The End of the World As We Know It

A Reflection on the First Reading for Sunday, May 21st, 2023:
​The Ascension of the Lord

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Acts
1.1-11

​In the first book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus did and taught from the beginning until the day when he was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the Apostles whom he had chosen. After his suffering he presented himself alive to them by many convincing proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God.

While staying with them, he ordered them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait there for the promise of the Father. “This,” he said, “is what you have heard from me; for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”

So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, is this the time when you will restore the kingdom to Israel?” He replied, “It is not for you to know the times or periods that the Father has set by his own authority. But 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.”

When he had said this, as they were watching, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. While he was going and they were gazing up toward heaven, suddenly two men in white robes stood by them. They said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up toward heaven? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.”

“It is not for you to know the times or periods that the Father has set by His own authority.”
​Just before His ascension – a no doubt painful separation for the Apostles who had spent the forty days after His resurrection soaking in His presence – Jesus leaves them with this important message. He had revealed so much to them during His earthly ministry, unpacking mystery upon mystery for them. Not only that, He was also sending them the Holy Spirit to keep teaching them and guiding them. But this knowledge, the knowledge of when He would return again to bring to final fruition the work completed on the cross, was not for them to know.

Jesus left this important instruction nestled in encouragement and mission. He answers their question about His return by pointing out what they are to do rather than focusing on His return date. They will receive power from the Holy Spirit. They will be His witnesses to the ends of the Earth.

Because He knew how we’d be. He knew we’d be looking at the Scriptures trying to suss out clues and hints. He knew we’d see natural disasters, global pandemics, unpopular election results, war, and cell phone service going down as signs of the impending apocalypse. He knew when things are idyllic that we’d see that as a sign that there’s no way this is the time or place of the end. We love to catastrophize and minimalize. 

He didn’t want the Apostles to focus on the end of all things. He wanted them to focus on the mission. That mission was to preach the Gospel to the ends of the Earth. That mission was to speak to every heart in need of the salvation Christ offers. There’s no time for trying to calculate the date of the apocalypse because some of the lives the Lord seeks to change through their mission are nearing their natural end. For those lives, the apocalypse is only a breath away.

The world likely won’t end tomorrow, but our lives may end. Our own slice of the world may end at any time. Are you prepared for the end of the world as you know it? If you were to meet the Lord tomorrow, would your spiritual bags be packed? Would you have forgiven those you needed to forgive and sought forgiveness of those you need forgiveness from? Are you in right relationship with God? 

Jesus reminds us today that we don’t have to focus on the end if we live in the Spirit and act on our mission from God. By living for God and learning from the Spirit, we can be ready to meet the Lord at any moment. Instead of focusing on an abstract fear of the apocalypse, we can focus on living a life of mission, devotion, and growth. By bringing ourselves closer to God in this life, we prepare for eternal life with Him in the next.




Stéphanie Potter

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