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Grace, we understand, is the supernatural gift from God bestowed on all baptized Christians and as christians, we can not afford to turn our grace into disgrace. After his Ascension, Christ commands his disciples. “Go into the whole world and proclaim the gospel to every creature” (Mark 16:15.” This power to proclaim comes with God’s grace and we have been given that power from the mandate by Jesus Christ himself. As we prepare to celebrate the solemnity of Pentecost, we are challenged by the Ascension to proclaim with power, as Jesus remains with us through the Holy Spirit.
Unfortunately, most modern-day Christians lack the power to proclaim. They are afraid or ashamed to boldly stand for Christ and proclaim what they believe. The book of Acts of the Apostles, gives an account of the Ascension of the Lord and recounts jesus last to his disciples: “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, throughout Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth (Acts 1:8)”. From these words, it is clear that power has been given through the Holy Spirit of God to all believers to proclaim the good news.
Jesus goes up to heaven, now at the right hand of God, promises to send the holy Spirit in a special way on Pentecost, and he fulfils that promise. As we await this Pentecost, we are challenged to use this power to proclaim our faith in thoughts, words, and actions. As the saying goes, “God does not call the qualified, he qualifies the called”; so you don’t need to be a perfect person or very fluent in English to have the power to proclaim. Jesus did not call only those who have some position in the Church, but he calls each one of us to proclaim the good news and he promises that he will be with us till the end of time, so we need fear no evil. This mandate challenges each one of us to live our faith and to proclaim it boldly before everyone.
The power of the Holy Spirit will change the Church, the community, and our individual lives, if we who follow the Lord and take advantage of this mandate. This is what the Church of Christ needs now more than ever. This is what will change the world and not a few timid churchgoers, not sure of where they stand. As St Paul says in his Letter to the Ephesians: ”One body and one Spirit, as you were also called to the one hope of your call; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. But grace was given to each of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift (Ephesians 4:4ff) .” This can only be possible by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Be not afraid!
Disclaimer: The opinion expressed in this article is strictly that of the author, Peter Obele Abue and does not represent TheLumineNews or its agent.
