It Is GOOD for me to Go Away!!! - JESUS

Reflection:  Today is “Ascension Day” in the church calendar, where after 40 days after the resurrection, Jesus went to be back with the Father in heaven.  As we say in the Creed, “Jesus is at the right hand of the Father, and He will come again to judge the living and the dead.”  In 10 days we will celebrate the Day of Pentecost, when the Promised Holy Spirit came upon all the believers as they were gathered in Upper Room according to Jesus’ promise.  

In our New Testament verse for today from John 16:7, Jesus says to His disciples, “It is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you.”

You can only imagine what the disciples were thinking, “What are you crazy! Why is it good that you go away?”  The good part was that Jesus would now send His Holy Spirit, which would empower every believer with the power and authority to do what Jesus did collectively together as the Church.  As we talked about yesterday, this same Holy Spirit would distribute the Spirit’s gifts to all believers in the body of Christ.  So though Jesus is at the right of God, there is the sense in which Jesus is in every one of us through the power of the Spirit.  

And then, secondly, as Paul teaches us today we are the body of Christ.  When we gather in the name of Jesus and in the power of the Holy Spirit to worship on Sundays (usually), and in smaller groups (Monday through Sunday), Jesus is with us and we are His Body!  So He is there with us when we meet and worship together (UP), He is there when we meet, learn, pray and care for each other (IN), and He is there as we are sent out as the Body of Christ in the world to be His ambassadors (OUT).  We see the healthy balance of UP, IN, and OUT!    

So it was good for Jesus to go away so God could call us into the Church as His special possession, and then send us out as lights in the darkness.  Importantly He has called us to do this together.  I happen to serve at a church called Good Shepherd, but I know there are many of you in other churches, who serve Christ faithfully as well in your local church.  We are all one body, and even as we reflect on Scripture together (the internet has given us more capacity to meet together online – of course it is not as good as in person, but many of us who could never connect can now connect through God’s word and prayer!) we are the larger body of Christ.  

I will pray for you! Will you pray for me? Let’s pray that we might serve Christ in His body, the Church, so that as Jesus is lifted up He might draw all people unto himself.  Amen.  

Watchword for the Ascension – Christ says, “I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” John 12:32

Psalm 60

For the director of music. To the tune of “The Lily of the Covenant.” A miktam of David. For teaching. When he fought Aram Naharaim and Aram Zobah, and when Joab returned and struck down twelve thousand Edomites in the Valley of Salt.

1 You have rejected us, God, and burst upon us;

    you have been angry—now restore us!

2 You have shaken the land and torn it open;

    mend its fractures, for it is quaking.

3 You have shown your people desperate times;

    you have given us wine that makes us stagger.

4 But for those who fear you, you have raised a banner

    to be unfurled against the bow.

5 Save us and help us with your right hand,

    that those you love may be delivered.

6 God has spoken from his sanctuary:

    “In triumph I will parcel out Shechem

    and measure off the Valley of Sukkoth.

7 Gilead is mine, and Manasseh is mine;

    Ephraim is my helmet,

    Judah is my scepter.

8 Moab is my washbasin,

    on Edom I toss my sandal;

    over Philistia I shout in triumph.”

9 Who will bring me to the fortified city?

    Who will lead me to Edom?

10 Is it not you, God, you who have now rejected us

    and no longer go out with our armies?

11 Give us aid against the enemy,

    for human help is worthless.

12 With God we will gain the victory,

    and he will trample down our enemies.

Proverbs 2:9-3:20

9 Then you will understand what is right and just

    and fair—every good path.

10 For wisdom will enter your heart,

    and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul.

11 Discretion will protect you,

    and understanding will guard you.

12 Wisdom will save you from the ways of wicked men,

    from men whose words are perverse,

13 who have left the straight paths

    to walk in dark ways,

14 who delight in doing wrong

    and rejoice in the perverseness of evil,

15 whose paths are crooked

    and who are devious in their ways.

16 Wisdom will save you also from the adulterous woman,

    from the wayward woman with her seductive words,

17 who has left the partner of her youth

    and ignored the covenant she made before God.

18 Surely her house leads down to death

    and her paths to the spirits of the dead.

19 None who go to her return

    or attain the paths of life.

20 Thus you will walk in the ways of the good

    and keep to the paths of the righteous.

21 For the upright will live in the land,

    and the blameless will remain in it;

22 but the wicked will be cut off from the land,

    and the unfaithful will be torn from it.

Wisdom Bestows Well-Being

3 My son, do not forget my teaching,

    but keep my commands in your heart,

2 for they will prolong your life many years

    and bring you peace and prosperity.

3 Let love and faithfulness never leave you;

    bind them around your neck,

    write them on the tablet of your heart.

4 Then you will win favor and a good name

    in the sight of God and man.

5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart

    and lean not on your own understanding;

6 in all your ways submit to him,

    and he will make your paths straight.

7 Do not be wise in your own eyes;

    fear the Lord and shun evil.

8 This will bring health to your body

    and nourishment to your bones.

9 Honor the Lord with your wealth,

    with the firstfruits of all your crops;

10 then your barns will be filled to overflowing,

    and your vats will brim over with new wine.

11 My son, do not despise the Lord’s discipline,

    and do not resent his rebuke,

12 because the Lord disciplines those he loves,

    as a father the son he delights in.

13 Blessed are those who find wisdom,

    those who gain understanding,

14 for she is more profitable than silver

    and yields better returns than gold.

15 She is more precious than rubies;

    nothing you desire can compare with her.

16 Long life is in her right hand;

    in her left hand are riches and honor.

17 Her ways are pleasant ways,

    and all her paths are peace.

18 She is a tree of life to those who take hold of her;

    those who hold her fast will be blessed.

19 By wisdom the Lord laid the earth’s foundations,

    by understanding he set the heavens in place;

20 by his knowledge the watery depths were divided,

    and the clouds let drop the dew.

1 Corinthians 12:12-26

Unity and Diversity in the Body

12 Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. 13 For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. 14 Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many. 15 Now if the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. 16 And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. 17 If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? 18 But in fact God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. 19 If they were all one part, where would the body be? 20 As it is, there are many parts, but one body. 21 The eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you!” And the head cannot say to the feet, “I don’t need you!” 22 On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, 23 and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, 24 while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has put the body together, giving greater honor to the parts that lacked it, 25 so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. 26 If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.

I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear me for all time. Jeremiah 32:39

Jesus said, “It is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you.” John 16:7

We are grateful, Father, for the great gift of your Holy Spirit. Make us one in that Spirit. Alleluia!