(a sermon for May 12, 2024, the 7th Sunday of Easter, based on Acts 1:1-11)
It stands among the most dramatic scenes found in holy scripture: Jesus’ ascension into heaven, in which he is carried out of the disciples’ sight into heaven on a cloud. It’s perhaps the quintessential moment of farewell in all of human history, one that underscores the glory of God’s awesome presence, the commissioning of the disciples and his promise of the coming of the Holy Spirit.
And for those eleven disciples of Jesus – this rather motley assortment of fishermen, tax collectors and societal outcasts – it was the end of a long journey begun some three years before, following an itinerant rabbi named Jesus: a journey filled with great signs and miracles, the remarkable good news of a Kingdom come from God, and then an excruciating death followed by an impossible, utterly preposterous and yet undeniable resurrection from the dead! They’d seen the risen Christ, these disciples; they’d shared a meal with him, they’d received his blessing and heard some last-minute teachings from their master. But now, after all of this, their story – that is, the disciples’ story – was seemingly coming to an end.
Or was it… given what Jesus had just said to them about being his “witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth,” was this just the beginning?
That’s why it just makes perfect sense to me that after it was all over, even as they were still “gazing up toward heaven,” perchance to catch one last glimpse of Jesus before he completely disappeared from their sight, that the disciples would already be saying to one another and even to no one in particular…
“…what next?”
One of the great joys that are mine as a grandparent are those moments when Sylvie and I get to share music together. I love listening to music with her (And by the way, you know you have young children in your life when the song stuck in your head at the end of the day is not a much beloved hymn or even a classic 60’s rocker, but in fact, “Hop Little Bunny, Hop, Hop, Hop!”); but even more than listening to music with Sylvie, I love listening to Sylvie listening to music! The other day, I’m in the car with her, we’ve got tunes playing, and sometimes it’s just a phrase or two, sometimes it’s the whole song (because she is a very gifted child, after all!), she’s singing along! But the best part for me is after the song is done; lately, you see, when the song is over, you can hear her in the back saying, “what next?” In fact, it happens after just about every song…
What next? What next! So excited about what the next song’s gonna be, the next song she gets to hear, the next song she gets to sing! It’s like in that split second between songs on the playlist, this little girl is totally filled up with joy, excitement and utter anticipation of the moment to come! And as I’m listening to this, I’m thinking to myself, oh, that it were always like this: our days ever filled with new and endless possibilities, so much so that we can’t help but say, “What next?” What’s gonna happen now? What big adventure is about to begin, and what kind of wonders will there be to discover? I can hardly wait to find out!
Of course, as card-carrying grownups, we tend to lose that joyous sense of anticipation, don’t we? These days, when we hear or speak the words, “what next,” we’re more inclined to feel a sense of dread than one of excitement: another car repair? A messed up medical bill? Broken pipes at the camp? Good grief, what next… and how much is it going to cost me? Or maybe, especially in these days, the question arises out of our concern about the direction that the world is headed; or else it’s simply regarding all the changes we end up having to face in life that leave us feeling at the very least apprehensive! To put it simply, for us adults “what next” is a perfectly normal – if not entirely joyful – response to the impending course of our life’s journey!
And so it was for the eleven as they lingered there in the moments just following Jesus’ ascension, still staring up to the sky; slack jawed, awestruck and, frankly, pretty much scared to death!
And like I said before, this is a response we can understand! Remember that even now, even after everything that had happened to them with Jesus, the disciples still didn’t understand. They’d already asked Jesus that day – again (!) – if this was to be the time when the kingdom would be restored to Israel, meaning that they still held the point of view that “the kingdom of God” could be garnered and measured politically. And even after Jesus explains to them – again (!) – that it was not for them to know how or when God will act, but it was their purpose to serve as his empowered witnesses “in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” – in other words, telling good news to all at home, abroad to strangers, and far, far away to those on the edges of life, spreading the word and being about the work of ministry in his name; with the power of Holy Spirit, by the way – even then, they’re, well, flummoxed!
Excuse me? Power? Witnesses? The ends of the earth!? Really?! I mean, Lord, we’re not you; there’s so much we don’t know, much less understand; and besides, have you noticed, Lord, that we haven’t exactly distinguished ourselves as disciples up to this point? But whatever their protests, it didn’t matter, because now Jesus was taken out of their sight, and with their master and teacher having ascended to heaven, the disciples were left to face an uncertain future, an improbable mission and one immediate question:
What next?
Of course, we know what happens next, but still you have to wonder, if at the time, any of those first followers of Jesus ever, in their wildest imagination, could have ever believed that their “first, halting efforts at bearing witness” to Jesus could have led to his good news resounding in every corner of the globe! You wonder if they had any inkling at all of the enormity of the task before them or of the price they would have to pay for the sake of the gospel, or if any of them have possibly imagined the power and wonder of the Holy Spirit working in and through them?
