Lead in: The liturgical seasons of the 40 days of Lent and the 50 days of Easter complete the story of the life, death, Resurrection and Ascension of Jesus into heaven, culminating with the outpouring of the Holy Spirit to continue his work among us. Our lives have a similar pattern. As we die to certain things, we are raised up to new life in other things. As Jesus ascended from their midst and the Apostles waited in the upper room for the Spirit that would ignite them into action, so too do we have our times of waiting. In the upper room of our lives, we wait for the Spirit to ignite us to action.
Prompt: What have been the dying and rising (low and high points) in your life?
Prompt: Reflect on your life. Have you had any “upper room” experiences where it seemed nothing was happening and then the Spirit came along and ignited you to action?
Lead in: In the early days of his ministry in Galilee when Jesus gained a huge following, the disciples wondered if Jesus was going to restore the glory days of Israel. Or, even better, maybe he might be the messianic savior who liberates Israel from the oppression of Roman rule. In fact, just before Jesus ascended into heaven, the disciples were still wondering the same thing. In the same way, we might be wishing the same thing, wondering if Jesus might return to pull the world out of the mess it’s in.
Prompt: Reflect on a time when life would have been so much easier if Christ could have magically appeared to pull your life out of the mess it was in.
Lead in: As Jesus ascended into heaven to return to the Father, so “at the appointed time” we will ascend into heaven to return to the Father. But none of us know for sure of the “appointed time”.
Prompt: As you reflect on your inevitable death, what feelings surface for you?
Lead in: Consider the limited resources of the early church just after Jesus ascended into heaven. They had no buildings, little money, little experience in what they were called to do, and the political and social world they were to evangelize was suspicious, if not hostile to them. Yet, against all odds the early church grew by leaps and bounds.
Prompt: As you look at your life, what was it that wasn’t supposed to succeed but actually did? How did that happen?
Lead in: On the night before he died, thinking of those who would come to believe, Jesus thanks his heavenly Father, “They are your gift to me.” As we are God’s gift to his Son, so are we gifts to one another.
Prompt: Make a list and thank God for those who have been the “gift” for which you’ll always be grateful.
Prompt: What have they taught you about life and the way you want to live?
