Get On With It! - Acts 1:1-11

“Why do you stand here looking into the sky?” (Acts 1:11)
 
Jesus’ return to heaven wasn’t the final act.  He gave his disciples instructions to pray and wait for the power of the Holy Spirit and then he left.  Upwards.  He went straight up in to the sky until a cloud blocked him from view.  As the disciples were staring upwards, with mouths wide open in astonishment at the bewildering spectacle, two angels appeared.  “Why do you stand here staring up at the sky?” they asked.  Their message was crystal clear: “Stop standing around just gawping.  Go and get on with it!”
 
What was it they were supposed to be getting on with?  Jesus had told them, “’But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth’” (Acts 1:8).  They were in no confusion about what they were to do: wait and pray for the Holy Spirit, and then head out in to the world in mission.  That’s exactly what they did and the rest of the New Testament is about what then occurred…
 
…And is still occurring.  Jesus’ instructions to the disciples then is his same instruction to us now.  Ecstatic worship experiences and dramatic spiritual encounters are great from time to time, but this is not the usual substance of our lives.  Our daily bread is to do the will of LOVE: to pray for the Holy Spirit and share our faith publicly in every way we can imagine (John 4:34).
 
Well then, we’d better get on with it!  Let’s pray for the power of the Holy Spirit so that we can be Jesus’ witnesses today in Bournemouth and wherever else we go.  Let’s pray for the “prophetic imagination” that our Homefires speaker, Abby Guinness spoke about, so that we can communicate our own story of faith in Jesus and share LOVE with everyone that we meet.
 
“Be wise in the way you act towards outsiders; make the most of every opportunity.” (Colossians 4:5)