Ascension

The church calendar for the past week has included Ascension - recognising the time when Jesus disappeared from physical view in front of His followers and returned to the God-head. With this episode there is also the commissioning of the disciples - the 'Great Commission' recorded in Matthew, and Luke recording 'You will be may witnesses' at the start of Acts. The later fragments of Mark also include a commissioning, which reads:

Go into all the world and preach the gospel to the whole of creation.

Let's think about this commission being 'to the whole of creation', rather than merely being people focussed. The Greek that we have translated as preached conveys the meaning of 'herald' or 'announce' - bringing the new information to bear. The 'gospel' - the news of Jesus Christ - was to be announced across all the world. The language used would be familiar to first century people: when there was a new emperor, the news would conveyed across the whole empire (perhaps even beyond) by people tasked to make the announcement.

The task of the disciples was to convey the news of a new Lord - this is the good news of Jesus.

But this is not merely a piece of political news that impacts the lives of people! Jesus being Lord has far greater implications, and is news for the whole of creation itself. The Greek that is translated for us 'whole of creation' conveys that sense. It could also be translated 'all that is created' - that means the very fabric of the universe as we know it needs to hear this good news of Jesus' Lordship announcement!

And remember too that it is not just the physical that is created. We understand creation as including the physical and the 'heavenly bodies': a supernatural realm (containing good and fallen) that is beyond our understanding or accurate description, but nonetheless in existence and created. All this too needs to hear this good news declaration.

So the commission, as written in some copies of Mark, is for us as Jesus disciples to declare to everything, including in the spiritual realm that Jesus is Lord. That means the scope of our role stretches far wider than telling friends, neighbours or strangers! These copies of Mark should broaden our horizon - the calling is not just convincing some people that following Jesus is a better way of life (though that is certainly included), but for us to make the cosmic declaration that Jesus is above all: all people, all creatures, all things, here in the physical, and in the spiritual.

Jesus is Lord and above all!

Flourishing Community

There are few people who do not nod in agreement when talking about a desire for a healthy & vibrant community. Non-believers, people of other faiths, even most cynics - when presented with a vision of a healthy flourishing community - will agree that at the very least 'it sounds like a good idea'.

Our Christian perspective informs us that such notions overlap with a Kingdom vision. We have rich resources, such as passages in Isaiah and Zechariah that inspire us towards that vision. The over-arching story from Abraham onwards is of a people who are devoted to God and blessed by Him themselves being a blessing to the their surrounding community (and ultimately the global community). We know that Jesus came to fulfil just that, and in being Christ-followers we take part in the very same project.

We can seed, contribute towards and help enable flourishing community for all because of our faith in Jesus.

But as Christ-followers seeking first His Kingdom we should also recognise some fundamental difficulties. The sad reality is that there is a sea of need out there, that can easily dwarf whatever good we might bring as an individual or as a small dedicated group. From a population growth perspective, we might also wonder if we and fellow believers can keep up even if we believe that just a few of us can act as sufficient yeast to permeate the batch of dough.

But I fear that another fundamental difficulty also needs to be understood: that the principalities & powers are not done yet. Our Kingdom activity in the name of Jesus pushes back these malevolent powers for sure, but given time & opportunity they will happily go on the counter-offensive - especially if the witness to Jesus as Lord subsides, the salt & light diminishes. This is saying (in spiritual terms) that over time the Kingdom wins of a particular flourishing community can be lost. After all, do we not see that over and over in the books of Judges, Kings and Chronicles?

Kingdom gains that enable flourishing community flow primarily out of lives lived for Jesus. Lives lived this way flow from lives won for Jesus, and they are of course the result of witness to Jesus and Good New declared. The yeast is supposed to work into the whole batch of dough, and the tiny mustard seed is supposed to grow into a tree that provides for all - in other words that there is ultimately 'Gospel Saturation' (a term used by disciple movement pioneers).

Kingdom initiative to enable flourishing community is excellent. But it needs to perpetuate, regenerate, and by God's grace spread. That means it is unmistakably connected to the basic call made by Jesus: "Come, follow me!".