite cough
some people use
to catch your attention.
I looked
toward the sound
and saw two people dressed in white.
They were smiling
and looking
like they found our sky watch
kind of funny.

Well
 after they had all of our attention,
one of them said,
"Men of Galilee,
why do you stand there
looking up toward heaven?
This Jesus
who's been taken up into heaven
will come to you once again;
just the way
you saw him go."

The two people just vanished
after that
 Luke.
And we all trouped back
to Jerusalem
to tell the rest of the disciples
all that had happened.

You know the rest of the story;
how the Spirit came upon us
and how we did indeed
tell the world
about the wonder
of what our Lord had done.
But I never have forgotten
that last look of love
on our Lord's face.
And I know
I'll see it again
very soon.

"What did that day mean?"
That's a good question
you ask
 Luke.
And the answer
is
many things.
At least
that's what I think.
It showed us,
and the world,
beyond a shadow of a doubt
that Jesus was indeed
the Holy One's
only begotten Child.
It meant
Jesus wasn't tied
just to those years
in Galilee;
And when we tell others
the story
Jesus becomes real to them;
even if they never saw Jesus
they know
our Lord
is with them.

But most importantly
Luke,
I think that one day
underlined
the fact
that Jesus is Lord;
Lord of heaven;
Lord of earth;
Lord of all that was,
is
and will be;
Lord
of my life.

And if Jesus
is
Lord
of my life,
then above all else,
I must go
where Jesus calls me to go;
serve
where Jesus bids me serve,
and love
all those
whom Jesus
bids me love.

I hear the soldiers coming
Luke.
The hour
of my own
crucifixion
is at hand.
I don't look forward
to these next few hours.
But I know after them,
I will see my Lord
once again,
face to face.

Greet my sisters and brothers
with a kiss of peace
my friend.
Don't mourn for me.
For even at the grave
we cry out with joy!
Jesus is Lord!
Alleluia!
Alleluia!
Alleluia!

To God alone
be glory.
Amen.

(Comments to Frank at f.fisher.obl.osb@comcast.net.)
Interim Pastor of First Presbyterian Church 
Fairbury, Illinois 
http://www.firstpresfairbury.org