What’s interesting, you know, is that the Greek word for “witness” used in this passage is actually better translated as “martyr,” which in our understanding has become synonymous with dying for one’s faith. But as it was originally understood, however, to be a martyr meant first and primarily to live for faith; living wholly and completely for the sake of this good news of the resurrection. So you have to wonder what it was about those eleven disciples, that even though they felt lacking in just about everything they needed, they nonetheless and immediately focused their entire lives on being witnesses of the risen Christ!
And lest you think we’re just talking ancient church history here, understand that our text for this morning is not only the story of the disciples; it’s our story as well, yours and mine.
Like those early disciples, you see, we too are living “between the now and the not yet,” a time after the resurrection of Jesus Christ but before his return in glory; living amidst the kingdoms of the world but awaiting the fulfilled promise of God’s kingdom coming in its fullness. The Book of Acts is actually the beginning of that story, the story of what happened next: taking us from the coming of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost, and continuing up through Paul’s imprisonment in Rome for the sake of his new Christian faith; but even then, that’s not the end of the story.
There was a woman in the church I served in Hallowell who was one of those rare individuals who always had a good and spiritually uplifting word, no matter what was happening in her life or ours. One day she came through the line to greet me after worship, and she said to me, “Now, Michael if you really want to understand what faith is all about and what the church should be doing, then you really need to read the 29th chapter of Acts!” She said this with such conviction and joy that I couldn’t help but be filled with curiosity; so imagine my surprise when I got home, opened my Bible with great anticipation and discovered …there is no 29th chapter in the Book of Acts! What she was reminding me was that the story of our faith, the mission of the church, the tale of our own witness is ongoing, and that God is, in fact, writing the 29th chapter of Acts through our lives as disciples of Jesus Christ!
We are called, you and me, to continue the story as witnesses of the risen Christ through the power of his Holy Spirit so that the life changing news of God’s love can be told “to the ends of the earth:” understanding that today the end of the earth can be a place as far-flung as a third world nation, or, as close as the hearts of those around us who have desperately sought to find their life’s fulfillment everyplace except in God’s presence and love.
Simply put, friends, we are called to be missionaries!
Now, I know that to our post-modern ears this term “missionaries” might come off sounding a little old-fashioned and that the days of Christian missionaries are long past, but in fact if there’s ever been a time in which it’s crucial that the world hears this good news of Jesus’ light and life, and the peace and love embodied in God’s kingdom, it’s right now. As followers of Jesus, we are as such his witnesses, the teller of his tale; now, more than ever before, you and I are called not to passivity where our faith is concerned, but to activity!
And if that seems to us an overwhelming task, if we’re the ones shaking our heads and wondering “what next,” it’s good to remember that Jesus was not looking for greatness in those first disciples, but rather faith! Because truthfully, for all of their doubts and rough edges, what the original eleven had going for them was a true and authentic faith in God. And that’s the thing that will set us apart, too.
The Rev. Thomas Tewell says this very well when he writes that “what characterized the early church and will characterize us is authenticity. God is looking for authentic people, people who are real and ring true. They are the kind of people that other people would like to be. God is not looking for people who are so heavenly minded that they’re no earthly good, but real people who can follow Jesus Christ and serve God with authenticity and joy.”
To put this another way, for us to be true witnesses of the risen Christ does not necessarily mean that by our faith we are pulled into the big events of life, but it most certainly means that by our faith we are drawn into the everyday, seemingly small things of life in a big way. Someone once said that “life is what happens to you while you’re waiting for the bus,” and I think that’s true. So often you and I find ourselves overly focused on the bus that’s coming and where it’s headed – the “what next” of our very lives, as it were – when all along, the very thing we’ve been seeking has always been right there at the bus stop! What we’re talking about here is our own spirituality in the midst of the here and now, and in and through all the moments of life, both large and small; that’s the stuff of real, authentic faith, and this is what shines forth from us to be seen by others.
It’s pretty simple, actually: when people see a joyful, winsome and sincere love for the Lord in us, they want to know more; and that is where the good news of the gospel gets told and is shared from family to friends to community, and even, perhaps “to the ends of the earth!” But it all begins with our being a witness precisely in the times and places where we dwell!
Basically, it all comes down to faithful living at the most basic and preliminary levels of daily life; but where this world is concerned, that in and of itself is pretty radical behavior. The poet Wendell Berry actually says it all: “When they want you to buy something they will call you. When they want you to die for profit they will let you know. So, friends, every day do something that won’t compute. Love the Lord. Love the world. Work for nothing. Take all you have and be poor. Love someone who does not deserve it… live resurrection.”
That’s good advice for all of us who are on this walk of the Christian life: LIVE RESURRECTION… so that the good news can be told.
Thanks be to God who by the power of his spirit, calls you and me, here and now, to be his witnesses.
AMEN and AMEN!
© 2024 Rev. Michael W. Lowry. All Rights Reserved.
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