Waiting to be Clothed with Power - Sermon for Ascension Sunday (Luke 24)
We’re not a patient society. Whether it’s waiting in line at the gas station, grocery store, or TSA, we want to get in and out quickly. Or consider that childhood moment when school is about to let out for summer vacation. It’s hard to be patient when all you can think about are your summertime activities. Every step of the way in life, we face moments when we have to patiently wait for what comes next.
This morning we find ourselves in the closing verses of the Gospel of Luke. In this story, Jesus is about to take his leave from his followers. So, after Jesus shares one last meal with the disciples, he opens the Scriptures and shares how they spoke of his death and resurrection. When he finished with this Bible Study, he commissioned them to proclaim a message of repentance and forgiveness of sins in his name to all nations beginning in Jerusalem. I found the First Nations Version of this commission revealing.
It was foretold that, beginning in the Sacred Village of Peace (Jerusalem), the good story would be told to all nations. This story will change hearts and minds and release people from their bad hearts and broken ways. (Lk. 24:47 First Nations Version).
I like the way the translators speak of releasing people “from their bad hearts and broken ways,” because we’re witnessing a lot of bad hearts and broken ways in our world.
In just the past two weeks, we’ve witnessed several horrific mass shootings. The latest of these killed nineteen elementary school children along with two teachers. It should not be so, and yet it is. This is where we come in. Jesus has entrusted us with a message that calls the world back to God’s purposes so that it might experience the life-restoring healing that emerges out of his death and resurrection.
Jesus commissioned his followers then and now to share this good news with the world. He commissioned his followers to take his message to the ends of the earth, beginning in Jerusalem, the “Village of Peace.” But, as urgent as this mission is, Jesus wants us to wait until the Spirit comes upon us to empower us so we can fulfill this calling.
Yes, Jesus told his followers to wait in Jerusalem (or wherever our Jerusalem happens to be) until the Spirit comes. That can be difficult because if you’re like me, you’ll want to get started right away. You’ll want to start making plans and setting out strategies to achieve your goals. I’ll confess that I have a tendency to get ahead of myself, which can lead to a bit of anxiety on my part. So, I toss and turn in bed, running through my great plans for the future. Does that sound familiar to anyone? Could this have been true for Jesus’ followers?
While it’s difficult to wait on God’s Spirit when the world seems to be falling apart around us, there’s a reason why Jesus told the disciples to wait in Jerusalem until God sent the Spirit upon them. So, here’s my question for us, where is God leading the church at this moment in time? Yes, what does the future hold for the church at large and for our congregations?
The pollsters tell us that the fastest growing faith community is the nones. That is, those who simply have no interest in participating in a faith community. That doesn’t mean they don’t believe in God, they just don’t think the church has much to offer them. So, how do we plan for a future that seems so uncertain?
When it came to envisioning the ministry of the churches I served over the years, I tended to think in terms of five-year increments. However, if COVID taught us anything, those plans can be quickly set aside by the realities of the moment. So, how do we plan for a future that remains uncertain?
As we ponder these questions other questions emerge, like what resources do we bring with us as we respond to this call to proclaim repentance and forgiveness to the ends of the earth? Of course, there are experts out there who offer programs and methodologies that they guarantee will grow our churches but are these offers any different from the promises made for the diet pills we see advertised on late-night TV?
As we ponder these questions, we hear the voice of Jesus telling us to wait for the Spirit to guide and empower us before we head out on this mission to bring good news to the world. While he wanted them to know that the task of proclaiming the coming of God’s realm into the world was not yet complete, he also wanted them to know that they couldn’t complete the task on their own. While we read the closing verses of Luke’s Gospel, the opening chapter of the Book of Acts repeats and expands on this message. While Acts 1 speaks of the time spent waiting for the Spirit, Acts 2 speaks of the coming of the Spirit, which launches the church’s ministry of reconciliation. The message is clear, if we’re going to fulfill our calling to be witnesses to God’s message of reconciliation, we will need to be “clothed with power from on high.” We have a job to do, but Jesus wants us to know that we have to wait for God to take the lead and empower us for this work. So be patient because the Spirit will come upon us very soon!
Scott Spencer understands this truth that Jesus shared with his disciples. He writes in his commentary on the Gospel of Luke that when it comes to fulfilling Jesus’ commission, he wants his followers to know that “they have no hope of participating in God’s mission apart from divine energy” [Spencer, Luke, p. 633]. So the question before us is this: Where is God at work right now and how is God empowering and equipping us to participate in this task?
Since we have gathered for worship as four distinct congregations, I have a question for all of us: what is God calling us to do together in response to this commission? What tools and resources has God provided our congregations so we can fulfill this calling? These are the kinds of questions we must ponder as we wait for God to move in our midst.
When it comes to this witness that Jesus has imparted to the church, Karl Barth reminds us that “the original and real witness is God Himself and He alone.” [Barth, God in Action, p. 99]. Whatever it is we share with the world, it is rooted in God’s self-revelation in the person of Jesus. Nevertheless, while God is the primary witness, Barth also notes that due to a miracle of God, we can become witnesses to God’s good news. What is that miracle? According to Jesus, that miracle is the Holy Spirit whom God has poured out on the church to empower it so the church can bear witness to God’s grace and mercy, and love.
Now, while we wait to be empowered by the divine energy that is the Holy Spirit, we can and should prepare for what is to come. In Acts 1, after Jesus ascends, the community gathered regularly in the Upper Room to pray and they filled one of the apostolic slots vacated by Judas. So, they made good use of their time of waiting. Yes, they prepared themselves for what was about to take place.
As for being clothed with power from on high, Christoph Blumhardt offers this word about waiting actively for God to move in our midst.
God has work that has to be done in work clothes, not in one’s Sunday best. . . . As long as God’s kingdom has to be fought for, it is more important to be dressed for work—ready for action—to make an effort to do something in keeping with God’s plan, often against the whole weight of the world. A practical way exists that supports the truth and justice of God’s kingdom, and we must be ready for this with our whole being. [Blumhardt, Action in Waiting (p. 110).]
In other words, we need to be prepared to be “clothed with power from on high,” which will come with the Day of Pentecost not many days in the future. Then we’ll be ready to participate in the expansion of God’s realm as it moves toward the ends of the earth.
Preached by:
Dr. Robert D. Cornwall
Supply Pastor
First Presbyterian Church
Troy, MI
May 29, 2022
Ascension Sunday
Image Attribution: God's Hands and the Holy Spirit, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. https://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=56826 [retrieved May 28, 2022]. Original source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/basta-cosi/1547659026/ - Jean Bean.
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