(I am reposting my Acts of the Apostles series from a few years ago. The following was first published 12/12/2022)

Acts 1:1-9. After His resurrection, Jesus came back to His disciples and showed Himself to them and to many others for the next forty days. During this time, He charged his disciples not to leave Jerusalem but to wait for the "promise of the Father," when they would be baptized with the Holy Spirit. The last time they are gathered together, the disciples ask Him if He will then return the kingdom to Israel, but He replies "it is not for you to know the times or seasons which the Father has fixed by his own authority. But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be my witnesses ... to the end of the earth." Then Jesus is lifted up and a cloud takes Him out of their sight.

First, I like how He says "to the end of the earth," which can mean to the end of time or to the four corners of the earth, and is meant to be both!

It is comforting to me that even the disciples were looking for a "quick" answer. They were thinking Jesus was going to restore Israel as a mighty kingdom. And why wouldn't they? That was, after all, the promise of the Old Testament. And they had been through an awful lot with this man, and they believed that He was the one who would restore the kingdom. But, having been with Him for so long, I'm sure they also had a feeling that there was really something more to all of this, that the kingdom Jesus came to establish was even greater than Israel. Still, I'm sure they couldn't help but think with each new thing, maybe this is it! Maybe this is when our troubles will be over and God will take control!

This is a very good lesson for me today. I keep waiting for the same thing the disciples are waiting for. I know, very surely, that something big is coming "soon." But I do not know what "soon" is and it is not for me to know. I have to be his witness every day, in all the situations I encounter, without the constant expectation that He will somehow step in and fix everything. He uses us to fix a lot, I should know that by now.

And yes, just as Jesus came in the fullness of time into our world the first time, He will do so again when the time is right. But that will be when all of His witnesses have done what He is asking them to do - go out to the end of the earth, or even just to your own nextdoor neighbor, and proclaim the kingdom of God. He is not coming until all are ready, or as ready as they will ever be. It is on us to help get them there.