Memories

This is the reflection I shared with the people of St. Timothy for our weekly e-ministry. 

Gospel: Luke 24:44-53
44[Jesus said to the eleven and those with 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.”45Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures, 46and he said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Messiah is to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day, 47and that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. 48You are witnesses of these things. 49And 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.”
  50Then he led them out as far as Bethany, and, lifting up his hands, he blessed them. 51While he was blessing them, he withdrew from them and was carried up into heaven. 52And they worshiped him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy; 53and they were continually in the temple blessing God.

Memories are powerful things. Because of this, I grow sentimental when Ascension Day, this year on Thursday, 5/10, comes around. When my family lived in Bethlehem, we worshipped at Redeemer Lutheran Church in the Old City of Jerusalem. On Ascension Day afternoon, when the kids were out of school, the various congregations of Redeemer (Arab, Danish, German and English) would meet on the Mount of Olives, behind Augusta Victoria Hospital for a picnic and a multi-lingual service. The hymns we sang all had very familiar tunes, but each of us sang them in our own language. It was like an aural symphony. This is a picture of the area all the kids liked to play on. By the way, I was in contact with the current pastor of Redeemer and she said they still have that service at 4:30!

So I have been wondering about memories in general and what would have happened if the only thing the disciples were left with after Jesus’ ascension were memories? What if there was no Holy Spirit poured out on the church for power? What if all that was left about the life of Jesus and the disciples was oral tradition and no one wrote the gospels or letters? I think the results would be bleak indeed. We would probably simply be pagans who worshipped who knows what.

Thankfully, that is not the case. Just look at this portion of Luke’s gospel written after Jesus’ resurrection as he was getting ready to ascend to his Father. “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.”
  50Then he led them out as far as Bethany, and, lifting up his hands, he blessed them. 51While he was blessing them, he withdrew from them and was carried up into heaven” (vv. 49-51). 

“What [the] Father promised” and the “power from on high,” refer to the promised Holy Spirit. God is faithful and kept this promise. Through the Holy Spirit the disciples remembered and not only remembered, but understood all Jesus had taught them (see v. 45). From there the Word of God was preached with power and people became followers of Jesus. Where would we be without that happening?

Memories can be good as long as we allow the Holy Spirit to inspire us through them to the kind of action take by Jesus’ first followers. Let the Holy Spirit lead you in sharing your story and God’s story. 










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