You're Asking the Wrong Question
Acts 1:1-11:
1 In my former book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach 2 until the day he was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles he had chosen. 3 After his suffering, he presented himself to them and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God. 4 On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. 5 For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”
6 Then they gathered around him and asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?”
7 He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
9 After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight.
10 They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. 11 “Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? 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.”
Transcript
Please forgive any errors in this automatic transcript. Thank you!
You had one job. Have you seen these pictures? Perhaps not. Perhaps so. Either way, you're about to see a few of them. First you had one job, dear Cat, who was supposed to go hunting rats and instead. Cuddled with it. You had one job, Cat. You had one job. Line painter. And certainly it was supposed to be a little straighter than that. Or, you know, sometimes we we see this and we go, well, what happened? Right. Maybe there was like a dead animal, a rodent in the road. And so, I mean, there's options there too. You could also do this just, you know. Go straight over it. You just go straight over. I mean, there's options. You didn't have to make a wavy line. And then. And then there's this one, the stairs that lead directly into a pole. They're not quite stairs to nowhere. You could kind of squeeze by there maybe. I don't know actually I don't, I might could squeeze through there. That'd be rough though. I wouldn't want to try. The stairs to nowhere. Now I don't know what the people were thinking when they received these jobs. Perhaps they received the weird instructions, like making a stair to nowhere and they thought, well, this is above my pay grade to make such decisions. So here's your stairs. Or perhaps they, um, maybe they saw a rat while they were painting and they're scared of rats and ran off and it made all the lines squiggly and they're like, oh, well, I don't think I get paid enough to care. And they just moved on. I don't know, I don't know what happened, but I think there were some questions they should have been asking themselves. First of all, I think the cat changed its whole perspective on life. I don't think it's the same cat it was before it cuddled the rat. Um, so so that was just a whole life change. But besides, the cat might should ask something like, do we, are we sure we want stairs that lead into a pole? Perhaps, just maybe, maybe we could move the rodent and then paint the lines. There were some questions that if they had asked them, it would have made these jobs probably turn out a little bit better. The questions we ask are based on our expectations of ourselves and of others. And when it comes to our relationship with God, sometimes we're looking at God going, you're you're way above my pay grade. What are you going to do about all this mess in the world? Of all the the violence we see, the horrors we experience, the disease we experience in our own bodies. God. What are you going to do about it? And we look to God instead of thinking that maybe I have some kind of role to play. We think I'm just one person. I can't make a difference for God like these other people do. Sure, God heals other people, but I'm just me. I don't really matter. Sure, God has done great things through other individuals, even in this church. We. Y'all. Tell me about your heroes of the faith, your. Your fathers, your husbands, those who have gone before you tell me about them. And you say that they did great things. And then I hear things like, that was before. We don't have them now. And that's sad, but that doesn't mean you're done. I'm just one person. What can I do? I'm not like them. Low expectations of ourselves. Stifle what God wants to do in us. Low expectations create stairs to nowhere or stairs straight into a pole. And you're saying, why was their resources spent creating these stairs? Low expectations. And this is a tricky one. Low expectations impact how we see God in that we expect God to do more. But really, that sounds like high expectations, right? But really, that's low expectations for ourselves. God's going to handle it. I'm just going to watch and I'm going to praise him when I see it. That's actually low expectation in yourself. And as always, none of this is about do better, try harder. This is all about being in submission to God, consecrating ourselves and seeing what God will do through us. But we can concentrate, consecrate ourselves to God and still be like, okay, God, I'm yours for whatever, um, you know, menial task you would like me to accomplish. Nothing wrong with menial tasks, but sometimes we think too little of what God can do through us, and we limit ourselves because we have a limited expectation. And I think this is where the disciples were in acts one. So acts one is, is a letter, as you saw to my dear Theophilus. It's a letter written to someone about the incredible things that God's people were doing in the world shortly after Jesus ascended, which is what happened today. Jesus ascension. So what's happening? Jesus has risen. He's appearing to people. It's been forty days. And then Jesus says, the Holy Spirit's going to come. And they think, whoa, that's great. We're about to see God do something great. What are you going to do about it, God? About these Romans who are oppressing us. What are you going to do about it? And God says, you, you are what I'm going to do about it. Let's walk through this. Jesus says in verse five, in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit. So for us two thousand years later, we're pretty clear on what that means. We say, yeah, the coming of the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit empowers us to do this life. We had that whole study last summer on spiritual gifts. Great. But this is where their minds went when he said that the Holy Spirit was going to come, they went to scriptures like Ezekiel thirty nine twenty eight to twenty nine, which I'll read to you. Then they will know that I am their God. For though I sent them into exile among the nations, I will gather them to my own land, not leaving any behind, I will no longer hide my face from them, for I