One question remained.
Jesus had spent 40 days with the disciples after the resurrection. He presented Himself alive and gave proof of the Kingdom of God. But one question remained: “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” (Acts 1:6 ESV).
Jesus didn’t answer their question. Instead, He redirected their focus. “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority. 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
The disciples were expecting an earthly kingdom, a geographic territory, a temporal reign. The Gospel message was that Jesus was restoring Israel, and the world, to the Kingdom of God. As for the Kingdom, Jesus began His earthly ministry announcing for all to “repent for the Kingdom of Heaven is here” (Matthew 4:17). As to territory, He reminded Nicodemus that “God so loved the world that He sent His Son that whoever believes will have eternal life” (John 3:16). As to reign, Jesus said to the religious leaders of the day, “Before Abraham was, I am” (John 8:58). Revelation 11:15 reminds us, “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Messiah, and he will reign for ever and ever.”
Disciples of Jesus, we are still the vessels of the same Gospel message. We are still called to be His witnesses in this day. Jesus is the only One who saves by His death on the cross. He is the only way to the eternal Kingdom of God through His resurrection. He is the only One who brings lasting peace and power to live in the temporal world in spite of the circumstances because He has overcome the world ahead of us.
We are called to be witnesses of the Gospel, but this witness was never meant to be shared alone.
Individuals cannot spread the Good News by themselves. Clergy cannot do it alone. It takes the whole church! The Gospel is meant to be spoken boldly and joyfully, and it is meant to be heard and seen by a people who believe and are so committed to Jesus, lives are transformed.
When more than 400 Global Methodist Churches across North Carolina gather around this shared mission, growing deeper in love with Jesus and living out His transforming grace, it is worth asking: What might change? What would our communities look like if the Kingdom was not only proclaimed, but practiced?
It is still the same commission:
“You will receive power.”
“You will be My witnesses…”
In Christ,
Rev. Kari Howard
Interim Conference Superintendent