Why Do You Stand There?

So when they had come to gather together, they ask him. Lord is this the time? When you will restore the kingdom to Israel, he replied. It is not for you to know, the times are periods, 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 and all of 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 to man 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. This is the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God. Let us pray May the words of my mouth and meditation of all our hearts be acceptable in your sight. This day. Oh Lord. Our Rock and Redeemer min.

Well, today is Ascension Sunday, and you may never have pictured Jesus in quite this way, but one of my friends artists that I like African, man, this is how he pictures his Lord. I think that's a very interesting way to think about Christ a little bit bigger than our minds can comprehend Christ ascending. Now. We Presbyterians don't make a lot of Celebration out of Ascension Sunday as do some of our more liturgical brothers and sisters, but we do want to acknowledge it because in the Ascension we are testifying to God's power that is being left to us in the holy spirit that we will talk about next week a little bit further at Pentecost. I'll talk about my dad a lot, big shorter. Dad was a Boy Scout scoutmaster for years and years. He was a engineer did stuff with his hands contractor. He can do anything, and we always say the big shorter couldn't fix it. Nobody could, you know, it's kind of one of those things. I learned a lot from him. I remember one day working on the Jeep and what not, we were doing stuff and I really didn't know what the heck I was doing, but I was sitting there trying and he was coaching me along and he's already told me everything. I was supposed to do, but I was sitting there doing nothing and I've told this before, but it makes such an important connection to the story. Today that we're reading in Scripture that I simply must remind you of it. I was doing nothing and dad said to me, son just do something even if it's wrong. Because I was sitting there and we weren't making any progress. This motor was not going to just get fixed. And if I just did something, even if it was a bad thing, we could correct that we could fix it. I can learn from it, or we would have to order another part. It didn't matter. But if we were just sitting there doing nothing, nothing was going to get this motor running in our Jeep. I learned a lot from dad, daddy to the Navy as remembering Memorial Day. He used to say a sudden you can't steer a still ship.

It's really true. If you tried it doesn't go very well. You've got to have some power moving it to go one way or the other. You've got to have motion. Today's scripture comes from the book of Acts. No access incredible book Incredible Book. Dealing with the power of the holy spirit, in the lives of ordinary people like me like you, it's written as a sequel in our movies. Always like part 2, part 3 movies, while this is a sequel. This is part to Luke, wrote the Gospel of Luke and now he's riding the Acts of the Apostles. You can read that in the first few verses of of the book that that I omitted this morning, but Dr. Luke describe, maybe the first three decades of the expansion of the church throughout the world. And as he's riding this, we we see two main people. We see Peter and Paul Peter is in the Forefront in the first parts of the book. And then Paul becomes a little bit more Central in the latter parts of the book. It's an amazing book. You could remember, remember some of the stories in in the book of Acts of Witchcraft and sorcery, there's a shipwreck and snake bites. There's amazing healings. They're odd people being visited here. Are there their Church conflict in fights in the church. Surprise, accept her 15th, all sorts of amazing things that make an incredible book to read. It's exciting. It's a book that talks about the holy spirit's power. If we were to say, maybe a key verse to the theme of the book of Acts 1:8, which is, they had her in the bulletin today. You shall be my Witnesses in Jerusalem, and all of Judea, and Samaria, and to the ends of the Earth. If we had more time, we could actually Look at how that is an outline of the book. You can look at it in your own study at home. If you want to the first parts of the story of Acts deals with the church and its Ministry in Jerusalem. Been, as we move on, we see the church and its Ministry, and in Judea and Samaria. And then as Paul takes on the missionary Journeys, we see to the ends of the Earth. So it's a very neat way to outline the book of Ash. You can also remember changing through the spirit. We are adapting and we are changing through the spirit. We're adapting to Christ Image, we're changing ourselves exchanging. What we value what we hold post for what god holds cuz we are changing ourselves are changed but we threw the spirit are changing others in the ministry in which we are. Dealing with. The great way to start the start, the book the the the disciples are there and they're talking to Jesus. I know something's coming up and they asking this question their right?

