The Ends of the Earth

It is annoying to discover an incredible fact about a place you’ve just visited after you’ve already arrived home. As most of you know, we just got back from a stint in New Zealand – a remarkable, peaceful and sane place. As we were hanging out in the airport in Auckland before our departure, we ended up visiting with a Christian author who had been touring New Zealand on a speaking tour. She told us that New Zealand was the furthest place on the planet from Jerusalem. Well, I had to look that up. It turns out she was right. The winner was a city that we were minutes away from at our last stay – Tauranga, New Zealand – 10,199.808 from the Holy City. Had I known that, I would have driven over and taken a selfie. Here’s why…

Shortly after the resurrection, Jesus spoke these words to his disciples: “But when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, you will receive power to testify about me with great effect, to the people in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth, about my death and resurrection.” ~Acts 1:8  How about that? I just wrapped up a vacation at the ends of the earth.
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In the past few days we have been chatting about the “other Lord’s Prayer.” I took some pains to drive home the point that Jesus didn’t concern himself with praying for the world. His attention was wholly focused upon his disciples and on those who would believe in the future. Included in this long scene that began in chapter 13 and wrapped up in chapter 17, we see that the prayer of Jesus was for believers to exhibit a love and a unity that mirrored the love and unity shared between the  Father and the Son.  It is  a primary concern of heaven.  If that is true, it should be a primary concern of ours as well.

I’ve had a few questions surrounding what I’ve been saying. They have been along the lines of: “Shouldn’t we be praying for the lost world? Shouldn’t we be involved in sharing our faith?” Sure. I am doing it every day in this venue. However, from what I can tell it is not an either/or, but a both/and. There is something sequential and artful in the prayer of Jesus. If the church doesn’t take seriously its call to be the answer to Christ’s prayer for unity and love, we’ve not a message worth sharing. It is the starting point and the sustaining dynamic for all that is to follow.