Acts 1:1-11; Psalm 47; Ephesians 1:15-23: Luke 24:44-53
There are some things about which the Biblical record is sparse. There are some areas where the Bible doesn't tell us as much as we'd like to know. For example, we have no information at all about Jesus' life from the time he was an infant until he was 12 and we see him scaring His mom and dad by staying behind to talk with the older priests at the Temple, and once again, we don't have any information about His life from the time He was 12 until He shows up to be baptized by John at the Jordan River when He was about 30 years old.
The time after the Resurrection is another of those times when we wish there was more said. Oh, yes, we have several recorded sightings of Jesus - eleven in all - where He appears and talks with different groups of disciples. Each is different - different people, often different places, different events. But there is an implication in some of the sightings that Jesus stayed around for hours or even days and taught the disciples much about Him that is found in the Old Testament scriptures. Yet we don't have this recorded. It is as if the Holy Spirit, working through the disciple's writings, says to us, "Isn't it enough that He came back alive?"
And so we come to our readings today, about forty days after Easter. Jesus had apparently been with a large group of the disciples, teaching them, when time expired. Forty, is the number of preparation in the Bible. It took forty days for the earth to dry after the Flood before Noah went forth. It took forty years before the Israelites could enter the Holy Land. Jesus took forty days in the wilderness to fast and pray before He began His ministry. And so, we now have the disciples taking forty days of instruction from Jesus before they will go forward with their ministries into the world. They walk outside of town, Jesus says a few words to them, and He takes off, literally floating up before them into the sky while the believers stand there with their mouths open staring into the sky and Jesus is going, going, gone! Jesus has left the planet!
Two guys in white robes suddenly appear beside them. I wonder if these are the same two angels that had the chance to tell Mary that Jesus was alive and would be waiting for the disciples in Galilee. Whoever they were, these two guys have a sense of humor. Looking at all these folks standing there with their mouths open, staring into the sky, they apparently materialize and say "Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up toward Heaven?" and then they give a promise: "Jesus will return in the same way you saw Him leave."
Luke tells us that the group Jesus is teaching in the Gospel passage is "the Eleven and those with them, assembled together." In Acts, Luke tells us more about the group that went back into Jerusalem that day:
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.
15 In those days Peter stood up among the believers (a group numbering about a hundred and twenty)"
This is quite important, because it helps us to understand to whom Jesus was speaking. You see, sometimes Jesus spoke to huge crowds, sometimes He spoke to only a small group of His disciples, others times He spoke to the Twelve, but this time Jesus is speaking to a group that includes not only the Eleven surviving disciples who would become known as the Apostles - you will recall that Judas hanged himself on Good Friday - but also Mary the mother of Jesus, his brothers including Joses, and James, as well as a group of women, and some other people, including Matthias (who became the replacement Apostle) and Barsabbas the Just, who was runner-up to replace Judas, and another hundred or so people. Therefore, we can safely conclude that whatever Jesus spoke during this time was directed toward all of His followers and not just the twelve Apostles.
Yes, these words of Jesus are directed toward you and me. It is interesting that three of the four Gospel writers record similar words during Jesus’ last hours on earth.
Hear these sets of commands again, the last words of Jesus spoken before He went back to Heaven:
From the Gospel of Luke, Chapter 24:
45 Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. 46 He told them, “This is what is written: The Messiah will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, 47 and repentance for the forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. 48 You are witnesses of these things. 49 I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.”
Luke points to the resurrection and tells us that "repentance for the forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem" All nations will hear the good news that sins will be forgiven by God. But Luke also tells the listeners to stay in the city until power is given to them by God.
Again Luke, writing the Book of Acts, Chapter 1:
6 Then they gathered around him and asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?”
7 He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. 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 time Luke is more detailed in his writing. The listeners will "receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon" them and be Jesus' "witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." The gospel message will be spread beginning in Jerusalem, which is the center city of the country, then Judea - the county-sized area around Jerusalem, and then Samaria, nearby, but home to people who were not Jewish, and then "to the ends of the earth". Putting this in a modern context, we are to be witnesses of Jesus first in Quiet Dell and Romines' Mill, then throughout Harrison County, then North Central WV, and then to foreign missions around the world.
From the Gospel of Mark, Chapter 16 we read:
15 He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.16 Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. 17 And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; 18 they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well.”
Keep in mind that the signs will accompany those who believe, but this does not mean that all believers must have these powers. Some will, some won't. But the first line is a clear command: "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation." And Jesus was clear about the second line also: "Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned." Each person's eternal destiny hangs upon whether or not they believe the gospel or not.
And from Matthew 28 we hear this:
18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
And Matthew records that Jesus also made a clear statement: "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me." Do you believe this? If so, then the rest of the command is for you: "Therefore go...and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them...and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you."
If we believe in Jesus, then we are commanded to spread the Gospel, beginning close to home, in our personal Jerusalem, moving a bit wider in the county, and then working in the entire area, and finally traveling far and wide to tell people about the Gospel.
But first, you will notice that Jesus spent some time with the Apostles and the greater group of believers - 40 days, "opening their minds to the scriptures" and the believers waited to receive the Holy Spirit and the power of that Spirit.
Beginning next Sunday evening at 6 pm, we will have a five-week study specifically to prepare you to spread the Gospel to other people. Each Sunday evening we will spend one hour examining scripture, listening to the Holy Spirit, discussing the meaning, and role-playing to give you the knowledge and the experience to approach friends and neighbors and family with the saving Word of God. This begins next Sunday evening at 6 pm.
