Where's the Wonder
Dr. Rev. Michael Stotts

Acts 1:1-11

Lk. 24:44-53

Imagine the sense of awe that must have filled the disciples, as they watched the Risen Christ being taken up into heaven!
When was the last time you were filled with that kind of wonder? Like the baby on our bulletin cover this morning. Little ones of course are easily filled with wonder--a sense of awe. To them everything is new. Watch a toddler sometime --to them everything is something to explore, and filled with the wonder of the new.

Unfortunately, as we grow older we get kind of jaded don't we. Once you think you've seen it all, you wonder after awhile where the wonder went. For us as Christians, that should be a danger sign: that folks in our world are losing their sense of awe over God's creation and activity in the world. That should be a danger sign because those things that give us wonder are often the signs we most need in order to notice God's new life giving activity in our world.

Take the first time you saw that little baby born to your family. When I was growing up I'll never forget when my little baby sister Martha was first brought home from the hospital. My folks were concerned that we be very careful with this precious new little one, so they sat Mary (my older sister) and I down on the couch in the living room. And with each of us in turn, they first put a pillow on our lap, and then laid little Martha down on the pillow for us to see--to "hold' for the first time. What a wonder!

Yes, wonder: times just like that when God's new-life-giving, awe-producing creative ways break into our lives with the new, the awesome, the wondrous. Yet, isn't it true that for some reason, in our world of spectacular this and spectacular that, that far too often we fail to be awed anymore? We've had our senses bombarded with so many images, and spectaculars, and loud, brilliant explosive scenes and stories, especially through the TV and movies, that it seems like there are far fewer moments in our lives where something fills us with wonder.

Yes, no wonder we don't notice the wondrous sounds of God's creative love in our world, or fully appreciate the signs of God's wondrous creation. We've been desensitized when it comes to wonder. And that's true with all of our senses today--not just our hearing, because of all the noise from I-pods and CD players. But all of our senses these days are bombarded in too many ways, so that we aren't awed by anything anymore. Take just the influence of television. According to the A.C. Nielsen Co., the average American watches more than 4 hours of TV each day which is equal to 2 months out of every year of non-stop TV watching. Which by the way adds up to 9 years out of your life for someone living just to the age of 65. 9 years of TV! And think what that exposes you to. You've heard the various estimates before: An organization called TV Free America, for example, says that the average child, by the time they finish elementary school, has witnessed 8,000 murders on TV and 200,000 violent acts. It's no wonder we've been desensitized.

Many educators agree today that too much TV usage is also stifling the creativity, lessening the time spent reading and studying, and is numbing far too many students, not to mention adults--so no wonder there's little wonder anymore. We've been desensitized to wonder. [Source: website of TV-Free America]

So how are we to regain the sense of awe and wonder--especially a sense of awe over God's activity and presence in our world? Well obviously watching less TV and getting out in the world more are key steps to take, and I think another is, we simply need to slow down long enough to look for the sacred-- that which fills us with the wonder of God's presence and creativity in the world. Our lives just plain move too fast--many of us have filled them with so much activity, we don't have time for moments of love--to experience that wondrously sacred part of our lives, or to simply sit and ponder the beauty and awesomeness of some scene in nature God has painted. In our lesson today, the disciples looked up to see Jesus taken up in the clouds. When was the last time you spent some time looking up--at the clouds--or took more than a few seconds to gaze at a gorgeous sunset? We need to slow our lives down.

Those of you who have children in school today know, from all the time you spend chaffeuring them from one activity to another, how over-programmed our children can get today, because of course we want to be sure they're well-rounded. Well yes, we want well-rounded kids, but we also want children who know God, and appreciate the creative world, and have some time for loving moments with their family, or who take time to read quietly--to use the wonders of their imaginative, creative minds. So couldn't some of those extra-curricular activities be set aside, in favor of what you might call God's time? Time to know and appreciate God's new lifegiving, awe-inspiring, loving, caring, even quiet moments with family and loved ones? We need to slow down--to notice the wonder.

Peggy and I have an on-going dispute whenever we go on vacation. Since by necessity I'm the driver, I prefer to get to our destination as fast as possible, which means taking the Interstate; but Peggy would prefer we take our time, and take the back roads and explore--to see the sights, and be awed by discovery. Well, I have to admit, Peg, one of the best vacations we ever had was that 20th anniversary trip when we followed one of the secondary roads up the west side of Vermont, just taking our time, seeing a couple of art festivals and museums, looking for covered bridges, and just enjoying the scenery . . . and each other.

