The Times and Seasons – May 12, 2024 – Eddington Presbyterian Church

II Kings 2:6-12, Acts 1:1-11
May 12, 2024

So, they asked Jesus, “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” Now, I’ve talked a lot about the political situation in the time of Jesus. The Romans had conquered Israel, along with the rest of the known world. And Israel didn’t like it!

And for years – centuries, really – they had heard through their prophets that a Messiah would come. And they longed for his coming! And what better time than the time of Jesus! As they followed him and heard him speak, many – including his disciples – thought he would be that deliverer they so wanted! He would be like Moses, who was their deliverer many years before.

Of course, that didn’t happen. Everything went wrong. Jesus didn’t start the rebellion, even when they hailed him as king! Then, later that week, at the behest of their own religious leadership, the Romans executed him. Seemingly, the Romans had won.

But then something happened! An event took place that we still celebrate today – The Resurrection. Jesus returned. He rose from the dead! Now he was with them again! And maybe, just maybe… their dreams could still come true! Think about it! What better figure to lead the rebellion against Rome than a man who had come back from the dead! Maybe now, despite their disappointment, despite their previous days of devastation, the kingdom could be restored to Israel!

So their question was a good one! And, at the very least, they were hoping things could get “back on track” now. That is, the track they had hoped it would be all along, with Jesus traveling around teaching the crowds, gathering support, and maybe leading to an eventual rebellion.

But even that was not to be. In our story for today, Jesus was taken up into heaven before their very eyes, in an event which we also still celebrate, albeit not as much as the Resurrection. This is the Ascension. Actually, Ascension day was Thursday! But I like to celebrate it on a Sunday. On that day Jesus was taken up from them and he vanished from their sight. “He ascended into heaven,” as we say we believe in our creed.

So the disciples were left standing there like Elisha, having just seen his master taken up into heaven. But in that story, remember what he asked for! He asked to have a “double measure” of Elijah’s spirit.” And why? Why do you think he asked for that? Did he want that just so he would be great? No! He knew he would need that to follow in Elijah’s footsteps. The road ahead was not going to be easy!

It was the same for these disciples. Their road ahead was also not going to be easy! But we know from this story that they were not going to be left abandoned and forsaken. They too would also receive a “measure of the Spirit.” And they too would need that, to follow in Jesus’ footsteps. And I wonder if they thought of Elisha at that moment!

So, just before he ascended, that’s what Jesus told them. “You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you.” And then of course, he added that next, uncomfortable part… again. “And you shall be my witnesses in Jerusalem and Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” We mentioned before how uncomfortable that whole “to the ends of the earth” part may have been for them. And now he threw “Samaria” in there. And I have to wonder again, what they were thinking when they heard that. And again, not knowing what we know!

But in all that, he didn’t ignore their question. Before the part about the Holy Spirit, he answered their question about restoring the kingdom. He made this great statement, from which I took the title of this sermon. He said, “It is not for you to know the times and seasons which the Father has fixed by his own authority.”

That’s an interesting statement. Because he had actually said something like that once before. Maybe you remember that in Matthew 24. That’s when he was talking with his disciples about the end times. (That chapter is often called “The Little Apocalypse.” Because it sounds a lot like the big Apocalypse, which we know as the book of Revelation.) And when the disciples heard what he said, they asked when all of that would take place, and he said this. “Of that day and hour, no one knows, not the even the angels in heaven nor [even] the Son, but the Father only.” (Matthew 24:36)

God knows the times and seasons of this world. He has “fixed” them by his authority. And he knows the times and seasons of our lives. Think about that. Think about how that feels to us. We’re often wondering what’s ahead of us. Aren’t we? And sometimes the future feels uncomfortable to us. Sometimes we get very anxious when we think about what’s ahead.

And sometimes when we feel that way, we try to ignore it. And we choose to see only “the now.” Some people live like that all the time. “Don’t bother me with the future, I have enough trouble with the day to day worries!” Jesus had something to say about that in his Sermon on the Mount. “Do not be anxious. But seek first the kingdom of God. Let the day’s worries be sufficient for the day.” And that was good advice.

The problem is, that sometimes even the present is not so comfortable. So some people choose to retreat to the past. They look back nostalgically to what they saw as a “better time.” And there’s nothing wrong with nostalgia. It’s great to remember great times. But some people live only there. They live in the past. They give no thought to the future, and have no desire even to “fit into” the now. Maybe you know people like that.

And then there are those who look only to the future. You know them. They’re the dreamers of our world. They think only of the future. And we think they’re not realistic. We react to them like Yoda, saying of the young Luke Skywalker, “All his life he has looked away… to the future, to the horizon. Never his mind on where he was, hmm? What he was doing!”

I think it’s good to recognize that there are times and seasons in our lives. There are times we look back on, times we look forward to. And there are crossroads. Those are times where we experience significant milestones and they make us think of what came before and what might be down the road.

All of that makes me love Jesus’ response here. It is not for us “to know the times and seasons the Father has fixed by his own authority.” But it is good to know that he has fixed them. He knows them. And it is good to know that we can look forward, trusting God.

I’ve always believed what I was told years ago, that God sees time differently than we do. God sees the whole span of time at a glance. We see sections of it. We see it day by day. We see each band and each float go by in a parade. God sees the whole parade as thought looking from a rooftop. We don’t know what tomorrow will bring. But God does. And as one person said – and I put this out on the sign this week – “We don’t know what the future holds, but we can know the one who holds the future.”

Isn’t that great? I think that’s our best strategy, in this life. It is to know the one who holds the future, and to trust to him the times and seasons of our lives.

So we celebrate the Ascension. And by it we can know that Jesus means so much more. On that day, he meant so much more than just Israel and the Romans. And he means so much more than just the concerns of our lives. He does care about our concerns. But he also tells us that God knows the times and seasons, and we can trust him. And as we look to what lies ahead, he gives us his spirit, so that we have the power to follow in Jesus’ footsteps.

And so, indeed, we don’t know what the future holds, but we can know the one who holds the future!

Prayer

Eternal God our Heavenly Father, we thank you that you care about us, and that your spirit is within us, so we can face the future with hope. Help us to see that hope, and give us the strength we need so that we can always be ready to give answer to anyone who asks about it. To your glory and praise, Amen.