Notes From the Early Days

Packing up our home requires that I finally render judgement on the papers I’ve kept from old classes and lectures or that I’ve written myself on various occasions. In fact, it’s been arresting to discover research notes I developed nearly 30 years ago on subjects that evolved into deep convictions I cherish now. They are artifacts of my intellectual and spiritual journey. They bear the imprint of my own creative energy as a younger man and also the gracious hand of my heavenly Father who was shaping my life. I can’t bear to throw them away.

I was reflecting on this as I prepare for our readings for the Sunday after Ascension Day. They are also “notes” from the early days. As texts written so closely to the events of Jesus’s life, death, resurrection, and ascension, they bear the zeal and creativity of the earliest days of the church. They expected more to come, quickly. They knew that Jesus would return in triumph over the false gods of this world to establish his kingdom forever.

And yet here we are, so long—it seems—after those early days. But we don’t wait as though we possess nothing in the meantime. We have the Spirit and we have the promises of God that are still on the horizon, but a little closer. And we have our mission, the same mission that began with Abraham, was refreshed in Pentecost, and unites us together now.

I look forward to exploring these amazing texts with you Sunday.

Steve E+

Notes From the Early Days

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