Perhaps your text from Godly Play is from Matthew 28; I'm not sure from the title on the blog, but it fits well with our Ascension Sunday texts, a week before Pentecost
GOSPEL READING: Luke 24:44-53
44He said to them, "This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms."
45Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. 46He told them, "This is what is written: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, 47and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. 48You are witnesses of these things. 49I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high."
50When he had led them out to the vicinity of Bethany, he lifted up his hands and blessed them. 51While he was blessing them, he left them and was taken up into heaven. 52Then they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy. 53And they stayed continually at the temple, praising God.
Acts 1:1-11
1In my former book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach 2until the day he was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles he had chosen. 3After his suffering, he showed himself to these men and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God. 4On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: "Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. 5For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit."
6So when they met together, they asked him, "Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?"
7He said to them: "It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. 8But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."
9After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight.
10They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. 11"Men of Galilee," they said, "why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven."
NOTES: God's goal is Incarnation multiplied: to fulfill what Paul envisions and articulates in Ephesians 1:22, that the church become Christ on earth, multiplication and realization of the Spirit in Flesh to the ends of the earth. In these joint texts, two points of irony stand out: Luke 24:53, in contrast to verse 49, and Acts 1:6, in contrast to verse 8; it is hard for people to comprehend the power/mission God's given us. The first generation of disciples tended to default to religion as they'd understood it; we disciples today still have a hard time moving from ritual to incarnation. But this is why it says so often that Jesus needed to "open their minds" to the Scriptures; and God is not efficient, by our standards, for the process was messy, clumsy, for the disciples and early church to move from Jerusalem on out, including a wider range of people, relationships, etc., letting go of competing/conflicting "restore the Kingdom" visions (Acts 1:6). Where are we along that continuum? "Why do you stand here looking into the sky," asked the two men dressed in white. Are we waiting around? Isn't there a lot for us to do? Are some of us stuck in 24:53? What was the spiritual journey like from Ascension day, to Pentecost, to the point where Paul describes a community in which "...there is no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all" (Colossians 3:11)?
FOR YOUNG ONES: The idea that Jesus ascended, but is not gone, and that he ascended in order to empower his Kingdom, is something that takes concrete expression in many ways. How can we experientially communicate this? Are there other common relationships analogous to this? Parental perhaps, or teacher/mentor? When do we first get "pushed out of the nest"? When does a leader ask us to follow, but goes quite far ahead of us? Can we trust Jesus to help us move from Jerusalem to the ends of the earth? How have the "ends of the earth" come close to us in our day and age? Do our young ones recognize this Kingdom activity, missional activity, in our church? Why or why not?
45Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. 46He told them, "This is what is written: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, 47and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. 48You are witnesses of these things. 49I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high."
50When he had led them out to the vicinity of Bethany, he lifted up his hands and blessed them. 51While he was blessing them, he left them and was taken up into heaven. 52Then they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy. 53And they stayed continually at the temple, praising God.
Acts 1:1-11
1In my former book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach 2until the day he was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles he had chosen. 3After his suffering, he showed himself to these men and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God. 4On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: "Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. 5For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit."
6So when they met together, they asked him, "Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?"
7He said to them: "It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. 8But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."
9After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight.
10They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. 11"Men of Galilee," they said, "why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven."
NOTES: God's goal is Incarnation multiplied: to fulfill what Paul envisions and articulates in Ephesians 1:22, that the church become Christ on earth, multiplication and realization of the Spirit in Flesh to the ends of the earth. In these joint texts, two points of irony stand out: Luke 24:53, in contrast to verse 49, and Acts 1:6, in contrast to verse 8; it is hard for people to comprehend the power/mission God's given us. The first generation of disciples tended to default to religion as they'd understood it; we disciples today still have a hard time moving from ritual to incarnation. But this is why it says so often that Jesus needed to "open their minds" to the Scriptures; and God is not efficient, by our standards, for the process was messy, clumsy, for the disciples and early church to move from Jerusalem on out, including a wider range of people, relationships, etc., letting go of competing/conflicting "restore the Kingdom" visions (Acts 1:6). Where are we along that continuum? "Why do you stand here looking into the sky," asked the two men dressed in white. Are we waiting around? Isn't there a lot for us to do? Are some of us stuck in 24:53? What was the spiritual journey like from Ascension day, to Pentecost, to the point where Paul describes a community in which "...there is no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all" (Colossians 3:11)?
FOR YOUNG ONES: The idea that Jesus ascended, but is not gone, and that he ascended in order to empower his Kingdom, is something that takes concrete expression in many ways. How can we experientially communicate this? Are there other common relationships analogous to this? Parental perhaps, or teacher/mentor? When do we first get "pushed out of the nest"? When does a leader ask us to follow, but goes quite far ahead of us? Can we trust Jesus to help us move from Jerusalem to the ends of the earth? How have the "ends of the earth" come close to us in our day and age? Do our young ones recognize this Kingdom activity, missional activity, in our church? Why or why not?
No comments:
Post a Comment