Don’t Just Stand There, Do Something! – Acts 1:1-14
/Lectionary Readings for May 27, 2020 7th Sunday Of Easter, Year C
Psalm 97 v1 The Lord is king, let the earth rejoice, let the many coasts and islands be glad.
Acts 16:16-34 v25 [While being held in a Roman prison,] about midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them.
Revelation 22:12-14, 16-17, 20-21 v17 And let those who thirst come. All who desire to drink, let them take and drink freely from the water of life.
John 17:20-26 v21 “Father, may they all be one as You are in Me and I am in You; may they be in Us, for by this unity the world will believe that You sent Me.” ~ Jesus
But this week we’ll look at Acts 1:1-14 as we wrap up the Easter season exploring Jesus’ life after the resurrection.
Peace through Leadership Quotes
“Try to be a rainbow in someone’s cloud.” ~ Maya Angelou
“There are risks and costs to action. But they are far less than the long range risks of comfortable inaction.” ~ John F. Kennedy
This photo seems perfect for the first quote. Especially when our world is a mess, when our homes, workplaces, or schools feel like a mess, or when our own hearts, minds, and souls are a mess, God is still present with us in the mess. Our days and weeks might not always be the pretty picture we long for, but God calls us to seek God’s presence and be God’s presence anyway. As we strive to create peace in and around us, we will create the moments of joy, hope, and peace that others – and ourselves – need to hear, see, and touch.
Any time I preach or lead a group, regardless of age, I start the same way. I’m going to say three short sentences. Please repeat each sentence, with enthusiasm.
God made me. God loves me. God has plans for me.
Preface to Today’s Scripture Reading
This week we conclude our Gospel-by-Gospel examination of what Jesus said and did between His resurrection and ascension. You may already know that the book of Acts was written by the same person who wrote the Gospel of Luke. Luke focused on the works of Jesus – God in the flesh. Acts (aka Luke, the Sequel) continues that story but focuses on the ACTivity (see what I did there) of God’s Spirit moving among Jesus’ followers and the people they meet.
The Gospel of Luke recorded just a few encounters between Jesus and His followers before He ascended. While neither Matthew nor John even mention the ascension (how could they omit such an incredible moment?!?), Luke gives us two versions of it – one at the end of Luke and one at the beginning of Acts. Acts uniquely tells us that Jesus made numerous appearances over a period of 40 days before ascending.
We are blessed that each gospel – including Acts – offers us a unique witness to Jesus’ return to Earth and return to heaven. This reminds us that each of us has our own experience of God’s presence in our lives. Each of us has our own story to tell. Our faith journeys are as unique as we are.
Like the gospel writers, when we share our faith stories, we give other people the opportunity to say, “Hey, I had the same experience!” OR people might say, “Wow, I never noticed God in that way; you’ve given me a new way to look for or understand God in my life.” OR even, “I’ve never thought about my faith like that; I’ll have to ponder that.” Any of those are great. This is how we, as a community of believers, grow our faith and continue on our faith journeys rather than getting complacent or stuck and staring up at the clouds saying halfheartedly, “OK God, what next?”
Let’s open our ears, minds, and hearts as we hear Jesus’ last words in Acts.
Read Acts 1:1-14.
Today’s reading is rich with material for us to ponder, but some aspects jump out more than others.
One is that immediately after Jesus tells the 11 disciples that they “will be baptized with the Holy Spirit,” they ask Him if “this the time when you will restore the kingdom to Israel?” (v4-6). “When we ask Jesus when God will restore the kingdom to the good old days – to the way we think church ought to be, or to the way that best [satisfies] us – Jesus points not to the future but to the power of the Holy Spirit in the present” (Bartlett, David L.; Barbara Brown Bartlett. Feasting on the Word: Year C, Volume 2: Lent through Eastertide . Presbyterian Pub. Corp. Kindle 17747).
For most of my life, I’ve heard preachers and other church leaders give the disciples a hard time for wanting to know “end of the world” details. But let’s put ourselves in their shoes. They’ve spent the past two or three years listening to Jesus proclaim the idea of a Kingdom of God or Kingdom of Heaven that will be SO much better than the oppressive, insulting, miserable “Kingdom of Rome” they’ve always known. Their hopes for a profound political revolution and the renewal of Israel’s glory were executed alongside Jesus.
But He is miraculously back AND promising they’ll get some special powers through the Holy Spirit! Sweet! Maybe NOW they are finally on the brink of social salvation! Is it now Jesus?!? Frankly, many Christians have been asking the same question and calculating the day and time, for the past 2,000 years. Jesus’ response to their question – “Ehh, nobody knows; don’t worry about it” was and remains… disappointing, unsatisfying.
Jesus then gives them a directive – a commission similar to Matthew’s “Great Commission” (Matthew 28:19-20) – a directive to share their faith with others locally, regionally, and globally. Hmmm… honestly, that’s not as exciting as thinking the world is about to dramatically change and we’ll finally be winners. As they ponder this plot twist, Jesus floats up, up, and away.
Two strange men suddenly appear asking them what they’re looking at. Like I said Tuesday night, this must be the single dumbest question in the entire Bible. God in the flesh was executed, came back from the dead, and just now floated away into the clouds. You better believe they’re going to stand there and stare… and wait… He said the Holy Spirit would come to us. Will that happen now? Should we stand here and wait for it? Hey… where did those two mysterious guys go?!?
As with the previous four gospel readings, Jesus’ last words to His followers then and now call us into action:
embrace a personal relationship with a loving God,
share your faith with others through your words and deeds,
teach others about our faith’s history, beliefs, and values,
and forgive people.
If we sit and wait for Jesus to return, we are unlikely to grow in our faith and we certainly cannot be Jesus’ hands and feet making God’s loving Spirit present to others. But if we pay attention to what Jesus has told us to do, and we work to understand what that means for us, and we work to put our understanding and experience of faith into actions, then we will naturally become powerful agents for positive change and growth for ourselves, for our families and for our community. And that is how we make the Kingdom of God real and present, here and now – no waiting required.
Amen? Amen!