Reflecting the fruit of the Spirit in us
The day I am writing this (Thursday, May 18) is Ascension Day. As we read in Acts 1:3, Acts 1:3, after His suffering, death and resurrection, Jesus “presented Himself to [His followers] 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.” He then ascended to heaven where, as we read in Ephesians 1:22, “God placed all things under His feet and appointed Him to be head over everything for the church.” As He was ascending, the last thing we read Jesus doing on this earth was blessing His disciples. (Luke 24:50-51) We could look at His blessing as His last words to His disciples. But as we read through the Acts of the Apostles, we hear Jesus continuing to speak to His followers through His Spirit. He continued to be very much alive and well among them. So perhaps we need to look at His Ascension Blessing a bit differently.
The first time we read of God giving a blessing is in the account of creation. We read, “God blessed [the aquatic life and birds] and said, ‘Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the water in the seas, and let the birds increase on the earth.’” (Genesis 1:22). And then in verse 28, “God blessed [humans] and said to them, ‘Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.’” In these verses, the blessing has to do withfilling the earth.
And, in a sense, isn’t that our role as followers of Jesus, to fill the world with His love as we not only specifically share the Good News of who Jesus is and what He has done, but live lives which reflect the fruit of the Holy Spirit living in us – the Spirit who connects us to Jesus and uses us to reflect Him in our attitudes and actions. In other words, when Jesus ascended, far from leaving His Church, He blessed His Church to spread His love throughout this world.
That task may at times seem overwhelming, especially when we consider our sinfulness and failure to always live as our Lord would have us live. But not only is there the great gift of forgiveness, but also the gifts of God’s Word and the Sacraments of Baptism and Holy Communion through which the Holy Spirit works and strengthens our faith.
And perhaps that’s part of our Lord’s blessing too. For in giving those gifts to His people He also continues to live among them. And note that those gifts are meant for Jesus’ followers to enjoy together, which is why we read throughout the Acts of the Apostles of them meeting together and worshiping together.
Where God would give His blessing, the evil one would seek to take it away. Thus, the temptation is always there to dismiss the importance of gathering together for worship and receiving our Lord’s gifts as something optional, boring, or “dead orthodoxy.” Perhaps we would all do well to pray the prayer the hymnist gives us: Draw us to Thee; O grant that we May walk the road to heaven! Direct our way Lest we should stray And from Thy paths be driven. Draw us to Thee Unceasingly, Into Thy kingdom take us; Let us fore’er Thy glory share, Thy saints and joint heirs make us. (Lutheran Service Book #701, verses 3 and 5)