More Confusion

The disciples had been through a lot. They witnessed the rapid rise and fall of Jesus’s ministry. They thought they had given everything to follow Jesus, but when it all came crashing down and in his greatest moment of need, they all either abandoned him or flat-out denied they had anything to do with him. After Jesus’s death, they essentially returned to their old way of life. And then the rumours started. Jesus was alive, risen from the dead. With a mixture of doubt, disbelief, and faint hope, they met the risen Christ.

But then the disciples must have been confused when Jesus gives them a curious instruction: “He ordered them not to leave Jerusalem but to wait for what the Father had promised.” But Jerusalem was the place haunted by the memory of their failure to stay with Jesus. Rather than avoiding Jerusalem, Jesus invites his disciples to remain in their place of failure until they received the promises of God. Like the disciples, we are quick to run away from our places of failure. We want to distance ourselves from those relationships and situations where we have failed.

The primary text on Ascension Day may be inviting us to consider those times in our life when we have failed. What if our failures could be a new opportunity to receive the promises of God? The contrast of the disciples’ reaction to the ascension of Christ is interesting to note. In Acts 1 the disciples are seemingly stunned and stand there looking into the sky. Finally, two men in white robes come to them and question why they are looking into heaven and offer a word of hope. Later the disciples are in an upper room with the doors locked out of fear right before Pentecost happens. We hear that the disciples returned to Jerusalem “overwhelmed with joy.”

 

It can be important to point out that either reaction to a call of returning to our places of failure is appropriate. For some people, it can be a great release and a moment of joy to think that enough time has passed that they can now revisit their places of failure with new eyes and understanding. For others, it can grip them with fear and stun them. Either way, the promise of God is that the Holy Spirit will meet us in our places of failure and work to bring redemption.

The Apostle Paul provides an interesting example of the theme that God calls us to return to our place of failure to receive the power and promises of God. Paul’s failure included the persecution of the early church. In a remarkable turn of events, Paul awkwardly returns to his place of failure with the apostles in Jerusalem seeking their forgiveness and instruction. Paul received the power of God and became zealous for spreading the good news all over the known world.

Jesus has entrusted to him all the gifts that God chooses to give. This action of God and Jesus respectively, giving and receiving, is evidence of the special trust and closeness between them.  All that is in God's power is entrusted to Jesus' charge. Giving and receiving.  Isn't that our experience of life?  For - echoing the prayer of St. Francis - it is in receiving that we learn to give, and it is in giving that we learn to receive.  How we embody these characteristics in our lives usually shapes how trusting we are. The disciples learned this and Paul learned about this on his journey to share

the good news of Jesus.