Happy Memorial Day Weekend… First and foremost, let us call to mind the brave men and women who have paid the ultimate sacrifice, on whose shoulders we stand this day. We are free and we are blessed because of them!
The number forty appears many times in the Bible:
Forty days and nights of rain during the flood
Moses lived forty years in Egypt
Moses spent forty days on Mount Sinai
The Jews journeyed through the desert for forty years to the Promised Land
Jonah preached forty days to Nineveh
The prophet Ezekiel laid on his right side for forty days to symbolize the sins of Judah
Elijah fasted for forty days on Mount Horeb
Goliath taunted Israel for forty days
Jesus fasted in the desert forty days
And now, it has been forty days after the resurrection of Christ.
Generally speaking, the number forty has been considered to be used in the Bible as a rounded number. It was used to express a complete period of time rather than expressions like “many” or “some.” It would be similar to referring to a number of years ranging from eight to twelve as “about a decade.” In this case, the number forty is being used instead of saying “a few days” or “a few decades.”
So during this most recent “complete period of time” what have we accomplished? Our 40 days of Lent prepared us for Easter… We prayed, we fasted, and we gave of ourselves so that at this point in our faith journey we would know the risen Lord that much better! During these past 40 days of Easter leading up today, maybe our prepared hearts have become ready to truly serve as the Lord has asked.
Like Paul welcomed the Ephesians, I too welcome you to this next great period of time in your life! “May the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, give you a Spirit of wisdom and revelation resulting in knowledge of him. May the eyes of your hearts be enlightened, that you may know what is the hope that belongs to his call…”
Our Lord challenges us in the Gospel today that “we are witnesses of these things,” and that the promise of God the Father will be upon you; but he adds, “stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.”
Stay in the city…
For today, in this moment, let’s call this city LIFE, and like the Apostles on the day of Jesus’ Ascension, we have been prepared for this day!
So, “why are you standing there looking at the sky?” Which I believe is a different way saying, what are you waiting for? We’ve been prepared to LIVE and to LOVE… There is no room for DEATH and HATE. There is no place for evil in our life, our “city,” our state, our country, or our world!
While it may seem futile, or we may feel helpless in the aftermath of yet another shooting, this LIFE that we seek to attain starts with prayer, followed by intentional acts of LOVE… Even in the face of such evil!
If there’s ever a way to honor those dear children and teachers so senselessly murdered this week, it starts here today… In this Church, at this table. Let us be fed and nourished by our Lord, so that we might step back into this #1 City of ours to show others the strength of the Father, the love of the Son, and the power of the Holy Spirit.
As we hear in today’s Word: “This Jesus who has been taken up from you into heaven will return in the same way as you have seen him going into heaven.” He is not gone… The Feast of the Ascension is not a dramatic exit, but rather a continuation of all that has been promised. In the upcoming weeks we will celebrate the coming of the Holy Spirit, the reality of our God in the mystery of the Trinity and the joy of his presence in his Body and Blood on Corpus Christi.
The number forty appears many times in the Bible:
Forty days and nights of rain during the flood
Moses lived forty years in Egypt
Moses spent forty days on Mount Sinai
The Jews journeyed through the desert for forty years to the Promised Land
Jonah preached forty days to Nineveh
The prophet Ezekiel laid on his right side for forty days to symbolize the sins of Judah
Elijah fasted for forty days on Mount Horeb
Goliath taunted Israel for forty days
Jesus fasted in the desert forty days
And now, it has been forty days after the resurrection of Christ.
Generally speaking, the number forty has been considered to be used in the Bible as a rounded number. It was used to express a complete period of time rather than expressions like “many” or “some.” It would be similar to referring to a number of years ranging from eight to twelve as “about a decade.” In this case, the number forty is being used instead of saying “a few days” or “a few decades.”
So during this most recent “complete period of time” what have we accomplished? Our 40 days of Lent prepared us for Easter… We prayed, we fasted, and we gave of ourselves so that at this point in our faith journey we would know the risen Lord that much better! During these past 40 days of Easter leading up today, maybe our prepared hearts have become ready to truly serve as the Lord has asked.
Like Paul welcomed the Ephesians, I too welcome you to this next great period of time in your life! “May the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, give you a Spirit of wisdom and revelation resulting in knowledge of him. May the eyes of your hearts be enlightened, that you may know what is the hope that belongs to his call…”
Our Lord challenges us in the Gospel today that “we are witnesses of these things,” and that the promise of God the Father will be upon you; but he adds, “stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.”
Stay in the city…
For today, in this moment, let’s call this city LIFE, and like the Apostles on the day of Jesus’ Ascension, we have been prepared for this day!
So, “why are you standing there looking at the sky?” Which I believe is a different way saying, what are you waiting for? We’ve been prepared to LIVE and to LOVE… There is no room for DEATH and HATE. There is no place for evil in our life, our “city,” our state, our country, or our world!
While it may seem futile, or we may feel helpless in the aftermath of yet another shooting, this LIFE that we seek to attain starts with prayer, followed by intentional acts of LOVE… Even in the face of such evil!
If there’s ever a way to honor those dear children and teachers so senselessly murdered this week, it starts here today… In this Church, at this table. Let us be fed and nourished by our Lord, so that we might step back into this #1 City of ours to show others the strength of the Father, the love of the Son, and the power of the Holy Spirit.
As we hear in today’s Word: “This Jesus who has been taken up from you into heaven will return in the same way as you have seen him going into heaven.” He is not gone… The Feast of the Ascension is not a dramatic exit, but rather a continuation of all that has been promised. In the upcoming weeks we will celebrate the coming of the Holy Spirit, the reality of our God in the mystery of the Trinity and the joy of his presence in his Body and Blood on Corpus Christi.
Comments
Post a Comment