Acts 1:6-11
Just
as I was walking inside to do this blog, my neighbor Mike walked up to
the porch and asked a favor. He needed some cigarettes, and asked if I
could bum him a couple. Knowing that a couple wouldn't last him until
tomorrow, I offered to take him to the gas station to get a pack. So, we
left. Along the way, he asked for another favor - twenty bucks for
groceries. So, I gave him twenty and we went to the town grocery store.
He didn't have shoes on, and I don't know if he owns any.
As we were driving, he told me that he and his wife are really struggling to make it right now. They were living in a hotel on the main street, but finally found this garage next door to me to move into. The landlord, who is my landlord as well, told them he could pay his rent my making improvements and repairs to her properties. So, he turned the garage into a full-blown apartment.
Mike is about sixty years old, has blue eyes, a scruffy white beard, and a great personality. He said he was about ready to go to MacDonald's to panhandle, but decided instead to take a walk of faith up to my porch.
The words of today's passage were rolling through my head as we drove. The disciples asked Jesus, "Are you going to restore the kingdom back to Israel now? Is it time?" Essentially, they were asking, "Ok, now that you've done your deal, what's in it for us?" The apostles were waiting on a power shift. Finally, they though, the power held in the Roman Empire will be handed over to the nation of Israel. But, Jesus had other thoughts. "No, it's not your business to be thinking about the time. Your job is to go out and be my witnesses. I'm sending my spirit to help you."
Whenever I have these encounters with people, there's always this tension of purpose. Is my job to tell them about Jesus? Is my job to invite them into Christianity? Is my job to be a friend? Is my job to be a banker?
I believe the disciples had a different agenda than Jesus did at this occurrence in time. The disciples were thinking about power. Jesus was thinking about restoration. The message we carry is the good news that peace has infinitely been made between God and man. Reconciliation has happened. Salvation is here. Restoration is unfolding. So, when people like Mike show up at our front porches, we can confidently say, "Yes." We believe that all of creation is being restored back to the way God intended it to be. So, little things like twenty bucks and cigarettes become small parts of a great whole of restoration. It's not about getting people to join our clubs so they can become more powerful and more expansive. It's about noticing the small, seemingly minute opportunities to take what God has already done through Jesus in making infinite peace, and sharing that with the world around us.
The agenda of following Jesus is not about making an already powerful institution more powerful. It's about taking the peace that God has made with mankind and giving it away.
As we were driving, he told me that he and his wife are really struggling to make it right now. They were living in a hotel on the main street, but finally found this garage next door to me to move into. The landlord, who is my landlord as well, told them he could pay his rent my making improvements and repairs to her properties. So, he turned the garage into a full-blown apartment.
Mike is about sixty years old, has blue eyes, a scruffy white beard, and a great personality. He said he was about ready to go to MacDonald's to panhandle, but decided instead to take a walk of faith up to my porch.
The words of today's passage were rolling through my head as we drove. The disciples asked Jesus, "Are you going to restore the kingdom back to Israel now? Is it time?" Essentially, they were asking, "Ok, now that you've done your deal, what's in it for us?" The apostles were waiting on a power shift. Finally, they though, the power held in the Roman Empire will be handed over to the nation of Israel. But, Jesus had other thoughts. "No, it's not your business to be thinking about the time. Your job is to go out and be my witnesses. I'm sending my spirit to help you."
Whenever I have these encounters with people, there's always this tension of purpose. Is my job to tell them about Jesus? Is my job to invite them into Christianity? Is my job to be a friend? Is my job to be a banker?
I believe the disciples had a different agenda than Jesus did at this occurrence in time. The disciples were thinking about power. Jesus was thinking about restoration. The message we carry is the good news that peace has infinitely been made between God and man. Reconciliation has happened. Salvation is here. Restoration is unfolding. So, when people like Mike show up at our front porches, we can confidently say, "Yes." We believe that all of creation is being restored back to the way God intended it to be. So, little things like twenty bucks and cigarettes become small parts of a great whole of restoration. It's not about getting people to join our clubs so they can become more powerful and more expansive. It's about noticing the small, seemingly minute opportunities to take what God has already done through Jesus in making infinite peace, and sharing that with the world around us.
The agenda of following Jesus is not about making an already powerful institution more powerful. It's about taking the peace that God has made with mankind and giving it away.
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