On It Goes
My grandfather had an educational bent on everything. He was a teacher and then a principal at the elementary school in his small hometown in Arizona. So when I went to visit, among all the regular fun stuff I got to do, he was teaching me. One of the odd things Pop had me memorize was a barbed little poem to tame the ego. The topic was humility: specifically - “Everyone’s replaceable.”
If ever you think that your absence
would leave an unfillable whole,
just follow those simple instructions
and see how they humble the soul:
Take a bucket, fill it with water,
put your arm in up to the wrist,
take it out and the hole that is left
is the measure of how you’ll be missed.
See, it is odd and a bit barbed—not from the fluffy, positive category of life lessons. It is a feel-good poem, but when considered in the context of confidence in the wider system, it is not a self-demeaning message either. It is possible to have great satisfaction in personal contributions to a cause, as well as a strong assurance that it is the cooperative dynamic that allows progress.
The Church recently celebrated the Feast of St. Luke (October 18). Luke left us two works for the New Testament: The Gospel that bears his name and the one-of-a-kind sequel, The Acts of the Apostles. The first ends with the Ascension of Christ, the return of the Son of God, to the right hand of the Father. Acts begins with the same mystery. Both are brief accounts of the marvel of Jesus ascending to heaven following his instructions to his followers to stay in Jerusalem and wait for the promise of the Father to clothe them from on high with power, with the Holy Spirit.
The description reveals that Jesus’s departure ushers in the Spirit’s empowering of the faithful so that the Good News might go on. God’s presence and saving activity in the world came through the person of Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit, operating through believers, geographically expands the presence and redemptive power of Christ in the world. So, on it goes. The Good News comes through the person of Christ and continues powerfully through the Body of Christ.
Saint Paul is one within the Body of Christ through whom the Gospel was first spread powerfully. From his letters and Luke’s work, Acts, we learn of how demanding, adventurous, and effective that ministry was. Far and wide, he set up little enclaves of belief in Christ—people filled with the Spirit. At times he was on his own, vulnerable, and undefended before people with power. He suffered abuse from those who opposed him. He did not know when it would happen but knew that in time, he would be taken down. To the Christians in Philippi he wrote,
It is my eager expectation and hope…that by my speaking with all boldness…Christ will be exalted now as always in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me, living is Christ and dying is gain…I am hard pressed between the two. (Philippians 1:20-23)
Because of the peril within the circumstances at hand and the vicious determination of his enemies, Paul thought at times his end must be fast approaching. But he also knew that many others would carry on, and he knew that the unstoppable Holy Spirit empowers all who serve. In a letter to his colleague, Timothy, he wrote:
I am already being poured out as a libation, and the time of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. From now on there is reserved for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will give me on that day, and not only to me but also to all who have longed for his appearing. Do your best to come to me soon, for Demas, in love with this present world, has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica; Crescens has gone to Galatia, Titus to Dalmatia. Only Luke is with me. Get Mark and bring him with you, for he is useful in my ministry. I have sent Tychicus to Ephesus….At my first defense no one came to my support…May it not be counted against them! But the Lord stood by me and gave me strength, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it. (2 Timothy 4:6-17)
In this, we observe how Paul knows that the Spirit has effectively used him for the message of Christ. He also knows that when he is gone the Spirit will continue to work through others. All the matters of the cause of Christ come through the cooperative efforts of people filled with grace from the Spirit. So, on it goes, and so, it is with you. You, filled with grace, are part of the means for Christ to get the best news, the Good News, into the world. Get some out there today.