1 In the first book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus did and taught from the beginning 2 until the day when he was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. 3 After his suffering he presented himself alive to them by many convincing proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God. 4 While staying with them, he ordered them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait there for the promise of the Father. "This," he said, "is what you have heard from me; 5 for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now." 6 So when they had come together, they asked him, "Lord, is this the time when you will restore the kingdom to Israel?"
Reflection
In the words of my ancestor Andy Acts, to sum it up, Andy told me that he was all about the kingdom of God. Andy was about what happened with Jesus life, death, resurrection and ascension. Andy told of people, telling with passion, the victory of the message of what Jesus has done for creation and how the created respond to such a wonderful and powerful life.
Andy was one serious book of a collection of books that came to be known as the Bible. Throughout the ages I have descended from so many different types of relatives. Some of my uncles are the studious types like Dick Dictionary; others are a bunch of jokers like Connie Comic Book. But there is a whole sequence of relatives that I respect. They all come together in schools around the world and are written in various languages and used to help human children and adults grow in the learning of basic skills that seem to help them walk through life. This is my family the "Textbooks." What a wonderful last name to have.
For the most part my family has been made out of wood, which is for the paper in the pages of our books. Ink is applied to the pages and thoughtful words are added with a message. My family works together with some really smart people that come up with the words and some really cool workers that put us all together.
My birth happens through a cooperation of God, creation, love and care and the hands, minds and skills of humans and machines. Then out I come, all fresh and smelling good! Lately I’ve seen a few snot-nosed kids come out that don’t even have pages. They look like a shiny hunk of plastic that lights up in the day or night by using a bunch of 1’s and 0’s. They think they’re cool, but I don’t get it.
I think Andy Acts had it right when he told about Jesus. Jesus did so much for all creation, that we should have some response for what Jesus did. I know I appreciate beyond words – ha! What Jesus did for me! Really, I know I can’t repay Jesus but I can respond to Jesus. We could get together on this thing and help those in need with new members of my family. Jesus was all about helping those who were without. I know of so many children without textbooks that we could help them. There is this opportunity called ELCA Good Gifts where you can give some money and out will pop some new baby relatives of mine for young children to learn the basics of life. We all get something great out of this. And who knows, perhaps one day these children will pick up one of my other families that Andy is included in, the Bible’s, and learn more about Jesus. That would be a great way to put to use the tree too. Sometimes, I’m pretty smart for a Textbook after all!
Look me up sometime,
Teddy Textbook
Prayer
Lord, teach us to use all of our resources to love and teach one another about all you have done. Even the humans… --- Amen
www.elca.org/goodgifts
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