Photo by Joshua Earle on Unsplash
Alleluia! Christ is risen! The Lord is risen indeed. Alleluia!
I love Easter season’s themes: Christ’s victory over death, where we find our assurance of eternal life; forgiveness of sins for repentant believers; the new beginning we enjoy in Christ, who makes all things new; and our joy at the fulfillment of God’s promises. It’s a lovely time of celebrating our Lord’s resurrection after the somber Lenten season. Lent reminded us that in order to fully enter into the celebration of Christ’s resurrection, and our future resurrection, we need to properly prepare our hearts, minds, and bodies. We are Easter people! Lent reminded us that the road to resurrection lies through the Cross.
The church calendar bids us to pay attention to the themes of the season we are in; but one season always points us toward another. Easter season is 50 days until Pentecost. This spring, in the midst of our Easter celebrations, I’d like to invite you on a journey of preparation to experience the Spirit-filled life that is the promise of Pentecost. We’ll look at Acts, Chapter 1 together as we discern how to pray and prepare for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit in our own day and places.
Acts 1 records the resurrected Jesus’ command to His apostles to prepare for the empowerment (v.8) by the Holy Spirit: “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.” (Acts 1:4-5)
Wait for the promised gift, Jesus said. That word “wait” is perimeno in Greek. It means to wait patiently, with expectation. It’s not a passive verb but an active one. It carries with it the idea of steadiness while enduring difficulties, as we await the fulfillment of God’s promise.
Who among us likes to wait? Waiting can sure feel passive. Proverbial wisdom is “Look before you leap” – in other words, be mindful of the consequences before you do something. Well and good; but I identify with Peter, the impulsive apostle whose motto is “ready, fire, aim.” I sensed God’s call to plant a church before seminary but was told by my spiritual authorities to wait until I completed seminary. I wanted to plant right after seminary, and they said I needed to wait another three years to be trained as a priest, though after my curacy I didn’t wait a day longer! Nine years passed from my initial call to the grand opening of Church of the Holy Spirit in Leesburg, Virginia. In hindsight, all that waiting was necessary.
After Jesus’ bodily ascension, the apostles and fellow believers actively waited for 10 more days, earnestly praying together in the Upper Room for the gift of power that Jesus spoke about: “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” (Acts 1:8)
In order to be effective witnesses of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection with family, friends, and co-workers, we need the power of God! We are called to be witnesses who wait –waiting on God as we search the Scriptures; waiting on God as he forms our character more into the likeness of His Son; and waiting on God in prayer to speak to us in the still, small voice. (We’ll explore this and more in the weeks to come.) In this season, let’s wait on God with faith and expectation as we look forward to greater empowerment for our ministry of witness.
Read Part 2 of this 6 part series here.
The Rev. Clancy Nixon is Director of Renew, a ministry of Anglican Revitalization Ministries. He served as rector of a church he planted for 24 years, and he led church-planting and revitalization efforts for the ACNA Diocese of the Mid-Atlantic for seven years. He continues to work with the province in healing and renewal ministries. If you’d like to learn more about Renew and how we might serve your congregation or diocese with a conference or coaching, please visit https://www.americananglican.org/renew.
