As we end this five week look at the Great Commission and its implications for our discipleship, we are focused on prayer and preparation for the future. It will help if you read Acts 1 either before or after the blog.

Just about twenty-six years ago, Kathy and I were at an awkward stage of our marriage. When we married, I was a lawyer. For many years, we thought, argued, and prayed about going to seminary. However, the circumstances and time never seemed right. Then, in mid-January 1990, Kathy announced that she was ready to go to seminary and thought now might be the time. There were obstacles, like winding down a business, and selling a house, but we were pretty sure it was the right thing to do.

You can’t just decide to go to seminary and go when you have a business, children, a house, debts, and other obligations. Therefore, we were not finished praying and preparing for what was to come next. In fact, we entered a period of six months of extreme prayer and a lot of preparation! Life did not stand still because we had made a decision. We still had four children, family, a church, and other obligations.

As I remember, it began kind of slowly as we told a few friends and family about our decision. However, it got really busy really fast. We began praying about where to go to seminary. Over the next four months or so we visited seminaries, and applied to seminaries and workout financial details. In addition, there were clients to turn over to someone else, and the need to earn a living for the next six months! Our home needed to be sold or leased. We needed a place to live and schools for our children. Finally, it seemed certain that the best alternative was to attend Union Theological Seminary in Richmond Virginia. Seven months after we began, we left Houston for seminary.

Today, we are talking about the disciples and how they faced the interlude between the time that they received the Great Commission and the time they actually began accomplishing it. Our goal is to understand how we can wisely and productively use the “in-between times of life” while we are waiting for what comes next.

Commissioned to Wait.

Luke begins Acts by advising us that in the Gospel of Luke he told the story of what Jesus began to do before he ascended into heaven (Acts 1:1-2). In Acts, Luke tells the story of what Jesus continued to do through the disciples and the church after he ascended into heaven. Luke begins by briefly reviewing what Jesus did during the forty days between the time he rose from the dead and ascended to heaven. This time was spent assuring the disciples that he was alive and teaching them what they would need to know to be witnesses of the resurrection (vv. 3-6).

On one occasion, he told them to stay in Jerusalem and wait for the gift God had promised them: that the Father was going to send the Holy Spirit (vv. 4-5). The disciples, still believing that Jesus might create a physical new Kingdom, asked him if this was the time when God would restore Israel (v. 6). Jesus replied with these words:

“It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. 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” (Acts 1:7-9).

Luke goes on to tell us that, after he said this, Jesus was taken up before their eyes (Acts 1:9). Now, the disciples had received both the promise of the Holy Spirit and their commission to witness to what God had done in Jesus Christ. Still, there was waiting, praying, and preparation ahead of them.

Let’s Pray: God of power and might: we ask that you would come upon us this morning with the power of your Holy Spirit that we might deeply understand the importance of our cooperation in receiving your grace. Enlighten us, Change our hearts and conform our wills to Your Divine Will. In Jesus name, Amen.

Background to the Wait.

For the past five eweeks, this blog has been looking at the Great Commission as it appears in Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, and now Acts. Our theme has been, “What’s Next?” This is not only the theme for this initial series of blogs this year; it is our theme for the entire year of 2016. We are looking forward to what God is going to do next in our lives, families, neighborhoods, community, churches, and relationships.

Jesus was with his disciples for three years. He preached, taught, healed, cast out demons, and was the undisputed leader of his followers. Naturally, on a purely human level, the disciples relied upon the physical, human presence of Jesus. That’s why they were so fearful and confused when he died. They had been followers; now they had to learn to be leaders.

If Jesus had risen from the dead, stayed one day, and ascended into heaven, I honestly doubt the Christian faith would have made it. It’s a human tendency after a miracle to begin to explain it away in our minds. It’s natural to begin to wonder if you have misunderstood. It is natural to say, “I must have been dreaming; God would never do anything like this!” Therefore, Jesus took forty days to be with his disciples, assure them that he was alive, teach them the final lessons they would need to be his witnesses, and prepare them for the future.

The disciples, as they left the mount of the Ascension and returned to Jerusalem, were entering their final time of preparation. Soon, they would go into the entire would sharing the Gospel. Now, however, they must wait just a little while longer, putting to work what Jesus had taught them, and waiting for the gift of the Spirit.

It would be nice if the time between the promises of God and the fulfillment of those promises were instantaneous. However, it is rarely the case. There is always a time between our assurance that God has a future for us and the time in which we are actually empowered to enter that future. The big question then is, “What shall we do while we wait?” It is important how we spend out time as we wait for what comes next. We need to learn to wisely spend our time as we wait for what comes next.

Praying in the Future.

Luke tells us that the disciples returned to the city of Jerusalem to the Upper Room where they were staying (Luke 1:12-13). They were not alone. Mary Magdalene and the other women who had found the empty tomb, Mary the mother of Jesus, and his family, were also present (vv. 13). They did not, however, just sit around and wait for the Holy Spirit. We are told that they spent their time worshiping in the Temple (Luke 24:53) and praying (Acts 1:14).

