“You Will Be My Witnesses” ~Acts 1:8

a sermon by Pastor sonja Dalglish for Weslaco FPC

June 5, 2011 Ascension Sunday – Seventh Sunday in Easter

Acts 1:6-14, Psalm 68, 1 Peter 4:12-14, 5:6-11, John 17:1-11

Introduction

This is an unusual text.  Jesus goes up into the clouds, as if heaven is up and maybe hell is down.  And we know that above earth in all directions is a lot of heaven or space.  And why did he choose to go up into the clouds after he had been on earth, walking in and out of locked rooms, eating with the disciples, teaching them and reassuring them?

The text says he had been here forty days, since his resurrection.  But, we know that numbers in the Bible are frequently symbolic, not just literal numbers.  Forty could have been used to be “complete.”  The time on earth to prepare the disciples was complete.

The place of ascent is important, too.  The Garden of Gethsamane is on the Mount of Olives.  This is where Jesus and the disciples had gone frequently to pray and where Jesus had been arrested more than a month before.  Some scholars suggest that Jesus’ presence and ascension cleanses and redeems the Mount of Olives.

Jesus gives them instructions to stay together in Jerusalem and wait until the Holy Spirit comes to them.  And they stay together and pray until they get that mission from God.  I think this is the main message for us.  Pray and wait for the Spirit to tell you how to be witnesses.  But there is also another message.

Two Mistakes the Disciples Made

The disciples made two mistakes in this passage, mistakes that we can make as well.  First, they ask Jesus about timing of future events.   On this miraculous day, was he going to restore Israel to power?  They were still hoping for a military and earthly victory.  They wanted to know when.  When?  When is Rome to be overthrown?  When is the end of the world?  The question some modern Christians might ask is, “When is the rapture?”

You know we just missed the rapture again.  It flew by us thirty years ago and now has repeated a fly-by again on May 21^st.  There are some very disappointed folks.  The leader has recalculated and is now predicting the rapture this December.  But, what I wonder is whether he has ever read this passage?  The timing is not for us to know – only for God alone to know.

Jesus tells the disciples and us to not worry.  This is the Father’s business.

The second mistake is that they stand looking up into the clouds after Jesus has gone, perhaps stunned, or perhaps wondering if what goes up always does come down.  Two men in bright white clothes, perhaps angels, tell them to be on their way.

They wait and pray.  This is the way they prepared for the coming of the Holy Spirit and for the way to witness.  They prayed.  I particularly like this passage because it makes plain that it wasn’t just the eleven disciples praying, but many others as well, including certain women.

We have seen how over and over, people have been fooled by one person or another telling them that it is time to go sit on a hill or a beach and wait for Christ to come.  Repeatedly a few people make this mistake.  But, I think most people cannot be fooled by that any more.

We have also seen how people can spend a life time in church and Sunday School, learning about the good news but don’t move out to take the mission into the world.  It is not enough to know the good news for ourselves and where Jesus has been in our lives.  We need to pray to know how to reach out to others.

Our Prayer Vigil

This past weekend, we prayed, from Friday six p.m. until Saturday six p.m.  The people of this church community spent their time in prayer.  I prepared an instruction sheet with suggestions of ways to pray.  People prayed for each member by name, thanksgiving for the church, places that need the love and grace of God.  We prayed for the leader to come and the future of this church.

I thought of this passage in Acts as I was preparing the guidelines for prayer.  There are a few guidelines left on the table in front of the lectern.  If you want, you can get one during communion on your way back to your pew, as long as they last.  Prayer prepares us for mission so that we may take the love of God into the world.  There are also strips left to add a prayer to the prayer chain.  You can do that during a hymn or communion as you are coming forward.

Conclusion

Jesus is now in heaven, but before he left he prepared his disciples to be his witnesses in the world.  They prayed and next week we will see that they are baptized with the Holy Spirit.  Then, they go into the world to share the good news that God loves them so much that Jesus died for them.  This passage is telling us that we, too, can be prepared because Jesus needs us as witnesses.

A group is meeting at Savory Perks on Wednesday mornings for a cup of coffee and casual conversation, from 7-8 a.m.  Another group is reading the Bonhoeffer biography and discussing it on Wednesday evenings from six to seven in the parlor.  You are invited.

Our major mission in the summer is Camp Creativity.  In order to do this, it takes about fifty volunteers.  Some of you have already volunteered.  In the next two weeks, we will be getting the roster of volunteers completed.  This is the way that we teach children, not only about the stories of the Bible, but about the meaning of living in a Christian community.  We surround them with love so that they know that God loves them.

