Today we begin a new series of sermons, looking at the first years of the Christian Church as they’re recorded for us in the book of Acts. We won’t cover the whole book this year, it’s far too long for that, but we will begin this year by looking at the first 11 chapters over the next few months. So today we begin with ch1.
If you were here last week, you may remember that Michael pointed out that Luke has written a 2 part history for us, showing how Jesus’ coming has changed the course of history, fulfilling the promises given by God in the Old Testament to bring renewal and salvation to his people. The first part of that history is in Luke’s gospel and now he continues his account in the books of Acts.
You can see it in v1: "In the first book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus did and taught from the beginning."
Now, I discovered as I was preparing this sermon that the translators of the NRSV have made what I think is a serious omission in translating that verse. What Luke actually wrote was "All that Jesus began to do and to teach." He’s trying to get across a sense of incompleteness. He wants us to understand that although Jesus’ earthly ministry is complete, his work continues through the apostles, empowered by the Holy Spirit. In fact as you think about it, you realise that the name that’s popularly given to this book, "The Acts of the Apostles" is a misnomer. It should really be called "More Acts of Jesus" with the subtitle "Performed through his Apostles, empowered by his Spirit."
So that’s what we’re looking at as we explore this book of Acts: the ongoing deeds and teaching of Jesus as the message of the gospel is taken to the ends of the earth.
What’s more, having realised that, we see that in fact that work doesn’t even end with the book of Acts. In fact Acts doesn’t really finish does it? It’s like one of those books that are written as a series. The conclusion is left hanging. This is one of my pet hates. I hate reading a book and discovering that the story continues in another book that hasn’t even been written yet! Well, this story is like that. In fact it continues to be written, as we sang earlier, with each succeeding year, as the church continues to do Jesus’ work in the power of the Holy Spirit; as God continues to work his purpose out as the time of Jesus’ return draws nearer and nearer.
However in the meantime, history must intervene. Jesus’ earthly ministry must end. He told his disciples in John 16 that it was necessary for him to go away, so that the Holy Spirit might come upon them, to empower them to preach the gospel. And now the time has come for him to return to the Father. Interestingly Luke records this event twice: as the final event of his gospel and as the first event in the book of Acts. You see, this is the watershed event between Jesus’ former ministry and this new phase. This is the event that both terminates Jesus’ earthly ministry and inaugurates his heavenly ministry.
And so Luke takes up his story where he left off. Look at v2: what are these instructions he gives "through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen?" Well, Luke 24 tells us: there Jesus explains how the scriptures are clear that the Messiah must suffer and rise from the dead and that repentance and the forgiveness of sins must be preached in his name to all the nations beginning in Jerusalem. It’s the same here: "Jesus presented himself to them alive by many convincing proofs." He instructs them, interestingly, by the Holy Spirit, even though the Holy Spirit has yet to be poured out on them, and he instructs them to wait for the gift of the Holy Spirit that God has promised to them.
Now it can’t have been easy for those first disciples can it? They’d hung around Jesus for 3 or 4 years; they’d been expecting that he was going to restore Israel’s glory as a leading nation; then they’d seen him arrested and put to death, only to discover 3 days later that he’d risen again. And now, after all this time of waiting for his glory to be revealed nothing happens. He’s risen, he continues to appear to his followers, but for 6 weeks that’s all that happens. Then finally the time comes for Jesus to return to his father and again they’re told to wait.
Waiting is difficult isn’t it? I hate it. I hate getting to the movies too early and having to wait for something to show on the screen. Then I hate having to sit through all those ads and previews before the movie begins. We went to see the "Return of the King" while we were on holidays and we had a full 30 minutes of ads and previews before the movie began; and then half way through they stopped for an intermission - for another 20 minutes of ads! I hated it!
I guess it’s significant that we’re looking at this theme on the day we commission Roy and Camille. We’ve been waiting for the past year for Camille to apply for the youth minister’s job. She took long enough about it didn’t she? Well, we didn’t actually know it was Camille we were waiting for a year ago. And we certainly didn’t realise we were waiting for Roy to apply for the family and children’s minister’s job. But we have been waiting for that gap in our ministry to be filled haven’t we? And isn’t it great to come to the end of that long wait at last.
But imagine what it was like for the disciples having to wait for what they thought was going to come of Jesus, the Messiah, appearing on earth. You get a feel for their impatience in v6.
They ask him "Lord, is this the time when you will restore the kingdom to Israel?" "Are we there yet?" You see, despite seeing Jesus raised from the dead, despite the teaching he’s given them, they still only understand in part. Well, they both understand and misunderstand what he tells them, don’t they? They understand that his mission is to restore the kingdom to Israel - he is the Messiah - but they still don’t understand what that restoration involves. So they ask whether the kingdom is going to be restored now. They’re sick of waiting. But his answer is enigmatic. You can’t know the time, only God knows that. But if you wait a bit longer you’ll discover an answer to your question as you receive the power of my Holy Spirit, as you become my witnesses.
They don’t understand, but we do. The answer to their question is that God is about to begin the restoration of his people through the birth of the Church; through the preaching of the gospel. His kingdom is no longer an earthly kingdom. His kingdom from now on is a spiritual kingdom, made up of those who acknowledge Jesus Christ as their Lord and King. God is going to begin to restore his kingdom through the apostles telling people about Jesus and calling them to repent and acknowledge him as their Lord.
