Ascension and The Promise of the Holy Spirit
“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” (Acts 1:8)
The space between Ascension Day and the historic extraordinary Day of Pentecost was small enough to keep these two subjects connected – only ten days. The connection is further made by the Promise by Jesus at the former event and its fulfillment at the latter. How relevant is this promise today? Does the Holy Spirit still have work among us in this generation? Our world exhibits cracks, wars, divisions and disunity that at best is unproductive and at worst even injurious and destructive to many people! The alternate topic of this sharing is: ‘Connection by the Power of the Holy Spirit’ – catapulting a thesis that the Holy Spirit is the only potent agent of sustainably gathering people into an eternally productive and peaceful fellowship.
‘Remaking a broken world’ is the title of Christopher Ash’s book that carries the thesis that ‘the judgment of God leads to scattering and He shows his grace and faithfulness by gathering’. In his passionate prayer, Nehemiah asked God to remember His word to His servant Moses: ‘If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the peoples, but if you return to me and keep my commandments and do them… I will gather’ (Neh 1:8-9). Scatterings away from Eden, at Babel, to Assyria, and to Babylon were such typical judgments, while fellowship gatherings at Sinai, at the Jerusalem Temple, at the Cross, and in the glorious eternal Kingdom are such gracious blessings. The brokenness of our world is propagated by the same evil spirit that brought about the scatterings of the Biblical times – the pride of the heart. The powerful symbol of tongues – men of Galilee speaking in different languages and people from different tribes understanding one message of good news – was a symbol of God gathering his people, the very opposite of what He did at Babel.
The journey of Brexit is a telling symbol: after a tough journey of over three years in which two Prime Ministers resigned and a premature election had to be held, the deadlock seemed to have been solved, and on 31 January2020 Britain exit the EU. But no sooner had this happened than the coronavirus pandemic climbed towards the peak, speaking to the world the need to work together, because ‘the pandemic will not be over anywhere until it is over everywhere’. Ongoing trade deal negotiation between UK and EU are not so smooth either – all these show that scattering is painful.
Today we remember that at His Ascension, Jesus Christ promised the gift of the Holy Spirit who would empower the disciples to be witnesses of the good news in the whole world. He is the only potent agent of sustainably gathering people into an eternally productive and peaceful fellowship – whether at family level, organization, government or even regional cooperation; we need Him in all aspects of our lives.
God bless you all.