Scripture ReadingActs 1:6-14When the apostles had come together, they asked Jesus, “Lord, is this the time when you will restore the kingdom to Israel?” He replied, “It is not for you to know the times or seasons that the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” When he had said this, as they were watching, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. While he was going and they were gazing up toward heaven, suddenly two men in white robes stood by them. They said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up toward heaven? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.”Scripture ReflectionImagine that you are one of the twelve apostles. You stood by Jesus in his trials because he has promised you a Kingdom (Lk. 22:28-29). Quite the incentive! He said, “when the Son of Man sits on His glorious throne, you who have followed Me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.” (Mt. 19:28). Jesus tried to prepare you for his arrest, but you scuffled with the temple guards in the Garden of Gethsemane; he tried to prepare you for his trial, but you denied him instead of testifying for him; he tried to prepare you for his crucifixion, but you scattered; he tried to prepare you for his Resurrection, but you went into hiding, hopeless and afraid. Now the Risen Lord is with us again — he did not leave us as orphans, but he returned to us. All of Israel’s hope for redemption, and the restoration of her Kingdom, is back on the table with the Resurrection of Our Lord Jesus Christ. And with that Kingdom restored, we ourselves will come to power, as he promised, “sitting on thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.” After forty days, eating and drinking and speaking again with Our Lord, we finally drum up the courage to ask the impatient question: “Lord, is this the time when you will finally restore the kingdom to Israel?” At this point in the game, do we truly believe that the conqueror of death itself was going to ride into Jerusalem yet again, on a donkey perhaps, as he had on Palm Sunday, and take the throne we thought he might have taken then? A second chance at that triumphant moment when he takes his throne, and we take ours? Or are we prepared for yet more deeper mysteries? At the Last Supper, Jesus had promised us that his departure to death would only be brief, and he would return. At that time, he would give us the gift of the Holy Spirit from the Father. The same Holy Spirit that worked mighty works in him — he promised to us, that we might “do even greater works than these.” Perhaps, after seeing all we’ve seen in the presence of Jesus, we are beginning to understand that true power in the Kingdom is spiritual, flowing from the throne of God in heaven, rather than a throne in Jerusalem. And so we ask Jesus when we will receive our promised Kingdom, our promised thrones, our promised power. Jesus tells us, “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you.” As he says this, something miraculous happens. A scene you know intimately from the visions of the Prophet Daniel comes to life before your very eyes, a vision Jesus repeatedly told you that you would live to see. You grew up hearing Daniel’s words in synagogue: “I saw One like the Son of Man coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into His presence.” You are seeing what Daniel foresaw: a luminous cloud comes and snatches Jesus away into the hidden presence of God. What is the meaning of this? Daniel explained long ago: “And He was given dominion, glory, and kingship, that the people of every nation and language should serve Him.” Jesus’ entrance into the presence of the Ancient of Days is the promised enthronement of the Son of Man — not in Jerusalem over Israel, but in heaven over all creation. And with his enthronement will also come yours, dear apostles, according not only to Jesus’ promise, but the testimony of the prophet Daniel. When the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you receive your power, Daniel foresaw that “then the sovereignty, dominion, and greatness of the kingdoms under all of heaven will be given to the people, the saints of the Most High.” Forever. When Jesus ascends to heaven, this promise is lingering in the air. You don’t know yet that it will be fulfilled in a week, at Pentecost. Jesus says, “It is not for you to know the times and seasons.” The “when” is still a big question mark. You may feel excitement and anticipation; you might also feel terror, because Daniel called this great moment the Day of Judgment. But Jesus, as he did with all scripture on the Road to Emmaus, has interpreted the matter for you: it is the coming of the Holy Spirit. My friends, what does it mean to await the coming of the Holy Spirit? First, Jesus teaches us that it is not a matter or time or seasons. The Holy Spirit doesn’t come because it is the right time; whether Christmas, Easter, or even Pentecost. The Holy Spirit is not on a schedule or a calendar. The Holy Spirit hovered on the face of the primordial waters before time began; before the Son of God, through whom everything came into being, was born of this spirit and water, his mother the Holy Spirit was espoused to, and one with, our Heavenly Father in the highest and most hidden heaven, where no sun or moon or stars marked the turning of the days, weeks, months, seasons, and years. The Holy Spirit is a timeless gift, not a gift by virtue of appointed times — even holidays, even church services. The Spirit is a gift for those who wait for