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Acts
1:1-11 (NRSV) 1 In the first book, Theophilus, I
wrote about all that Jesus did and taught from the beginning 2until the day when he was taken up
to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles
whom he had chosen. 3After his suffering he presented
himself alive to them by many convincing proofs, appearing to them during
forty days and speaking about the ------------------------------------------------- Have you ever
had a tradition you observed, or a habit you practiced, and you didn’t
really know why you did it? There once was a newly married couple
– the husband was watching his wife prepare their meal one day and
noticed she cut pieces off both ends of the ham before putting the larger
piece that remained into the pan.
This struck him as curious, so he asked her why she did it. The wife replied, “That’s
the way Mom always cooked her ham,” but then she stopped to consider
for a moment and realized she didn’t really know the reasoning behind
it. Did it make the ham cook more
thoroughly, or somehow taste better?
So, her curiosity now piqued, she called her mother and asked. Interestingly enough, her
mother’s reply was the same – “That’s the way my mom
always cooked her ham.”
They were fortunate that the grandmother was still alive, and so
determined to find the answer the new wife called her as well. “Oh, that,” the
grandmother replied with a slight chuckle, “I had to cut the ends off
because the only pan I had was too small to hold most full-sized hams.” We have a lot
of traditions in the Christian faith.
Today, for example, we celebrate the ascension of our Lord Jesus
Christ. But have you ever
wondered why? This morning we
recited the Apostles’ Creed
as our call to worship. The
statements in this creed are considered to be the fundamental tenants of the
Christian faith. According to
this creed, we believe he ascended into
heaven. What makes this event
in the life of Christ so noteworthy? First, because
Christ ascended we can know that he will come again. (Read vs. 11) This Jesus – who is this
Jesus? The same Jesus they had
seen do miracles, the same Jesus who had taught them about his kingdom, this
same Jesus who had been crucified and raised from the dead, the same Jesus
who had appeared to them – eating with them, speaking to them, allowing
them to touch him – at various times over the past 40 days, this same
Jesus who they just witnessed being taken up into heaven will return in the
same way. There’s a
lot, in the way of details, about the second coming of Christ that we
don’t know, because scripture either doesn’t tell us or else
instructs that it’s not for us to know. But what we do know is that Jesus, who
has been highly exalted by his Father, will come as King and Judge in a cloud
of glory. One interpretation of
this description of cloud is that it’s the same as the shekinah glory
of God that’s spoken of in the OT – the cloud that would descend
over the Tabernacle or Secondly,
because Christ ascended he now sits at the right hand of the Father and
serves as our intercessor. I love
the way the writer to the Hebrews describes it in chapter 7. We have a great high priest, who is able for all time to save those who
approach God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them.
(vs. 25) When you stand before
the throne of judgment, and God – the holy and righteous one –
looks at you, don’t you want to have the assurance that Christ, our
righteous and risen sacrifice, will be standing right along side you saying,
“Father – this one is mine.
Because he trusted who I am, and accepted my death and resurrection
for the forgiveness of his sins.
And remember your promise, Father, that anyone who trusts in me will
be justified before you.” Or let’s
bring it into the here and now.
When you get that bad news from the doctor, when the loved one dies,
when the bills are due and you know there’s nothing in the bank –
you fall on your knees before the Lord and cry out. Don’t you want to know that
Jesus is right there beside the Father going, “Father, do you hear
that? She’s one of ours,
and she’s hurting. And
although we’re with her, she’s having a hard time holding on
right now. Don’t you think
we should give her a fresh assurance of our presence? Touch her in a way that will renew her
faith and strength in this time of trial?” Sometimes, when we walk through the
valley, the only thing that gets us through to the other side is knowing that
God loves us and is with us. Because Christ
ascended we can know that he’ll come again, and we know that he
intercedes to the Father on our behalf.
But when Christ ascended, he could then send the Holy Spirit. Jesus had told them, before he died,
that he would not leave them as orphans.
He would ask his Father to send the one who would comfort and teach
and be with them always. (John
ch. 14) In our passage today he
reminds them of that promise. (Read vs. 4-5)
He commanded them to wait. Many
times we want God’s promises right here and right now. But God doesn’t always work that
way. His timing is perfect, and
we need to trust that. Now I love the
way they respond after Jesus has given them this command. (Read vs. 6) It’s so easy to look at these
poor disciples and think, ‘well bless their hearts’. But before we pass judgment,
let’s not forget that were it not for the Holy Spirit revealing all
things about God to us, we wouldn’t have a clue either. Here they are, with the risen
Jesus. I mean, he’s come
back from the dead and he’s been showing up among them for the past 40
days, now he’s starting to talk about the promise of the Spirit –
kind of makes sense they would wonder if, “hey, maybe this is the time
– maybe this is when the Messiah is going to re-establish the throne of
King David, like we’ve always heard about”. But as much as I
appreciate the disciples’ response, I love how Jesus responds even
more. He doesn’t whop them
upside the head and say, “you stupid disciples – after all this
time how can you not understand what my kingdom is all about”. No, he simply redirects their focus. (Read vs. 7) In essence he says, “Guys,
don’t worry about that. My
Father’s got everything under control in that department. And he, more than anyone else, is
qualified to call the shots with the specifics of all that.” Now, those of
you with children, this scenario is going to seem very familiar. Have you ever had to tell one of your
kids, “don’t be worrying about that over there –
that’s not even really your business – when you should be paying
attention to what is your business right
here”? Take heart,
because apparently our Lord had to do the very same thing. (Read vs. 8) Notice this is
not ‘maybe you’ll receive power’, or ‘some of the
time you’ll receive power’, but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you. The Greek word for power here (dunamin) is the same root word from
which we get “dynamite”.