And so Jesus leaves them and they’re left to wait some more. At first they think they’re waiting for his return, v11, and there is some truth in that. We continue to wait for Jesus to return. Two men in white robes, presumably angels, appear before them and assure them that Jesus will return in a similar manner to the way he’s left them; though there’ll be one difference. Jesus’ going is private, watched by this handful of faithful followers. But Luke 17:23&24 tells us that his return will be public and spectacular, like lightning that flashes and lights up the whole sky from east to west. In the meantime waiting for Jesus’ return wasn’t to be their focus. What they were waiting for now was the power to continue his work.
It’s worth us reflecting on that for a moment I think. It seems to me that in some parts of the church a lot of energy is wasted on worrying about Jesus’ return. People pore over the book of Revelation trying to work out how long it’ll be before Jesus returns, what are the signs of his coming, what will be the precursors of that final event and so on. But what’s God’s message to the church here in v11? "why do you stand looking up toward heaven? Jesus is coming back when the time’s right, but in the meantime he’s left you here on earth with work to do. So get on with it" And we’ll discover as we go through this book that that work consists of spreading the gospel.
So they return to Jerusalem, to wait as Jesus has instructed.
But notice that in their waiting they’re not idle. Already they’ve experienced Jesus’ final days on earth. They’ve received his commission, they’ve seen him rise into heaven. Now comes the hard part. They have to wait for the promised Holy Spirit. So what do they do?
Well the first thing they do is to gather together and devote themselves to prayer. And what do you think they might have prayed about?
What do you do when you’re waiting to see what God’s going to do with you next? What do you pray about? You ask him to show you what he wants you to do. You pray for the power to serve him effectively. You pray for him to be with you, to support you and strengthen you, don’t you? Well, I imagine that was what these followers of Jesus would have prayed. For his promise to be fulfilled. For the power of the Spirit to come upon them, to enable them to proclaim the gospel.
And notice how they did it. They did it together. They were united in prayer. There’s a strong sense of their corporate identity as Jesus’ followers. And it’s not just the men, notice, but the women as well. Luke continues his emphasis on the importance of all believers in Christ’s kingdom. And it’s not just the inner group, the 11 remaining apostles. It includes Jesus’ mother and brothers as well as a larger group of followers numbering about 120. Already Jesus’ church is growing, even before the day of Pentecost.
And there’s a sense of persistence in their prayer. They persevered in it. The word used is "constantly." This wasn’t an occasional prayer meeting in the midst of a busy schedule. This was the main game. It’s as though whenever they could manage it they’d bow their heads in prayer together, asking for the promised Holy Spirit.
Secondly, as they wait they begin to think about the task ahead, about how they’re to take the gospel to the ends of the earth. Instead of stargazing they begin strategizing. Peter takes the lead. It’s a position that he’s probably had all along in fact. And notice how he points them to the scriptures. Here already we see how the Holy Spirit is teaching them just as we read in v2. Peter quotes Ps 109:8: "Let another take his position of overseer." And so they decide to choose a replacement for Judas. Someone who had been with them throughout Jesus’ ministry, someone who had witnessed the resurrection, and who could therefore bear first hand witness to others, and finally someone that Jesus himself would indicate through the casting of lots. Matthias’ name comes up and so again we have Jesus’ chosen number of twelve apostles to lead his church.
I was thinking about those criteria and it struck me that there’s a sense in which they’re still criteria that apply to those who are going to share the gospel with others. Not in exactly the same way of course. Only those men and women back then were physically present as Jesus lived and taught. But nevertheless, it’s important that we study the Scriptures so we know what Jesus taught; so we know the things he did, the way he acted. It’s important that we not only understand the evidence for the resurrection and are convinced in our own minds that Jesus is truly risen, but also that we’ve discovered his risen life in our own experience; that we’ve seen his power in action in our own lives. And of course it’s important that we understand that we too are chosen by him to be his disciples, and to be his witnesses in the places we live. So we too can continue the works of Jesus, just as the early church did.
Well, that’s where we stop for now. There we wait, along with Jesus’ disciples, for the Holy Spirit to be poured out on his church.
Of course we live well after the day of Pentecost now, but we’re still waiting aren’t we? Not waiting for the Holy Spirit to be poured out, but waiting for Jesus to return. But as we wait, we’re in a similar situation to those first disciples. We have a job to do. We’re here to continue Christ’s ministry on earth. We’re here to proclaim him as the risen Lord. And so we can learn from the example of those first disciples. What did they do as they waited for Christ’s promise to be fulfilled? They kept their eyes focussed on him, and on the ministry he’d given them to continue. They committed themselves to prayer, constant, persevering prayer. They thought strategically about how they were going to continue Jesus’ ministry once the Spirit was given to them.
So too, as we wait for Jesus to return, let’s keep our eyes focussed on the ministry Jesus has given us, the ministry of sharing the gospel with others, of building his kingdom. Let’s continue to pray for the coming of his kingdom, to strategise about how to see that kingdom grow and to proclaim the risen and ascended Lord until the day when the whole earth recognises him in his glory.
Questions for discussion:
What is the significance of the phrase "began to do and teach" (NIV) in v1?
Why does Jesus tell his disciples to stay in Jerusalem (v4)?
What was their expectation about the kingdom of God? How did they have it wrong?
What did Jesus have planned for the Kingdom of God?
How do they show that they’re learning to do things God’s way, not their own way?
What can we learn about the way they behaved between Jesus’ ascension and the day of Pentecost?
When we find we have to wait for something, what should we do about it?
What characteristics were important in the choice of Judas’ replacement? Why were they important?
To what extent are these still important characteristics for Christians? Why?
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