“In the Meantime…”
Acts 1:1-14
A Tribal Chief lay dying.
He called to him three of his people and said, “I must select a successor.
Therefore, climb our holy mountain and return with a the most precious gift you can find.”
The first brought back a huge gold nugget.
The second brought back a priceless gem.
The third came back empty-handed, saying, “When I reached the mountaintop I saw, in the other side, a beautiful land, where people could go for a better life.”
The chief said, “You shall succeed me.
You have brought back the most precious gift of all: a vision of a better tomorrow.”
I think we all want a vision of a better tomorrow, especially given that we are now living in a time of great uncertainty.
And that is what the disciples wanted as well—a vision of a better tomorrow.
The Apostles and the Risen Jesus were on the Mount of Olives.
He’d been hanging out with them, on and off, for forty days after His Resurrection teaching them about the Kingdom of God.
But it must have been some difficult stuff for them to understand, because they still didn’t seem to have a clue of what Jesus was talking about.
One time, when they were eating together, Jesus told them that very soon they were going to receive the “gift” that God had promised them and which Jesus and even John the Baptist had been talking about for years.
The time of preparation for this was coming to an end.
Jesus would be ascending back to heaven where He would sit at the right hand of God the Father.
And then, after a few days of waiting, they would be baptized with the Holy Spirit.
This was the gift.
But, they still didn’t get it.
They didn’t get what it was about.
So, they interrupted Jesus’ stream of thought by asking: “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?”
They were thinking of God’s Kingdom in earthly, political terms.
And I think a lot of us still make that mistake today.
But Jesus never was about worldly politics.
The Kingdom Jesus was talking about is a Kingdom based on love, new life and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit
And the disciples are to spread the Good News that this world with all its troubles, violence, disease, sin and heartache is not our final destination.
They are to spread the Good News that through Jesus’ Christ’s death, Resurrection and Ascension to the right hand of God the Father—we now have a way to heaven—a way back to God.
And the Holy Spirit is the One through Whom we are given this guarantee.
Remember in John’s Gospel when Jesus is telling the disciples what will happen?
He tells them in John 14 and 15 that God will send them a Counselor—the Spirit of Truth—after Jesus ascends back to heaven, and that this is a good thing.
And this Holy Spirit will come upon the believers and open their minds to the Truth and the Scriptures.
The Holy Spirit will cause the believers to be born again, that is, born of God or born of the Spirit.
They will become children of God and the Spirit will give them courage—courage to go out into the world and spread the Good News.
And therefore, the work of Jesus Christ will continue through the work of those who believe—that is, the Church—the Church that we will talk more about next week, for next week is Pentecost or the birthday of the Church.
And what a glorious day that will be.
We are told that after Jesus finished telling them about what would happen, “he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight.”
And those who had gathered around Jesus, who had just eaten with Him and listened to His teachings stared towards the heavens as this happened.
And they must have stood there for sometime, because the next thing that happens is two men dressed in white suddenly appear and ask them why they are standing there staring up into the sky.
And who can blame them, it’s hard for any of us to fathom a person lifting from the ground and floating toward the heavens.
Also, this is Jesus final departure from earth until He returns.
And so, this is not the end—simply a new beginning.
It’s a visual signal that the path has now been taken by Christ Himself, and we are to take it as well.
A new day has dawned, and in a few days it will be time to tell the world that we have been to the mountaintop, we have seen what is on the other side, and it is a better future—a future where the dwelling of God will, once again, be with people.
In Luke’s Gospel, we are told that those watching Jesus ascend to heaven, “worshiped Him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy.”
This is the first instance where they “worship” Jesus.
These followers of Christ, all pious Jews, know that God alone is to be worshiped.
The God now being worshiped by the disciples is also One Who knows loneliness, betrayal, rejection, thirst, and even death.
The Ascension of Jesus into heaven alters our picture of God.
We can no longer define God in a way that leaves God completely detached from human experience.
The ascended Jesus, who sits at God’s right hand, reveals a God Who is vulnerable and even approachable.
When we turn to God in times of distress or temptation we are not calling out to a deity that is aloof and unfamiliar with our struggles.
God knows our trials intimately and not only comforts us by identifying with our pain but also assures us that troubles will not have the final word because it is the risen and ascended Christ who intercedes for us and nothing can separate us from His love—not even death itself!!!
And this same Jesus, Who ascended into heaven, will come again—establishing a new heaven and a new earth.
And we are to be ready, and we are to help ready the world for His coming.
And there is no greater calling.
2,000 years ago, 40 days after the Resurrection, there was a time of great uncertainty in the minds of Jesus’ disciples.
Right now is a time of great uncertainty for us, as well.
But this story about Jesus’ final instructions to His followers and then His ascension into heaven can help pull us out of the anxiety of not knowing because in this moment, Jesus has established a purpose for our lives “in the meantime.”
We are told that after Jesus ascended to the Father, the apostles and other followers returned to Jerusalem.
They gathered in an upper room, where they were united in their devotion to prayer.
We aren’t told what they prayed for, but I think we can guess.
I suspect they prayed for wisdom and guidance from God.
I’d imagine they prayed for courage and strength to do the work Jesus was calling them to do.
I think they probably prayed for the power of the Holy Spirit to be present with them.
Like us right now, I’d imagine these followers of Christ were longing for an anchor in a sea of change.
In the times of deepest uncertainty and insecurity, we find comfort and direction and God Himself through prayer.
And now, is a time for all of us to be united in prayer as well.
The disciples also prepared for when God’s Spirit would come.
If we were to read just a little further in Acts we would find that the disciples also spent the time between the Ascension and Pentecost finding another leader to take the place of Judas.
They believed Jesus when He promised that they would be filled with power when the Holy Spirit comes.
They prepared.
You know, an essential teaching of Christianity is that God has a plan for us.
History is not just some haphazard conglomeration of chance events which are going nowhere.
We have been given a vision of a better tomorrow.
And when that final fulfillment comes, Jesus Christ will be the Judge and the Lord of all.
The Second Coming of Jesus Christ is not something to speculate about; it’s a summons to make ourselves and our world ready for that day when it comes.
I think here, in 2020, we will witness the re-birth of the Church.
I believe that as we seek to continue our calling to be witnesses, we are going to see that happening in lots of new and creative ways.
I’ll talk about that a little more next week on Pentecost.
For now, though, let’s remember that Jesus’ calling is still here—it’s a calling which has never and will never change.
Jesus calls us to follow the path He has laid out; to be His witnesses.
We can’t just stand around, staring at the sky and wondering what will happen next.
In prayer, we must seek the power of the Holy Spirit to guide us.
Things are certainly unfamiliar and uncertain right now.
We don’t know exactly what the future holds, but our purpose has not changed.
Jesus Christ has lived, died, risen again and Ascended into Heaven.
Someday, He will return to judge the living and the dead.
In the meantime we are to be witnesses to this in Red Bank, and in Chattanooga and all the way to the ends of the earth.
Praise God!
Amen.
