So
much has happened in the past week:
·
Gunmen in Egypt killed more than 24 people
and wounded 25 after they opened fire on a bus carrying Coptic Christians on [Friday]
May 26.[i]
·
Floods and torrents of mud unleashed by heavy
rains in Sri Lanka have killed 91 people and left 110 others missing, and
authorities have appealed for international help. More than 61,000 affected by
heavy rain that started early on Friday. [ii]
·
An explosion at a concert in Manchester
killed 22 people, and many more were wounded.
We
yearn for a simpler time.
1997,
Twenty years ago[iii],
·
Both Mother Theresa and Princess Diana died
·
58 tourists and four Egyptians were shot dead
outside Luxor’s Temple of Queen Hatshepsut.
·
Peruvian commandos successfully stormed the
Japanese ambassador’s house in Lima, where hundreds of hostages had been held
for 126 days by 14 members of the Túpac Amaru Revolutionary Movement (MRTA).
We
back a bit further:
1967,
50 years ago[iv],
·
The Vietnam war
·
The Beatles and the Rolling Stones were in
the charts
·
Israel won a six-day war with Egypt, Syria
and Jordan, capturing the Sinai Peninsula, the Golan Heights, the Gaza Strip
and the West Bank.
1917,
100 years ago[v],
·
Albert Einstein published his first paper
·
Russian Revolution
·
The First World War
Over
2 centuries ago, what do we know about life then?
·
In the first century, Romans ruled the
Mediterranean area known as Palestine (modern day Israel), …. In the hierarchy
of power, the Jewish self-government reported to the authority of the local
Roman government (King Herod), which reported to Rome (Emperor Caesar).
·
The economy of first century Israel was
supported by three key segments: agriculture of olives, figs, grains, dates,
and vineyards; trade fostered by Israel’s key location on the Mediterranean
Sea; and large government building projects sponsored by King Herod. There was a
very large disparity between rich and poor.[vi]
·
Essentially the Roman Empire of the first two
centuries A.D. was a slave state with a small minority who had any pride or
freedom in their lives, …. There was little of what we should call family life,
few homes of comfortable living and active thought and study; schools and
colleges were few and far between.[vii]
This
is the world at the time Jesus – foreign occupiers, fear, slavery and following
the traditions of the village that you were unlikely to ever leave.
Into
this world, we hear from Luke in his second Book, the book of Acts.
For
forty days after his resurrection, Jesus appeared to his disciples in a variety
of ways. Then we hear that Jesus told the disciples:
the Holy Spirit will come upon you and
give you power. Then you will tell everyone about me in Jerusalem, in all
Judea, in Samaria, and everywhere in the world. [CEV]
These
are the last words of Jesus that are recorded by Luke.
Just focus on this:
The Holy Spirit will flood over you
and drench you with power,
giving you the passion
and courage
to be my witnesses.
Next
week we celebrate Pentecost, the coming of the Holy Spirit upon the disciples
as recorded in the book of Acts.
Wind.
Flames.
Voices.
Good
news spoken.
Lives
changed.
This
week, we heard how the risen Jesus, gave a few final words to his disciples,
and then drifted off up to the clouds.
Jesus
passed the baton to the disciples. Go and tell everyone, everywhere about me.
And
the rest, is history – after Pentecost, the early church grew like topsy, and
not just in Jerusalem, but all over the known world. And it wasn’t easy, people
were killed for being Christian.
What
about us?
Where
are we in this story?
Into
all this stuff happening in the world,
The
violence and pain we see on the news,
as well as the pain of grief,
the despair of unemployment
and the loneliness many people feel.
How
are we witnesses,
how
do we tell with our lives?
not just our voices,
what Jesus has done.
What
would you like people to learn about Jesus from your life?
In
what ways do you think your life shows those facets of the life and teaching of
Jesus?
Our
lives are witnesses to Jesus.
Not
only when we think we are talking about Jesus.
Jesus
was a person of
- · prayer
- · compassion
- · forgiveness
he
was a
- · healer
- · teacher
- · companion
he
spoke against those people and practices
- · that ripped people off,
- · that labelled people unclean
- · that judged people for being ill or poor.
What
would you like people to learn about Jesus from your life?
In
what ways is your life a witness to the life of Jesus?
[i]
https://sojo.net/articles/gunmen-kill-more-20-coptic-christians-egypt
[ii]
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-05-27/sri-lanka-mudslides-leave-thousands-homeless/8565096
[iv]
https://www.theatlantic.com/photo/2017/02/50-years-ago-a-look-back-at-1967/516174/
[v]
https://worldhistoryproject.org/1917
[vi]
http://www.swcs.com.au/firstcenturypalestine.htm
[vii]
http://www.bartleby.com/86/35.html
[viii]
http://laughingbird.net/ComingWeeks.html
