Re: Calibrate
Peter Neilson
May 16, 2021
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Acts 1: 1-11 (NIVUK)
1 In my former book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach 2 until the day he was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles he had chosen. 3 After his suffering, he presented himself to them and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God. 4 On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: ‘Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. 5 For John baptised with water, but in a few days you will be baptised with the Holy Spirit.’
6 Then they gathered round him and asked him, ‘Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?’
7 He said to them: ‘It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.’
9 After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight.
10 They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. 11 ‘Men of Galilee,’ they said, ‘why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.’
Six weeks in the presence of the Risen Christ speaking about the Kingdom of God, and still they default to the old politicised vision of “restoring the Kingdom to Israel.” Old mindsets are hard to recalibrate. The alternative option feels inadequate — “You will be my witnesses” — even with the promised power of the Holy Spirit. What is the social shape of this new Kingdom to be?
Unless… unless this Jesus is more than we know, embracing heaven and earth, providing the Omega point to history, the one who “holds all things together” (Colossians 1:17). Time to recalibrate our vision of Jesus and what he has yet to do in our nation. What if we confess Him as Lord in our time, and let society find in him a new gravitational centre that pulls us together in a new configuration?
In his timely book, Christ in Crisis, Jim Wallis encourages us to lay aside our ideological preferences and begin to re-centre our lives and churches in Jesus. A radical following of this Lord of all, will model a community life that is reset around the values of neighbour, truth, service, courage, justice, and care for the “least of these”. That is the hidden potential of being his witnesses.
PRAYER:
Lord Jesus Christ, Risen from the dead,
Ascended to the Father,
To You is given all authority in heaven and on earth.
With the disciples, we stand amazed
At the mystery as You return to glory.
We take time to gaze in wonder:
To slip the moorings of our limited faith
And let You carry us on the river of the Spirit
Into the open ocean of resurrection possibilities.
Beyond the problems that perplex us — new wisdom.
Beyond the fears that paralyse us — new confidence.
Beyond the ideas that confine us — new visions.
Beyond the cynicism that blinds us — new hope.
Lord Jesus, we offer ourselves to be your witnesses today,
Pointing to You by our faithful living, our life-giving words,
And our caring attitudes and actions,
Trusting You to draw others to follow You. AMEN
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