Acts 1:1-5: a reflection

1The first book I wrote, Theophilus, concerned all that Jesus began both to do and to teach, 2until the day in which he was received up, after he had given commandment through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. 3To these he also showed himself alive after he suffered, by many proofs, appearing to them over a period of forty days and speaking about God’s Kingdom. 4Being assembled together with them, he commanded them, “Don’t depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which you heard from me. 5For John indeed baptized in water, but you will be baptized in the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”

As the risen Jesus prepares to leave his disciples, he gives them a command that might have seemed strange: not to go out at once and begin the great mission, but to wait. Do not depart from Jerusalem, he says, but wait for the promise of the Father; for you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now. Before they were to undertake the work he was giving them, they were to wait for the Spirit, the promised enabling from the Father.

Notice the command to wait. The disciples might have been eager to rush out and begin; the task was urgent, the world was waiting. But Jesus told them to wait, not to begin the work until they had received the Spirit. They were not to attempt God's work in their own strength; they were to wait for the enabling of the Spirit, without which they could not do what God had called them to. First the Spirit, then the mission.

That order is worth taking to heart. We can be eager to rush into God's work, to begin at once in our own strength and enthusiasm, without waiting for the enabling of the Spirit. But the disciples were told to wait, to depend not on their own resources but on the Spirit God would give. God's work is done not merely by human effort, but by the enabling of his Spirit; and there is wisdom in not rushing ahead of it. Do not attempt God's work in your own strength, without depending on his Spirit. Wait, as the disciples waited, for the enabling God gives; seek his Spirit before you undertake his work, and rely on the Spirit's help rather than your own resources. First depend on God's enabling, then go; for the work is done by his Spirit, not by our strength alone.

Lord, before your disciples began the great mission, you told them to wait in Jerusalem for the promise of the Father, the coming of the Holy Spirit; they were not to attempt your work in their own strength, but to wait for the enabling of the Spirit. Take that order to my heart. I can be eager to rush into your work, to begin at once in my own strength and enthusiasm, without waiting for the enabling of the Spirit. But you told the disciples to wait, to depend not on their own resources but on the Spirit you would give. Your work is done not merely by human effort, but by the enabling of your Spirit; and there is wisdom in not rushing ahead of it. Keep me from attempting your work in my own strength, without depending on your Spirit. Help me wait, as the disciples waited, for the enabling you give; help me seek your Spirit before I undertake your work, and rely on the Spirit's help rather than my own resources. Help me depend on your enabling, for the work is done by your Spirit, not by my strength alone.