Servants of the King

Christ’s Ascension is always worth celebrating, not just on Ascension Day! It assures us that Jesus has finished his work of salvation, and that he now reigns. It prepares for the continuation of his mission through his Spirit-empowered followers.

Standing on the edge of such a momentous event, the crucifixion and resurrection behind them, and with the benefit of Jesus’ post-resurrection teaching, the disciples still fail to understand. They are focused on a narrow nationalistic vision, the restoration of Israel, failing to see that God’s plan has always been the restoration of humanity through the descendants of Abraham (Gen. 12:1-3). Learning from their failure, we should recognize the possibility that our own understanding of God’s purposes is still too limited. Like them, we may fail to catch the full dimensions of the Spirit’s universal activity and the global reach of God’s saving power. We, too, can have an inward rather than an outward focus, behaving as though the Church exists for us rather than for the world, doing what satisfies us rather than what will make the gospel intelligible and attractive to those outside.

The Spirit is always leading us, the people of God, beyond our existing boundaries. Our mission is not just to Jerusalem, whatever that may be for us, nor even to our equivalent of Judea and Samaria, but to the ends of the earth (8). This can only be accomplished in the power of the Spirit (Mark 1:8), which is the gift of the Father (4), in whom we are immersed (5). Baptism with the Spirit (5) suggests not a one-time experience, but life continually lived in an atmosphere of the Spirit, surrounded by him, living in him, energized by him. In no other way can our witness to the activity of God in Christ be effective.

Think about your own missionary vision and that of your church. What would you change in light of today’s reading?