All Fired Up
(Luke 24: 44-53 and Acts 1: 1-11)
I loved Little League baseball, looking forward every year to a new season full of new possibilities. The anticipation of the umpire yelling “Play Ball” on opening day was thrilling and terrifying all at the same time. I had done everything I could imagine preparing my team of twelve aspiring superstars for actual game day conditions, the expected and the unexpected. I had coached them in what to expect in all of the various scenarios, runners at first and third with one out, the infield fly rule and knowing when to take one for the team. I had assured them that they were all gifted in one way or another and could contribute to the team in their own way. As the coach of the Durham Bulls said to his players in the movie Bull Durham: Baseball is a simple game. You hit the ball. You catch the ball. You throw the ball. All that was left was for me to pray that the ghost of Abner Doubleday would breathe the spirit of baseball upon them and that they’d be all fired up, willing and ready to take the field. If you don’t have the spirit of baseball within you, you can neither play nor enjoy the game.
And that’s what the Apostle Luke is talking about in our two scripture readings for this morning. He’s talking about being all fired up and ready to get into the game, the game of spreading the Good News of Jesus Christ. In the last chapter of Luke’s Gospel Jesus is putting everything he has taught them from before his crucifixion and during the forty days that followed his resurrection into context before he is taken up to be with the Father. He says: These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you—everything written about me in the Law from Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled. He is reminding his disciples, most of whom at that time were Jewish, of how several passages in the Old Testament pointed to the coming Messiah. Luke tells us that Jesus then opened their minds to understand the scriptures and said to them: This is what is written: the Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and a change of heart and life for the forgiveness of sins must be preached in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. He tells them that they are witnesses of these things and that he is sending to them what his Father promised, but until then they must stay in Jerusalem until they have been furnished with this heavenly power. At that point he led them out of the city as far as Bethany where he lifted his hands and blessed them. As he blessed them, he was taken up to heaven. They worshipped him and returned to Jerusalem overwhelmed with joy and Luke tells us that they went to the temple continuously praising God. The disciples were to be witnesses of all that God has done in bringing the New Covenant. They will preach transformation and changed hearts and lives. And Jesus tells them that they will not be alone, but he will send a heavenly power. And the prediction that the evangelism of all nations will begin in Jerusalem foreshadows where the apostles’ story begins in Luke’s second volume, Acts 1: 8.
So, in Acts Luke picks up with the ascension of Jesus. The Book of Acts tells the story of God’s work to raise up witnesses who will spread the message of God’s good news throughout the world. Luke begins by writing: Theophilus, the first scroll I wrote concerned everything Jesus did and taught from the beginning, right up to the day when he was taken up into heaven. Now it’s important here to understand Luke’s audience, who he was writing to. Luke, a Gentile himself, wrote to the Greek-speaking world. He wanted them to know that Christ’s message of God’s love and forgiveness should go to all the world. And, according to my study Bible, the name Theophilus translates as “friend of God” or “lover of God” which could be any reader of Acts, including you and me.
That being said, Luke is telling the readers of his letter that before Jesus was taken up, working in the power of the Holy Spirit, he instructed the apostles he had handpicked for the work that lay ahead. Luke writes: After his suffering, he showed them that he was alive with many convincing proofs. He appeared to them over a period of forty days, speaking to them about God’s kingdom. Luke continues by telling us that while they were eating together, Jesus ordered them not to leave Jerusalem but to wait for what the Father had promised. He said: This is what you heard from me: John baptized with water, but in only a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit. Upon hearing this those present asked: Lord, are you going to restore the kingdom to Israel now? Up until this point the disciples and everyone else who was awaiting the coming Messiah, expected an actual armed revolt running the hated Roman occupiers out of Isreal and establishing God’s kingdom. But, as the disciples would soon learn, the kingdom of which Jesus is speaking about was, first of all, a spiritual kingdom established in the hearts and lives of believers. Patiently, Jesus told them: It isn’t for you to know the times or seasons that the Father has set by his own authority. Rather, 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 end of the earth. Luke tells us that after Jesus had said these things he was lifted up into the air and a cloud took him out of their sight leaving them staring up at the sky in, no doubt, utter amazement.
So, I think the point of Jesus telling his disciples not to worry about when the physical kingdom will be established, is to live into the spiritual kingdom of God. People today are no different than those who lived two thousand years ago. Their main concern was surviving in the physical kingdom of the day whether it was the Roman Empire, the United States of America, or any other part of the world they found themselves living in, being ruled by men. For Followers of the Way of Jesus Christ the earthy rule of any leader of the day is of little consequence, as the true mission is making disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world is as God intends. They are here today and gone tomorrow but the kingdom of God is inevitable and eternal.
Those preaching the gospel, though ordinary people like the original disciples, with human frailties and limitations, will be empowered by the Holy Spirit to take the Good News all over the world whether they live in Tyler, Texas and move to the Olympic Peninsula to be closer to grandchildren or get called into a different mission field right here in the Tri-Area and beyond. And by being called to take the gospel to the end of the earth means that God wants us to bring salvation to all humanity regardless of who they are or their station in life.
We’ve been left behind because we have important work to do as we wait for Jesus’ return. He left us to it because if he had stayed on earth in his physical form the spread of the gospel would have been severely limited as he could be in only one place at a time. But because he lives in us, He is everywhere we are. He is present through the work of the Holy Spirit in us. This Spirit we’ve received marks the beginning of our Christian experience. The Spirit is the power of our new lives, and the Spirit unites the Christian community in Christ, not just United Methodists, Baptists, Lutherans, Presbyterians, Espiscopalians, or the many other denominations, and even those who claim to be non-denominational, or unaffiliated. This power we receive includes courage, boldness, confidence, insight, ability, and authority. So, just as Jesus opened the disciples’ minds to understand the Scriptures, the Holy Spirit does this in our lives today through worship and in our studying of God’s Word. We must constantly be in prayer that the Holy Spirit will open our minds so that we too may understand, giving us the needed insight to put God’s Word into action in our daily lives.
God has important work for us to do and with the Holy Spirit within us we are all fired up as we look for ways to make our contributions in any way we can to expand the ever-widening circle of God’s loving message for all mankind and all of creation.
So, back to my baseball analogy. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is a simple gospel. You receive the gospel. You live the gospel. And you spread the gospel.
Let us pray.
I love to tell the story of unseen things above, of Jesus and his glory, of Jesus and his love. Yes, gracious and loving God, how grateful we are for your sacrifice, unselfishly made so that we may have a closer relationship with you. To have a Savior that is so compassionate, who understands us, and who cares so much for us is more than anyone could hope for. And we praise you for the gift of your Holy Spirit who is our constant companion who guides us along our way teaching and reteaching us the lessons of your Son, our brother, Jesus Christ. Because of your unmerited love for us we will do all that we can to share with others what it means to have you in our lives. In Jesus’ name, we pray, Amen.
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6/01/25
All Fired Up
The Gospel of Jesus Christ is a simple gospel. You receive the gospel. You live the gospel. And you spread the gospel.