will pour out my spirit on the people of Israel, declares the sovereign Lord in Zechariah twelve eight through ten. On that day the Lord will shield those who live in Israel. These people, under Roman oppression would love to feel shielded so that the feeblest among them will be like David, and the house of David will be like God, like the angel of the Lord going before them. On that day I will set out to destroy all the nations that attack Jerusalem. I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and supplication. They will look on me, the one they have pierced. And they were mourn for him as one who mourns an only child, and grieves bitterly for him as one who grieves a firstborn son. And so these passages are coming to mind, and they're like, yes, the coming of the Holy Spirit means he's finally going to overthrow Rome. We thought he was going to do that before, and then he did this whole dying thing. But now he's back. It's time. It's time. It's been forty days. That's a big number. It's time. And so Jesus is going, I'm about to introduce you to someone amazing. I'm about we've talked about the Trinity, how they've loved each other from eternity past to now to eternity future. That love that models how we're supposed to love Jesus is like, I'm about to introduce you to someone. And then they ask, so are you going to restore the kingdom to Israel? He's like, that's. I just imagine them asking that. And he just takes a step back like, wow, they're still asking the wrong questions. Okay. All right. The day of the Lord is going to come. And it does have a lot to do with the Holy Spirit. But the timing has never, ever, ever been up to us. And yet we as people are always rushing in. We're always saying, now's the time, right? You're going to make everything better now, right? There's a reason you get all these prophecies, like these popular level people in the news who are like, this will be the end of the earth, and Jesus will come back. The reason that's so tempting to so many people is that we sure wish Jesus would come back already. We're like, yes, please come, Lord Jesus. And so it can be tempting to be like, yes, let's hope this date is right. But that was the wrong question. It had nothing to do with the timeline. Jesus was introducing them to a person. And that's what Jesus says in verse seven. It's not for you to know the times or dates. And just like the coming of the Holy Spirit in the day of the Lord are connected in Scripture, so is the fact that they will not know the timeline until it's upon them, until it happens. Jesus said in Matthew twenty four thirty six, but about the day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the son, but only the father. Deuteronomy twenty nine twenty eight to twenty nine in furious anger and in great wrath, the Lord uprooted them from their land and thrust them into another land. As it is now, the secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may follow all the words of this law. These are two of many passages that talk about how it's not our job to know the timeline. It's not. And we can guess all we want, but we're always going to be wrong. I'm pretty sure God's going to make sure of it because it's not the point. The point is what God has entrusted us to do. The job that God has given us. It's not about the time. It's about the job he's giving us. The timing belongs to God, but the obedience belongs to us. And so Jesus is taking their low expectations of themselves, which feel like high expectations of God. But he's taking what really is low expectations of themselves, and he's raising it up and saying, you will be empowered by the Holy Spirit. Like, no, it's not about when, it's about who and the who is you and the Holy Spirit. You will receive power. You will be my witnesses. You have a role to play here. Yes, God's the one leading the charge, of course, but everybody has a role to play. Phil and I have been starting some planting, which. Thank you, Miss Louwana, for letting us use some of your property for that. Appreciate it. Uh, so we've been starting some planting, and this is the first time he and I have had a garden together in the eleven years we've been married, which is not. We lived a lot of our life, our married lives in apartments. And I had some friends who could have a whole garden in an apartment, but we were not that way. We had a few plants. They all died. Um, so we're learning. So I'm learning about plants. I've told y'all before, I don't know a lot about them. I'm getting there. I even learned a new word seed germination. Look at that. I'm learning the terminology. I think a seed's a great image for what God is doing here. I meant to bring them with me. I had some seeds. Phil sent me with watermelon seeds and then they. They did not come. They're still at home. Seeds hold unimaginable Potential. Everything that that plant needs is already hidden inside that seed. It needs nourishment to to wake up. But for that seed to become what it's meant to be, it also has to be broken. And I know I'm not telling you anything new. You're like, yes, Leah, this is gardening one hundred and one. But hear me out. I got I got a spiritual direction with this. The seed has to be broken for it to become what it needs to. I think maybe it's not just that Jesus is the seed or the church is the seed. I think it's both of us. We can think of Jesus and the church as a seed, that his body was broken and us as the church. We weren't dormant. We were dead. We as people before becoming believers are dead in our sins. But when Jesus body broke, he birthed the church through his very self and we become that plant that everyone sees something beautiful, something that produces fruit. We are the seed together. Jesus says, you will receive power. You will be my witnesses, you and my church. You are part of this seed with me. So what's God going to do about all the pain in the world about people who don't have good housing situations? About those who are struggling, recovering from surgery. What's God going to do about it? Here's the thing. God sent you and me to be his hands and feet in this world, to be the fruit that people see. And when they say, you know, why are you doing this for this person? We can say, well, you see, Jesus body was broken and he was resurrected. And this church came to life to, To all about Jesus. The second half of this passage is so funny to me because of how I imagine it going. Okay, so we've got these really deep moments going. The disciples are asking questions, Jesus is answering