Sermons for the Month
The Gift of Waiting
DATE: May 8th, 2005
SERVICE: The Ascension of our Lord
TEXT: Acts 1:1-11, Luke 24:44-53“To all of you Saints here this morning, grace and peace to you from God our Father, from His Son, Jesus Christ and His Holy Spirit. AMEN
Have you ever felt as if you were riding a roller coaster without physically going anywhere near Cedar Point or Geauga Lake? I would guess that most of us have experienced times of extreme ups and downs, when fun and excitement, worry and fear are all mingled together, just as occurs on a roller coaster ride.
That must have been what the followers of Jesus experienced during the days before and after his crucifixion. If we look at just one of the Gospels - Luke, for instance - the roller coaster pattern is revealed.
They are headed toward Jerusalem when Jesus takes the disciples aside and tells them clearly that he will be mocked, insulted, flogged and killed (18:31-34). Now, that certainly was a low point for his followers, if for no other reason than the fact that they were confused.
But then the upward trek begins. Jesus heals a blind man in Jericho and a tax collector named Zacchaeus becomes a follower and is so transformed that he promises to give half of his possessions to the poor and make amends to anyone he cheated.
There is a bit of a dip as Jesus weeps over the Holy City, but what a thrilling ride it becomes when they are swept into Jerusalem in a parade as people shout, "Hosanna!" and then he chases the money changers out of the temple.
Of course, it's a steep fall after that as Judas betrays and Peter denies and Jesus suffers and dies. They hit rock bottom with a crash. But then the sun rises on Sunday, and the Son Rises too, and it's a thrilling climb again as angels appear to the women. The Emmaus road travelers invite the living Lord to their home before they even recognize him and Jesus even eats fish with his joyful - yet disbelieving followers.
He spends 40 days with them, making the resurrection a reality, opening their minds to understand all that has happened and instructing them concerning what comes next. "You ARE my witnesses," he says, and it seems that there is no place to go but up. This is SO exciting.
But suddenly Jesus does two startling things. He leaves them, ascending into heaven. And, before he goes, he says, "Stop"! "Stay in the city." "WAIT"!
What? Wait? Most of us are not all that good at waiting. I suppose that was true for those first followers as well, although I think it probably is more of a challenge for us since in our era we hardly ever wait. Our communication abilities are such that answers and information are at our fingertips, food is prepared quickly and transportation is fast. Should we ever be compelled to wait, e-mail, games and even television are as close as the cell phone.
So, perhaps it's good that the first command to wait came in the first century. The disciples were stopped mid-climb because, while they were moving up at that point, significant downs were in their future.
Remember, they had been commissioned by the risen Jesus to proclaim a message of hope and forgiveness in the world. The grand vision for them was to be God's agents of transformation; this is an enormous task. So, they must wait for the power of the Holy Spirit to come upon them. Otherwise, the implication is that they will fail. "Before the church can become the church it must wait for the power, for the ability, to carry out that mission." (1)
But what about us? Our job, too, is to be God's agents of transformation. We are not waiting for the arrival of the Holy Spirit; it is here already, a gift of our baptism. But perhaps we need to wait for that Spirit to "bubble up" inside of us so that we are clear about the direction we are to go and empowered to act.
As one commentator said, "Perhaps we need to stop once in a while and reflect on whether we have waiting sufficiently for the power, or if we are simply working on our own efforts. If we try to be the church without the power of the Holy Spirit enabling our mission, we run the risk of expending a lot of energy and activity without really carrying out our mission." (2)
So, the next logical question is, what do we do while we wait? How do we encourage the "bubbling up" of the Holy Spirit? This week I read an article that I thought had some good, basic advice to address those questions. Titled "How to Be a Disciple", and written by Dallas Willard, he addresses what practical steps can be taken to "bring strongly before us the joyous vision of the kingdom." (3) There's nothing new here, but this is what he advises. ·
Ask - repeatedly express our desire to see Jesus more fully as he really is. And I would add, ask that the Holy Spirit's presence in our lives be an unavoidable reality. ·
See - we should use every means at our disposal to see Jesus more fully. Remember what it says in John 8:31, "If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free." We should fill our souls with the written Gospel and, conversely, refuse to devote our mental space and energy to the "junk" that clamors for our attention. One intense way to do this is to, over a period of several days or weeks, read the Gospels through multiple times. That alone would help us see Jesus with clarity and to grasp what following him requires of us. ·
Imitate - seriously look at the lives of people who truly have apprenticed themselves to Jesus. Read about them, or, if possible, interview them. Learn how they allowed the Spirit to "bubble up" in their lives. ·
Decide - make it our intention to take this seriously. Often we fail in our mission - we fail to be disciples - because we have not decided to act.
This is a continuous process; although there are times of waiting that are more intense than others. And those times are important if our individual and corporate ministries are to reflect God's will rather than our own.
I'm going to make a bold statement - none of us should be making definite statements about this congregation's ministries unless we have intentionally waited for the Spirit's guidance. To say that this "must" be, or that "can't" be, whether we are talking about the building or the staff or the programs, as if it's God's will - without seeking God's will - is a slippery slope.
The whole point of Jesus telling his followers to wait - even though they probably felt ready to move - was that if they tried to do it on their own they would find themselves in a free fall, far removed from the roller coaster tracks.
Now, if they needed the direction and power that the Holy Spirit would provide, then we need it even more. We are on this roller coaster of bringing the hope and forgiveness that Jesus offers to the world. The ups are great, the downs can be debilitating. But as long as we stay on track - pausing to be led by the Spirit - we will have one amazing ride! (1) Christian Resource Institute, Commentary on the Texts, Ascension of the Lord, http://www.cresourcei.org/lectionary/Year C/easter7nt.html, pgs. 7-8.
(2) Same as above
(3) "How to Be a Disciple", Dallas Willard, "The Christian Century", April 22-29, 1998, pp. 430-439.
AMEN