“Why are you standing there looking up into the sky?” In this
way, this Sunday’s reading from the Acts of the Apostles, reports the
two men dressed in white, challenging the disciples as they strained
to catch one last glimpse of Jesus. That period of history when Jesus
walked among us was now ended. Carrying on his mission was now
up to those who were still in body on this earth. That’s now you, and
that’s now me! What part are we choosing to play in promoting
Jesus’ vision? How are we really responding to this great challenge?
The story goes, that the church microphone had been crackling
and shorting out all morning. When the priest stepped up to the
pulpit to read the Gospel, he thumped on the mike to test it out.
Then, bending close to it, he proclaimed in a loud voice, “There’s
something wrong with this microphone!” The congregation, before
the changes in our liturgy, dutifully answered back, “And also with
you.”
As followers of Jesus, we all have been challenged by his last
instruction to “Go into the whole world and proclaim the Good
News.” Perhaps we are sometimes the faulty microphones. Perhaps
it would be good if someone would indeed reach out and tap us on
the head to remind us of our duty to proclaim the Gospel. Maybe we
need to work on our own internal wiring to get the “juice” to flow
properly. Most of all we need to make a solid “connection” so that
we can truly live and proclaim his message loud and clear!
Stepping out, or being pushed out, into the world to do whatever
ministry we’ve been called to do is actually a treacherous thing. It’s
treacherous not because the world is a messy, unwelcoming, or even
threatening place (though it sometimes may be). It’s treacherous
because we can only act and speak authentically if we do so in
intimate connection to Jesus and to one another, and do it in love that
is obvious to others and to the world. And we know, such signs are
not easily or even correctly read.
What is actually needed before we dare to speak or to act in
God’s name is clear. God’s abiding love is available to enfold,
challenge and empower us. If we embrace and truly live it, our
voices and actions just might ring true!