Almost Time to Begin the Mission—Lectionary Reflection for Ascension Sunday (B) (Acts 1)
Acts 1:1-11 New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
1 In the first book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and teach 2 until the day when he was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. 3 After his suffering he presented himself alive to them by many convincing proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God. 4 While staying with them, he ordered 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; 5 for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”
6 So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, is this the time when you will restore the kingdom to Israel?” 7 He replied, “It is not for you to know the times or periods that the Father has set by his own authority. 8 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.” 9 When he had said this, as they were watching, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. 10 While he was going and they were gazing up toward heaven, suddenly two men in white robes stood by them. 11 They said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up toward heaven? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.”
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The
season of Eastertide is coming to a close. According to some of the Gospels,
Jesus spent time post-resurrection with his disciples (Luke tells us it was
forty days) before he ascended, with the promise that before too long the Holy
Spirit would come upon them, empowering them to be his witnesses. The Sunday
prior to the Day of Pentecost is often observed as Ascension Sunday, though if
we count the days, we land on forty days a few days earlier. Thus, one can
observe the Seventh Sunday of Easter by focusing on that period of waiting
between the Ascension and Pentecost. It is during this period that the church
selected Matthias to take Judas’ place among the Twelve (Acts 1:15-16). While
this is an intriguing story worthy of our attention, the reading from Acts
1:1-11, which includes Jesus’ commission to the disciples sets the stage for
the rest of the Book of Acts and thus is worthy of our attention on Ascension
Sunday.
The
Gospel of Luke ends with a brief account of Jesus’ ascension. After blessing
his disciples, he withdrew from them into heaven, after which his followers
returned to Jerusalem, joyfully worshiping him, and continually spent time in
the Temple (Luke 24:50-52). This endeth the first volume of Luke’s two-volume
story of early Christianity. The first chapter of the Book of Acts opens with
Luke reminding Theophilus that the first volume had told the story of Jesus.
Now he is ready to tell the rest of the story. He reminds Theophilus that after
his death he presented himself alive, spending forty days with his disciples,
offering proof of his resurrection, and instructing them about the realm of
God. He also told them not to leave Jerusalem until the Holy Spirit arrived,
“for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit
not many days from now” (Acts 1:1-5).
Forty
days after his resurrection, according to the Book of Acts, Jesus gathered with
his disciples. While in his Gospel Luke suggests that they had gone out to
Bethany (Luke 24:50), in this second volume he doesn’t give a location. We can
assume, since this is volume two, that what happens next takes place somewhere
at or near Bethany, outside Jerusalem. His disciples still have questions for Jesus.
They want to know when the Kingdom of Israel will be restored. It’s important
to note that Jesus had been talking to them about the Kingdom of God (Acts
1:3), but they remained focused on the Kingdom of Israel (Acts 1:6). Their
question has a nationalist dimension and is one that many in the United States
ask since significant numbers of people equate the nation with God, such that
Christianity and America are the same entity. So, many ask the same question as
Jesus’ disciples. Thus, Willie James Jennings writes of their question: “When
will we rule our land, and become self-determining, and if need be, impose our
will on others? All this would, of course, be for the good of the world, they
suppose.” He goes on to note the commonality of such a viewpoint. It is a
reflection of “the deeply human desire of every people to control their destiny
and shape the world into their hoped-for eternal image” [Jennings, Acts:
Belief, p. 17].
Looking back at American history
the idea that this nation is the new Israel has been commonplace. Reinhold
Niebuhr writes in his book The Irony of American History: “Whether, as
in the case of the New England theocrats, our forefathers thought of our
“experiment” as primarily the creation of a new and purer church, or, as in the
case of Jefferson and his coterie, they thought primarily of a new political
community, they believed in either case that we had been called out by God to
create a new humanity. We were God’s “American Israel. Our pretensions of
innocency therefore heightened the whole concept of a virtuous humanity which
characterizes the culture of our era; and involve us in the ironic incongruity
between our illusions and the realities which we experience.” [Niebuhr, The Irony of American History (Kindle, p. 24). University of Chicago Press]. That belief in American exceptionalism as an
expression of God’s blessing is exhibiting itself in the form of Christian
Nationalism that is worrying to many of us.
When it comes to answering the
question as to when the Kingdom of Israel will be restored Jesus essentially
changes the subject. He simply tells them that such information belongs to the
Father. Therefore, it’s not something they need to worry about. That’s when we
turn toward the future in verse 8. From this point on the focus of our
attention will be on the mission of a Spirit-empowered Church. By church, I
don’t mean an institution, but a movement outward from Jerusalem. The message
so far is to stay put in Jerusalem until that day when the promise of God will
be fulfilled. The nature of that promise is now to be revealed. Jesus tells the
gathered disciples that they will “receive power when the Holy Spirit has come
upon you.” Here we might want to define
“power” as an ability to accomplish something. The Spirit will be the power
source. As for what they need to accomplish, the commission comes next. Jesus
tells them: you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria,
and to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8). In giving these
instructions Jesus essentially changes the conversation back to the Kingdom or
Realm of God. In other words, God has bigger plans than simply restoring Israel
to its former glory (whatever that might have looked like).
