Reflection by The Venerable Dr Deborah Broome

The time for hopeful, prayerful waiting

So when they had come together, they asked [Jesus], “Lord, is this the time when you will restore the kingdom to Israel?” He replied, “It is not for you to know the times or periods that the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” When he had said this, as they were watching, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. While he was going and they were gazing up toward heaven, suddenly two men in white robes stood by them. They said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up toward heaven? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.”  Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day’s journey away. When they had entered the city, they went to the room upstairs where they were staying: Peter, and John, and James, and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James son of Alphaeus, and Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of James. All these were constantly devoting themselves to prayer, together with certain women, including Mary the mother of Jesus, as well as his brothers.  Acts 1:6-14

It’s 40 days after the resurrection – at least in this account from the Acts of the Apostles (in Luke’s Gospel, the timing is a bit different). After the despair of the cross and the utterly unexpected and joyful news of new life, the disciples have Jesus with them – and maybe they’re getting used to him being around again. I’m wondering if they’ve adjusted to a new normal – not realising that everything is about to change all over again. (We know what that feels like, don’t we.)

Jesus tells them to stay in Jerusalem and wait for the promised Holy Spirit to come upon them, after which they will bear witness to him in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.  And then he disappears, leaving them staring up into heaven. The disciples

therefore are waiting for something to happen, after which they’ll have a mission task to perform, and if they're honest they’d probably admit they don’t know much about what’s happening. (Again, we know what that feels like.)

And just like in the Gospels, the disciples are sometimes slow to work out what Jesus is really about. When they ask him, “Lord, is this the time when you will restore the kingdom to Israel?”  we get the feeling they still see the kingdom of God as having something to do with political power. It doesn’t – but that didn’t stop the church at certain periods in history trying to be a dominant player in the world.  Jesus’ response talks about power – not political power but the power that the Holy Spirit conveys. He re-orientates them to the mission task of bearing witness to him both locally and globally. I think he is doing the same with us today, inviting us to reveal who he is and what he did, to a world which doesn’t yet know these things.

Then the disciples are left on their own, staring up into heaven. They have learned a couple of things though: they’ve learned to stick together – they don’t know what’s going to happen but they want to face it together – and they’ve learned to keep praying. So the whole community, which includes Jesus’ family, gathers together to wait in prayer. 

The Church is born in hopeful, prayerful waiting. What does faithful waiting look like in your parish right now?