"Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of Thy faithful and enkindle in them the fire of Thy love.
Send forth Thy Spirit and the faithful shall be created.
And Thou shalt renew the face of the earth."
He continued talking as we walked toward the Mount of Olives. He stopped in front of a grapevine and told us we had to remain in Him as the vine’s branches remain in the vine, and that we were to bear fruit and love each other. We went into the Garden of Gethsemane where He prayed – and we fell asleep. And then Judas returned with soldiers and they arrested Jesus. We ran.
He was tried and convicted of claiming to be God. He was sentenced to death, and nailed to the cross, and there He died on Friday afternoon and was buried in a rock cave tomb.
And then, on Sunday we began to hear rumors that He was alive. First the women, then Peter and John, then Cleopas and another came back from Emmaus, and then He appeared to us, alive, miraculously alive! He spoke to us, allowed us to touch His body where the nail holes were, and ate some fish with us. And He continued to appear to us over the next few weeks, teaching us and pointing us to Hebrew scriptures that were written about Him. It was clear that He was God’s Son, part of God walking on the earth with us, and we had been privileged to be His students!
And then that day, 40 days after He had risen from the dead, He told us that He was going to send us power soon, but we were to remain in Jerusalem until we received that power from God the Father.
He led us up the Mount of Olives and just over the top to Bethany, the home of Mary and Martha and Lazarus. He told us to be His witnesses in Jerusalem, in all of Judea and even Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. Then, He lifted up His hands and blessed us – and began to rise into the heavens. He disappeared behind a cloud and suddenly we became aware of two men dressed in white who were standing with us. Nobody knew where they came from, but they spoke to us: “Men of Galilee, 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.” And then they were gone, also.
And so we returned to Jerusalem that day, walking back into the city. We Eleven were there, along with Jesus’ brothers, the women, and Mary, His mother. We were soon joined by the other believers, so there were about 120 of us. And we continued in prayer and reading in scripture.
Peter stood up and told us that we must replace Judas. So we narrowed down the candidates to Barsabbas and Matthias, for both of them had traveled with us from John’s baptism until Jesus’ Ascension. And then, by drawing lots, God made the final selection of Matthias. And we continued to wait for the power Jesus had promised us. For ten long days we waited. We waited for the arrival of the Holy Spirit, even as we wait today.
…
After Jesus came back to life on that first Easter morning, after His Resurrection, the disciples began to report seeing Him alive, talking with Him, and even eating with Him. The four Gospels report different stories – but they are all in basic agreement. Jesus had died – of that they were sure. And Jesus came back to life. Of that they are also sure. Different groups of disciples and other followers had their own reports – and Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John reported what they felt were the most relevant reports. Paul tells us that over 500 people saw Jesus alive after His execution.
Luke gives us the most detailed testimony of the story after the Resurrection. Perhaps that is because Luke was intentionally trying, more than the others, to give a summary of those eyewitness accounts because Luke was not present at the time. Instead, Luke had joined Paul during his journeys and become a convert, so Luke took advantage of a trip to Jerusalem to speak with Peter, John, and Mary, and other disciples who had followed Jesus around. And so Luke wrote almost half of the New Testament with his two books, the Gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles.
At the end of Luke’s Gospel account, he tells how the disciples were led by Jesus out to Bethany and then He ascended to Heaven. But in his sequel, the Acts of the Apostles, Luke gives more of Jesus’ speech before His Ascension.
Luke tells us that Jesus predicts that where John the Baptist baptized with water, there will soon be a baptism by the Holy Spirit. The disciples are excited. “Is this the time when the kingdom will be restored to Israel?” they ask.
Throughout history, men and women have looked toward religion to bring political power. It is telling that the disciples’ question at this time is a political question. They want to know if this is the time when Israel’s kingdom will be restored. For the disciples, like most Israelites, want the Romans kicked out of the country. They want Israel to become strong like it was at the time of David and Solomon, under the United Kingdom. They want a country they can be proud of, they are tired of being sneered at by Roman soldiers, they want to look at the Greeks and Egyptians and Arabs and say, “This is our country. Follow our laws!”
But Jesus doesn’t have these politics in mind. He knows that many people are looking to the Messiah as a great military leader. But Jesus has the long game in mind. He knows that winning a series of battles, even under His leadership, will not change the world for the better. Why not? Why wouldn’t a kingdom ruled by Jesus be vastly superior to a kingdom ruled by the Roman emperor?
Because the hearts and minds and souls of people would not have changed. And, as important as we consider this life, it is not as important to God as our souls.
Back in the Garden of Eden, two people had chosen to disobey God – and after thousands of years, even after a thousand years of being given the Law from God through Moses, people still were looking everyday for loopholes in the law, because down deep in their hearts, people didn’t want to obey God – Instead, they wanted to do things their own way. And so Jesus’ ministry was filled with people who were asking Him about loopholes in the Law, ways to do what they wanted rather than what God wanted. People even used the Law as a club to beat up people they didn’t like instead of a guide to keep themselves on the good side of God.
