(Acts 1: 1-11)
Take it from someone who has been knocked down more than a couple of times, there’s always a: “What’s Next?” What’s important is what you decide to do while you’re down. Do you just lay there feeling sorry for yourself and throw a pity party where you invite all your friends to share in your misfortune? Or do you get up, dust yourself off and ask: “What’s next God? Now I’m a big believer in free will, which means that whatever happens to you in life, short of a natural disaster, is the result of the exercise of someone’s free will. It may be your exercise of free will that led to your downfall, so-to-speak, or where someone else exercises their free will and you happen to get caught in the crosshairs, intentionally or unintentionally. For example, I’ve been voted out of office not once, but twice, losing a six-figure salary plus benefits, after the voters exercised their free will, believing it was time for a much-needed change. I won’t say I wasn’t a little bit hurt at the rejection, but I didn’t dwell on it. I just asked God, in prayer, what’s next? The funny thing about going to God in prayer and asking for something is that you’ll get one of three answers; yes, no, not yet or wait. After my last election drubbing God didn’t immediately reveal to me what it was that He wanted me to do with all my new-found spare time. So, I puttered around the house, tried my hand at repurposing junk, and took some classes through the Methodist Church, which I learned halfway through was a Certified Lay Ministry course and a pathway to the ministry. But even then, God still didn’t reveal his plan to me and Teresa, so we waited and when He was ready, He had me appointed to Community United Methodist Church. God had me wait because the timing wasn’t right, and here we are as I finish up my fifth year as your pastor. And, as we emerge from the pandemic, I still find myself asking: What’s Next?
And the question: “What’s Next?” is what I believe the disciples were asking themselves as they were left reeling in disbelief in the wake of Christ’s crucifixion. Our scripture reading for this morning acts as a bridge between the events recorded in the Gospels and the events marking the birth of Christ’s church, the “What’s Next?” The Book of Acts, the Acts of the Apostles, takes up where the Gospel of Luke ends so, in order to put it into proper perspective, we need to look at what Luke tells us at the conclusion of his Gospel. In Luke 24, verses 44-55, Luke records what Jesus was telling the disciples after he rose from the grave. Jesus said to them: These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms must be fulfilled. Essentially, he is telling them that the entire Old Testament is pointing to the Messiah, pointing to him. Luke tells us that Jesus opened their minds so they could understand the scriptures and said to them: Thus is it written, that the Messiah is to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. He tells them that they are witnesses to these things and that he is going to send them what his Father promised and to stay in the city until they have been clothed with power from on high. At that point he led the disciples out to Bethany, lifted up his hands, blessed them, and was carried up into heaven. Luke tells us they worshipped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy as they had been instructed, waiting for what was next.
In our scripture reading for today Luke is writing a letter to Theophilus sometime between 63 and 70 A.D. before the Great Persecution. He picks up where he left off relating to Theophilus all that Jesus began to do and teach up until the day he was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles he had chosen. Luke tells us that after Jesus’ suffering, the trial, the beatings and the crucifixion, that Jesus showed himself to these men and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive and that he appeared to them over a period of forty days speaking to them about the kingdom of heaven. Luke describes one occasion where Jesus was eating with the disciples and told 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, for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now. Upon hearing this the disciples asked Jesus if he was, at this time, going to restore the kingdom to Israel. They didn’t understand Jesus’ long-game and were focused on the here and now and what their roles would be in the new kingdom. In the traditionally held view, the Messiah would be an early conqueror in the fashion of King David who would raise an army and free Israel from the Roman occupation. Jesus responded: It is not for you to know the times or periods that the Father has set by his own authority. But 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. The kingdom Jesus was speaking of was, first of all, a spiritual kingdom established in the hearts and lives of believers, starting with them. This Holy Spirit was being sent so that God would be with and within his followers after Christ returned to heaven. The Spirit would comfort them, guide them to know his truth, remind them of Jesus’ words, give them the right words to say, and fill them with power. They were about to learn that God’s presence and His power would dwell in believers in the person of the Holy Spirit which they were about to receive if they would wait just a little longer.
This “power” we believers receive from the Holy Spirit includes courage, boldness, confidence, insight, ability and authority, all those things we need to be powerful witnesses for Jesus Christ. And God has important work for us to do for him in his service, so we must be patient and do it only by and through the power of the Holy Spirit. In our excitement and zeal for Christ and his coming kingdom, we often like to get on with the job, even if it means running ahead of God without understanding that waiting is sometimes a part of God’s plan. I know, I get impatient too. Afterall, we’re not getting any younger, and like the disciples, we want to see the kingdom come during our lifetime. But God’s gospel has not yet reached its final destination if someone in your family, your workplace, your school, or your community hasn’t heard the Good News about Jesus Christ. In doing this most important of tasks, we need God’s timing and power to be truly effective, and it is my prayer that the Holy Spirit will reveal to us God’s plan for the future of our church sooner than later. In the meantime, we need to make sure we are contributing in some way to the ever-widening circle of God’s loving message and be as ready as we can for his sudden return, not standing around looking up into the sky and wondering what’s next. We need to be using our time, our talents, and our tithes wisely in all our efforts to share the gospel so that others will be able to share in God’s great blessings. But they won’t hear it unless they come, and they won’t come unless they are invited.
So, let’s make it happen. Let’s use this gift we’ve been given as we emerge from this pandemic as a stronger, more alive church to invite the people around us, the people in our community to come and join us to see: What’s Next.
Let us pray.
There’s a sweet, sweet Spirit in this place, and I know that it’s the Spirit of the Lord. There are sweet expressions on each face, and I know they feel the presence of the Lord. Sweet Holy Spirit, sweet heavenly Dove, stay right here with us, filling us with your love. And for these blessings we lift our hearts in praise; without a doubt we’ll know that we have been revived when we shall leave this place. In Jesus’ name, we pray, Amen.