Dear St. John's Community,
Today is the Day of Ascension. It marks the moment when—after walking among them in risen form for forty days—Jesus rose into the heavens before the eyes of the disciples. In ten more days the Holy Spirit would arrive at Pentecost.
I saw a cartoon of this once. In it the disciples are all looking up, seeing the bare feet of Jesus about to be swallowed into a cloud, and one is saying to the others, "Now what?"
To me, the message is about how God wants to empower us.
William Sloane Coffin lo
ved to say that
“we want God to be strong, so that we can be weak. But [God] wants to be weak so that we can be strong.”
By ascending, Jesus is empowering the disciples. He is letting them rise up to take on the ministry to which they have been called. They cannot just let him do it for them.
I see this relating to our experience right now as well. It's upon us all to live for the Kingdom the best we can. There are opportunities to feel down and discouraged. But there are likewise opportunities to lift one another up, to make a difference, and to be healers. We can do this not merely in Jesus' name, but following Jesus' way.
Happy Ascension Day!
Rob+
