In Matthew 28, we read the famous story where Jesus sent his disciples out with the Great Commission:

Most of the time when we read these words we think “Great! Jesus is telling us to go. Let’s get to work then!” We’re ready to pack our bags and hit the road with the Gospel. While the urgency of this response is noble, there’s a missing element to the story that often gets overlooked. Maybe it gets overlooked because Matthew 28 doesn’t tell the whole story. We get a fuller version of the story in Acts 1. So, for our purposes here, think of the end of Matthew 28 as an “end of series cliffhanger,” or a “to be continued moment.” Acts 1 picks up where Matthew 28 left off:

Now this is interesting. When looking at these two passages of Scripture we find that Jesus desired for His disciples to preach the Gospels to all nations. However, in Acts, we find there’s more to the story. Jesus told them not to leave Jerusalem until they received the gift the Father had promised: the gift of the Holy Spirit. Essentially Jesus told the disciples they wouldn’t be able to accomplish the Great Commission on their own. They needed something beyond themselves. They needed Power from on high. They needed the Holy Spirit.

Have you ever found yourself at the end of yourself? A gut-wrenching, end-of-your-rope kind of moment? No doubt the events of the past couple of years have brought many of us to such a place. Over the past couple of years, the world has been shaken. Even as I write this now, Russia is invading Ukraine and there are rumors of war floating in the air. People are anxious and tired. It seems as if everything that could go wrong has gone wrong. It’s times like these, when we come to the end of ourselves, that we realize we need something beyond ourselves. Just as the disciples needed something more, we need something more. God says in Zechariah 4:6, “Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit…”

Now more than ever I recognize my need and the Church’s need for the empowerment of the Holy Spirit. If we’re truly going to be a people that embody and share the Gospel with the world around us, we’re going to need strength that we just don’t have on our own. “Spirit of God (Flame of Love)” was written as a prayer that reminds us of our dependency on the Spirit to do in and through us what we are unable to do in our own strength. It sings and prays:

Just as the disciples couldn’t leave Jerusalem without the Holy Spirit, our confession is that “we won’t move without Him.” We wait for the Holy Spirit to empower us. We wait for the Holy Spirit to send us. We need something beyond ourselves if we’re ever going to be faithful to complete the work God has given us to do. We need Power from on high. We need the Holy Spirit.

The good news is the Father is waiting to give us the Holy Spirit: “If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” (Luke 11:13). May we ask and pray together for the empowerment of the Holy Spirit, knowing that our Father Is faithful to give us everything we need in our moments of fear and weakness. And may we always give thanks for the Spirit of God who is with us. We are never forsaken. Amen.

Written by Micah Massey from New Life Worship