Acts 1:4-14: Waiting in the Spirit; waiting on the Spirit

Acts 1:4-14 (Advent: Waiting in the Spirit, waiting on the Spirit)

"And while staying [1] with them he ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, “you heard from me; 5 for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with [2] the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” 6 So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” 7 He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed 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 and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” 9 And when he had said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. 10 And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes, 11 and said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.” 12 Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day's journey away. 13 And when they had entered, they went up to the upper room, where they were staying, Peter and John and James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot and Judas the son of James. 14 All these with one accord were devoting themselves to prayer, together with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers."

In the Apostles’ Creed, we say: “crucified by Pontius Pilate, dead, buried, he descended into hell; and on the third day, he rose again from the dead, and ascended to the right hand of the God the father, almighty, from whence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead.”

Often in Christian preaching, we speak of everything being accomplished in Jesus’ death and resurrection. Now, we do talk about the Return or Second Coming of Christ as a day of judgment and rapture. But, the waiting around period between now and then, well, we have mostly just talked about that as if it was a time for human decision – to choose God’s way in Christ or reject God’s offer of salvation. The way churches generally talk about the present age is as if human beings are the ones who are acting, and as if God is just waiting around to see what we do.

And, when you look at it that way, Advent becomes a very human-centered celebration. Because, the Christ has already come, been crucified and has risen. If you look at it that way, God has already done his work; now is time for us to do ours which God will judge one day as Jesus comes.

But, that way of looking at things has it all backwards, because Advent is all about celebrating God’s action, not ours – what God did in the past and what God is doing now and what God is going to do in the future. God is always the initiator, and we are always the responders to God’s promptings in our spirit.

To talk about this in a doctrinal way, our problem seems to be that we don’t have a place for the Holy Spirit in our belief system. And, if you look at the Apostles’ Creed, they just sort of threw it in with some other beliefs and didn’t seem to include the Holy Spirit with the Father and the Son. But, let me turn this back in a practical direction and refer to the history we are told in Scripture.

In the Bible, we are told that after Jesus has risen from the dead and ascended to heaven, that his followers were gathering each day and praying as they waited for the coming of the Holy Spirit. Jesus had promised that this Spirit would come from on high and lead them where they should go. The book of Acts is all about this history of the Holy Spirit being poured out on earth. This coming of the Spirit was the first fruits of the great harvest. It was the beginning of a new age in God’s relationship with human beings and all creation. And, it turned the people’s hearts towards an evergrowing movement towards the coming of God’s glory to the whole earth.

And, the Holy Spirit was poured out in that upper room in Jerusalem, and tongues of fire appeared upon the heads of every person that was there praying. And, though the Spirit came and rested upon them on that day, the Spirit remains God’s Spirit and not ours to possess. So, that the Spirit comes and goes as God wills. The Apostles did not from that day on possess God’s Spirit, but possessed a zeal to wait and pray for its coming and guidance over and over. In a real way, they had learned the movement of faith: from waiting prayerfully and expectantly for God’s Spirit, celebrating joyfully and in obedience when the Spirit comes, and then waiting again with hope when the Spirit in its fullness had departed.

At Advent, we are as those disciples in the upper room in Jerusalem. Their crucified and risen Lord has left them and ascended to heaven, but had promised that the Holy Spirit, the comforter and exhorter, would come to them from God. And, they had felt Jesus’ absence as they waited for the Spirit to come. And, they prayed, remembering the glory of God in Jesus’ life and death and resurrection. And, then, the rush of wind came through the room, and a rush of power and life came into their bodies, as God blessed them and lifted them and set them on a new path.

This is the time of waiting; this is the time of expectation. This is the time of doubt, as well, and we hope, but don’t know for sure that our hopes will be satisfied. As we dream and don’t know whether our dreams are in touch with reality.
Our passages tells us that Jesus’ disciples worried over when the kingdom would come, and they sat looking into the sky because their Lord had departed from them. This gives the image of some perplexed and perhaps disturbed people of faith.

