The Holy Gospel according to Saint Luke 24:44‭-‬53.

Glory to you, oh Lord.

Then he said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you—that everything written about me in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms must be fulfilled.” Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures, and he said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Messiah is to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. And see, I am sending upon you what my Father promised; so stay here in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.”  Then he led them out as far as Bethany, and, lifting up his hands, he blessed them. While he was blessing them, he withdrew from them and was carried up into heaven.  And they worshiped him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy; and they were continually in the temple blessing God.

The Gospel of our Lord!

Praise to you, oh Christ.

Grace and peace are yours from God our Father and of his Son Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.

There’s a special something in the eyes of parents. When they first see their newborn child immediately their mind goes looking for anything that might be special about their baby. And it doesn’t stop then, as they grow we continue to see special abilities in them, things that they are good at. Children notice it too, so they like to show off any new ability with parents and grandparents.

As we grow we might develop those abilities more, or not. Even if we do, there is always someone else better at it than us.

Perhaps that need of showing off to my parents was what got me into trouble. I remember how I disliked it to be sent to my room. It was so boring. Boy, how things have changed. Today, it’s the opposite, we can get those young ones out of their rooms and to disconnect from their devices.

When Jesus asked his disciples to stay in Jerusalem and wait, although they were not being disciplined, I don’t know how they might have taken it, but according to our Gospel reading, they left the place were they last saw Jesus happily, with great joy, we read. Go figure! And they didn’t even had internet in Jerusalem back then while they waited!

The other thing I see is that they had to wait to receive a “special energy charge” to do their mission. They were to receive the “power of the Holy Spirit.” The same power of Jesus Christ. They new that if he was promising that, it was true, because he always keeps his promises. That’s why they were happy!

Lo and behold, they were able to do these “special” things with their new “special abilities.”  Then the poor received good news, captives were being freed, the blind recovered their sight, and the sick were restored unto health. Those are great abilities!

But the most important thing we can take from this lesson today is that, that power to do those special wonders was really not that of the disciples, it is Christ’s power through his Spirit given to his followers.

Many of us are asking for those special abilities to power us and our churches during this pandemic, whether your congregation is still worshipping online only, or slowly and carefully starts to reopen. All we ask is that anything we do, we remember that it is not by our own powers or special abilities, but we, ordinary people, want to be one in purpose with Jesus Christ. We want to be able to say proudly: Look what are we doing for you God! After all, it’s all in Jesus’ power! Amen.

Let us pray,

Loving and all powerful God, we your children love you and only wish to please you. Continue to give us the power of your Spirit, and fill us with it, so we may be your ambassadors of love and kindness, in a world that desperately needs it. Help us to reach out to those in need, the sick, and the lonely. Protect us from all dangers, including this ferocious virus. Now we commend ourselves to you one more time, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, (+) and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Until next time stay with God’s blessing,

The Lord bless you and keep you.

The Lord’s face shine on you with grace and mercy.