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. Acts 1:8
Yesterday's post makes no sense without the context of the verse above. The word makes it clear that Jesus appeared to his disciples after the resurrection over a period of forty days (Acts 1:3). On one such occasion he informed them of his future plans for them involving the Holy Spirit. He told them that they were going to receive the Holy Spirit and that they were going to be his witnesses throughout their city, the region and the into the whole world. In essence he was saying that the church was going to be as one theologian writes, "the continuation of the Lord's presence and minitry in the world" (Erickson, 1992). What a powerful statement. If you read what I just wrote sort of quickly, you may be suffering right now from a syndrome called, "IhearditbutIdon'tseewhatthebigdealis." The big deal is, God's spirit invades the redeemed so that they continue the Lord's presence and ministry into the world. This sounds so spiritually ho-hum....we have heard it all our lives....but, do we really get it? Lord, so I guess you are counting on me to be a witness for you. It doesn't appear this is optional. Thank you for giving me the Holy Spirit so that I can be a powerful witness for you. Provide clarity to the ministry you are desiring to accomplish through me. Bring my life into alignment with your will.
Ah, but witnesses regarding what, exactly? That's the problem. There's universal agreement that we, indwelt by the Spirit, are to be witnesses. Did Jesus tell his disciples, "Now that I'm resurrected, I'm going to rocket off this evil earth into outer space to God's good heaven and you are to be witnesses to tell people how to come join me when they die."? Or, does the resurrection and ascension show that by being vindicated in his Messiahship, Jesus was enthroned as King of the whole world by God and that we are to be witnesses ("heralds" - Wright, Acts for Everyone Pt. 1) announcing that Jesus is King right now and that the principalities and powers of this world are not. Lots more to be chewed over here - the meaning of the ascension really doesn't get discussed enough in my opinion.
ReplyDeleteAll authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I will be with you always, to the very end of the age. Mt.28:18-20
ReplyDeleteAn exciting and pertinent text to be sure, but still, just a text- a starting point. And we're right back to the question of what does the text mean? If texts were self-explanatory, then we would have a single world wide church all pulling in the same direction. So we've got to work on the meanings - learn the context, understand how the hearers may have heard them, read what scholars have said over the ages, figure out their place in God's great narrative about how He's going to put the world to rights, and pray over them. The more of us who try to do this in the Spirit (collectively, I'm thinking, not just individually), the more we'll discover what "authentic" Christian life is about.
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