Come, let us worship!

Sing to God, sing praises to God’s name;

Exalt God who rides upon the heavens;

YAHWEH is his name, rejoice before him!

Sing to God, O kingdoms of the earth;

Sing praises to God.

God rides in the heavens, the ancient heavens;

God sends forth God’s voice, The might voice.

Ascribe power to God;

His majesty is over Israel;

His strength is in the skies.

How wonderful is God in God’s holy places

Let us worship God together

A prayer to center you

Holy God,

We give you thanks for the gift of your son Jesus,

who lived and dwelt among us,

who gave of himself for our sake.

As we gather in this time and space,

center our spirits on you.

Call our hearts and minds to your word.

Fill us with hope and strengthen us for the path you have called us each to.

Amen

Holy Scripture:

Book of Acts

Chapter 1 verses 6 through 11

So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, is this the time when you will restore the kingdom to Israel?” 7 He replied, “It is not for you to know the times or periods that the Father has set by his own authority. 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.” 9 When he had said this, as they were watching, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. 10 While he was going and they were gazing up toward heaven, suddenly two men in white robes stood by them. 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.”

Reflection:

This text has some odd parts to it, I have to admit. A cloud comes and lifts Jesus away from their sight and disappears. Two men in robes then stand beside them to tell them that Jesus has been taken away but will come again in the same way he disappeared. It all seems a little mystical, hard to believe or understand. I cannot even begin to explain these oddities! When faced with odd Scriptures like this one, I have to simply ask, “what in this passage is important for me understand?”

There are four points in this text strick me as important:

First, we need to know from this Scripture that Jesus is not still on Earth. We need to know that Jesus does not want us to sit at his feet eternally. If the ressurrected Christ had lingered on Earth, people would only want to sit at Jesus’ feet. That is not God’s desire however. Which leads us to the second point.

We are called to go out.

We are called, not to sit at Christ’s feet, called not to worship only, but to go out. We are called to be the hands and feet of God in the world. Jesus leaves and returns to heaven so that we can strap on our shoes and go and be the hands and feet of Christ in the world.

The point: We are called to go the ends of the Earth.

Now, the ends of the earth is not nessarily far distances, the end of the earth is the places that cause us discomfort. We are called to reach out to those people and places that challenge us, where we do not feel overly comfortable. We are called to the homeless camp just down the street. We are called to the prision in the middle of town, we are called to stranger who is in need, whose name we do not yet know. These are the ends of the earth. We are called to stretch ourselves to spread the word of God, to share the good news of the gospel.

And the past point, We are not left alone to do this!

God has sent the Holy Spirit to guide us in our going. God has not left us alone. God’s Spirit is with us and within us as we go out to the ends of the Earth. It the Holy Spirit working within us that leads us, guides us, strengthens us to go to the places that push us. It is the Holy Spirit that opens our eyes to those in need. It is the Holy Spirit that shows us the people to whom we can reach out. It is the Holy Spirit that gives us the words to say in those situations.

Because Christ is no longer with us, we must go out to be the hands and feet of Christ. We must go out all that places that challenge us both far and near. We are given the Holy Spirit to lead us, guide us and fill us for this calling.

So let us not just stand up looking at the sky, but let us go and tell all the ends of the earth what Christ has done and continues to do for us.

The Word in Action…

Where is your ‘end of the Earth’? What places make you feel uncomfortable, but you know that you could make a difference in?

Go and tell!

Prayer of sending

God,

You sent us your Holy Spirit that we may continue the work of Christ Jesus to the ends of the Earth.

Help us know to listen to the moving of that Spirit, that our feet may be moved to those places that we sometimes fear, to those place where we feel called, to those places that might not be easy.

Give us the words, the courage, and wisdom to do your work here on Earth, now and always

Amen

Worship: Go and tell