Is this the time? Is this a calm when you're going to restore the kingdom to Israel? El God bless those disciples. I can relate to him because I asked God, the wrong questions so often and this certainly was around question. What was very important? These were things that work way outside in and not even things that they needed to worry about the time of God's distinction upon Humanity with his parasia. The restoration of a kingdom. They were still thinking of the kingdom of in their small mindsets of what kingdom was and they hadn't really grasped yet. What the kingdom of God was anything about Israel as the sole recipient of God's grace to be restored. Where is God a dump and spread his arms wide on calvary's Cross to bring the whole world into his kingdom. Not just this one Speck. And so Jesus, like he lovingly does to me. He does to those disciples. He says, simply this is not for you to worry about. This expensive. Don't worry about that. Lord have mercy. If we could have a fraction of the time and energy and money that Christians have debated and fought and fought over things that they really didn't need to know about. We could have we could have evangelize the whole world by. Now. We just don't need to know some of these things. What we need to know is the things that we can do and that we can make a difference with our own hands. Our own minds our own voices, our own actions in this world. As we looked further In this passage, we see this idea that I think I preached about this, a few months ago, the Great Commission. We have all four gospels giving Jesus Great Commission, and the book of Acts acts 18, you shall be my Witnesses. And we see this idea of going of preaching of teaching a baptizing of making disciples, the sweet lady in our one of our Villages where we live, just this idea going forth, being the hands and feet of Christ. Whatever. That means. We are a part of that Journey. We journey with Jesus and God uses Us by means of his spirit, in us working through us to do what God want. This is CNN. On in the scripture here, weren't worried about all these small things where we really should be worried about. The key question, is the question of the spirit. Is the power of the Holy Spirit Alive and real. In our lives is a holy spirit Power. A part of our understanding of what it means to be a follower price. Do next week. We're going to talk a little bit of more about that because it's Pentecost when the spirit does descend upon the church, but this question is far more important than the question. The disciples were asking. Is this the time when when you restore the kingdom to Israel, the power of the Holy Spirit, you will go and you will wait. And then the power of the Holy Spirit Will descend upon you so that you can do pretty much Make Disciples of the entire world. God's Mission and yet, I feel so much like those disciples. Haven't you just felt like you're standing up with your mouth open? What if Jesus had ascended? I'd be standing there too. With my mouth again, but how? And then these two white clothes, Angelic, beings come and say, why are you standing there looking up into heaven? Get moving. But I have given you everything. I've given you the instruction. I've given you teaching, I've shown you the way stop sitting there. And get moving move on move upward because we are to be Witnesses. You shall be my Witnesses. You're my witnesses to the world. And in that word witness. You shall be my Witnesses. We see from the Latin in the Vulgate. The word we get martyr, Martyrs one. Who give all they have. Gives their very selves. They're all in in a sense that they had given everything up. So that word witness is very important there. I told about pink eye coming to King College years ago, but I just want us to Point again to those Ecuadorian Martyrs from nineteen fifty-six one more time. This this actual picture was on one of the cameras that was left in Palm Beach. When they discovered the bodies of those five men that were speared, 1956. You remember the story five men, and their families, travel to Ecuador to minister to the warranty people. They were speared in January of 1956, all to death.

Remind us of this, just to show what a radical change of, heart, mind life. The holy spirit's power. Can a rock in a person's life. These people left everything to go and be witnesses to. The will Ronnie people, and their lives were given for that car yet in that giving of their lives. Those people came to know Jesus Christ and so many others have been inspired and moved by this passionate these men and their families had that they took up their cross and begin following Christ.

Being a witness laying down our lives. It means turning away from the things that may be passing flipping. Not Eternal doing things about face that are real life. And in James 1:27 engine is this True religion. Is this go care for the orphans and widows and don't be stained by the world. Take care of the most vulnerable, the least of these Matthew 25. As you did it to the least of these, you did it to me, little girl from one of our Villages there. What is little boy in one of the slums in with re laying down, begging? I got a photo of him as he was there in his misery. This is what God calls us to do. Not to worry about things that we have no business, or no understanding of in the first place. But things that the Holy Spirit wants us to do the same Powers us to do and that words. Why are you sitting there? Why are you still sitting there? Because the world is in such great, need of something that you have something, you can say something. You can do a letter, you can write a donation. You can make a service project, you can participate in that list goes on and on, there is plenty to do. And yet often I like you find myself, sitting there. Sitting there.

