7th Sunday of Easter
June 5, 2011
First Presbyterian Church of Yellow Springs
Rev. Joe Hinds
Acts 1:6-14
1. Way In (“Is it time?”)
Looking off into space – or at least not where I’m going
New Orleans
As a kid, teenager
Going with my Father to Saints football games
Then after, walking with him and his buddies through he French Quarter
Looking with great interest into the clubs and bars we passed
Open doors, barkers out front calling folks in
Looking so intently at what was happening inside
I walked into a light pole
Dad and his friends had a good time with that
New York
Visits when we lived on Long Island
Walking down the streets, esp. around Central Park and Financial District
Looking up at all the tall buildings
Danger of stepping off the curb
Into an intersection where traffic signals were considered suggestions
Or roadways where so many cars, busses, taxis, trucks, and bikes where constantly whizzing past
So we find the Disciples today
On a hillside outside Jerusalem
Mt. of Olives
Looking off into space – or at least not where they were going
2. Tell The Story
Context
Ascension
40 days since Resurrection
Disciples spent the time with the risen Lord
Now is the time for what Jesus told them would happen
Paying better attention now?
He also told them about his death and resurrection
Learned to listen better by now? To believe?
Still, the Disciples were “losing” Jesus – again
Luke begins the Acts of the Apostles
“In the first book (gospel) … I wrote about all Jesus did
From the beginning (Luke 1)
To write an orderly account of the events that have been fulfilled among us
Until he was taken up into heaven (Luke 24)
I am sending you what my Father promised
The Holy Spirit, Advocate, Pantocrator
Acts 2, Pentecost – gift of the Holy Spirit
So stay in Jerusalem until you have been clothed with power from on high
“You are witnesses of these things
Then he led them to Bethany
He lifted up his hands
He blessed them
While he was blessing them he was carried up into heaven
And they worshipped him
Returned to Jerusalem with great joy
And they were continually in the temple blessing God
Verse previous to today’s reading from the NT
John baptized you with water,
But you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now
Today’s reading
So, Lord. Is this the time when you will restore the kingdom to Israel?
This was the prophecy of the Messiah, when he came
After Israel had been under different rule and occupation for generations
… Is this the time?
To be free of Roman occupation
And be restored to how it was before under King David?
But Jesus responds
That time is not for you to know – only God knows when
But you:
Will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes
And you will be my witnesses
In Jerusalem
In Judea
And Samaria
And to the ends of the earth
When he said this he was lifted up
And a cloud took him up and out of sight
While they were standing there looking …
At the last spot in the sky where they saw Jesus
Two men in white robes stood by them
Men of Galilee, why are you standing here looking towards heaven?
Jesus has been taken into heaven
And he will return the same way
Then they returned to Jerusalem
From Olivet, atop the Mt. Of Olives
Near Jerusalem
A sabbath’s journey away
Meaning, a distance short enough to walk on the Sabbath
A day of rest, when no further exertion or travel was permitted
Back to Jerusalem to the room upstairs
The room where they had been staying since Jesus’ crucifixion
The room of the Last Supper
The room where the risen Lord returned after resurrection
the remaining followers of Jesus stayed in Jerusalem
Eleven disciples
Judas Iscariot was no longer among them
Along with
Certain women
Including Mary, Jesus’ mother
And his brothers
All of these were constantly devoting themselves to prayer
3. (So What?) Is it time?
The last words spoken between the Disciples and Jesus before his ascension
D: Is it time?
J:
The time is not for you to know
He didn’t answer that question
But you will receive power
And you will be my witnesses
Two realms of purpose
God is in charge of the disposition of the world
That seems fair
God, the Creator of the universe and everything in it
In God’s own time
Jesus’ followers – their purpose, our purpose
Mission
Witnesses
And not in the sense of sitting in the witness box to tell what we saw
But witnesses to the world
Beginning where we are
For the disciples – Jerusalem
For us – our home/our community
And going into the world
The known world
As the disciples know it
As we know it
Witnesses to the world
Of God’s saving love of Jesus Christ
Having seen and received that love for ourselves
Now living as witnesses to God’s love
By the way we live our lives
So that the world will know
Does that sound like just religious” talk”?
The kind of stuff you expect the preacher to say?
“Go into all the world and tell them Jesus loves them”
<dramatize that>
“Now let’s go have coffee and go home so we can get some lunch”
“I mean….’into the whole world,’ what are we supposed to do with that?”
Are we with the disciples on that one?
