"Blessing"
- FirstPres Abq
- May 17
- 6 min read
Rev. Essie Koenig-Reinke
Luke 24:44-5344 Then he said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you—that everything written about me in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms must be fulfilled.” 45 Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures, 46 and he said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Messiah[a] is[b] to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day 47 and that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. 48 You are witnesses[c] of these things. 49 And see, I am sending upon you what my Father promised, so stay here in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.”
The Ascension of Jesus
50 Then he led them out as far as Bethany, and, lifting up his hands, he blessed them. 51 While he was blessing them, he withdrew from them and was carried up into heaven.[d] 52 And they worshiped him and[e] returned to Jerusalem with great joy, 53 and they were continually in the temple[f] blessing God.[g]
We are at that point in our parenthood journey where Lucy has a specific song or soundtrack she has to listen to anytime we are in the car. Lately we have jumped from K-Pop Demon Hunters to Encanto and back to Huntrix but last week she asked for an old favorite. She asked for Moana, the Disney epic of a Polynisian girl who loves the sea, named Moana. She is the daughter to the chief and her parents expect to stay put and learn how to lead her people. However, there is a calling deep within Moana to voyage beyond her island, and despite her father’s best efforts she finds herself on a quest to save her people by returning the heart to the Goddess Tafiti. Now, Lucy’s favorite song is not the stand out ballad, or the opening number. Rather it’s the song where Moana’s Grandmother, Gramma Tala shows her the way to the cave where Moana learns that her people were once voyagers. The song is called, “We know the way,” it is filled with Ploynisain language, culture and history, and the beat is pretty fun too. Most importantly, this song brings to light a part of herself she never understood, until now.
She finally understands where her call to be in the ocean comes from. And its not from fairytales or some desire to be different from her parents. It’s a calling that comes from the generations of people who came before her. The story lives in her and calls her to continue it on.
This is not unlike this final visit Jesus has with his disciples. Something worth noting, is that the gospel according to Luke, more than any other gospel, talks time and time again about how Jesus is the fulfillment of the scriptures. He is not making up his own narrative, he is the embodiment of the story of God’s faithfulness that has been unfolding for generations. And this moment is the pinnacle of that revelation. Hidden in the details of the language, and syntax Jesus and the author of Luke poetically weaves in the fulfillment of scripture. From words that harken back to exodus and actions that only the most revered prophets performed, for one last time Jesus pulls back the curtain so that his disciples can see who he is and where he comes from. It is like Moana walking into the cave behind the waterfall and seeing all the boats her ancestors voyaged on and the feeling of finally being known and seen.
This, this is how Jesus leaves his disciples, in the swell of love, and history, and meaning and truth, and love.
Earlier this week I attended one of the Presbytery of Santa Fe’s Justice & Hope services. This the third service the presbytery has done in which the worship focuses on living a life of faith in this current political climate. This service focused on balance. The balance of rest and work, despair and hope, lament and joy, self care and self-lessly giving. It’s truly a dance more than a balance, because in truth there will be times when you give more than you take and there will be seasons where you will need to rest more than you work. Both are necessary, rarely will the scales be completely even. One of the resolutions we kept coming back to is that this practice of finding the rhythm to ebb and flow of our lives is a spiritual one. It takes knowing our faith and our history, the stories that have shaped us, the ones in scripture, the ones in our hymnals, the ones from our Sunday school teachers, and our bible study groups. The call to live as faithful people is as old as Adam and Eve. It’s a calling placed deep within our hearts, it is part of who we are, and it is imperative that we know this part of our spiritual selves. Much like Moana uncovering the history of her ancestors, like the disciples finally understanding how Jesus fulfills the ancient stories they grew up hearing. This revelation, this work at the spiritual level, doesn’t simply stay there, when we claim what we know to be true, it changes the way we live. Now, we might not voyage out into the unknown to save the world, but the way we encounter this world, God’s creation, does change. We are never the same. The truth of who Christ is changes us, to live more fully into who we are called to be.
After this revelation for the disciples, they are called out into the unknown. Jesus’ earthly work has come to an end, and the church’s mission begins. Jesus ascends into heaven lifting his hands and blessing the disciple, just as Moses and Elijah before him and he ascends into the heavens leaving the disciples to bless God and the world, just as Abraham was blessed to be a blessing. From here the disciples will go out into the world and begin the work of the church, filled with stories, the embodiment of Christ, and the witness to love that knows no end. Like Moana they are called to follow the voice inside them that knows the way.”
Towards the end of the movie, Moana becomes discouraged after the heart of Tafiti falls deep into the ocean. That night as she lays under the stars on her boat, she hears the voice of Gramma Tammala singing to her. When I hear this song it reminds me of what Jesus might have said to the disciples as he was blessing them and preparing them for what was about to happen:
“Sometimes the world seems against you. The journey may leave a scar, but scars can heal and reveal just where you are. The people you love will change you. The things you have learned will guide you, and nothing on Earth can silence, the quiet voice still inside you. And when that voice starts to whisper "my child, you've come so far. My child, listen. Do you know who you are?”
The words of comfort and remembrance invites Moana into the song as she sings with more clarity and strength each sentence.
“I am everything I've learned and more. Still, it calls me. And the call isn't out there at all. It's inside me. It's like the tide, always falling and rising. I will carry you here in my heart. You'll remind me. Come what may, I know the way.”
For us as people of faith, Jesus is the way, the truth and the life because he fulfilled the heart of our scriptures. He is the one who brought the ancient stories to life, and showed us the power love holds in this cosmos, the love that will not let us go, that leads us into the waters of this world, to build God’s kingdom here. May the voice inside us, that blesses us and tells us who we are and whose we are, be our guiding star that we carry in our hearts, reminding us that come what may we know the way. Amen.