We are almost at the end of the Easter Season. Pentecost is just one week away. It is a time for farewells, final pieces of advice. And that is precisely what we have in today’s Scripture readings. In the reading from Acts, the apostles, as the original group of disciples were known after the Resurrection, have gathered. Jesus tells them, “. . .you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” (Acts 1: 8) In the Gospel lesson, we hear another part of Jesus’ final speech to his followers. He asserts that his followers have understood what he has taught them and they believe that he has come from God.
What strikes me in both of these readings is Jesus’ confidence. He does not say to the disciples, “I hope you will be my witnesses after I am gone.” He states, quite boldly, that they will indeed be witnesses. Jesus does not express a hope that his followers have understood his teachings. Instead, he says quite clearly that they have learned what he has come to teach them. They belong to him—and also to God.
As we move into the Pentecost season, our focus will shift to ministry: the ministry of Jesus’ early followers and our own ministry as modern-day followers of Jesus. I hope that we can take heart from Jesus’ confidence. His faith in that first group of followers and in us. That we can carry the ministry forward, both within the faith community of St. Simon’s and in the many communities of which we are a part in the larger world.
Deacon Sue Nebel
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