OK, Lord. We’ve all seen some pretty amazing things these last few years
All those miracles
Healing people
Walking on water
Feeding multitudes
Feast for hundreds from a few fish and loaves of bread
Making fine wine from a few barrels of washing water
Broken down barriers between rich and poor
Turned people’s lives around
And beat the high religious officials and politicians in games of “Stump the Chumps”
with the high
And lately …
We’ve been through Easter and all that…
After you were executed
We saw you raised from the tomb
And walk on the earth for the last 40 days
Now isn’t it time for you to do something else?
Time for you to do the next big thing?
Isn’t it time for the next chapter of the Jesus story?
Is it time to see Jesus doing the next big thing?
How about restore the kingdom?
Kick the Romans out of Jerusalem
And all the rest of our territory
And make it God’s Kingdom again?
Like back in the good old days
Is it time to watch Jesus do the next big thing?
The next part of his act?
No. Now it’s time for us.
And we are witnesses
I spend time looking at my old sermons and messages
It may be said that I spend a lot of time in this pulpit talking about our work as the hands and feet of Jesus in the world
Doing justice
Offering hospitality
Organizing ourselves around the best ways to do these things
But I believe that these are at the foundation of what Jesus calls the church (us) to do and to be
There is time for talking about theology and history
The doctrine and context of the scriptures and our faith
But today, thinking about Jesus’ final words before ascending to heaven
Because that’s important
The Last Words Before He Went To Heaven
Don’t you think that means something?
Not just, “Alright, see y’all later. Take it easy.” “Take care” “Bye”
Left the disciples/us with 2 things: Assurance and Practice
Jesus assures the Disciples/Us
That he will not abandon us – never leave us orphaned
“I am with you always, until the ends of the earth”
Promises the presence of the HS
In which we will know God’s presence and power
Practice
As Jesus lived and walked among God’s people
He devoted himself to prayer, worship, and fellowship
Many times he went away to pray
And called the disciples to follow him
He worshipped and praised God
In the temple
And in practice, before meals, and gathering with friends and the community
And he never ceased reaching out to others
Inviting them in
Even foreigners, sinners, strangers – the likes of me and you
And we see the disciples get right to it
Devoting themselves to prayer
In community with the others
Then as we follow today’s reading we will see them
Practicing collaborative leadership
Right away they restore the body of leadership
Replacing Judas
And expectantly awaiting the gift of the Holy Spirit
Which we will see next Sunday
And the growing community devoted themselves to
The teaching of the apostles
Fellowship
Breaking bread
The prayers
Daily practice, 7x
Is it Time?
Yes, this is the time
To work for the kingdom that God has promised
Which is to carry out the mission that Jesus left us with
To witness to the world – beginning where we are
To his saving love
“As I have lived you,” he said
Loving God
Loving your neighbor as Yourself
Even loving your enemies
Christianity Today, May 18, 1998, “The Day We Were Left Behind”, Barbara Brown Taylor
Eleven “abandoned” disciples with nothing to show for all their following.
But in the days and years to come it would become very apparent what had happened to them.
With nothing but a promise and a prayer,
those 11 people consented to become the church,
and once they did that,
surprising things began to happen.
They began to say things that sounded like him,
and they began to do things they had never seen anyone but him do before.
They became brave and capable and wise.
Followers became leaders,
listeners became preachers,
converts became missionaries,
the healed became healers,
and disciples became apostles,
witnesses of the risen Lord by the power of the Holy Spirit.
That probably was not the way they would have planned it.
If they had had their way,
they would probably have tied Jesus up so that he could not have gotten away from them,
so that they would have known where to find him and rely on him forever.
Only that is not how it happened.
He went away – he was taken away –
and they stood looking up toward heaven.
Then, they stopped looking up toward heaven,
looked at each other instead,
and got on with their commission of being Christ’s witnesses,
Christ’s body on earth.
To this day, too many Christians still stand staring up in heaven,
or worse yet, sit around doing little themselves,
waiting for something to happen,
waiting for Jesus to do something about the church, the world, our own lives,
when we ought to be getting on with the commission we have clearly been given, of being Christ’s witnesses,
of being Christ’s body, his hands and his feet, on earth.
We must finish the work Jesus began.
Is it time that Jesus will restore the kingdom?
That is not for us to know
But we have the power and the practice
To bring about God’s kingdom of peace
By living as Jesus teaches
So do we want to spend the rest of our days standing on the side of the hill staring off into space?
Or working for God’s peace, love, and justice in the world.
So may it be with us. Amen
