Read Today's Scripture
Nothing Can take away our Joy
Yesterday, Jesus ascended back up into heaven. And today, what are we supposed to feel? Perhaps grief. Don’t we wish that the resurrected Jesus was still here with us? It’d make being a witness a whole lot easier! But perhaps, we also feel distant. We can’t really see or hear him as clearly as we would if he was with us in person. But perhaps also impatient anticipation. We know that in 10 days, Christ’s Spirit will descend upon us; but 10 days can feel like a long time. Ask a mother expecting, or a couple getting married in 10 days. And finally, perhaps also disorientation. What are we supposed to do while we wait, not just for Christ’s Spirit to come upon us, but for Christ himself to return? This is perhaps what the disciples felt during these 10 days between Ascension and Pentecost. Now, we live in the wake of Pentecost—God's Spirit being poured out upon the Church, and upon us when we entered his family. So, although we aren’t waiting for Christ’s Spirit, we wait for Christ’s return. What do we do during these days? We bear witness to him as he is revealed in his Word. This is what the disciples do in today’s Acts reading: Paul worked as a tentmaker with fellow Christians while preaching the Gospel to Jews and Greeks. When they rejected him, he just shifted gears and preached to Gentiles. But we can only bear witness to Christ insofar as we can see him. See him how? Isn’t he far away from us? We learn to see him in Word and Sacrament. We learn to hear his words, as he reminds us in today’s Gospel, “I will see you again and no one will take your joy from you”. We learn to live like these words are true because they are true! While we wait for Christ’s return, we live in the power of his Spirit in us, overcoming the travails of the world, with his joy in us. Do we let other things take away our Christian joy? Or do we live like nothing can take that away from us?
Collect
O God, who by the resurrection of thy Son hast given unto us a new birth into eternal life: Lift our hearts, we beseech thee, to our Savior, who sitteth at thy right hand, that, when he shall come again, we who have been reborn in Baptism may be clothed in a glorious immortality; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.