I can certainly imagine that many of those followers of Jesus gathered in that upper room had doubts and fears as they waited. Some of them may have not seen Jesus after he had risen. Some of them had. Some of them had probably already been threatened or had close calls with those who were intent on persecuting Jesus’ followers. And, surely at least a few of them thought: “is it really worth it, putting myself in for all of this, when nothing may happen anyway, when I might just wait and wait and be shown to be a fool?”

Our scripture tells us that after they had seen Jesus taken up into the heavens:
"they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day's journey away. 13 And when they had entered, they went up to the upper room, where they were staying, Peter and John and James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot and Judas the son of James. 14 All these with one accord were devoting themselves to prayer, together with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers."

And, in times like that, one’s heart is tested; in times like that, one’s faith is tried. And, in times like that, the followers of Jesus came together and prayed. And, . . . . we live in times like that. None of us has seen the risen Lord, unless somebody is holding out on us around here. All of us have experienced some times of real disappointment. There are worries right now in many of our hearts that we can’t seem to get rid of, because the trouble we are worrying over just isn’t resolved. Maybe it will be resolved today; maybe not for a long, long time. We wait as those who just don’t know, but as those who believe.

And, people tell us that God will take care of it, but how do they know what God will do? Maybe it is God’s will that we bear a problem a long time – you never can tell when you are not God. And, surely we are not God! And, if experience and Scripture are reliable, it seems that what God really wants doesn’t always happen on earth anyway. Do you think God wants little babies to be killed, and innocent civilians to be slaughtered around the world? I can say with confidence: God does not want this, and in fact, hates this. But, it happens, doesn’t it? So, God’s will in those situations is simply defied on the earth. But, that is when I turn to a passage in Romans: “All things work to good for them that love God and are called according to his purpose.” And, that doesn’t say: well, there is a good purpose in that bad thing. No, it says something more like: God can bring good out of horrible things. It acknowledges that things happen that are not in God’s will, but it affirms that God can reach into any situation and begin to create out of the chaos.

And, that gives me some confidence, because it assures me that somehow God is present. God is at work even in the darkness of suffering bearing it until the dawn breaks. It doesn’t assure me that God will fix the problem today – that could happen, but probably not. But, I feel deep in my heart That God wills and God works, and where God’s will is not done in the first instance, he continues to work until he overcomes the evil and brings about his gracious and merciful will in the end. And, God never gives up on us and on this earth and on the mess we have made of this earth, but his Spirit groans over the wounds of the creation, and God brings healing in his time. Just as God’s Spirit brooded over the tomb of the dead Jesus, God’s Spirit broods over the face of the chaos of this earth. And, that is what I hold fast in my heart this Advent as I wait and as I hope for what will come.

Because, I believe that God’s light continues to shine in the darkness; that God’s Spirit continues to go into dark places, even the dark places of my own heart and life. There is this still small voice that I find in the quietness and even in the despair of life, that makes me know that though it may look bleak, God is present. And, though the darkness may last, God’s Spirit is here and the darkness will not have the last word over me or you or this world. And, as I brace myself for the long haul of faith, my heart begins to sing that solemn song of the pilgrim: “I want Jesus to walk with me. I want Jesus to walk with me. All along my pilgrim journey, I want Jesus to walk with me.”

I may not believe that I can overcome all problems; but, something deep within me believes in God, and that God really will in the end bring good and overcome evil. But, that is on God’s time schedule, not mine. And, sometimes it’s hard being human and trying to live on the eternal time schedule, because we live our lives in accordance with limited understanding and human needs and a human time frame. The disciples asked Jesus: “when will the kingdom come?” Jesus said: “it is not yours to know times fixed by the father in heaven.” Our feeling that we need to know what we can never know. And, surely that leads to some real complaining in our hearts at times. The Psalmist wisely prays: “O Lord, have mercy and remember that we are dust.” And, our God knows our frame, our flesh and blood life, our limited understanding, and the struggle to live human life with respect for an eternal time frame that we can’t fathom. God knows that we are dust. God walked this earth in human flesh - this we believe and so we hope - in these days of waiting and expectation and worry. Amen.