Even as
it is tempting to equate the Christian faith with nationalism, it’s even more tempting
to equate the realm of God with the church. But to do that turns the means into
the end. The church, as we discover in the Book of Acts is that community
through which God reveals the realm and leads to its expansion. This will occur
as the community of Jesus’ followers serve as his witnesses, starting in
Jerusalem and moving outward from there. As one discovers reading the Book of
Acts, the Holy Spirit is the primary driver of this work of God. We’ve already seen
this revealed in prior weeks in the stories about Peter
and John’s appearance before the Temple authorities, the baptism of the
Ethiopian Eunuch, and the baptism of Cornelius
and his household. What comes next is a description of what happens when
the followers of Jesus are baptized in the Holy Spirit.
Acts 1:8 sets the plot line for
what follows in the Book of Acts. This missional work of God embodied by this
community of faith that is empowered by the Spirit will begin its work in
Jerusalem. That is their home base. It’s where Jesus was crucified and raised
from the dead. It’s where they were located at the moment Jesus departed from
them. It’s the place they would be residing when the Spirit comes upon them. Therefore,
it’s the location of their earliest efforts at bearing witness to Jesus. But,
even as the mission starts in Jerusalem, it doesn’t hunker down and call it a
day. There is much more to do. What was born in Jerusalem must move outward.
The next stage will be a bit further out but still in the neighborhood, as the
work proceeds through Judea and into Samaria (remember Galilee lies to the
north of Samaria). But the work doesn’t end there. According to Jesus, the
mission will continue until their witness reaches the ends of the earth. Now
the Book of Acts ends in chapter 28, with Paul’s ministry in Rome. The witness
had reached the epicenter of the Roman world. Is that the end of the story or
only the beginning? Might we imagine a “chapter 29,” a chapter that includes
us?
While Jesus gave them their
missional commission to serve as his witnesses. They still had to wait a little
longer before they could get started. That can be challenging. Why wait when
there is work to be done? We know what we need to do so why wait for the Holy
Spirit? Unfortunately, this is a common area of concern for the church. We get
all excited and then head out before we’re ready. By ready, I mean empowered by
the Spirit. It’s a temptation we’ve all faced—I’ve faced. For one thing, we
need to make sure we don’t confuse our own agendas with God’s agenda. Bearing
witness to Jesus is not the same thing as seeking dominion over the earth. Willie
Jennings catches this distinction well when he writes: “The disciples will be
formed by the Spirit as witnesses. They will be turned out to the world not as representatives
of empires by those who will announce a revolution, the revolution of the
intimate, God calling to the World. They will enter new places to become
new people by joining themselves to those in Judea, Samra, and the ends of the
earth” [Belief: Acts, p. 18].
Having issued the commission and having
told them to wait for the Spirit, Jesus ascends into the heavens. His departure
is similar to that of Elijah, though Elijah got to ride a fiery chariot. Nevertheless,
Jesus is gathered into the heavens, departing from this world. It is easy to
get caught up in the imagery, which reflects an ancient worldview, such that
the universe has three stories. There is the present earthly existence, above
which stands heaven, while below sits Hades (Sheol). There is no need to take
this word about going up into heaven literally. While the ancients might have
believed God lived “up there,” we can embrace imagery without having to take it
literally. The point is, that the Spirit of God will soon arrive, bringing the
first vestiges of God’s realm. It’s worth attending to the words given to the
gathered disciples as Jesus departs: “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking
toward heaven? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will
come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.” In other words, the realm
won’t be fully revealed until Jesus returns. Thus, we should not try to equate
what we create now with the finished product. Nevertheless, we have work to do
during the interregnum!
As we ponder the commission given
and the promise of the Holy Spirit, even as we contemplate Jesus’ departure
from the disciples, though, with the promise that Jesus will return to bring
things to completion, we’re offered a vision of what can be. As Ron Allen
writes of the church’s mission:
By portraying the movement from Jerusalem and Judea through Samaria to the ends of the earth, Luke indicates that the faithful witness enlarges community. The witnessing church becomes ever more inclusive. The witness of the church today, then, is in continuity with Acts when it also extends the boundaries of community. [Allen, Acts of the Apostles, p. 20].
And so we tarry, until the Spirit falls upon us, empowering
and directing us in extending the boundaries of the realm until Jesus returns
from Heaven to reveal the realm in its fullness.
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