There’s not going to be any wondering or questioning about this
power. It’s going to be explosive,
clearly evident. But don’t
forget the qualification – this is the power that comes only from the
Holy Spirit. The same Spirit that
directed and supported Jesus own ministry. If the source of Jesus power is the
same that’s been promised to us, then is it any wonder that Paul said, if God be for us who can be against us? Which gets us
to the crux of the matter – the reason why we receive this power: so
that you will be my witnesses.
Just as in the previous instance, this is not a case of ‘maybe
you’ll be my witnesses’, or ‘sometimes you need to be my
witnesses’, but you will be
my witnesses. This command is not
an option. Furthermore, this
command comes from Christ to all believers. He wasn’t talking to just the
preacher folk that day.
(Reference Ephesians 4:7, 11-13)
The clergy do have a specific role to fulfill within the Church, but
being a witness of Jesus Christ is the command of the entire body of
believers. So maybe
you’re asking yourself, okay, how then do I be a witness? The rest of the book of Acts give us
some clues, because it goes on to tell how the church was born and then grew,
starting in We witness
Christ in our actions.
You’ve probably all heard the adage, actions speak louder than words. There’s a reason sayings get
passed down through generations, and it’s typically because
they’re true. How you
conduct yourself, in all situations of life, will tell others what you truly
believe. Going through a tough
time? Rely upon the Lord and
respond from a sense of peace due to the presence of God in your life and
someone is going to notice. Have
a questionable situation come up in public – something that involves
maybe being just a little dishonest, or cheating in some small way –
and you maintain integrity? That
speaks volumes about the character of Christ. Encounter those folks in society who everyone
else wants to put down or, at best, just ignore, and you respond to them with
compassion? We witness Christ in
our actions. We witness
Christ in our address (speech).
This doesn’t have to mean knocking door to door and giving
strangers the spiel of salvation (although if the Spirit is leading you to do
that then he will also empower you to carry it through), but the Spirit will
give us opportunity upon opportunity to give a word that points to Christ,
and we need to be paying attention so we’ll recognize when it
happens. Sometimes people may ask
you outright something of a spiritual nature. There’s an opportunity to
witness. It’s not
necessarily about having the ‘right answers’ so much as it is
giving a faithful testimony to the grace of God as you’ve experienced
it in your own life. And whether
that conversation leads to salvation or not, you still have a responsibility
to be obedient to the Spirit and speak in those situations. What about when a friend shares with
you about something troubling in his or her life – do you mention that
you’ll be praying for him?
Or better yet, do you offer to pray with him? Or maybe someone just makes a random comment
about something you do, or the way you’re behaving. You could reply with a humble word of
thanks, but maybe what the Spirit really is prodding you do to is say
something like, “I appreciate that, but you know what I really believe
is that’s just the grace of God at work in my life”. Some of you may know I’m not
much of a phone person – I really don’t like talking on the
things and I’m not one for just calling for a chat even with my dearest
and closest friends. But give me
a computer and an internet connection, and I could talk to people all day
long. I’ve found that when
I pay attention, in my conversations with friends on-line, the Spirit is
faithful to prompt me, “you know, Michelle – you could say a
little something about me here – you could acknowledge me with just a
word or two in this instance”.
We witness Christ in our address. And we witness
Christ in our attitude. This is
not merely having a positive attitude – this is having a Spirit-filled
attitude. It’s an attitude
that enables you to see other people and situations the same way that Christ
would. In everything that Jesus
said, whether it was to a Samaritan woman at the well, or it was
confrontation with the religious leaders of his day, his attitude was one of
love for the person he addressed.
And in everything that Jesus did, whether it was healing the sick, or
walking up Calvary’s hill with the beam of his cross on his back, his
attitude was one of always obediently seeking what would bring glory and
honor to his Father. I think this
area – witnessing Christ in our attitude - might actually be the most
important of the three, because our attitude is what influences both our
actions and our address. And yet
because attitude is internal, and so sometimes we might be able to
‘fake it’ a bit (you can perform good actions and address and
still not have a Christlike attitude), it’s the area where we most need
the working of the Holy Spirit to transform us into faithful signposts. Witnessing Christ in your attitude is
tough. But I can guarantee that
if you’ll let God get a hold of your attitude – if you’ll
allow the Holy Spirit to work in his transforming power in this area of your
life – you’ll find yourself acting and addressing in more
Christlike ways than you ever imagined possible. Jesus said, you will receive power when the Holy
Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses. How’s your signpost directing
these days? When others see how
you act, or hear what you say, do they perceive something that points to
Christ? Is your attitude
reflective of this same Jesus of whom the angels spoke that day? If your answer to those questions is
in any way less than satisfactory, then I offer you the blessed command of
our ascended Lord. You will
receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. We believe that the Holy Spirit is
given to every believer in salvation – when he or she, trusting in all
that Jesus spoke and did, confesses sin and accepts Jesus’
forgiveness. We also believe that
the work of the Holy Spirit doesn’t stop there – salvation is
just the beginning. The Spirit is
ever seeking to transform us into more Christlike signposts, until the day we
die. And if you’re feeling
like the power level is a little low in your life, it never hurts to ask in
faith for a fresh anointing of the Power from on high. |