In his Gospel, Luke had told the story of Jesus up to His suffering, crucifixion, death, resurrection, and ascension. In the book of Acts, Luke tells the story of Jesus at work in the world through His Holy Spirit. After the resurrection Jesus had “presented Himself alive…by many convincing proofs, appearing to the them over a period of forty days and speaking of the things concerning the kingdom of God” (Acts 1:3). At the end of that time, Jesus said to His disciples, “John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now” (Acts 1:5). The disciples wondered if this would be the time when God would restore “the kingdom to Israel” (vs. 6). Jesus then said something extremely important, something we need to remember today, “It is not for you to know times or epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority; but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth” (vs. 7-8).
Now the stage was set for what God was going to do next in the world. Also, apparently all the disciples needed to know at that time was the fact that they were going to “receive power” when they would “be baptized with the Holy Spirit.” This baptism, this power, would enable them to be “witnesses” of Jesus, and would set into motion a movement that is still underway in the twenty-first century.
Today, the realities that birthed the Church two thousand years ago are the same realties that breathe life into the Church today. The resurrected and now living Lord Jesus Christ, still invites people into His beloved family, still baptizes them with the Holy Spirit, still enables them to be living witness of the Christ, and does it all around the world.
Have you ever wondered about what it really means to live as a follower of Jesus in your world? Jesus says it means that we are His witnesses. Caught up into His grace, mercy, love, and forgiveness, we live them out. We tell the truth. We witness to His life. We take our lives, broken and fragile though they be, and we let God fill us with the Life of His Holy Spirit, and we let our “light shine before (people in our world) in such a way that that may see [our] good works, and glorify [our] Father who is in heaven” (Matt. 5:16).
Maybe the question that is ours to answer today is, “what are some practical, hands on, ways we can live out the grace, mercy, love, and forgiveness of Jesus?” "Good works" Think about this. How can we live so that others may see in us the Jesus who loves us and whom we love?
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