Sermon Acts 1:6-11 Promised Gift

Rev. Jeffrey T. Howard

New Covenant Church

Sermon Acts 1:6-11 Promised Gift

March 28, 2017

Since Easter I have been preaching on the sermons of the first church.  We started listening to Peter as he joyfully proclaimed that Jesus’ resurrection from the dead had be predicted by the prophets of old.  This led to the conversion of 3000 jews to faith in Jesus Christ.  Then we listened as Stephen showed that Jesus had been killed just as the prophets of old has lost their lives in God’s service.  But Stephen also proclaimed that this Jesus is now in heaven at the right hand of God where he reigns as king because Jesus is God.  This was considered blasphemy by the religious leaders of the day and Stephen was stoned to death.  And finally we heard Paul talk to a gentile audience in Athens.  He commended them for their faith in something and suggested that the something they were looking for was Jesus whom God had raised from the dead.  This was a hard sell for a Greek audience who jeered him.  But, thankfully, Paul was empowered by the Holy Spirit who brought some Athenians to faith in Jesus Christ.

All of these things happened in the first church.  Today we will hear Jesus’ instructions to the first before he ascended to heaven and we will see the first thing the first church did.  We will get to this, but first, let’s pray.

“Grant unto us, O Lord, to be occupied in the mysteries of thy heavenly wisdom, with true progress in piety, to thy glory and our own edification. Amen.” (John Calvin)

Today is Ascension Sunday.  This is the Sunday each year we remember Jesus ascension into heaven where he is now sitting at the right hand of God.  We celebrate this day his lordship in our lives and the leader he gives the church.  So let’s get started and see what ascension was all about.  We read this in Luke 24

50 When he had led them out to the vicinity of Bethany, he lifted up his hands and blessed them. 51 While he was blessing them, he left them and was taken up into heaven.

And Luke adds this in the book of Acts.

Acts 1:9 After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight.

This is all we really know about Jesus’ ascension to heaven.  Something lifted him up until his disciples could see him no more.  This is certainly a miracle, but there is little talk about it in our New Testament.  The ascension is just not a big thing in the Bible.  The big miracle in the Bible is Jesus’ resurrection from the dead.  Now that is important.  But the ascension is no big thing.

It is no big thing unless, of course, you were there.  The people who witnessed the ascension became the first church.  The ascension was the miracle that brought the church together.  So it is important for us as the Church of Jesus Christ to hear what Jesus said to the church just before he ascended to heaven and what the first church did just after Jesus was lifted up.   Here is what happened just before Jesus ascended to heaven.

Acts 1:6 Then they gathered around him and asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?”

The first church gathered around Jesus and asked if the Kingdom of God was here at last.  This is a perfectly normal question considering that many times Jesus has said that the Kingdom of God was at hand.  But the answer to this question was complex because the Kingdom of God was already there, in one sense and not yet present in another sense.  

The Kingdom of God is built on God’s love not human power.  God’s love has already been poured out on the world in Jesus Christ.  And in this sense the Kingdom of God is already here.  But we know, from events like the recent terror attacks in Manchester, that love is not if full control yet.   But one day, Jesus will return, and love will abound.  So the Kingdom of God is partially here now and fully here later.  But when will all this happen?  This is what the first church really wants to know.  And here is Jesus’ answer.

7 He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority.

So we don’t know, and we are not supposed to know when all this will occur.  We are to continue to love God and love our neighbor until Jesus returns.  But there is something more that Jesus wants the first church to do while they are waiting for his return.

8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

This is what the first church, and all churches, all called to do:  be witnesses.  We are to love God, love our neighbor, and tell our stories of Jesus’ love for us.  That is how love multiplies and more and more people enter the Kingdom of God.

But there is a problem with all this.  We can’t do it.  As we saw last week all we can do is build bridges to people and in relationships and share our stories.  But we cannot, on our own, bring people across the bridge to faith in Jesus Christ.  So Jesus wants us to be witnesses testifying to his love for us.  But we are powerless to actually bring people to faith.  If Jesus wants the church to do that it needs to be empowered.  And that is precisely the gift Jesus provides the church.  Jesus sends the Holy Spirit to empower the church as witnesses so that our proclamation, that Jesus’ love is available for everyone, will bring people to faith.

After promising the church this wonderful gift of empowerment by the Holy Spirit Jesus was lifted into heaven and the first church stood there gazing into the sky.  Then this happened.

10 They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. 11 “Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.”

I wonder what they were thinking as they looked into the sky.  Maybe they were speculating when Jesus might return.  Or maybe they were wondering what Jesus could do for themselves and their families.   Or maybe they were waiting for some additional message from God about what to do.   All we know is that  Jesus doesn’t want the church to stare into the sky.  The church is to go into the world as witnesses.  We are to love our neighbors and share with them the stories of Jesus.

There is an old German fairy tale about looking up into the sky.  Hans is a little boy who is always day dreaming.  He has his head in the clouds.   But he keeps tripping over things and running into people.  Older people are always telling him, “Hans, pay attention to what you are doing”.   But Hans refused to listen, kept his head in the clouds,  and one day walked right off the edge of a cliff.

Jesus does not want the church with it head in the clouds.  We have something to do.  We are called to be witnesses and share our faith with others.  And for this we need empowerment by the Holy Spirit.

The first church got the message and stopped looking at the sky.  They returned to Jerusalem and got to work.  

12 Then the apostles returned to Jerusalem from the hill called the Mount of Olives, a Sabbath day’s walk[c] from the city. 13 When they arrived, they went upstairs to the room where they were staying. Those present were Peter, John, James and Andrew; Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew; James son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of James. 14 They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers.

Went the first church returned to Jerusalem they had yet to receive the promised power of the Holy Spirit.  They were not yet empowered to be witnesses.  As they waited, they began preparing themselves for the coming Holy Spirit.  And this preparation consisted of constant prayer.  This is important.  As our church waits for the empowerment of the Holy Spirit we too must engage in constant prayer.   We need to pray for the promised power to advance the Kingdom of God.  We pray that the Holy Spirit will empower us to share our stories of faith and proclaim God’s love for the world.

Beginning next week I will be teaching a class after worship.  The title of this class is “Gateways to Empower Ministry.”  We will look at what is holding us back from receiving the power of the Holy Spirit that Jesus promised.  We will engage in prayer, just as the first church did.   And we will take some practical steps to bring the Holy Spirit into our lives.  My hope is that through this New Covenant Church will receive the power that Jesus promised us to be witnesses in our world.  Please join us beginning next Sunday after worship.  Let pray.

Lord Jesus we have heard your command to be witnesses in our community.  But before we can do this we must first be empowered by your Spirit.  We ask for this empowerment so that we can obediently do what you want us to do.  So send your Holy Spirit upon us and empower us to be witnesses of your life and teaching advancing the Kingdom of God.  We pray this in your glorious name.  Amen.