them, and then he says, some of the most powerful thing he's probably said, since resurrecting you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you. And then all of a sudden Jesus is taken up into heaven and he's covered by a cloud. And I just imagine that all of them doing this, just staring up into the sky, what is happening? And so they don't notice when the angels appear, who suddenly say, Men of Galilee. I wonder how many of them just fell to the floor in fear because they did not know there were angels there in the first place. And then when they did turn, there were angels which are apparently terrifying men of Galilee. And they're like, oh my gosh, where did you come from? Problem. I find it really funny. It's like a jump scare in a movie. But it was real. Men of Galilee, what are you doing? Stop waiting around. The Spirit's gonna come. Jesus has left you with a job, and he's going to come back. You don't get to know when, but he's going to come back. Why do you stand here looking into the sky? That's the perspective of an angel who has known this plan for who knows how long, compared to people who are just beginning to sort of grasp it in the moment? Are you looking up? He's told you what to do. The whole Bible testifies to the fact that God works through ordinary people, ordinary people. I think about Moses. You might think Moses isn't ordinary. Okay, hear me out. He was an orphan. Yes, he was adopted by Pharaoh. I get that that makes it a little more extreme, I get that, but he was an orphan who was traumatized by the whole experience, it seems, because then he went and killed somebody because he didn't know his identity. AM I a Hebrew? AM I an Egyptian prince? Those identities clashed and he killed someone. And then he ran away, started a family, started over, started fresh until God came in and said, you're actually going to go back to those very people where you don't know your identity. I've got a job for you. I think of people like Peter, an ordinary fisherman, married, has a mother in law he's concerned about. Kind of got an ego. And Jesus calls him, says you. I'm going to do something for you. You are going to be a fisher of men. And in fact, you are the rock on which I'm going to build this church. There was nothing really extraordinary about Peter except who he followed. And here's another story for you. There was a young boy who grew up on a farm, a dairy farm. He was milking cows, doing chores. He struggled in school because he probably much rather be out on the farm. He wasn't necessarily the best at anything, but he had. He had a good life on the farm. But one night he heard a preacher speak and something in him cracked open, perhaps like a seed. Something began to grow. At first the circumstances didn't change. They were the same. But he began growing roots and character and faith and obedience to. When God called him to do something that wasn't typical dairy farm work. This person, this ordinary farm boy, became perhaps the most influential, influential evangelist of the twentieth century. Do you all know who it is? Billy Graham. There we go. I thought many of y'all would have heard that story. Um, we are not all called to be a Billy Graham. God is not going to call all of us to a pulpit. And that is okay. But God might be calling you to something more than you think is reasonable. More than you think you're qualified for. But you just have that voice inside your head, especially every time you pray or talk to somebody who's a spiritual mentor for you, saying, God wants you to do this, and you're going, that doesn't make any sense. I'm not qualified for that. God wants you to do this. I don't have the time. I don't know what are you talking about? God wants you to do this and you know it because it won't let go and it keeps nagging at you. God wants you to do this thing. God's calling you to something bigger than you imagined. And it might be something simple, like noticing a neighbor needs help. That is a big thing. How many of us know people who need help and we do nothing about it? That's a big thing. Perhaps it's just noticing what people need and showing up as the hands and feet of Christ. So I have a question. Are you ready to expect more from yourself? Not because of anything inherent in you, but because of who you are in a relationship with our Trinitarian God who has been using regular people unextraordinary people throughout scriptures. The only reason they became known, the only reason they became part of our Bibles, is because they said yes to God, and they did it imperfectly. By the way, don't go into this with a perfectionistic mindset. They did it imperfectly, but God was still faithful. God still taught them. God taught them what to do. You. We. Not just you. We are a seed planted. In McDuffie and Warren counties, I can never remember which one we're actually in, so I'm just going to claim them both. We are a seed planted here. God put us here. And I wonder what. There's roots here, man. I love hearing your stories about the the roots of this church, I love them. There's roots here and there have been some beautiful fruit. But are you ready for what's next? Are you ready to expect more of what God wants to do through us? We are not the aisles of Christianity. We're the body of Christ, or in this case, were the seed. Are you ready to expect more knowing it doesn't really have to do with you, except for your willingness to say yes to God and trust that he will nourish you with everything you need. We'll learn more next week about what that looks like. Expecting more from God through expecting more from ourselves. So I encourage you live like you. We are the seed of God. Think about what that would look like in your life. Because we are. You are. We are together. The seed of God planted here. What does God want to do right here? Let's pray together. Dear Heavenly Father. I thank you for the joy. I experience and witness in this church of people who love you, who love this community. God, I ask that you would guide us into what it means not necessarily to believe in ourselves, but to expect that you want to do more through us, all of us. Perhaps in everyday moments, perhaps on a grander scale. Would you help us say yes to you just once this week? Give us the extra courage to say yes when we sense you prompting us to go pray with somebody or to go try to help somebody. Would you give us that extra dose of courage to be able to say yes to you and experience what it's like to be used by you? Oh, God. In Jesus name, Amen.