Last Words

               Jesus said, “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 1:4).

            This verse is found in what we call the “Ascension of the Lord”. A dramatic and amazing scenario where one minute Jesus is talking to His disciples, and the next moment he is headed up into the clouds, reunited with God the Father, leaving the disciples as awestruck jaw-dropped star gazers staring up into the sky.

            I think the words recorded in the first eight verses of Acts are very important. Granted, everything Jesus said was important, but there is a finality of these words. These are the last recorded words that we have that Jesus spoke here on earth.

            Last words are important.

            Nathan Hale’s last reported words were “I only regret that I have but one life to give for my country”. Those are powerful last words that have rung throughout the annuls of history giving hope and courage to many.

            As John Wesley, founder of the Methodist movement, lay on his bed breathing his last breath, he said “the best of all, God is with us”. Words of encouragement to others from a man who was encouraged by the ever abiding presence of his Lord.

            Blues singer Bessie Smith said, “I’m going, but I’m going in the name of the Lord”.

            I have been with some saints of the Lord when they took their last breath, with no more words to say here in this life.

            Jesus’ last words are found compiled together by the writer Luke in Acts 1:4-5; 7-8. Last words are important.

            Jesus told His disciples that they would be His witnesses in Jerusalem. This is also why he told them to stay in this city (verse 4). Jerusalem had been a difficult place for them over the last month. They had seen Jesus beaten and crucified, dead and buried. They had denied even knowing Jesus at times. They ran for safety when they could have been by His side. There were even those in the city that would kill them if they could. Jerusalem was dangerous for these disciples, and full of regrets of past mistakes and failures. Yet this is exactly the place Jesus told them to stay. Why?

            First, this is where they would receive “power”. This power came about a week later and is recorded in Acts 2. You should read this awesome story today too. But also I think this showed them that Jesus is bigger than their denials. Jesus is bigger than their mistakes. Jesus is bigger than their regrets. Jesus is bigger than their sins. And guess what? Jesus is bigger than all your denials, mistakes, regrets, and sins too! Maybe your Jerusalem is where you are today, and maybe all that you can think about is getting out of here. But maybe Jesus has you here for a reason. And if you trust Him and seek His direction, He will show you that reason, and allow you to be His witness here and now.

            Then Jesus told His disciples to be His witness in Judea. Judea is where most of them lived. It was home. Sometimes being a witness at home is the most difficult for me. These are the people that know the real me, my imperfections, my weaknesses, my hypocrisy. Yet to be an effective witness for Jesus elsewhere, it has to start at home. What are you doing this week to show the love of Christ in your own home and with your own family?

            Then Jesus said to be His witness in Samaria. This was tough for those that read Jesus’ words in the first century. Samaria was not a region that was thought very highly of. The people who lived there, the Samaritans, were often looked on as second-class people. They were thought to be the inbred uneducated offspring of a “pure” people. Obviously Jesus didn’t think so. And He told the disciples to go to them and love them. Do you have a Samaria? I suppose that if we are honest we all do. People that we don’t really like or agree with. So, Jesus says go to them, not to condemn, not to judge, but to witness in love.

            Last words are important. Of course, there is really no “last” words. Given that we are eternal beings in a temporary body, there are only words that will be our last here in this life. We will be speaking words for eternity, words of adoration, words of thankfulness, words of love, words of praise and honor.

            What will be your “last” words here on earth? I know we don’t like to think about that. But don’t allow your last words to be words of regret, or words of doubt, or words of denial.  May we all say “the best of all, God is with us!”

A Divided Room

I remember the day my girls divided their bedroom. The two had shared a room for years, but one day I suppose one (or both) of them had had enough of something or the other. Tape went down on the floor in as close to the middle as they could agree upon. One bed on each side, one dresser on each side, and each of their belongings on the appropriate side. They did agree, I guess, that the door was a neutral aspect since the door was on one side of the room. After all, a pre-teen girl can’t have a monopoly on a divided room door. So they both got to use the door. But other than that, the lines had been drawn.

I think it’s part of our nature to draw lines. Maybe we don’t make our lines on the carpet of our bedrooms with duct tape anymore, but I think we still draw them. Right and wrong, good and bad, clean and dirty (which in my house is still a matter of opinion), and even holy and secular. Maybe especially the holy and secular part. Now of course some lines have to be drawn. There are lines drawn in our legal and judiscial systems that we have to abide by. There are lines between sin and living a righteous life. We are called to be holy people. “Be holy because I am holy” is our command from God (1 Peter 1:16).

It’s just sometimes I think we draw lines in the sand that were never meant to be drawn. The root of being able to follow that verse in 1 Peter that I mentioned above is living in love. That’s really the root of our entire Christian life: to love God, to love others, and to forgive.  It’s hard to live that kind of life and have our lines drawn all the time.

When we draw lines we have an us vs. them mentality. We are saying that what is on one side of the line is ours, and what is on the other side of the line are things that we don’t want on our side. So what are we to do?

I think it’s time to erase some of the lines that we have drawn. If we are loving God completely and loving on others as we are told to do by the same God who died for us and them, then the separations and divisions are really just separating and dividing us.

Does this mean that anything goes and everything is permissible? Of course not. But it does, at least partially, recognize that “everything comes from God and exists by his power and is intended for his glory” (Romans 11:36).

Maybe that’s why in the first book of the New Testament that recounts the death of Jesus we are also told about something that had been used to divide. It was a curtain. This curtain was located in the temple in Jerusalem, and was used to separate the holy of holies where the Ark of the Covenant was kept. This place was filled with the presence (spirit) of God so mere mortals couldn’t just casually go in there. There was a curtain that physically divided. But when Jesus took on himself all the sins of the world (which was your sins and my sins), here is what happened: “at that moment the curtain in the sanctuary of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom”. The line that divided us from God had removed by God himself.

I have seen the presence of God in an ornate stain glass sanctuary. I have seen the presence of God in a vibrantly painted sunset. I have seen the presence of God in the tear streaked face of a widow. I have seen the presence of God in a newborn crying baby. I have seen the presence of God at a bar. I have seen the presence of God at a soccer game.

“The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it. The world and all its people belong to him.” (Psalm 24:1). Maybe it’s time to re-evaluate some of our lines. Maybe we need to pull that duct tape off the carpet. Maybe if we look with eyes of love, we won’t even see anymore some of the lines that have been dividing us.