God wants many good things for all of us; however, there are things that we could have but will not have unless we pray. Is one of the mysteries of life that God, who already knows what we need before we ask him, still desires us to ask and pray (Matthew 6:8). Because God wants to have a relationship with us, God wants us to communicate with him about our needs. He wants us to open our hearts to his Spirit. Prayer does change things, and one thing it changes is our hearts.

The fact is that our spiritual relationship with God is no different than our physical relationship with friends and family. If we want to have a strong relationship, we have to communicate with our family and friends. Study after study shows that the single biggest problem with human relationships is a failure to communicate. Some of you may remember the movie Cool Hand Luke. Luke repeatedly tries to escape from prison. On the first such occasion, the prison warden others the most famous line in the movie: “What we’ve got here is failure to communicate”. [1] The warden was an evil guy, but he spoke an eternal truth: If we want to enjoy the full future that God desires for us the first thing we have to do is communicate with God and pray. With God and other people, a lot of problems come from a failure to communicate.

Preparing for the Future.

The second thing we have to do is prepare. As Acts tells the story, at one point during the ten day period before Pentecost, Peter stood up and spoke to the apostles. It seems that Peter had been contemplating the teachings of the Old Testament and thinking about what to do next. He concluded that, in the Old Testament, it was prophesied that, when the Messiah came, he would be betrayed (Acts 1:15-20). Peter quotes a number of scriptures in support of his idea. Then, he recommends that a replacement for Judas be elected (vv. 21-22).

You may ask “Why did Peter think this?” In my mind, the best answer is pretty simple: there were twelve tribes of Israel and twelve disciples, one to act as a representative of each tribe. If God was going to reconstitute Israel, as the disciples hoped, it makes sense that there ought to be a full complement of twelve disciples to do the job! [2]

It’s really interesting how exactly the disciples replaced the Judas. It shows their complete reliance upon God. First of all, the disciples accepted the leadership of Peter. They accepted that it was necessary to choose someone who had been with Jesus from the time of John the Baptist until the Ascension. Having accepted Peter’s leadership, two names were proposed to the group, Barsabbas (called Justus) and Matthias. Then, the entire group prayed over the decision. Finally, they cast lots, leaving the final decision to God. Matthias was chosen (vv. 23-26).

This often overlooked passage tells us a lot about what we should be doing while we are waiting for God. There are always practical things we can do to get ready for the blessing God has for us. We can study our Bibles and ponder any biblical teaching we need to know to make a decision. We can think about what exactly we might do to accomplish our goal. And finally, as we make decisions, we can trust God.

Any elder who has participated in a serious decision in our church will tell you that we follow this model in making decisions. When faced with difficult problems we never act quickly. Instead, we pray, sometimes for hours (and sometimes for longer than many of the elders wish)! We also discuss the problem, hoping to come to a solution with which everyone agrees. This isn’t always possible, but it’s always our objective. These practices of praying, meditating, thinking, and preparing as we wait are ones we can all follow in our daily lives as we make decisions and move into the future.

Remembering Whose in Charge.

The story of the ten days between the commissioning of the disciples and the ascension of Jesus into heaven and the coming of the Holy Spirit is a story of obedience. It is a story of the Twelve showing that they were ready to be leaders by putting into practice what they had learned from Jesus. They trusted God. They prayed to God. And then, they prepared for the future as best they knew how.

Lent is a period of time in which we meditate on our brokenness, our sorrow, our shortcomings, even our sinfulness. We don’t meditate on this so that we can feel bad about ourselves. We meditate to prepare for Easter Sunday morning and our celebration of God’s victory over sin and death. I hope that this Lenten season we will all take the opportunity to pray for the forgiveness and healings we need from God and prepare for the future God has in store for us.

We are not finished with 2016 nor are we finished with asking the question, “What’s Next?” Now, however, we are moving into a new part of our journey: For the next several weeks we’re going to ask, “What changes do I need to make to receive the future God has in store for me?” and “How can I become spiritually ready for what comes next?” These too are questions worth asking. The next few blogs will be more painful than those we’ve had recently. They force us to consider who we really are and what needs to change in our lives so that we can experience the Spirit and the power of the resurrection.

Amen.

[1] See, Cool Hand Luke, wr. Donn Pearce and Frank Pierson; dir. Stuart Rosenberg; starring Paul Newman, George Kennedy, and Strother Martin (Jalin Productions, 1967). The sadistic warden, in response to Luke’s escape, speaks the line. Some commentators have seen Luke as a kind of Christ figure and the warden as a kind of devil. However, the quote is true about many human relationships. George Kennedy won an academy award for his acting in the movie and Newman was nominated for an award.

[2] The number twelve is important to the disciples and important in Jewish history. Originally there were twelve tribes of Israel. By Jesus’ day, ten were lost. One expectation was that the Messiah would reconstitute Israel—meaning that the Twelve Tribes would be restored. This is probably one of the expectations that the disciples had of Jesus. It is clear that this expectation continues to be a part of the early church’s hope. In Revelation for example twenty-four elders bow down before God (Revelation 4:10 and before the lamb (Revelation 5:8).