her. In the days of the Old Testament, she would come suddenly like a thief in the night. The Spirit of God would come upon Samson and give him the strength to fight his enemies and tear lions limb from limb; it made King Saul prophesy like a madman to onlookers; she so welled up in King David that he was consumed in her zeal, dancing naked like a fool before the ark of the divine presence. The Spirit, like the wind, comes when and where she will. And so the Spirit is to be waited for. But not just any waiting will do. What all the saints have in common is their love of God — love is the key to this “waiting”. And Jesus explained this matter to us, as well: “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word. My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him” in and through “the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name” who “will teach you all things and will remind you of [all the words] I have told you.” (Jn. 14:23, 26). And so the Spirit comes to those who keep Jesus’ words of commandment: love. It is the Spirit, by whom the Son was born from above, who inspired these words. In a synergistic feedback loop of love, the Spirit inspires the Word, and obedience to the Word draws the Spirit near to the faithful. Jesus taught this at the Last Supper, over the broken bread of his flesh and the wine of his lifeblood, to show that we must live not by bread alone but by the heavenly bread of the Word of God, and drink the heavenly wine of the Spirit. “For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.” (Ro. 14:17). And how should we interpret scripture’s prophetic understanding that the enthronement of Christ and his faithful by the power of the Holy Spirit constitutes the Great Day of Judgment? This too Jesus interpreted for us, at the Last Supper: when the Spirit comes, she “will convict the world in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment: in regard to sin, because they do not believe in Me; in regard to righteousness, because I am going to the Father and you will no longer see Me; and in regard to judgment, because the prince of this world has been condemned.” (Jn. 16:8-11). In other words, the Spirit that works in us as we obey and bear witness to the Word of God convicts the world that rejects us in our obedience and witness. The world often stumbles on Jesus — “if he’s so powerful, if he rose from the dead, then where is he?” But according to Jesus’ promise, he and his Father dwell among the faithful in the unity of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, while Jesus ascended to, and is hidden in, heaven, his Spirit has been given to us. The Christ that can be seen, and believed in by the world, is among us in the Church — insofar as we love him and obey his word, the world may either believe or not believe in Christ as he is manifest in us. And insofar as he dwells in us, he has condemned and cast the “prince of this world” out of us. This spiritual insight is why early Quakers like George Fox, James Nayler, and Robert Barclay proclaimed that the “Day of the Lord” and the “Day of Judgment” was upon all those to whom they preached. They didn’t mean that a specific “time or season” had come, like the end of the world — but that Christ had drawn near in Spirit, to “convict the world in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment”. Billy Graham in his own way also called his listeners to “the hour of decision”. And so we too, having heard the Word of God, and believed it, are confronted with this great spiritual judgment. It is not a one-time event, but a process. We believe as much as we can believe, and often we wish we could believe still more! “I believe; help my unbelief.” (Mk. 9:24). Our Lord also tells us that by the Spirit, we may do greater things than he, who fasted in the desert for forty days and forty nights and cried out with loud cries to His Father, and suffered for love of Him. Therefore when St. Paul speaks in 2 Cor. 3 of our imitation of Christ, he speaks of ever-ascending degrees of Christian glory — that is, the humility of loving-kindness — into which the Christian who waits for the Spirit may be transfigured. And so we wait for the Spirit together with the Apostles on Ascension Sunday. We need not be gazing at heaven, passively awaiting Our Lord’s return in judgment and power. The angels said to them, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up toward heaven? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven” — that is, hidden away in the presence of God. So let us instead fix our gaze inward to our hearts, where we may contemplate, treasure, and love the Word of God. There the divine presence of the Spirit will descend and seal herself within us, so that Christ may be manifest in us once more — as he would soon be manifest in the Apostles at Pentecost. Amen.
Song Meditation: “Spirit Come Into My Heart”
Inspiration has struck!This Holy Week I found myself writing and recording companion songs for the journey, from the Triumphal Entry to the Resurrection. You can find all these brand new songs here:
ICYMI: New Album “Hymns & Homilies” Out NowI invite you to download and listen to my album, out now: “Hymns & Homilies” — an eclectic collection of songs for worship and musical sermons. This is not your grandaddy’s Christian music. Name your price — your support for my work of music ministry is a blessing!
Upcoming Appearances:Sundays at the Ritz are back as of 5/3 — at a new time: 7-9pm!
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