I read this dialog between Jesus and the disciples a little differently this year:

Every time they were gathered together, they asked Jesus, “Lord, is it the time now for you to free Israel and restore our kingdom?” He answered, “The Father is the one who sets the fixed dates and the times of their fulfillment. You are not permitted to know the timing of all that he has prepared by his own authority. But I promise you this—the Holy Spirit will come upon you and you will be filled with power. And you will be my messengers to Jerusalem, throughout Judea, the distant provinces —even to the remotest places on earth!” (Acts 1.6 – 8, TPT)

We enter the new year, having gone through the celebration of the birth of Jesus, who came and established the beachhead for the advance of the Kingdom. We had compared Israel waiting for the Messiah to our waiting for COVID-19 deliverance and racial and social justice. Like the disciples wanting to know if Jesus is going to overthrow Rome and bring Israel back to its formal glory, we’re asking, “Is 2021 going to be better? Is life in the U.S. going back to the way it was?” Jesus’ answer to the disciples is clear and it applies to us as well:

I don’t know…but I know this: you’ll receive the Spirit’s power to be my messengers…everywhere! – Jesus, Acts 1.7, 8

COVID or not, we have a job to do. Best we figure out how to do it.

He told them, “This is what is written: The Messiah will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance for the forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. (Luke 24.46, 47, NIV)

Do everything without grumbling or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, “children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation.” Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky as you hold firmly to the word of life. (Philippians 2.14 – 16, NIV)