“Lord, is this the time?”

Meditation on Acts 1:1-11

Ascension Sunday

May 17, 2015

  “In the first book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus did and taught from the beginning until the day when he was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. After his suffering he presented himself alive to them by many convincing proofs, appearing to them over the course of forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God. While staying with them, he ordered them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait there for the promise of the Father. ‘This’, he said, ‘is what you have heard from me; for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.’

       So when they had come together, they asked him, ‘Lord, is this the time when you will restore the kingdom to Israel?’ He replied, ‘It is not for you to know the times or periods that the Father has set by his own authority. But 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.’ When he had said this, as they were watching, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. While he was going and they were gazing up towards heaven, suddenly two men in white robes stood by them. They said, ‘Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up towards heaven? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.”

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      Sometimes people get to talking about the past and what they would do differently if they had the chance to do it all over again. Some say they wouldn’t change a thing. They remember their youth as “the good old days” and long for those days to return. But I remember how hard it was to be a teenager and a young adult. I would never want to be facing all those choices again as I was graduating from high school—and feeling more than a little frightened and uncertain about the future.  

       As a high school senior, I didn’t know what career I wanted to pursue, only that I wanted to go to college. I knew some things that I liked to do--I liked to write, but I had heard that it was difficult to find jobs, and I was troubled by the adjective “starving” that was often linked with the word “writer.” That sounded bad! And I liked to teach and had done well in school, but I knew that teaching would be stressful. I remembered all those naughty kids in my classes! And I imagined that parents and administrators would not always be nice to teachers, who may be blamed when students receive poor grades or earn low scores on standardized tests.

    My parents, though they were college grads, offered me very little advice about college and career, except to pursue a major that would lead to a “good” job, meaning one that would allow me to earn enough money to support myself. I didn’t think to ask advice from the church or a pastor or even to ask the Lord what He wanted me to do. We were not involved with a church at the time. We had moved away from our small town when I was a teen and had not found a new worship home. In truth, we had not looked very hard. There were many other things to do besides church and Sunday school in our new community, a suburb northwest of Washington, D.C.

   Looking back—this is what I wish I could change. I wish that my family had been active members of a loving congregation, that I personally had had a stronger faith and had hung out with Christian friends as a teen. I wish that I had gone to church regularly, read the Bible more and prayed! When I was a teen, church seemed “uninteresting” and “irrelevant.” But there were some tough years ahead—years in which the support of a loving church and a strong faith would have made all the difference!

      It wasn’t until after my first two years of college, when I transferred to a university in Baltimore to pursue a teaching degree, that I came face to face with who I really was (without the Lord) and how selfish I had been. The Spirit nudged me to that conclusion, convicting me of my sinful attitudes and revealing to me God’s amazing love and mercy for sinners—for me!! But the first step toward spiritual health was choosing to respond to a personal invitation to an ice cream social, sponsored by Intervarsity Christian Fellowship. The ecumenical group, led by volunteer youth leaders and funded by donations from local congregations, met on campus for worship, small group Bible study, prayer and spiritual encouragement.

   I can’t “fix” the past now. The time machine from the Back to the Future movies has not yet become a reality. But there is one thing I can do as a pastor and a sincere believer who wishes she had always known that Jesus Christ is the answer for all people. So many folks today, young and old, choose to walk in darkness and despair rather than in the hope and promise of our Lord! The one thing I can do is to encourage families and young people, such as the two graduating seniors in our church family.

   Lexi and Logan, don’t forget about your church and all that you have learned from God’s people! Especially, don’t forget about the Lord—and the call to be His disciples! Remember always God’s love for you! He wants to help you carry your burdens and teach you His ways. Wherever you are, whatever you do, keep on asking the Lord to guide you and give you courage to do His will. You can trust that God will do this—if you stay close to Him! Seek God in His Word and through simple daily prayer. You don’t need fancy words! Speak to the Lord from your heart! God’s will for you is what is best for you—and for all of us!

   To Lexi and Logan’s families, I say this: don’t forget about your church and all that you are learning here. Just because your children have reached young adulthood, your work of raising them in the nurture of the Lord is not over! Continue to be good models of a Christian family—praying, attending worship and meditating on God’s Word. Seek to be the people God wants you to be. Don’t think that you know God’s will, without asking Him! This next one is maybe the hardest of all; don’t love your children more than you love God. Don’t hold onto to them too tightly—so that you keep them from finding the Lord’s will for their lives. Pray for them and trust in the Lord. Remind them that His will shall be revealed to them, if they are faithful to seek Him. Reassure them, especially if they feel confused about what path to take in the future, that when we seek to follow Christ, God will make something beautiful of our lives. In His time.

