“How long should we wait?” for the professor who’s late to class. “How long should I wait?” for the red light to turn green? “How long should she wait?” for the love letter which never came? Scriptures to be read on the upcoming weekend seem to be just for me and those of you who think your computer is slow when it doesn’t boot for ten whole seconds… But impatience is part of the human condition: we want the kingdom to be established ASAP, even though our vision may have shrunk to a political revolution.
On Ascension, we should really look at this intermission between Easter and Pentecost as described by the author of Luke: LUKE 24:44-53 and ACTS 1:1-11 should be seen together as the holy history of Jesus’ leaving his disciples. Without this sense of abandonment the Church would have never gotten off the ground. (What have I said??) Left looking into the heavens would be our only hobby, to the neglect of the wounded and lonely in our care on earth. As the Confession says, “We happily ignore the needy and neglect the Gospel while we contemplate your coming again.”
And so we wait nearby for the Holy Spirit. Jesus told his followers to stay where they are until empowered–always difficult for me. “Let’s go! What’re we waiting for?!” But sometimes our mixture has to cook for a while until it becomes soup! God proposes not to raise a chosen clan or individual to the glory-days of imagined ancestry but to create bearers of that Kingdom yet unfolding…
Also associated with the Ascension is EPHESIANS 1:15-23– the author is expressing a hope for the development of God’s Kingdom in good time. “I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation as you come to know him, so that, with the eyes of your heart enlightened, you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance among the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power for us who believe, according to the working of this great power.” As. You. Come to know him…
Why DO you look into the heavens? Curiosity; maybe there’re shooting stars? Checking the weather by the clouds? Getting direction and a sense of balance from the fixed stars? Watching for Jesus’ return? All well & good–but our vision must include earthly needs and holy ministry also.
In the process of unfolding, Horace Brown King
Come every Tuesday to join in a discussion of scripture to be read on the upcoming weekend, at horacebrownking.com
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