Rev. Aaron Long: Empowered for the Mission
Empowered for the Mission
Jesus’ ascension is not the end of His work, but the beginning of ours—empowered by the Holy Spirit to be His witnesses to the ends of the earth.
We are to continue the work of Jesus on this earth. Acts is not a new story; it is a continuation of what Jesus taught. We see it at the very beginning of the book where Luke pretty much says the book of Acts is a volume 2. Jesus’ ministry didn’t end at the cross, it didn’t end at the resurrection, it continues on, through the visible church which is the body and bride of Christ here on earth. It continues through His people, the Christians. When we start a church or join a church we aren’t starting a new work, we are picking up the work that God is doing in the world. The work Jesus began.
Jesus promised the Holy Spirit to His followers before He left. We see this promise in the gospel of John and we are getting ready to see its fulfillment in the book of Acts. The disciples are told to wait for the gift from the Father – the baptism of the Holy Spirit. They are just like soldiers awaiting orders from their commanders before they go into battle. They are awaiting the weapons they need to fight the fight that is coming. From this we need to remember we cannot fulfill our mission, our fight, in our own strength. We must rely on the Spirit’s power.
The disciples start to ask Jesus a bunch of questions, one of which is about the restoration of the Jewish kingdom. Jesus surprises them with His answer, pointing them toward the real kingdom, the kingdom of God. The church is given a global mission. We are to go out into the whole world. We are not supposed to be focused only on the inside of the church; we are called to be focused outside the doors of our church, going into our community with the gospel, proclaiming the truth. God’s kingdom is much bigger than our own selfish little world.
When Jesus ascends He promises that He will return. He reminds the disciples they aren’t alone, they are going to receive the Holy Spirit, they are going to be empowered, they are going to know Jesus is coming back. The ascension is like a king going to prepare His kingdom, promising to come back for His people. We, as Christians, are living in a time between Christ’s ascension and His ultimate return in glory when He will wipe away every tear and right every wrong.
In this time in between, in this journey through the valley of the shadow of death, it is our duty, responsibility and command to remain faithful and witness to Christ’s love and works to a fallen and wicked world.
Now, how do we live this out? We live this out by remaining in step with the Holy Spirit. We can’t go rushing ahead of God’s timing. We want so badly sometimes to jump right to the middle battle that we don’t realize that Christ is telling us to wait on His timing.
We are called to live as witnesses, to show Christ to all around us in every way, every day. We are to live as Christians in witness to Christ by the thoughts, words and actions we take in the world around us. We are to keep a global vision, to always be working outside of the walls of the church, taking out the gospel, feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, visiting the sick.
We are to live with expectancy, to always keep in mind that Jesus is coming back and He is going to fix everything.
Always be looking for Jesus.