When Jesus left that day, He left us with one unanswered question: Why did He have to leave? Couldn't He have stayed with us?
But if we think it through, there is something Jesus understood far better than we do. As humans, we tend to act like sheep. Just like sheep, when we see someone leading us, we tend to follow. And when we really trust in that leader, we also tend to follow more than perhaps we should.
Jesus understood that our natural tendency would be to hang out with Jesus and not do anything else. We see that in the church today - we feel inadequate, we feel uneducated, we feel like we can't speak well enough to talk to other people about Jesus. And so you hang out at the church, listening to a grey-haired fat man speak up front as though I know more about God than you do. Maybe I do - and maybe I don't.
But what I do know is this: God has worked in your life. There have been times in your life when your faith in the power of Christ has lifted you up and kept you from completely falling to pieces. There have been times when you have lost a loved one and the only thing that kept you going was the sure, certain knowledge that your loved one was headed to be with Christ in Heaven. There have been times when your world has been shattered by a pink slip, by a bad medical report, by an emotional break-up, and the only thing that keep you from falling apart were the promises that Christ made you that God is watching you just as God watches each and every sparrow, and that God has a plan for your life which is designed to bring you good and not harm.
God does not want you dependent upon anyone except God. God wants you to completely put your trust in God the Father, to read and understand the commands of Jesus the Son, and to listen daily, hourly, even minute-by-minute to God the Holy Spirit as that Spirit leads you into all truth. Our purpose in getting together each week is to encourage each other, to support each other, and to help each other determine God’s will and do that will in our daily lives.
When you come here, the concentrated Holy Spirit helps you to grow closer to God, and your part of the Holy Spirit that you bring here helps other people to grow closer to God. Each day, each week that you show up here on Sunday mornings, on Sunday evenings, at mid-week studies is a time when the flame of the Holy Spirit has a chance to guide you through the words of a sermon, the teaching of a teacher, or the smile and hug of a dear friend – and you can do the same for another each time you show up, giving your friends around you great encouragement that you don’t see or understand, but which is real. When you show up at church, you both learn from people and help other people. You are important to the people who gather here each week.
Around you, everywhere, everyday, there are people who are hopeless, or who have put their hope in hopeless things. There are people who have no purpose and so they look toward violence and war to find purpose. There are people who have no cause and so they look toward strange and crazy causes to find meaning in their lives. They are waiting to hear from someone why life is not hopeless. They are waiting to hear from someone why their life has a future. While most of these people have no church home, some may actually be here today. Both those who never come to church and those who are here are waiting to hear from YOU about the saving love of Jesus Christ. You have the answer to what is wrong in their lives. Won't you turn to them and speak with them?
Let’s practice: Turn to the person beside you and tell them: “Jesus loves you, and so do I.” Now tell the person on the other side of you, or in front of you, or behind you the same thing. You’ve just told these people a third of the Gospel.
Now let’s try part 2: Turn to the person beside you and tell them, “Whatever it is that you are ashamed of, God will forgive it, because God is ready to forgive all sins. Do you want God to forgive you of some sin?” and if they answer “yes”, say, “In the name of Jesus Christ, you are forgiven.” Now switch roles. That’s part 2 of the Gospel.
Now let’s go with part 3: Ask your neighbor if they are a baptized Christian. If not, ask them this: “Do you want to completely follow Jesus in word and deed?” If so, then offer to walk with your friend to the altar in the front of the church today. Who knows? There may be one or two of you that would like to get baptized this afternoon.
This, my friends, is one way that people come to the Gospel.
My friends, we have been commanded by Jesus Christ to deliver a message. That message is really quite simple: Jesus loves you. Jesus loves you so much that He died on the cross so that your debt to God could be paid. And God is ready to forgive you of all your sins, your crimes against God and other people if you simply will ask for that forgiveness. And the next act is to declare your intention to follow Jesus through words and through the deed of baptism. Through this you will receive eternal life and eternal communication with God through the Holy Spirit. And the final act is to follow those commandments of Christ, and become more like Him throughout your life.
Jesus went back to Heaven for one simple reason: He wanted us to step forward and grow closer to God by helping other people return to God. Jesus did not wish to leave us weakly dependent upon anyone, but wanted us to become strong, capable leaders of the faith, trusting in God the Father's plan and power – each of us.
There is a reason why every Ph.D candidate must teach others before receiving their degree – it is true that the teacher learns more about the subject than the students do when the teacher teaches. Find a friend or neighbor or family member to teach the Gospel to, and you will learn more about God and your relationship with God in a few days than you have in years. Do not let your fear or lack of knowledge hold you back – step out and learn about God through telling the Gospel.
As you go on your vacations this summer, as you meet people at the store or walking down the street, as you talk with friends and relatives and neighbors on the phone or over some barbeque – remember that you have been commanded by Christ Himself to share the Gospel, the Good News of Jesus Christ with all people from all nations, both here, throughout the county and state, and even to the ends of the earth. Honor Christ’s sacrifice for you. Tell others about Him. Or explain to Him some day why you didn’t.
As we meet people, consider what is happening to them, and what you might say to them about God's love. Ponder this while you watch the following video:
We have the answer to these hurts and worries. Share the Good News.
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