Staying Hope Filled

Today is Pentecost Sunday! The Church’s Official Birthday, and for believers across the world, celebratory vibes should be the order of the day. However, I have a confession to make: birthdays are a bit of a mixed blessing of late, even with mine a little over a week away. On the one hand I can safely say I will never tire of cake, dressing up, opportunities to gather loved ones together, dance until limbs ache and generally have a fantastic time. However, there is also the horrible march of time thoughts; moments where I look back on years passed with a twinge of if only and why-ever-not?  Also, things might take a tiny bit longer to do than before and let’s not even begin talking about a face and body that might not have entirely kept up with your internal (delusional perhaps?) recollection of it!

Perhaps because as Christos we are always looking at our faith from the rather pleasing lens of both Jesus arrival and resurrection and the all-important outpouring of the Holy Spirit that happened at Pentecost, we forget how much waiting preceded it. We aren’t talking a few weeks as was the case with the disciples, we are talking whole centuries. Generations of people were born, went through life’s milestones, grew old and died and still with no Jesus arrived.  It must have been pretty hard to stay poso and upbeat in I-don’t-know-which hundred BC with stretch marks, crow’s feet, a scratchy tunic to wear and stuck in a dead-end position working one of the fields with less glamourous crops growing in it. And yet that was the lot of many believers during the ages of the Prophets. A time filled with hardship and bleakness, and the proverbial locusts eating years, opportunities, chances and joy.

Joel, one of the Minor Prophets in the Old Testament brings all of this to the fore: he talks about he years of lack vividly, evokes those wretched swarms of locusts eating people’s good years and captivity and every sort of hardship going. But then there is a change of tone, one that happens with the arrival of the Messiah and the restoration that follows:

“It will come about after this that I will pour out my Spirit on all mankind. And your sons and daughters will prophesy. Your old men will dream dreams, your young men will have visions.” Joel 2:28

Joel was writing these words centuries before Pentecost Sunday, but there it is a promised - an outpouring of the Spirit of God. As we read the verse we see the extent of inclusiveness of this outpouring – it is for all mankind; men and women are equally blessed with the gifts of prophesy, and regardless of age all are mightily used by God.

We live an age that is obsessed with measurement. You are only as good as the external parameters out there and Youth and Beauty and Wealth are the new trinity rather than Father, Son and Holy Spirit. This is simply untrue. The greatest gift, until Jesus returns once more is the Holy Spirit – which in other verses is referred to as the ‘Counsellor’.  Instead of seeking approval in the different trinities made by man, seek advice and direction from the Holy Spirit first. Trust that whatever your life stage, you are still of value to the Creator and that your contribution is vital and unique to you and of infinite import to the Kingdom. And if that piece of good news does not get you in a party mood, then just know we are living in the hope filled aftermath of all that happened before and as such can tap into the Holy Spirit whenever we need. I am off to sip some fizz and dance vigorously, I suggest you do the same!

Unlucky For Some

It’s almost over in most parts of the world, but let’s be real – did anything actually bad happen? Well, maybe one thing – the Air Conditioning in our offices stopped working which rendered any matte and chic make-up look a complete waste of time – but really did Friday 13^th live up to all of it’ expectant horrors, fears and general anxiety upping expectations?

I have always been struck about the power superstition plays on the heart and mind of the believer. From walking under a ladder to avoiding planning anything significant falling on the 13^th, the date has historically been so heavy with portents of the more negative kind. People having major issues with the date go back to mediaeval times when both the date of the Original Maundy Thursday (13^th of Nisan for all you theology buffs out there) was considered auspicious for all of the wrong reasons as it precipitated Jesus’ death. Furthermore, overt dislike for the number 13 really took hold when believers considered the number of diners in the Upper Room that fateful night: As the Bingo Caller rhyme goes ‘Unlucky for Some, Three and One!’ 

But let’s take a step back. How unfortunate would it have been to be there? Dining with Jesus – with only eleven other people fighting for his attention. How intimate and enthralling, inspiring and flipping exciting would that supper have been?! And maybe it is because I am a foodie, but I have this consistent thought that the unleavened bread would have been the lightest and most delicious bread ever, maybe even dusted with Sumac or another exotic Middle Eastern spice, the wine would make Chateau Latour seem vinegar like in quality and the Lamb would have been fall of the bone tender. But I digress, there couldn’t really be a greater privilege than to have been one of Jesus’ chosen twelve. The Gospels all talk of greater numbers being followers, but it is the twelve who were the strategic ones. They got a front-row seat on Jesus’ glory. Hung out with him on quiet days, witnessed the remarkable and observed the mundane.