Jesus’ disciples were verbally attacked for eating grain in a field on the Sabbath because that was said to be “work”. Jesus was attacked for healing people on the Sabbath because that was “work”. BAM! Swing that club!
Jesus chewed out loophole-chasing men for declaring their inheritance to be sacred to God so they wouldn’t have to use it to support their parents. He chewed out others for insisting that people wear fancy robes that cost much money and claiming that those who did not wear those robes were not following God. He generally called religious leaders “hypocrites” for ordering others to do difficult things under the law but then finding sneaky ways around the law for themselves. Jesus knew that people’s hearts were no different than they had been in the Garden – people just wanted to do what they wanted to do rather than obey God. There was no love of God in the hearts of men and women.
And so when the disciples asked Jesus, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?”, Jesus knew nothing had changed, even with His own disciples after three years of teaching - and so a restoration of the powerful Kingdom of David and Solomon would not make any difference in the world. Only the names of the leaders would change – people would still follow their own way and not God.
And so Jesus said to the disciples: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority.” Only God knows when the kingdom will be restored – not the disciples, not us.
Yet we still persist in predicting political things and the ends of everything and the return of Jesus. My son, who is 23 years old, points out that, according to the predictions and press coverage, the world has already ended five times in his lifetime alone. But we still want to know these things.
We want to know if the Romans will rule or the Messiah will rule. But our hearts haven’t changed. And we know this because most people are much more concerned with political fights than helping their neighbors. Most people listen or watch more political news each day than the time spent reading their Bibles. Most people would rather talk on Facebook about Trump or Biden’s policies than talk to a single friend or relative or neighbor about what Jesus can do for them. We want the Messiah who is the political leader who conquers our enemies rather than the quiet teacher that Jesus actually was, the God-man who spoke to people about treating enemies as well as we treat our friends.
Jesus knew that a major change was necessary to change people’s hearts, but changing the government of the territory of Israel was not going to make real change for ordinary people. Jesus saw that the Law given by Moses had not really changed the hearts of most people, but had only changed things so the law could be used as a club rather than everyone simply being beaten up by the biggest and strongest Goliath among them. And so, it was necessary to go to the hearts of people directly.
He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. 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.”
Jesus wasn’t going to give His people political power. Instead, Jesus was going to give His people the power of the Holy Spirit, which is much more powerful, for it proceeds directly from God the Father and God the Son. Here was the power to heal people. Here was the power to understand all languages. Here was the power to receive messages directly from God. Here was to the power to know God’s will. Here was the power to raise people from the dead!
But the power of the Holy Spirit is like one of those weapons you’ve heard of that is keyed to the fingerprint of the owner and can only be used by the owner. These weapons exist to keep immature children and criminals from abusing the powers of the weapon, from hurting themselves and from hurting others, ensuring that only responsible owners can use the weapon. Only responsible, mature owners.
The power of the Holy Spirit is like that. It cannot be used except by someone who is humble enough to bow to Jesus, someone who is obedient enough to be baptized and have their heart changed, someone who is willing to listen to the wisdom given by the Spirit and follow the Spirit’s leading, for God the Holy Spirit is God, and will not allow evil to be done through the power given, for the power of the Holy Spirit only flows through us and is not a power we have control over. And the only people who can use the power of the Holy Spirit are those people who understand that the Spirit has greater wisdom than they do, and so they are content to be an instrument of that power and not control that power.
The only control we have over the power given by the Holy Spirit is to accept what the Spirit wants to do – or to quench that power, like pouring gallons of water on a charcoal grill. The Spirit suggests and controls the power itself. If we want to see that power in action, we have to be humble enough to let the Spirit act through us.
And so, Jesus told the disciples that they would receive power when the Holy Spirit came upon them – but it was not a power they could abuse, only a power that would allow itself to be used for good. They could only use the power if they had a humble heart, a good heart, a heart that wanted God’s will done. It is still that way today.
C.S. Lewis, the Oxford and Cambridge professor who wrote “The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe” and many essays on Christianity, once wrote: “There are only two kinds of people in the end: those who say to God, "Thy will be done," and those to whom God says, in the end, "Thy will be done." All that are in Hell, choose it. Without that self-choice there could be no Hell. No soul that seriously and constantly desires joy will ever miss it. Those who seek find. Those who knock it is opened.”
Jesus, by offering the disciples – and us – the power of the Holy Spirit allowed them – and us – to make that choice. We can listen to the Spirit’s gentle whisper and do the Spirit’s bidding with great power – or we can choose our way, with power that is weak and decreases until the day we die and leave Jesus behind forever.
And so, over the centuries, the hearts of humans have been changed by this power. Merely desiring the power of the Holy Spirit means we must change our hearts so they align with God’s will. Successfully having the power of the Spirit flow through us pulls us much closer to God.
But not all who claim to be Christian have changed their hearts. Even today, there are people who insist that the most important things are the politics of the day. Even today, there are people who want a messiah to ride in and lead the nation. But even today, Jesus wants each of us to look first at ourselves, letting our hearts be changed so we can be humble enough to use the great power of the Holy Spirit to change ourselves and lead our neighbors to change.
