The Ascension Gifts of Jesus invest the Church with promise and ability. His gifts are the ministries of the Church. And we’re reminded by Saint Paul that each of us has been given his gift, his due portion of Christ's bounty. (Ephesians 4:7, NEB) This is not a declaration made to some but rather addressed to God's people (Ephesians 1:1, NEB), first at Ephesus and now here. We aren’t to look at Paul’s statement as affirming the fellowship in an exclusive sense, but to see the importance of what is being said here. We have all been enlisted into the service of the LORD. The picture is clear and we’ve seen it elsewhere.

But knowing that we have been given our due portion does not mean to suggest that we know what it is or that we even intend on using it. It is a statement filled with hope and promise.

Not one of us has been given his due portion simply to become the repository of Jesus’ gift. We have been invested with gifts for a purpose.

All contemporary translations of this passage agree in looking at the New Testament model of ministry as being inclusive in nature. Gifts are given so that God‘s people might be equipped for work in the LORD's service. Joshua’s question rings clear in every age, generation after generation. And for all those who enter the LORD’s service, the promise is certain: the Body of Christ will be built up.

The reconciling purpose of the LORD brings a unity in Jesus and a knowledge of him as the One who has forgiven our wrongdoing and remembers our sin no longer. So we grow into maturity in our faith. We don’t have to be deterred any longer — the perfection we are called to is a completion of what we are intended to be, a maturity that measures itself not against one another but by nothing less than the full stature of Christ.

The purpose of the LORD finds its full expression in Jesus. He calls us to participate in this expression of ministry, to share in the redeeming and reconciling work of the Son. We are called into fellowship with him and discover in him the fellowship we have with each other.

This ministry brings with it great expectations Jesus has for us:

The witness we bear is the witness of John’s disciples. We are to go and witness to what we hear and see. The witness has heard something, and seen something, and he must represent what has taken place from his life’s experience. This isn’t speculative or second-hand. The LORD has been active in our lives and we are to witness to his activity. Saint Paul saw the same principle at work:

The argument overlaps on itself. The Father us in all our troubles not simply to get us out of trouble. There's nothing Serindipity here. We are comforted or strengthened in all our troubles so that we in turn may be able to comfort others. But more than that: so that we may share with them the consolation we ourselves receive from God. Our witness encourages others in their faith in Jesus because the witness we are expected to bear is for Jesus and what he has said and done.

The anointed ministry of Jesus’ disciples, then as now will see witness borne for Jesus in Jerusalem, and all over Judaea and Samaria, and away to the end of the earth. (Acts 1: 8, NEB) Not that we have to begin in Jerusalem, but where we are, now. To bear witness for Jesus to those in anxiety and despair around us. But not in our own comfortable circle of friends only but among our acquaintances, those in Judaea too. But Jesus also expects us to bear witness to the less-than orthodox — these dwelling in their Samarias — where the inspired word of the LORD will teach the truth and refute error… so that the man who belongs to God may be efficient and equipped for good works of every kind. (2 Timothy 3: 16-17, NEB) And even that accomplished, Jesus’ expectation knows no bounds: away to the ends of the earth. (Acts 1: 8, NEB) Is it as clear to you, as it is to me that…

The LORD said... "Leave your own country, your kinsmen, and your father’s house, and go to a country that I will show you. (Genesis 12: 1, NEB) and as with Abram, still with us today.