When the hour came, Jesus and his apostles reclined at the table. And he said to them, “I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. For I tell you, I will not eat it again until it finds fulfillment in the kingdom of God.” After taking the cup, he gave thanks and said, “Take this and divide it among you.  For I tell you I will not drink again from the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.” And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.” Luke 22:14 -20

There was nothing unfortunate about the Last Supper. Firstly, it was planned: Jesus told the disciples to make arrangements ahead of time. Tellingly, there was a specific purpose to it aside from observing the Passover: Jesus wanted to have that one last meal with his closest friends before his Passion. He knew explicitly that suffering lay ahead. He promised not to drink again until the fulfillment of God’s Kingdom and finally the first Communion was held with bread and wine blessed ahead of being shared, something that believers still do to this day.

But perhaps what should banish any aspect of fear and dread around the 13^th is the knowledge of what happened afterwards: the resurrection and its promise of reconciliation for us all. There is nothing random about the God we serve and the life, death and resurrection of his only son are central to his good plan for all of humankind. As were the number people at the Last Supper and everything that has followed since. Jesus’ Passion expresses love at its most selfless and boundless. And unequivocally proves that we are the luckiest of all. 

The Temporary Farewell

I am completely rubbish at goodbyes. Take me to an airport and even if I do not dissolve into tears at the Departure Gate I will be guaranteed to either back home (if I am not the one travelling) or be bleary eyed as the other travelers excitedly bag bargains in Duty Free. Today, on Ascension Day, we are reminded of the ultimate goodbye, when Jesus having risen and hung out with the disciples for a further forty days ascended to heaven. 

Ascension Day has somewhat faded in the average Christo’s relevance and importance. Sandwiched between the very exciting extravaganzas that are Easter and the Church’s very own birthday which is Pentecost, it is often a bit of a by-the-way. But in light of my own attitudes to farewells from loved ones, how flipping traumatic the preceding couple of months must have been for the disciples, much less Ascension Day? They rock up in Jerusalem thinking that they are going to start a revolution, instead see their Master crucified, breathe a collective sigh of relief when he resurrects only to see him go in a cloud to heaven.  Surely there would have been some who said something along the lines of ‘Why are you going and leaving in this hectic, messy, difficult to navigate world? Surely your resurrection means we can really kick-off, get rid of the socio-political oppression of Rome and the Pharisees, vanquish everyday hardships, Hey get rid of death itself. But please don’t go and leave us alone!”

But if that had been the case then the story would have ended there. Mark’s Gospel gives a clue into the purpose of Jesus’ Ascension:

“After the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, he was taken up into heaven and he sat at the right hand of God. Then the disciples went out and preached everywhere, and the Lord worked with them and confirmed his word by the signs that accompanied it. Mark 16:19-20

Apart from the very serious business of being at the right hand of the Father, no longer separated from him as he had bought back our salvation, Jesus had very clearly handed over the baton. To us. Yes, pretty amazing. He ascended to heaven AFTER he had spent time with the disciples, taught them, fortified them for the journey ahead and given them the great commission  - that this great gift of Jesus in one’s life – could not just be hogged by them alone but must be shared with all of humanity. The disciples good on their word went about the business of preaching and Jesus for his part confirmed that all they were proclaiming was not elaborate hog-wash, but the real deal as ‘signs accompanied it’ as stated in the verse.

The journey then and now is not easy for Christos. There will be times when you just wish the Second Coming could hurry up and come already, especially when one witnesses the scale of brokenness around the world or even closer to home. The Book of Acts hints at the duality of Ascension Day with angels having to give some of the disciples a kick up the proverbial to get on with the work in hand that Jesus has entrusted them to participate in.

“They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. “Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.” Acts1:10-11

There will be times when you will look up to the heavens and want a celestial hand to sort things out for you, and sometimes prayers, assistance and comfort may come immediately. But the God we serve has actually entrusted us to partner with him in his Divine Purposes. We are told he will return but in the interim we are to love, work, heal and teach just as he did. So let’s rise to the occasion of his expectations, knowing that when we need help and encouragement he is with us always.