Show the World

Gospel
24 May 2009
Ascension of the Lord
Mk 16:15-20

Jesus said to his disciples:
“Go into the whole world
and proclaim the gospel to every creature.
Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved;
whoever does not believe will be condemned.
These signs will accompany those who believe:
in my name they will drive out demons,
they will speak new languages.
They will pick up serpents with their hands,
and if they drink any deadly thing, it will not harm them.
They will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”

So then the Lord Jesus, after he spoke to them,
was taken up into heaven
and took his seat at the right hand of God.
But they went forth and preached everywhere,
while the Lord worked with them
and confirmed the word through accompanying signs.

***

Before Jesus ascended into heaven, he left us with one duty: that we go out and proclaim the Good News to the world. In these times when the Church is ignored by many and the churches are no longer full of believers, we find ourselves in a situation similar to the ones experienced by the first apostles. Just like them, we are tasked by Jesus Christ to go out into the world and make the non-believers believe in Christ.

However, in our world today, driving out demons, speaking in a new language and drinking poison without being harmed is no longer applicable. In the olden times, these wondrous miracles may have converted the Gentiles but the non-believers of today need a more subtle approach. So how can we get people to believe in God again?

Simple. We can’t just proclaim the Gospel verbally, we have to proclaim it physically. Our thoughts, words and actions should all be a reflection of what the Good News is – Jesus Christ Himself. As Christians, we should be Christ-like in everything we do. In the Gospel last week, Jesus left us with a very important commandment: Love one another as I have loved you. He was directly telling us how we can be like Him, we just have to follow it. We should love each other as Jesus has loved us.

In our society today where animosity, indifference and faithlessness is the normal state of people, Christians like us should be a beacon of love to show the world, and not just tell the world, the Good News – God’s love that is so infinite, that He gave us His only Son, Jesus Christ so that we may be saved.