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Read Acts 1:1-14. Even after his resurrection, Jesus’ disciples still believe that his mission is about politics – about setting the nation of Israel back in its rightful place – back on top, back in the position of power. How many times had they missed the point when Jesus not only demonstrated, but outright claimed, that the kingdom of God is nothing like the kingdoms of this world? In God’s kingdom, the first are last, the dishonorable are seated in the places of honor, room is made for the outcast, and the ignored are known by name. The hungry are fed, the naked are clothed, and the foreigner is welcomed.

Jesus knows that there is no way humankind could ever conceive or enact it on their own, and so he promises the Holy Spirit, which will enlighten, inspire, and compel them to extend the Good News to Jerusalem and beyond. And so they wait and pray. This will require a deep dive into your heart, but what expectations do you have of Jesus that might be off-the-mark compared to what he taught and what his life, death, and resurrection showed? How can waiting and praying make it easier to see God’s call on your own life and God’s redemptive work in the world around you?

Think about the ways our world stands in contrast to God’s kingdom and lift those disparities to God in prayer.

Read Psalm 47. Some might think this this call to praise is all about the superiority of Israel over all other nations. But this psalm celebrates the God of all nations. “God is king over the nations…the princes of the people gather just as the people of the God of Abraham.” God isn’t God just for the children of Israel. And Israel’s success at that time had nothing to do with their own superiority, but with what God had done. “[God] subdued peoples under us, and nations under our feet. [God] chose our heritage for us.”

Sometimes, I get caught up in my own superiority complex, thinking I am smarter, more thoughtful, or more talented than others. In those moments, I fail to recognize the source of any intelligence, kindness, or skill: the God of All Creation. Are there times you catch yourself thinking this way? Maybe you don’t think this way about yourself as an individual. But do you ever feel like your family, your church, your chosen political party, or your nation are somehow superior – somehow more favored by God? How can we offer gratitude for our many blessings, while remaining humble?

Today, offer a prayer of thanksgiving for the way God blesses all people and all nations.

Read 1 Peter 4:12-14; 5:6-11. In this reading, we find words of encouragement for a community that is suffering great persecution and fully expecting the end times to come in their own lifetimes. In our own context, we might find this reading a bit difficult to identify with, particularly since we live in a Judeo-Christian culture some 2,000 years later. Yet, there is a word of grace here for those times when we feel we are unfairly suffering.

Difficulties in life help us to remember the suffering of Christ and to know that he, too, experienced disappointment, betrayal, fear, brutality, pain, and abandonment. This makes his promise of mercy, grace, and presence all the more powerful.

Offer a prayer of thanksgiving for all the ways Jesus comes alongside you throughout the difficulties of life.

Read Luke 24:44-53. Most scholars believe the book Acts is a continuation of Luke’s gospel. In this reading from Luke, the disciples hear the promise of the Holy Spirit, watch Jesus as he is carried to heaven, and immediately return with great joy to Jerusalem. Luke leaves out a detail that is included in Acts. In Acts, as Jesus is lifted through the clouds, the disciples stand there, looking up at the sky. Suddenly, two men in white (angels?) appear and say, essentially, “What are you doing standing there with your mouths hanging open? Just as he was taken up to heaven, so will his power come down.”

At that, they head back to Jerusalem to wait. Without the power of the Holy Spirit, there would not have been a church. If those disciples had not been empowered by the Spirit to share their story, to withstand the trials that came along with their testimony, to make a compelling case, the gospel message would not have spread from Jerusalem to the surrounding countryside, to neighboring cities, and beyond.

What do you think would have happened if the disciples had not seen Jesus ascending to heaven? The disciples went to Jerusalem to receive the power of the Holy Spirit. Where do you go for that? What practices recharge your faith?

Today, make time for that practice and consider what the Spirit might be empowering you to do.