Pray.  Consider what you might be willing to do as a witness to Jesus.  What can you do?  Look at the supplies needed.  Look at the jobs available.  This is our chance this summer to reach out and make a difference in forty to fifty children’s lives, building memories, surrounding them with God’s love.

Acts tells us that we don’t worry about things we cannot know – like the end of time.  Ours is to pray and wait for the Spirit, then when God moves us, to go out as witnesses to Jesus Christ.

Lectionary Readings

The Promise of the Holy Spirit

1In the first book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus did and taught from the beginning ²until the day when he was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. ³After 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. ⁴While 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; ⁵for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with^* the Holy Spirit not many days from now.’

The Ascension of Jesus

6 So when they had come together, they asked him, ‘Lord, is this the time when you will restore the kingdom to Israel?’ ⁷He replied, ‘It is not for you to know the times or periods that the Father has set by his own authority. ⁸But 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.’ ⁹When he had said this, as they were watching, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. ¹⁰While he was going and they were gazing up towards heaven, suddenly two men in white robes stood by them. ¹¹They 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.’

12 Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a sabbath day’s journey away. ¹³When they had entered the city, they went to the room upstairs where they were staying, Peter, and John, and James, and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James son of Alphaeus, and Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of^* James. ¹⁴All these were constantly devoting themselves to prayer, together with certain women, including Mary the mother of Jesus, as well as his brothers.
Psalm Psalm 68:1-10, 32-35

¹ Let God rise up, let his enemies be scattered;

let those who hate him flee before him.

² As smoke is driven away, so drive them away;

as wax melts before the fire,

let the wicked perish before God.

³ But let the righteous be joyful;

let them exult before God;

let them be jubilant with joy.

⁴ Sing to God, sing praises to his name;

lift up a song to him who rides upon the clouds —

his name is the LORD —

be exultant before him.

⁵ Father of orphans and protector of widows

is God in his holy habitation.

⁶ God gives the desolate a home to live in;

he leads out the prisoners to prosperity,

but the rebellious live in a parched land.

⁷ O God, when you went out before your people,

when you marched through the wilderness,                 Selah

⁸ the earth quaked, the heavens poured down rain

at the presence of God, the God of Sinai,

at the presence of God, the God of Israel.

⁹ Rain in abundance, O God, you showered abroad;

you restored your heritage when it languished;

¹⁰ your flock found a dwelling in it;

in your goodness, O God, you provided for the needy.

³² Sing to God, O kingdoms of the earth;

sing praises to the Lord,                                                       Selah

³³ O rider in the heavens, the ancient heavens;

listen, he sends out his voice, his mighty voice.

³⁴ Ascribe power to God,

whose majesty is over Israel;

and whose power is in the skies.

³⁵ Awesome is God in his sanctuary,

the God of Israel;

he gives power and strength to his people.

Blessed be God!

Second Reading 1 Peter 4:12-14, 5:6-11

^4:12Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that is taking place among you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. ¹³But rejoice insofar as you are sharing Christ’s sufferings, so that you may also be glad and shout for joy when his glory is revealed. ¹⁴If you are reviled for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the spirit of glory, which is the Spirit of God, is resting on you.

^5:6Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, so that he may exalt you in due time. ⁷Cast all your anxiety on him, because he cares for you. ⁸Discipline yourselves, keep alert. Like a roaring lion your adversary the devil prowls around, looking for someone to devour. ⁹Resist him, steadfast in your faith, for you know that your brothers and sisters in all the world are undergoing the same kinds of suffering. ¹⁰And after you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, support, strengthen, and establish you. ¹¹To him be the power forever and ever. Amen.

Gospel John 17:1-11

¹After Jesus had spoken these words, he looked up to heaven and said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son so that the Son may glorify you, ²since you have given him authority over all people, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. ³And this is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. ⁴I glorified you on earth by finishing the work that you gave me to do. ⁵So now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had in your presence before the world existed.

⁶“I have made your name known to those whom you gave me from the world. They were yours, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. ⁷Now they know that everything you have given me is from you; ⁸for the words that you gave to me I have given to them, and they have received them and know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me. ⁹I am asking on their behalf; I am not asking on behalf of the world, but on behalf of those whom you gave me, because they are yours. ¹⁰All mine are yours, and yours are mine; and I have been glorified in them. ¹¹And now I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one, as we are one.”