It was a Celine. I love kids wheel of students who taught for years at the college and undergraduate and graduate level, thankfully specially trained, nurses, and her Clinic classes. You would want a nurse that she trained. They're really good. She didn't, you know, you see a bed site, you want you, I want to know.

Doctor selling show is like, I'm worried. They said doctors trying to be like, yes. Yes. I'm going to get good care. Cecily. I love kids. I was a chaplain. They ordained of a Mission School. Pick, no kids. I love their questions are crazy. They're all over the place thinking about stuff. I remember one down lady and Logan. She and her friends were having lunch after Chapel one day and she said print for free. I need to tell you something. That's like God. Glad what Jesus is good. I like Jesus.

I like Jesus, but I hate the church. I will never go to a church.

You see, Logan and her friends as we were talking that day. They were expressing things that I really the perception. If not the truth about the church that they're looking at the church that wants to maintain its status quo. They're looking at church that is more concerned about whether we're having wine or grape juice at Communion or having arguments about whether you were sprinkled and I was dumped.

or whether we got our carpet in the parlor that we wanted. Or we're more concerned on whether the minister preaches like this, then like this or whether our person got into leadership, or your person got into leadership. We're asking these questions that really don't matter at all. And can you see what Logan and her friends are saying they're looking at this? And they're saying, why in the world would I want to be a part of this? Because I thought if, if Jesus is actually real. Wouldn't it be reasonable to think that a follower of Jesus might do what Jesus was telling them to do and if there was a group of people who followed Jesus and believed he was real, quick. Be reasonable. If that group of people would actually stop sitting there and actually do something to make a difference in the world.

We have to do something. We can't just sit here.

Why are you standing there looking into heaven?

Jesus is all around us in the eyes and in the hearts and in the places where we are not going where we are not doing. We are not in acting. We are so worried about holding on to things that are actually a wisp of vapor. But in one moment could be taken away and be forever forgotten. Where as we should be focusing on things that are of Eternal value that will never rush that will never consume, rest will never invade Jim Elliot one of those missionary martyrs. I'm at Palm Beach in Ecuador wrote this in his journal. Said he is no fool. He is no fool, who gives what he cannot keep to gain, what he cannot lose. He is no fool, who gives what he cannot keep to gain, what he cannot lose.

We've got to let go of this worldly life in such a way that more and more, and more of our energies and our Focus become on the things that God wants us to be doing. We can't just stand here.

We need to be. What God wants us to be in the places where he puts us?

Bless the end of the sermon.

I just had something else to say and maybe you'll invite me back next week. I don't know.

This has been a terrible week.

My heart is broke.

Of those little kids.

Who doesn't have grandchildren or children?

And on this Memorial Day, I cannot think of any of those men or women who gave their lives.

For this to continue happening. 1999. Columbine High School happen. I was shocked like he works and since then over 170 school shootings have occurred. Forgive my French. I don't give a damn. If you believe that President Trump's the greatest thing in the world or present, Baden is a Salvation person of the world. I don't care if you have a card to the NRA, or if you are a Greenpeace Society members, I couldn't care less if you donate to this political action committee or that political action committee. What I care about is US pointing the finger at everybody else. While we're just sitting here, doing nothing.

Logan and her friends and whole generations of people are losing hope and what we have is a greatest. Hope of all human history. The Hope in Jesus Christ and that hope Embraces the world ugly as it is as divided as it is. And asked us, please something don't just stand there.

So wear your hat, wave your flag. Whatever it is. I don't care but we need to get off our White Privilege asses and get out there and do something. Amen.

My God, forgive my user for painted. But stand, as we hit saying out him of respond.

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