Enjoy your retreat, and I pray that your grand-daughter enjoys the service project she is undertaking.
The Great Commission
Pastor’s Column
Ascension Sunday
June 1, 2014
“You will be my witnesses … to the ends of the earth!” Acts 1:1-11
My grandfather worked for a major rubber company for almost 40 years. He was an executive and the major service representative for this company on the west coast, most particularly regarding aircraft tires. If anyone had an issue with the company, they dealt with him. One time someone with a complaint asked to speak with someone in a higher position and he said, “I AM the company!”
Like so many men and women, his whole self and self-worth was caught up in his identity with the work he performed and the corporation he represented so well. Yet when he retired, he received a gold watch and a certificate. The company got along fine without him and my grandfather lost his identity (I still have the watch).
Sometimes, despite our best efforts, we just don’t understand what God is saying to us in life. Christ has a mission for each of us, one that won’t end with a gold watch and a certificate and a loss of identity! Yet, sometimes we just don’t get it.
Even as Christ ascends into heaven, in some ways the apostles still don’t get it either! One of them asks Jesus, “Are you now going to restore the kingdom to Israel?” (Acts 1:1-11). I always picture Jesus rolling his eyes and thinking about how much work there still is to be done in the world as he ascends into the sky! So the apostles had to wait for the Holy Spirit to enlighten them.
Well, no matter how much we may struggle in life, one thing we do know is that Christ gave the church, the apostles and each of us a mission to go forth and spread the good news throughout the whole world! My mission in life is to be a representative of God everywhere I go.
What is my mission in life? I am a representative of Christ on earth! My mission is precisely to the people around me, the circumstances God has placed me in today. In fact, this is all we really have to offer God--my life today, sufferings, joys and all.
How well do I represent Christ? Am I ready to speak about my faith if called upon to do so? Can people tell I am a Christian by what I say or don’t say, by what movies I watch and what I don’t watch? Every suffering and joy has meaning when I am the representative of Christ and he takes great interest in our job performance!
Father Gary