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The time had come for the apostles to act in a decisive
way. For forty days following Easter the risen Lord
Jesus met with his followers. During those wonderful
days Jesus summarized his teachings and answered any
questions the disciples might have had. As a result of
their time together the apostles would have a better
understanding of Jesus and their mission. It was not
learning for the sake of learning or to be able to do
well on final exams and then forget everything. Jesus
spoke with the apostles knowing that the time would come
when they would be out on their own—without him. They
had the responsibility of telling others about Jesus and
carrying his mission forward.
Would the apostles be able to share the good news of
Jesus to other people? We face the same challenge
today—are we able to present the life-saving gospel
message to the next generation in such a way that they
will respond? As I’ve said several times, the message
does not change. What changes is the way we present the
gospel.
The apostles were at a turning point in their journey
with Jesus. Transitions are times when we set out in
new directions. We gain strength from the past to
propel us to the future. The apostles would benefit
from all the time they spent with Jesus as they would
soon go into all the world proclaiming the good news.
Deep down they must have realized that Jesus would not
be present with them as he had been during the three
years of his ministry or during the forty days after
Easter. Soon they would be on their own. It was up to
them to carry the message forward.
The apostles had one last question to ask, “Lord, is
this the time when you will restore the kingdom to
Israel?” Jesus replied that they need not concern
themselves with such matters. Only God knows and they
should leave it at that. While they might not have felt
up to the task before them Jesus promised that they
would receive power. “You will receive power when the
Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my
witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to
the ends of the earth.” The Holy Spirit would energize
their witness. By the power of the Holy Spirit they
would be able to do what they would never be able to do
by their own strength. While it was true that Jesus
would no longer be with them as he had, through the Holy
Spirit they would sense his presence daily.
The Holy Spirit would push them out of their comfort
zones—out to the “ends of the earth.” The apostles would
travel most likely to places they never dreamed of
going. The same is true for us. It is through the Holy
Spirit that we are empowered to carry the gospel message
forward. The Holy Spirit gives us the strength to go
and do what we could not do on our own. With the Holy
Spirit present in our lives it is as if Jesus himself
were with us as we share the gospel.
Suddenly as Jesus was speaking with apostles he was
“lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight.”
Jesus was speaking with the apostles one moment when the
next he was lifted up and carried off. While the
apostles realized that Jesus would not always be with
them the sight of seeing Jesus dramatically taken left
them “gazing up toward heaven.” And who could blame
them? It is not every day that we are privileged to
such wonders.
They just stood there looking up at the sky. It was all
right to be filled with awe for a few moments but
apparently they stood immobilized, frozen in time when
“two men in white robes stood by them.” The apostles
might have made the same connection that we do. Seeing
the two men in white robes calls our attention back to
Easter Sunday when the women encountered two such men at
the tomb of the rise Lord. The ascension of Jesus is a
resurrection story. They were again reminded that Jesus
is no ordinary person but is the very son of God.
The two men in white robes asked the believers, “Why do
you stand looking up toward heaven?” That was a very
good question. Why were they staring at the sky when
there was work to do? The risen Lord had instructed
them to proclaim the good news, “to the ends of the
earth.” The task before them was enormous, but they
need not rely on their own strength but would be
energized by the coming of the Holy Spirit. This was
not the time to hold discussions or seminars or debate
but rather the time to take action.
The same question can be asked of us here at First
Church. “Why do you stand looking up toward heaven?”
Why are we idle when there is work to do? Our faith
leads us out of the comfort of our church, out into the
real world where people are hurting, looking for what we
have found to be true in Jesus. The time has come for us
to act.
A church conducted a demographic
study of their community. The findings surprised the
congregation; there were a lot of low-income working
single mothers with children living near the church.
The leaders of the church met to brainstorm creative
ways to reach out these families. Someone suggested
holding a movie night in the church, noting that low
income people do not have a lot of discretionary money
for such things. They could use their new video
projector to show movies in fellowship hall on Friday
nights.
Another person suggested that they
rent one of those big lighted signs and place it in
front of the church to advertise free movie night.
Someone else said that they will need food for the
children and their parents that come. Across the street
from the church was a pizza shop. Several members
approached the owner, they told of their idea to reach
out to people in their community. They proposed that if
they promised to buy all their pizzas from him, would he
sell them to the church at half price.
The pizza shop owner thought it was
a great idea to provide a fun evening to families in the
community. He proposed that if they placed the name of
his shop on the sign in front of the church he would
give them all the pizzas they wanted for free. The sign
in front of the church was changed, free movie night
Friday pizza provided by Fred’s Pizza.
The first Friday night was a
success, more people came to enjoy a movie and pizza
than they ever expected. The pizza shop owner was also
impressed. He told the church leaders that if they
would print a flyer advertising Friday night movies and
pizza he would include it with every take out pizza for
the next three months free of charge. Thousands of
families would be reached. These were the very people
the church needed to reach. Persons age 18 to 45 order
pizza at least once a week.
The children who enjoyed the free
movie and pizza on Friday nights began attending Sunday
school classes; a support group was formed for single
mothers, who also began attending worship. That church
had had been experiencing a decline in membership and
attendance for years now was beginning to grow.
To
revitalize our church it takes creativity on our parts
as we reach out to people living in community. What
would it take to capture people’s attention and bring
them to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ? We need to
step-up our efforts to reach others in the name of
Jesus. We need to be more intentional with inviting
people to our church. We do not need to worry whether
or not our ideas will work; rather we need to act on
them. To renew our church also takes our total
commitment. The church at its best is when everyone
works together for the glory of God.
As our lesson concludes the
apostles returned to Jerusalem as they were instructed,
to wait for the coming of the Holy Spirit. They would
gather every day to pray. Luke lists the names of the
apostles also noting the women who were part of the
fellowship, including Jesus’ mother Mary and his
brothers.
The apostles were ready and set, having spent time with
Jesus. With the coming of the Holy Spirit they would be
thrust into action. And as we discover in the Acts of
the Apostles there would be no stopping them as they
carried the message of Jesus to people everywhere. I
hope and pray that we here at First Church are ready-set
and will respond with our action. The time has come for
us to act.
Amen.
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