Ascension Day

AM Psalm 8, 47 • PM Psalm 24, 96
Dan. 7:9-14 • Heb. 2:5-18 • Matt. 28:16-20

It is the Feast of the Ascension. The moment when Jesus drops the mic and leaves us to our own devices to be a witness of God in the world. It feels simultaneously like the end of a great novel and the beginning of the first chapter.

In his final earthly moments, Jesus commands his followers to “make disciples of all nations, baptizing them…and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you.” My modern sensibility quickly conjures up images of centuries of well-to-do zealots traveling as missionaries to “uncivilized” places to forcefully convert as many non-believers as possible.

I wonder if we (those century old missionaries and ourselves today) got sidetracked by the part about “teaching.” What do you envision with that word? Is it someone standing in front of a lecture hall at a university? Is it a repairman walking an apprentice through the necessary mechanical steps? Is it blogging about your cooking adventures with recipe adjustments? Is it someone giving their 3rd grade class a standardized test?

Who do we call teachers? What do we label as teaching?

In the same way Jesus’ kingship comes in the form of a prisoner on a cross, we need to reevaluate our understanding of teaching (and ourselves as teachers). Perhaps we become teachers by learning from others and through living by example. Perhaps teaching others is actually about being so filled by a life guided by knowing and serving God, that others can’t help but want to learn more about it. Maybe teaching is worrying less about the test results and more about who we engage in our “classroom.”

Written by Emma Mitchell

Emma is the Youth Minister at St. Paul’s. When not serving the youth and families of St. Paul’s she can be found thrifting, crafting, and spending time with her husband Dave and their cats.