GOD HAS GONE UP

ACTS 1:1-11

I still remember so well those days, many years ago now, when I was deciding whether or not I ought to accept your invitation to become your pastor. I had carefully reviewed all the information I could get my hands on. I talked with everybody I could think of to talk to about you. I tried to weigh carefully the pros and the cons of taking on this assignment. But in spite of all my effort and in spite of my almost constant request of the Lord to give me His mind, there was still a missing piece for me. What I really wanted was some word of assurance, almost a guarantee from God that I was making the right decision.

Wouldn't it be great, at least sometimes, to have the assurance that major decisions like that would turn out right? That's really what I wanted to hear from the Lord. I wanted somehow to hear Him say to me, "If you go to Shawnee, I can tell you without a doubt that it will be a good thing." I really wanted more than assurance, I wanted certitude. I wanted to be absolutely sure that the risk I was taking for myself and especially for my family would be worth it.

Have you ever faced a decision like that? Don't you sometimes wish that you could see into the future and see whether or not you were really making the right decision? I think we face issues like that in our lives every day. We look for assurance or for certitude in all of life. Many of you have faced the awful feeling that comes over you when you've spent all kinds of time and energy presenting yourself well to a company and they hire you. And then that kind of sickening feeling comes over you as you think to yourself, "Am I really as good as I said I was? Can I really do the job as adequately as I said I could?" And we find ourselves wishing that somehow we could look into the future and see that indeed our dreams and plans were well-placed.

Or in raising our children, what parent hasn't asked at one point or another, "Am I doing the right things with my child? Am I really making the right decisions about my child's training and welfare?" If only somehow we could see into the future or get some word of assurance that everything would turn out right, then we could relax and maybe breathe a sigh of relief as parents.

Our need for certainty even goes to very mundane, everyday issues in life. Wouldn't it be great if you had some assurance that your financial deals would be fruitful in the future? Wouldn't it be wonderful if somehow you could know that the item you bought on sale today won't be cheaper somewhere else tomorrow?

We have a need for certainty in our lives. We're just made that way. We like things to be nice and neat and fall in order along predictable lines. And we hate nothing more than huge surprises or unexpected turns in the road.

Do you know something? That need for certitude even extends to our relationship with God. It really does. Until we buy into the belief that when we are Christians, somehow all the doubts and questions should disappear about what life will hold for us. We begin to believe that if God is really on our side, things will go smoothly. There won't be any unexpected things, at least not painful ones.

What we really want in our relationship with God is a happy, stressless, worry-free existence. You see, in my desire to have some certitude from God about coming here, what I was really wanting (if totally honest) was the assurance that life wouldn't be hard or painful. I wanted God to tell me in some tangible way just what I could really expect if I made that decision, and I really wanted it to be good news. It's kind of like going to the dentist as a kid and begging your mom to tell you it won't hurt. Life just isn't that neat and clean all the time, is it?

Somehow as a people we need the comfort and security of certainty in our lives. And there are some things of which we can be certain. But there are many others of which we cannot.

Well, these disciples of Jesus who became the pillars of the Early Church knew all about that need for certitude. They were continually looking for a place of certainty on which rest their lives. Jesus had tried to teach them over and over again that His kingdom was of an entirely different order than anything they had in mind. His kingdom would be in their hearts and not in a political system. But they just couldn't get hold of that concept. They still looked for an earthly kingdom to be born that would become the greatest power on earth.

And throughout their time with Jesus during His ministry on this earth, these disciples were continually looking for some certainty that their concept of the kingdom of God was really going to come to pass. They were concerned about questions of authority and privilege in the new kingdom of Jesus. Their lack of understanding continued right through to the end of Jesus' life. When He was crucified as a criminal, their hopes and dreams were cruelly crushed.

Any thoughts of certainty about God's kingdom were killed with Jesus on that Cross. But then as we celebrated only a little more than 40 days ago, all the categories changed when Jesus was raised from the dead. And in the glory of Jesus' miraculous resurrection, we really expect the disciples to catch on finally to the kind of kingdom Jesus had been talking to them about throughout His ministry among them.

