Daily Devotion – May 28, 2020 – Dr. Pat Taylor Ellison
Acts 1:6-14
1:6 So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, is this the time when you will restore the kingdom to Israel?”
1:7 He replied, “It is not for you to know the times or periods that the Father has set by his own authority.
1:8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
1:9 When he had said this, as they were watching, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight.
1:10 While he was going and they were gazing up toward heaven, suddenly two men in white robes stood by them.
1:11 They said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up toward heaven? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.”
1:12 Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a sabbath day’s journey away.
1:13 When they had entered the city, they went to the room upstairs where they were staying, Peter, and John, and James, and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James son of Alphaeus, and Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of James.
1:14 All these were constantly devoting themselves to prayer, together with certain women, including Mary the mother of Jesus, as well as his brothers.
After Jesus had ascended and vanished from sight, the disciples were left on the hillside, a million questions forming, going unanswered, creating confusion among them. What do they do?
Luke, the author of Acts, says they stuck with the basics. They remembered who they were, and Luke names them all for us. This is one clue to how one should behave when one is confused and has many unanswered questions during unprecedented times: Name who you are. Know your identity. Get that from the people you are related to, if nothing else. Find your home base and make it your base of operations.
Then what must you do? Devote yourself to prayer, claiming as close relations the family of the person who has been removed from you, to make one effective group of survivors, grievers, and waiters for the next promise to be fulfilled.
In these times of world-wide infection and obsession, there are also many unanswered questions and much confusion and disagreement. But we have been given time, and, if we employ it, we have our faith. What is God up to in this moment with the world and the church?
To be faithful and effective now, we pray for the Holy Spirit’s presence among us, and together with other believers, work hard to discern what God is calling us to join him in doing in our family and in our congregation and in our city and in our world. Discernment is not automatic. We won’t get it right all alone in our rooms. We need a community of faith, brothers and sisters who differ from us who, together with us, are on a faith journey in a particular place. With them we test all things, as Paul exhorts. And when we do that, the Holy Spirit promises to be present with us to enable us to witness to God’s mighty and also tiny works. That is why God gives us power: to be witnesses for the Triune God.
Dear Lord, Thank you for loving us. We are not alone in these unprecedented times, just as the disciples were not alone after the Ascension. Remind us that we are a community of people who do not always agree, but who share our faith in you and share a job you have given us: witnesses to your son, Jesus. Amen.
