The Ascension Letdown (Sunday Thoughts Link Up #19)
JOHN 14:25-27
25 “All this I have spoken while still with you. 26 But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. 27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.
I always get a little sad on this week after Easter. There’s so much celebrating and pastel pleats and smocking on the kids’ clothes and singing all the good songs at church. There are so many egg hunts and trips to visit the bunnies and eating of melty chocolate in the car. There’s so much JOY—joy at the fact that were blind but now we see, that Christ has risen. Can I get an amen?
And then time moves forward and that joy starts to fade. The truth doesn’t, of course, but the feeling diminishes. The Bible-belt’s rockin’ hallelujahs fade to a soft buzzing. You know that had to be how the disciples felt, those freshmen Christians when Jesus came back from the dead, only to leave them again. They went from the highest highs, the loudest amens, and the longest backslapping communal celebration to less. Jesus knew the letdown would come. He knew, having been one himself, that they were only human and feelings would progress in their natural fashion. Which is why he sends the Holy Spirit.
I like to think of the Holy Spirit as my Tink…as in Tinker Bell. She’s Peter Pan’s conscience. She’s the one who instills hope and keeps him flying the right course. Jesus sent his Holy Spirit to “remind [me] of everything” and to make me brave. Because the hardest thing in the world to do is the right thing when there is no evidence that it matters. When the evidence exists beyond this world, the incentivizing has to come from within, but not within us, because, let’s come full circle, we’re only human. The Holy Spirit helps us be more and feel more and remember beyond Easter that we are still being cared for and because of that, we still have a high-fiving, arms-linking, full reason to celebrate and march forward with our fellow Christians.
This is how I want my son to feel when I can no longer care for him, when I have left this earth and he, with his special needs, will need to trust someone new. I want him to feel confident and secure and safe. I want the Holy Spirit to buoy him up. I pray that he will feel protected and that he will know it comes from Jesus more than any human presence in his world.
The Holy Spirit is our Tink. The Holy Spirit is our peace. The Holy Spirit is our heart’s ease and for that we can raise up all the hallelujahs.
Sunday Thoughts Link Up!
It’s time for another Sunday Thoughts Link-Up! I know there are many out there with wisdom that could encourage all of us. As long as it’s Biblically-based, I’d love for you to join up and then read and comment on what others have shared. Please also leave a comment here. Think of this as a Sunday morning community group that comes to you. And grab the button if you like…
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