We really expect to see the lights come on for them and see them move from looking for an earthly kingdom to discovering the reality of the spiritual kingdom. But as we come to the first chapter of Acts, we discover that for the disciples not all that much has really changed. Oh, certainly they have thrilled at the Resurrection appearances of Jesus. The Resurrection has certainly confirmed for them in powerful ways that indeed Jesus was the Son of God and the Messiah. But there are still a lot of questions about how they fit into all this. They are still looking for some assurance, some certitude about what the new kingdom will be like.

And so when we read in Acts of the final words between Jesus and His disciples, we hear Jesus repeat to them the promise that they would soon be baptized with the Holy Spirit. Listen to their response, "Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?" (v. 6).

They still didn't get it, did they? They still didn't really understand. After all that had happened, even in the midst of resurrection, they are still looking for Jesus to establish His kingdom on earth in a political sense. Oh, they knew that things had certainly changed and the world would forever be a different place because of Jesus, but they wanted a piece of the future. The question on everyone's mind was, "What is really going to happen to us? Where do we really fit in all of this?"

They wanted certainty. They wanted a tangible plan. But what did Jesus give them? Listen to His response, "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" (vv. 7-8).

They wanted certitude, but He offered them power. They wanted to know how this plan was going to all come together, but Jesus said to them, "You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you," and that's really all you need to know at this point.

You know something? As much as I think I'd like to know the future at times, I'm really glad that I don't. I'm fairly certain that if these disciples had known about all they would face in the years to come, they would have turned and run. But God knew what they really needed was not information about the details of how His kingdom would spread throughout the world but simply the assurance of His power and presence. For it would be the power of the Holy Spirit that would enable them to be witnesses throughout the world. And really, isn't that the only assurance we need?

In making my decision about whether to come here as pastor, God never said to me in any way, "I promise you that it will be a wonderful, successful experience." He never let me in on the details of how things would turn out. He wouldn't give me that kind of certitude. But I'll tell you what He did give me. And this message was as clear as I needed it to be. God said, "If you go, I will be with you." While I didn't have the promise of how the details would turn out, I did have the promise of His power and presence. And that makes all the difference in the world.

You see when the Holy Spirit really takes control of your life, you will be amazed at the things God can accomplish through you that you never thought possible. Peter never dreamed at this moment that he would be able to get up and preach boldly the truth about Jesus and see 3,000 people come to faith in Christ. But it happened.

It can happen for you too. But if you are going to be an effective Christian, you have to understand that God never promised you a nice, neat little package that would always be happy and pleasant and easy. He promised you power in the Holy Spirit--the kind of power that can enable you to face anything life dishes out head-on, with confidence and victory in the power of Christ.

But look what happened after Jesus spoke the promise of the Spirit to His disciples, "After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight" (v. 9). Their need for certainty was completely shattered when Jesus ascended into heaven. In the words of the old hymn, they thought that "God had gone up." He had left them. He had gone away from them. But the truth was that Jesus had gone up, not away from them, but in order to empower them. For in just a matter of days, as the two men dressed in white predicted, Jesus would come back to them. As they gather in the Upper Room, the Holy Spirit of Christ is poured out upon them and gives them the power to literally change the world with the message of God's love in Christ.

You know, as much as I think I would like the certainty of knowing the future at times, I'd much rather have the promise of power in the Holy Spirit. You see, if I never move beyond what I can be certain of, my life will be predictable, safe, and comfortable but probably ineffective for the cause of Christ.

But when I live in the power of the Spirit, life is filled with challenge and excitement. And life in the Spirit teaches us things about God's grace and truly trusting in Him that simply cannot be learned in any other way.

Where are you living this morning? Are you huddled within the safety of what you can be sure of? Or are you experiencing the challenge of life in the Spirit? It's time to stop gazing into the sky, waiting for all the answers and all the certainties about life to somehow drop in front of you.

The call of Jesus is a call to live in the power of the Holy Spirit and to be witnesses to our world of His love and grace even in the midst of life's questions and struggles. God never promised us all the answers up front. But He did promise us His power and presence. I don't know about you but, for me, that's all the "answer" I really need.