Ascension Day for Kirwan Uniting Church's Keep in Touch pew sheet.

Today as I write this, Thursday just gone as you read it, is Ascension Day.  Read Luke’s account in Acts 1  -  I’d take up both sides of Keep in Touch if I post the whole passage. It happens during one of the Bible’s “In between” times, between Jesus’ resurrection and the Spirit coming to the Church at Pentecost. The disciples, flushed with happiness that Jesus has conquered death and assuming that He will soon conquer the occupying Romans and give  them (the disciples) prestigious positions in the new Kingdom, ask Jesus when that will happen. But Jesus tells them that they will have power, just not the sort of power for which they were hoping.  “Go back to Jerusalem and wait”, says Jesus.  Back to the very place where He had recently been crucified. And the power which they would receive would not be to Lord it over their erstwhile enemies, but rather to witness to them, and to the whole world. The word, “Witness”, would carry foreboding because it has the same meaning as “Martyr”.
You know, we’re told exactly the same thing as those disciples. Go to where we might have experienced apathy at best or rejection at worst. And witness to people who don’t even have a reference point of who Jesus is and what He has done for us. Don’t waste time gazing up waiting for Jesus to come back, but witness in the calm assurance that He will come back. Can’t do it, you’re not equipped? You are equipped , whether you know it or not, that’s the Pentecost part of the story. “And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Matthew 28)

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Ramble for Kirwan Uniting Church Keeping in Touch pew sheet 25 June 2023.

  (I wonder if they've missed me? 😊) Well, we’ve lived in our little cottage for six months now. We love it, it’s comfortable and homely, and very “us” - you know what I mean by that. Maudie the German Shepherd loves it, she can cavort around the yard all day long, fetching balls which Leisa throws morning and evening, and making me chase her for those same balls during the day while Leisa is at work to pay the mortgage. I think that the cockatiels love it. It’s difficult to tell. Holly, the hen bird, would never let on, and Glimfeather, the cock bird, would chirp happily in a Force 4 cyclone. I’m sitting on the front deck as I tap this, looking up at Castle Hill right behind us. It’s not perfect, of course. The irrigation points leak, and the system is counter-intuitive in the extreme to programme. The bathroom slopes alarmingly to one end. It’s on one of the busiest roads in Townsville. That’s not such a problem for me until I put my hearing aids in. Maudie loves it most of all
Read more

Ramble for Kirwan Uniting Church Keeping in Touch pew sheet 1 January 2023

  Our new pad has an electrically operated gate for our cars to come in and out (to our electrically operated garage, which is being used for storing assorted unopened and part-opened boxes for the time being.) The pedestrian gate opener is obstructed (on purpose, for security reasons) by a padlock. So how do parcel deliverers, meter readers and bearers of mulled wine (thankyou Robin   😊 ) gain ingress? Well, they press the groovy wi-fi connected camera doorbell which rings my and Leisa’s iPhone, wherever we might be in the world, displays their pic and allows one or both of us to tell them that we’ll be right down (if the dog is safely in) or ignore them if we’re in Woop Woop so that they can leave goodies at North Ward or JCU PO. Except it’s not connected yet. Give me a day or two to understand the accompanying installation instructions. Two well-known instances in scripture of Jesus, as it were, pressing the doorbell, are in Revelation 3: “Behold I stand at the door and knock.” And
Read more

Ramble for Kirwan Uniting Church Keeping in Touch pew sheet 12 February 2023

  While there’s still time to dash out and buy a card, let me remind you that it’s Valentine’s Day on Tuesday. It’s also Gail Mumme’s and Shirley Nuss’ birthdays, so you can buy them a card for each occasion. Just remember that it’s traditional that a Valentine card should be from an anonymous admirer. On the first Valentine after we started going out, I composed a poem and faxed it to Leisa, or rather I faxed it to the firm of structural engineers for whom she worked. It was entitled, “The Poet’s Plea to a Civil Engineer”, and dealt with the pain of separation. I lived in West Sussex, while Leisa lived and worked Mon – Fri in London. The poignant last two lines are: If things don’t get better, I’ll jump in the sea, Sir, So build me a tunnel from Sussex to Leisa.   A few weeks later, she flew to Egypt on holiday, and I composed another poem on the inauspicious topic of a Romanian Airways Tupolev. Since then, the Muse has largely left me.   Poetry makes up a large part of the Bible. In
Read more