We buy power drinks, engage in power walks, and even get “power” hairdos. How many products incorporate the word “power” in their names or in their descriptions? In a society in which so many feel powerless, the idea of increasing our own personal power is appealing to most everyone.
Today is the feast of the commemoration of the Ascension of Jesus into heaven. We may think of his act of leaving this earth and being taken up into a cloud as marking the end of his story. As he rises into the sky, the “movie” begins to scroll the long list of credits, and the people start getting out of their seats to leave the theater. The Jesus story is over.
But wait a minute. Let’s read closely what the Church talks about to us today. Is it about the end of the story or the beginning of a greater story?
As the disciples gathered around Jesus for a final conversation before his departure, they asked him if this was the moment he was going to restore the kingdom of Israel.
He answered them: “It is not for you to know the times or seasons that the Father has established by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you and you will be my witnesses…” (from Acts 1:1-11).
Jesus is telling these powerless “scaredy cats” that a new kind of divine power will come upon them which will set them free from their fears and embolden them to be witnesses for Him on earth. He is not talking about personal power here, but Holy Spirit power. Of course, I’m sure they had no idea what he was talking about.
In the second reading Paul prays for the Ephesians that they “may know the surpassing power for us who believe in accord with the exercise of his great might: which he worked in Christ raising him from the dead and seating him at his right hand in the heavens….” (from Ephesians 1:17-23).
Paul tells us that all “who believe” will participate in the very power that brought Jesus back from the dead and brought him to his place at God’s right hand. Do we realize that this power is at our disposal?
Then we move forward to the Gospel selection (Luke 24:46-53). “And behold I am sending the promise of my Father upon you; but stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.”
Jesus is about to clothe each one of these disciples with the same power that came forth from him: the power to call people to repentance, the power to make blind people see, the power to raise dead people to live, the power to calm raging seas, the power to make a few loaves of bread turn into thousands of loaves… They did not catch on to what he was saying until they were actually clothed in power on the Day of Pentecost.
Power drinks, power walks, and power hairdos are meant to promote personal power. The “clothing in power” that God gives is meant to promote the kingdom of God on earth, the forgiveness of sins, and salvation of souls. It is not about us; it is about Him.
Are we ready to be clothed in power this Pentecost? Are we ready to let our Baptism come fully alive in our lives and be God’s instruments in promoting the Gospel? Has there ever been a time in history when God needed “power people” more than he does today? Get ready for God to dress you in a “power robe.”
“God reigns over the nations, God sits upon his holy throne” (Ps 47:9).