I know that many of you would like to change the world. But when we try to change the world, it can lead us to forget to help the person who lives next door to us. When we try to change the big things of government, we justify forgetting about our neighbors because we have “more important” things on our agenda. When we strive to make a glorious change that the people of the world will remember for centuries, we are striving for our glory – but we have forgotten that God deserves the glory. And rather than change the world through winning a great battle by force of arms – or through an election, Jesus wants you to change your heart first, and then use that Holy Spirit power to change the people around you because they see you doing God’s will in the little things. To ascend to greatness, we must first stoop to changing the little things for the better. To ascend to greatness, we must first stoop to changing the little things for the better.
Do you bring your family and neighbors and grandchildren to church? Do you read and teach scripture to your children and grandchildren? Do you reach out to your neighbors and praise God in front of them? Do you listen to the Holy Spirit and say what the Spirit suggests to your co-workers – instead of what your flesh really wants to say? Do you show joy and peace to all who speak to you – or do you show hate and anger?
I have many friends on Facebook who post snarky, nasty things about other people and the other political party. Those who complain breed like rabbits, it seems. I don’t have many friends who are more consistently a source of joy and peace and who uplift others. They are like rare and beautiful gems lying in a land of burnt, blackened lava.
But it is very hard to listen to the Holy Spirit if you’ve spent years ignoring the Spirit. So how do we learn to listen to the Spirit?
First, we must be baptized. We must accept that Jesus Christ is the true Son of God, God the Son walking upon the earth, and we must recognize that this means He has the wisdom of God and the love of God and this means He is worthy of being followed. As Christians, we are to be baptized. Speak to me and we’ll arrange it.
Second, we must learn to be humble – and quiet. We do this by finding a quiet place, a place without music, without distraction, a place where we can focus for a few minutes. Sometimes it helps to read some scripture to settle down. We have arranged our porch to have flowers and a quiet bubbling fountain. It is our quiet place.
Next when we are quiet and in our quiet place, we simply pray: “Holy Spirit, what would you have me do?” AND THEN LISTEN! You can speak back and forth, but listen to the Spirit. The true Spirit will never ask you to do anything that will harm you or another.
Finally, do what the Spirit has asked you to do. See what happens.
Jesus said that we are to be His “witness in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth”. Why these territories?
Jerusalem was where the disciples were. It was the place where they had all been brought to, it was where they were right now. They understood Jerusalem, they understood the people, they lived there with safe places. And so they were to begin by speaking to people there about Jesus. They were to speak to their neighbors and family and friends about Jesus.
Judea was the area near Jerusalem. It was about three times the area of Wood County, WV. You might think of it as a nearby area like the Mid-Ohio Valley. It is the nearby area. The disciples traveled through these towns regularly. They understood them. They were to speak to the people they met there about Jesus.
Samaria was north of Jerusalem, between Jerusalem and Galilee where a different sort of people lived, the Samarians, who weren’t quite Jewish. They had different customs. We might think of this as an area like the Clarksburg area or the Northern Panhandle, where people speak differently and have slightly different customs. After a persecution made most Christians flee from Jerusalem, several key followers of Christ began a ministry in Samaria, with great results. It was trickier, but the disciples found a way.
And then there is the ends of the earth, which is everywhere else. After a few years, the disciples drew lots and each one decided to visit various lands to spread the Good News of Jesus Christ. Some went to Italy, some to Greece, others to Egypt and Iran and Turkey and Spain and even to India. They went as far as possible by boat, by camel, by donkey, by foot. And they told people everywhere about Jesus, and slowly churches were founded and people became followers of Jesus. We are in this church today because of those disciples that went to the ends of the earth. And we have people in this church who are doing this today.
And in this way, the hearts of people around the world began to change, because people spoke to other people about the love of Jesus and His sacrifice.
We live in a county where 2 out of 3 people cannot claim a home church. We live in a county where most people you talk with don’t really understand what it means to be a Christian. And we are called to be witnesses for Jesus.
Will you tell someone this week what God and Jesus has done in your life? Would you like to understand better how to do this? If so, come to the workshop Tuesday the 18th at 7 pm and Saturday the 22nd at 11 am here at the church. And we’ll learn together how to lead someone to understand the love of Christ for them. And if you don’t know that love, join us also at 7 pm on the 18th or 11 AM on the 22nd.
And in the meanwhile – be ready to do good things for your neighbors, friends, and family. Because that’s what Christians do. That’s what Christians have done ever since Jesus ascended to Heaven on that day late in May of the year 33. For while He ascended to Heaven, our hearts began to ascend from the muck and mire of the swamp of selfishness in which they lay, to the heights of self-sacrificing agape love to which Jesus calls us.
And one day, when He returns, we will ascend also and meet Him in the air. Hallelujah!
Amen!
Benediction: May the Ascension of the Lord Jesus Christ inspire you to be lifted up, to open yourself to the Holy Spirit, and to allow God’s will to be done in your life!
No comments:
Post a Comment