We need to find times when we can "slow down and smell the roses" as the saying goes. Those disciples that watched the Risen One ascend into heaven, had taken 3 years out of their workaday lives to be in the presence of the Son of God; and instead of scurrying off as he prepared to leave them, they waited and watched with awe as he ascended in heaven. Isn't it time, we slowed down, and took the time to notice God's wondrous presence in our lives? When was the last time you did that in your life?

Which finally tells us we not only need to turn off the TV, and slow down to notice the wonder, but really to understand and see that in the process what we're doing is looking for God. Do you expect to feel God's presence as you go about your life? If you will, then you'll begin to notice the wonder. Do you stop once in awhile to look up to the heavens or look around you to notice God at work? If you will, then more and more in you routine life, you'll find wonder sneaking in to fill you with joy. Do you attribute everything that happens in your life to fate or luck, or coincidence or your own success or failures, rather than seeing God at work there, bringing you through even failures and disappointments . . to new life? If it's the latter then wonder will be a part of your life. To know the wonder again in our lives, it's imperative, you see, that we begin to look at the world again with eyes of faith. It's as simple as that.

Several years ago, Ron Del Bene, Episcopal Priest, spiritual director and author, talked in one of his books about how at one time he became frustrated by wanting to do more for our troubled world with so many global issues and crises facing us. He attended a seminar about such issues and afterwards expressed that frustration with the leader of the seminar, saying there were so many crises in our world he had trouble knowing where to begin. Well the seminar leader suggested he read the papers and pick one issue that especially troubled him, and then do some studying and reading about it, and finally to pick one organization that was involved in working on the problem, and get involved with them. So after doing his research, Del Bene, who'd focussed on hunger as among his chief concerns for our world, volunteered at a soup kitchen.

But right away, he noticed a problem. It seems, because of his upbringing and a strong father who hammered home the importance of cleanliness to his kids, Ron had become fastidiously obsessed with cleanliness himself as an adult, constantly washing his hands, dressing meticulously and the like-- obsessed with cleanliness. So . . when he went to volunteer in the soup kitchen, he noticed right away of course that many of the clients who came to be helped and fed there were not too clean.

This is how he described what happened then. "Given my heightened awareness of germs," he said, "I didn't touch the people coming through the line at the soup kitchen. This particular day we were serving chili and two pieces of buttered bread. The people thanked me as they took their food. Perhaps because I was wearing my clericals, some of them added, 'Jesus loves you.'

"I noticed one man in line," he said, " who looked even more scruffy and broken than the others. when he got to me, I was overwhelmed by his stench. Like the pull of a magnet, my gaze went to the dirt and dried blood on his hands. Before I realized what was happening, he clasped my left hand in both of his. 'Brother,' he said, 'I love you. Thanks for being here.'

"I swallowed hard before I could speak. 'I'm glad you came!'I said, trying to smile but not quite pulling it off. ' the Lord bless you.' I handed him his food and he shuffled off to one of the tables.

"The next man stepped up and as I handed him his chili, a little spilled on my left hand. Instinctively," says Ron, "I licked it off. Then the shock of what I had done hit me. That was the hand the man had just clasped! I momentarily froze, repelled to think that I had licked something he had just touched.

"Then all of a sudden the revulsion I felt dropped away and I sensed that I was on the road to Damascus. The light of awareness changed my vision and my heart warmed with new understanding. No longer was Jesus only the handsome man I had pictured in my mind and seen in paintings. Now he had a scarred, stubbled face and fingers stained yellow; he was dirty, he smelled bad, and he wore cast-off clothes. Jesus was one of the least of these my brothers, and I had just served him chili and bread." [DelBene, Ron. From the Heart--Stories of a Pastor's Walk With His People, Nashville: Upper Room Books, 1991, pp.32-33]

Have you looked at the world, yes even the world of dirt and suffering and hunger and pain, lately with eyes of faith. We need to do that you see. We need desperately as Christians to slow down, to look for the wonder, with eyes of faith, and behold then we will see: the wonder hadn't gone away! It was there all the time! : in the little child, in the one we called a bum on the street, in our loving family, and God's wondrous world around us, in those who come with us to receive his meal at the altar today. Take time to see with eyes of faith and wonder, and you will know the wonder of God--and the risen, ascended Christ. For then, like him, you'll be lifted up by God--with wonder! Amen.