Being Witnesses - Acts 1:1–11

        

Our passage this morning comes from Acts. This is Luke’s second book; he’s also the author of the Gospel of Luke where he tells the story of Jesus; his audience is the Gentiles. The book of Acts is the story of the gospel news going out to the Gentiles. Jesus spends 40 days with his disciples after his resurrection, showing them that he’s truly alive. Jesus spends this time teaching and equipping his followers to carry on his work; echoing Jesus’ 40 days in the wilderness preparing himself for the work that lay ahead of him to take our sin on himself and to prepare a people ready to witness to him as the promised Messiah.

Ascension Day is often connected to Jesus’ ascending into heaven in order to take his place beside God. Our theology connects Jesus’ ascension with the kingship of Jesus, which it does, while Scripture’s focus on Ascension Day is the charge to go and be witnesses to the gospel news of Jesus and the forgiveness of our sin through the death and resurrection of Jesus, and to teach the world of the kingdom of heaven. Jesus tells the apostles to go to Jerusalem to wait for the gift of his Spirit so that they will “receive power to be his witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

Jesus tells his disciples before his death that he needs to go home. In John 16, Jesus says, “but now I am going to him who sent me… it is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. When he comes, he will prove the world to be in the wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment: about sin, because people do not believe in me; about righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; and about judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned.”

Why didn’t Jesus simply stay and become king right away. Here’s a few thoughts on why. Jesus is our mediator, bringing our cares, concerns, and hopes to the Father. Jesus is allowed into the throne room because he’s God, and represents us because he’s also human and without sin. The Belgic Confession puts it this way; we believe that we have no access to God except through the one and only mediator and intercessor: Jesus Christ the righteous. He therefore was made man, uniting together the divine and human natures, so that we human beings might have access to the divine Majesty. Otherwise, we would have no access. Jesus is the only mediator, the only access we have to the Father through faith. And as Peter says in Acts 5:31, “God exalted him at his right hand as Leader and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins.”

 Jesus said he needed to go back home to his father. In John 14, John shares that when Jesus told his disciples that he was leaving, he told them, “Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God.” Jesus knew that trusting God’s wisdom in this would be hard at times. “In my Father’s house are many rooms. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you may also be where I am.” Jesus has some stuff still to do that we’re not completely aware of yet before he’s ready to come back and fully establish his kingdom; challenging us to trust God that his plan’s the right and best one.

Jesus physically returns to heaven, a sign of how our physical bodies will be renewed in our resurrection as we’re joined to Jesus’ death and resurrection when we accept him as Lord and Saviour, symbolised in baptism and the Lord’s Supper. Jesus doesn’t give up his humanity when he returns to heaven, but continues to be fully human and fully God. Jesus sends his Spirit so we can be his witnesses, beginning in Jerusalem and their neighbours, then moving out to Judea and Samaria, to people like themselves with a similar history and understanding of God and the world, and then out to the ends of the earth, to all the other peoples and cultures, many who will understand and see the world in very different ways, and will need to be taught and shown who Jesus is.

This is about growing in trust in Jesus’ way and God’s plan. When Jesus meets with Thomas and Thomas is finally convinced that Jesus is really alive, Jesus says, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” This is the challenge of faith; we’re called to believe without seeing Jesus’ physical body. We’re called to trust God and to trust the words of those who did see Jesus. When Jesus left us to go home to heaven, he sent his Spirit to us to make our hearts its home, giving us the assurance that what we hears true and trustworthy. The Spirit’s given so that we can be Jesus’ witnesses in the world, beginning locally. Jesus left so that we can be his presence through the Holy Spirit, changing the world using everyday people like us who take his call to love the Lord your God with everything you have and your neighbour like yourself seriously. Part of loving our neighbour is inviting them to repent and believe in Jesus because the kingdom of heaven in near.

Jesus doesn’t promise easy. Jesus left so our faith can grow stronger through difficult times, especially difficult times that come because we’ve chosen to follow him. You’re not promised an easy life because you believe and have faith. We’re promised heartache and persecution instead, beginning with the reality that Jesus has left us and we only have our faith and the Holy Spirit to reassure us. Peter writes to people going through hard times because they’ve chosen Jesus over the world’s rulers, but these hard times are making their faith stronger. “For a little while you may have to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honour when Jesus Christ is revealed. Though you have not seen him, you love him; even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.” How we go through hard times can show others who Jesus is and how his presence strengthens us.

Jesus is looking for people to follow him out of love and their own free will. When people are introduced to Jesus, it often takes some time for them to come to a place where they can accept him. They need time to learn about Jesus and experience the effects of the Holy Spirit in their lives and hearts. There’s a period of time where people need to discover that they can trust God and Jesus. In most cases, this doesn’t happen over night, it takes time and so Jesus goes home for a time so that there will be time for people to come to know and accept him. Jesus commands his followers to go out into the world and make disciples. This is a process, something that happens through building trust relationships and speaking about God with those people he places into your lives. Jesus left to give time for those who don’t believe to change and accept him as Lord. As Peter says, “The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” Jesus left and sent his Spirit so that we can go into the world and bring others into the Body of Christ. God doesn’t want anyone to be lost and so he’s waiting while sending us out to share the Good News.

The angels said, “This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.” The story isn’t over and our part in it isn’t done yet. There are people to be saved, prayers to be prayed and growing still to do. In the meantime, the disciples are reassured that Jesus will return again one day, but until that time, we’re called to be his witnesses to the ends of the earth, but it begins with our neighbours, and sometimes, even with our own family. The reality though is that we build our friendships, our trusted relationships and have no deep desire to build more or deeper relationships of faith with more people. It takes effort, it takes investment in them, and most of us aren’t really willing to make these investments, even though we know those around us haven’t accepted Jesus, haven’t been invited to get know Jesus, challenged to repent and believe. This is why Jesus sends un the Holy Spirit, to create that desire for others to know Jesus. We’re to continue his work of inviting people to believe in Jesus, to repent and believe for the kingdom of heaven is near.

We do this by sharing who God is as our Father; who Jesus is as our saviour who’s working to redeem and restore creation from our slavery to Satan. Jesus loves the entire world and doesn’t want anyone lost. We need to develop that same love and urgency for the people in our community. It’s not always easy to share the gospel news, but Jesus never promises easy. The majority of people in our community have little or no relationship with Jesus, may that drive our hearts to care for their souls over our personal wants or comfort.