God Has Gone Up

Lectionary readings for Ascension Sunday

Acts 1:1-11
Psalm 47 or Psalm 110
Ephesians 1:15-23
Luke 24:44-53

TEXT: Acts 1:1-11

LISTENING TO THE TEXT

During this Easter season, we have remembered the glory and power of the risen Christ. Everything changed when Jesus was raised from the dead. Or did it? We really expect the disciples finally to catch on to the kind of kingdom Jesus talked to them about throughout His ministry. We expect the lights to come on. But as we come to this first chapter of Acts, we discover that not all that much has changed for the disciples.

Oh, they have been thrilled at the resurrection appearances of Jesus. But there are still a lot of questions about how they fit into all of this. So when we hear Jesus' promise to them that they will be baptized with the Holy Spirit very soon, it's kind of amazing to hear their response. "Will you now the restore the kingdom to Israel?" (v, 6). They still didn't get it. They are still looking for an earthly kingdom. And what they really wanted to know was, "Where do we fit into all of this?" They wanted certainty. They wanted a tangible plan.

Jesus' response is essentially, "Don't worry about the plan, it's not for you to know. You are going to receive the Holy Spirit. That's all you need to know!" They wanted certitude about the future. He offered them power to face it.

That's what His ascension really signals for us. The power of God that we saw demonstrated in the life and ministry of Jesus will now take up residence in us through the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives. In the words of the old hymn, they thought "God had gone up." They thought he left them. Truth is, God has gone up but not away. He has come closer, in the ministry of the Spirit to empower us for life.

ENGAGING THE TEXT
THE NEED

We all have a need for certainty. We like to know what is happening and what to expect. We make important decisions only after gathering all of the facts and viewpoints that we can. We sometimes even want all of our questions and doubts to disappear as a result of following Christ. We want a "road map" for life that makes the decisions and challenges a bit easier. Actually, God has provided something even better than easy answers.

GOD'S ANSWER

The promise of the Holy Spirit is one of the greatest provisions of God for us. If we can learn to let go of our need to have everything lined up and explained, then we can experience the power and joy of living in the power of His Spirit. Some things we can know. Other things (maybe the most important things) are often beyond understanding. They exist in the realm of faith and trust. Jesus' Ascension Day call to us is to surrender what we can't know for what we can know. He calls us to open our hearts to the presence of the Holy Spirit, who will give us grace and power to follow Him into the kingdom of God.

OUR RESPONSE

Letting go of our need for certainty is difficult, but it is part of the call of Jesus here. His admonition is "wait for the gift (v. 4)." That's hard sometimes, but spiritual health is to be found in releasing our agenda for the world, the church, and ourselves and embracing God's agenda which is always driven by daily responsiveness to the moves of the Holy Spirit in us and in the world.

PREACHING THE TEXT

The need for certainty seems to be at the heart of what these disciples were wanting. It is revealed in their innocent but misdirected question of Jesus. We know that need. So the preacher of this text can begin by helping the congregation to reconnect to that need for certitude. Nearly everyone has struggled at some point to discern God's will. So often, the struggle is because we have fairly narrow criteria for what will constitute an answer, when Jesus would like say to us, "It's not for you to know the dates and times, just live in surrender to the Spirit."

The challenge point of this sermon is to help our people learn that God's direction and leading in our lives is sometimes specific to circumstances, but often it is only specific to His general will for us as His followers. If we can learn the secret of living in step with His Spirit, then we can be freed from taking our spiritual pulse every five minutes and worrying over whether or not we are finding God's will. God never promised us all the answers up front but He did promise His power and presence. And perhaps that's all the "answer" we really need.