How Long, O Lord? – May 2, 2021

Psalm 93, Acts 1:1-11
May 2, 2021

Here we are in the book of Acts.  And as you may know, that’s a book that most scholars believe to be the continuation – a sequel – to the Gospel of Luke.  It was written to this man named Theophilus, and in the opening words, the writer refers to “the first book.”  It’s widely held that he’s referring to the book of Luke.

There’s also a kind of overlap here with the end of Luke’s Gospel.  Jesus tells the disciples in Luke 24:29 that they are to wait in the city for “the coming of the promise of the Father,” saying “You shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”  In other words, wait there until Pentecost!  Then in the very last words of his Gospel, Luke give us a brief version of the event we look at today in Acts, the Ascension of Jesus.

Here in Acts 1, he “fleshes out” that story.  But first there is a kind of recap about the disciples being told to wait in the city for the coming of “the promise.”  And I was thinking, if this had been on Netflix, you would have had the option to “skip the recap.” 

Well, if you had skipped the recap, you would come to verse 6, and that’s where Luke continues the story.  There we find Jesus together with his disciples for what would be the last time.  And what’s the first thing they ask him?  They ask him the question that had been on everybody’s mind all along!  “Will you now restore the kingdom to Israel.”

That’s what everybody wanted.  That’s what they expected the Messiah to do!  Remember what the two travelers said about Jesus on the road to Emmaus.  They said – to Jesus – though they didn’t know it was him, “We had hoped that he would be the one to redeem Israel.”  That was the hope.  And that hope was still alive here at the Ascension.  We can’t say enough about the importance of the disciples’ question. It is was paramount for all the people of Israel!

They were under the subjugation of Rome, and they were weary and tired of it.  And think of their history.  They were slaves in Egypt for over 400 years.  They were in exile in Babylon for something like 70 years.  Now under Rome, they had been occupied since Rome conquered that region in 63 BC.  That was about 100 years!  So it was a constant refrain for the Jewish people.  “How long, O Lord?”  We find that throughout the Old Testament.  “How long must we endure?”  Maybe we can hear a little bit of that anguish in this question the disciples asked that day.  “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?”  “Is it now, O Lord?”

Well, I can’t believe they were satisfied with his answer!  He said, “It is not for you to know the times or the seasons which the father has fixed by his own authority.”  I’m sure that sounded like a hollow answer to them!

If you remember, they had asked him a similar same question back in Matthew 24.  That’s the section of Matthew’s Gospel which is known as “The Little Apocalypse.”  That’s where Jesus was giving the people some almost “Revelation-like” images of the end times.  And so they asked, “When, Lord?”  “When will this happen?”  And he gave them a similar answer.  He said, “Of that day and hour, no one knows, not even the angels in heaven nor the Son, but the Father only.” (Matthew 24:36)  And I’m sure that answer sounded a little hollow, too!

The day, the hour, the times, the seasons, those things do sound kind of vague and maybe a little evasive!  But the fact is, that God does not always give us a timetable!  And that can be frustrating, can’t it!  Sometimes we want to know when, don’t we?  When we’re going through a difficult time, we want to ask this question the people had asked for hundreds of years, “How long, O Lord?”  That was a question the psalmist, and many others, cried out in anguish and frustration!

We’ve been in our own version of that lately, haven’t we?  We’ve been talking recently about milestones and year one anniversaries of when things began to shut down last March.  Who knew then, how long this thing would go on?  And we too have probably found ourselves echoing these words of the Old Testament, “How long, O Lord?”

That’s what they were asking in our story.  But then, something happened.  Jesus said, “But you shall receive power, and you shall be my witnesses.”  And then he rose into the air, and he was gone!  And we’ve referred to that ever since as the Ascension!  It was as if to say, “This is not the time to tell you when things will happen, but in the meantime, let me show you something even more amazing, and let me point you in a new direction!

And I was thinking, sometimes our focus is in the wrong place.  Sometimes God wants us to pay attention to something else.  These men needed to switch their focus, which was on the return of the earthly kingdom of Israel, and concentrate on the task at hand.  Jesus needed them to concentrate on being the Apostles he was calling them to be!

Sometimes that happens to us.  Sometimes our focus is on one thing, and God wants us to see something else.  And sometimes that something else is so amazing that it gives us a better perspective on the things that were concerning us.  Maybe when we see what God wants us to see, those other things don’t seem as crucial or terrible or important as we thought they were.  Does that ever happen to you?  I know it does to me.  I think something I’m focusing is all-important.  And I can get that focused on a task.  And then God breaks through and gives me a new perspective.

The next part of the story is like that, too.  Jesus is lifted up and out of their sight.  And they stand there staring.  And two men in white robes were suddenly standing beside them.  Perhaps they were the same “two men in white robes” who appeared to the women at Jesus’ tomb on Easter morning.  As I said then, I believe they were angels.  And I think these men were, too.  Angels are God’s “messengers.”  And they had a message this day, too.  They said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing into heaven?”

These men needed to change their focus.  When I think of this, I think of the old expression that says that some people are “so heavenly minded that they are no earthly good.”  You’ve probably heard that before.  These angels were saying, “Get your heads out of the clouds!”  “Don’t be so focused on Jesus’ return?  It’s time to focus on the here and now.  Are you ready?  Are you ready to get down to work he has called you to do?  Are you ready to continue his ministry?

As God’s people there is sometimes this pull between heavenly and earthly. There is a tension between the joy and rewards of God’s kingdom, and the work he gives us to do here on earth.  The Apostle Paul felt it.  He told the Philippians, “My desire is to depart and be with the Lord.  But it is better for you that I remain.” (Philippians 1:23-24)  The heavenly and the earthly, those two things are part of all of our lives.  We can’t forget one for the other.  We need to have a balance between the two!

As I’ve often said, it’s easy to forget the heavenly part because the earthly is ever before us.  But sometimes it happens the other way.  We become so “heavenly minded” that we forget the task at hand.  And the task at hand for us is the same as Jesus gave his disciples that day.  It is to be his witnesses.  It is to show his love in all we do in our lives.  It is to be the people he has called us to be!

So, as we think of the Ascension of Jesus, may we strive to be focused on the things God would have us be focused on.  May we know that whatever we do, we are his witnesses.  And to him be glory and praise, Amen.

Prayer

Eternal God, help us to see beyond the struggles of this life , and see the world as you see it.  Give us the strength we need to be the people Jesus calls us to be.  Help us to love as he loved, and to share his message of reconciliation to the world.  For this we pray in his name, Amen.