The Ascension of the Lord (Seventh Sunday of Easter)

The disciples had a political question: Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel? Jesus redirects them: not for you to know the times and seasons. What you need to know is that the Spirit is coming, and when he comes you will have power, and the power is for witness - starting in Jerusalem and expanding to the ends of the earth. The mission has a center (where you are) and a trajectory (outward). It does not begin with the ends of the earth. It begins in your Jerusalem.

He ascends, they stare at the sky, two men redirect them. Why are you looking up? Go back to Jerusalem. Wait. The waiting is not inactivity - it is the preparation for the power. You do not go until the power comes. But when the power comes, you go.

Paul prays for enlightened hearts - not just sharper minds. The eyes of the heart see the surpassing greatness of the power at work in those who believe. That power seated Jesus far above every principality and authority and power and dominion. Every principality that intimidates you in your twenties - the career pressure, the cultural current, the fear of not belonging - is already beneath his feet. The head of the body you belong to is enthroned over all of it.

Name your Jerusalem - the specific place, relationship, or community where the witness begins, before it expands anywhere else. Commit to being a witness there this week. Not to the ends of the earth yet. Just Jerusalem.

Lord, let the eyes of my heart be enlightened. Let me see that the power at work in me is the same power that raised you from the dead. And when the Spirit comes, help me go to my Jerusalem first, and trust the expansion to you. Alleluia. Amen.