     

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    Today, along with being “Graduation Sunday,” is Ascension Sunday in our church year. God’s Word transports us back to those precious final days and moments that Christ’s followers spend with their risen Savior, before he ascends to be with the Father. Acts describes this period as lasting 40 days, and the teaching to have come through the Holy Spirit, though the Spirit had not yet descended on the crowd on Pentecost.  During these 40 days, the Lord persuades them that He has, indeed, risen from the dead! What exactly Christ says and how he persuades them is not known, except that it is through “many convincing proofs” and “speaking about the kingdom of God.”

     Jesus had spoken about the kingdom of God throughout his ministry on earth, urging hearts toward repentance and showing the way to the Father and faithful living. He taught His followers to reveal the Kingdom to the world by speaking God’s Word and engaging in acts of kindness, mercy, healing and love. He taught the disciples to pray for God’s Kingdom to COME and “THY will”—God’s will!—“be done on earth as it is in heaven.”  So, when the apostles hear of the promise of the Holy Spirit sent in “not many days from now,” they think, “This MUST be it! This MUST be the Kingdom we have been waiting for!”  

     But they still don’t understand what the “Kingdom” is. They are “stuck” in the past, still hoping for the “good old days” of ancient Israel, before the first temple and the Holy City were destroyed and God’s people were exiled from their home land and held captive by their enemies. The apostles ask Jesus, “Is this it?? Lord, is this the time when you will restore the kingdom to Israel?”   Jesus answers, “It is not for you to know the times or periods that the Father has set by his own authority.” What he is saying is, “Trust God for what you don’t know and cannot see. Have faith! The Father will bring about His Kingdom, in His time.” The Lord promises that when the Spirit comes, the apostles will have all the power they need to be Christ’s witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to all the earth. This is his final word to them—before He is lifted up. And they stand there gazing at the sky until “two men in white robes” appear and urge them to stop standing around, looking up. They assure them that Jesus IS coming back! In the meantime, they have work to do! Their work will begin with gathering for prayer in their most holy place—Jerusalem—and preparing for a mighty act God. The promised Spirit will transform and empower them to be what the Lord wants them to be—Christ’s witnesses to all the earth.

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     Friends, we have the promised Spirit with us now! By faith and the power of the Spirit, we are the Church, the Body of Christ. We have been called and empowered to be His witnesses, carrying His message of hope to the world. Sometimes, we just want to get comfortable and stand around looking at the sky, doing nothing while we are waiting for the return of Christ and His coming Kingdom. But we have work to do! Be faithful to the Lord’s call! Let us live out the gospel, working together to build up our faith community. Let us pray for and trust God with all the children and youth of our congregation. The Spirit will lead them on the right paths, if they seek God in prayer and keep His Word in their hearts. It is also important that, if our young people do leave the community, they continue to worship the Lord wherever they live. Help them find a loving church or Christian group like Intervarsity that will strengthen them in the faith and support them through the challenging years ahead! And may we all bear witness to the love and grace of Christ and the coming Kingdom of God. And as we trust in Him and seek to follow Him, God will make something beautiful of our lives. In His time.

Let us pray.

Heavenly Father, we gather now to praise you and pray for your present and coming Kingdom, though we cannot yet imagine how wonderful it will be! May your will be done through us, Lord! Send your Spirit, again and again, to fill and empower us and transform us into the people you want us to be. Thank you that we can trust you to make something beautiful of our lives, if we only submit to your will. Thank you for your love and the sacrifice of your Son so that the world may be saved through Him. May we be faithful to be Christ’s disciples, bearing His hope every day to our communities and world. Keep us firmly in your grasp, Lord, not allowing any of us to be lured away from the church and the faith. Strengthen us to confess our sins daily and to forgive ourselves and others as you so kindly forgive us. And we pray for our children and youth in this community—that you will grant us wisdom to train them up in the way they should go—so that when they are old, they will never stop loving and serving you. May we learn, more and more, to entrust our children to your tender care and not to worry about them when they are away from us. Lead them to right paths-- to be witnesses of your gospel of love and grace and pass on the faith through word and deed to the next generation. Draw us all, Lord, to find a “holy place,” a quiet place to pray and find refreshment in the Spirit of our living Christ, through whom we pray. Amen.