From the Pastor

Dear Friends,

In Luke's account of the Ascension of our Lord, found in the first chapter of the New Testament Book of Acts, Jesus commissions the disciples with these words: "You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." Then Luke tells us that Jesus is enveloped in a cloud, lifted up, and taken out of their sight. The disciples stand stupefied, paralyzed, unable to move, eyes fixed on the heavens. Suddenly they are brought back to the real world by two angels who address them: "Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up toward heaven?"

It is as if the angels are saying, "Enough already! There's work to be done!" The promise of the Risen Christ is that the very same force which empowered him shall be present in the midst of the community of faith. The Church is not intended to be a memorial society for our departed Savior, nor is it Christ's expectation that we gaze wistfully into the heavens and pine for his immediate return. The energy which empowers the church may come from beyond this world, but that Spirit clearly places our work and mission in this realm. We here at Oakland celebrate the Holy Spirit. May we remember, the Spirit is given to us not for selfish individual glory or the ease of the church, but for definite, down to earth tasks: witnessing, teaching, building up the Body, drawing people together and closer to God, caring for the ill and the lonely, protecing the weak and those on the margins standing for God in the midst of an often hostile world. "You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses . . . ".

We all have different expectations of a church. Perhaps it is more important to ask, what does Christ expect of Oakland?

[Excerpted from The Oakland Acorn: July 2006 Issue]