The right gift for the job...

“The Kingdom and the Holy Spirit”

(Acts 1:6-8, Preaching: Pastor Stephen Magee, November 21, 2010)

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.”

So when they had come together ... (6)

Jesus will soon take His place at the right hand of the Father in heaven. He has spent the last forty days after His resurrection demonstrating to His disciples the truth of His resurrection and speaking to them about the kingdom of God. This topic of the kingdom was not a new thing that he began to talk about only after His resurrection. All of His teaching ministry prior to His death was about the kingdom. Many of His parables were about the kingdom that He was bringing. Yet during the years prior to the cross and the resurrection, and even now at this moment after speaking to them during these forty days about the kingdom, they still are having trouble understanding what He is talking about.

It would not be surprising, then, if we, even after many years of exposure to the Bible, and after even decades of life in the Christian church, might find ourselves wondering this: What is the kingdom of God? The disciples found it hard to separate the question of the kingdom from their own time and place. They were Jews. They were Israelites. They knew about the glory days of the kingdom under David and Solomon. They ask Jesus about kingdom timing, and they assume that kingdom must have everything to do with their nation Israel.

Recently I had a conversation with our Korean missionary who was staying in my “basement,” the Rev. Hong Key Chung. He seemed to feel that it was necessary to tell me that the United States of America was not in the Bible. I am not sure that he is entirely right about that, but I do think it is interesting that he felt he had to say that. I don't think that well on my feet, but about a week later I got to feeling defensive and wanted to shoot him an e-mail that went something like this: “Dear Chung, Hope all is well. Korea is not in the Bible either. With deep respect, Steve.” I would have done it, except I am not so sure that Korea is not in the Bible.

In any case, Israel is in the Bible, and so is the worldwide heavenly/earthly entity known as the church. It is easier for us to understand our own nation, or Israel, than it is for us to understand the eternal purpose of God spoken of as His kingdom. I know that the kingdom is big, bigger than what the disciples expected might immediately happen to Israel. It must have something to do with the 120 people who will soon be touched by the New Testament pouring out of the Holy Spirit, and it must have something to do with what life will be like when we see all things everywhere united together in Christ, things in heaven and things on earth. The kingdom starts as the mustard seed of the former, and God will not be finished until it is the full glory of the latter. In general, it seems fair to say that whether we are American, Korean, or residents of the land that these men were calling “Israel,” that we all have a tendency to underestimate the kingdom and to mold it into the image of our too small and too parochial interests.

He said to them ... (7)

Jesus is not about to explain all of that to the disciples before He is taken up. In a few days they will have the help of Spirit-inspired New Testament preaching. In a few decades they will have most of the New Testament documents available for their Spirit-blessed study, and by the end of a few centuries the church will have many, many copies of a completed Bible, by which we should be able to understand what the Kingdom of God is. Why are we still confused?

For one thing we are preoccupied with the question of timing, which He tells us is not for us to know. For another thing, we keep on forgetting how great God is, and that the fullness of the Kingdom is worthy of Him, and not merely a pleasant end to our post-retirement story. There is something about the greatness of God, that we are not allowed to miss. Anyone or anything who stands in the way of the people of God discovering God and His kingdom must be put out of the way. This Jesus will do according to the authority of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

But you will receive power … (8)

If they were trying to ask when the Roman Empire would end its governance of Palestine, that question was off limits. If they were trying to understand the details of the progress of the message of Christ in their nation, they would not get any details from Jesus. He had something else very important to communicate to them. “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you.” They ask a question about timing, about their land, and about the Kingdom of God. He answers them by speaking about the Holy Spirit coming upon them.

The timing will be very soon for that event. He had already said to them, “You will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” They were to wait for that gift before they did anything else. The critically important reason for that waiting is given to them in verse 8, since it is only when the Holy Spirit has come upon you that “you will receive power,” the power that you need for the work of the kingdom. This power must be heavenly power, since the pouring out of this gift awaited the ascension of Jesus to the right hand of the Father. It must be a different kind of power than that of earthly kingdoms. They had already messed up more than once on this, just as Israel did when she insisted on a king like the nations, and just as the church has so many times over the centuries. Jesus had been very explicit about this in other places. See Luke 22:24-30, and remember that Jesus said, “I am among you as the one who serves.” Even when the church raises the dead, her power is not of this world. Church power is lowly power.

And you will be my witnesses ... (8)

Yet the King of the Kingdom is able to move this cross and resurrection power forward into the world through that lowly power of heaven working through the church to the glory of God. If there is something that God has given to you to be or to do, however quietly and peaceably you exercise His gift in all godliness and honesty, He is able to change the world through that lowly exercise of His gift, and He does intend to change the world through His church, even us.

Even though the church was prepared for a worldwide mission by the Old Testament Scriptures, they did not believe it. Even when Jesus said, “You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth,” the church had to be forced out of Jerusalem through persecution. The church does not normally have the eyes to see what the next thing is or how we will do it. We understand that we start where we are today. Jesus said, “Each day has enough trouble of its own.” It is also true that each town has enough trouble of its own. You do not know how you are going to change your Jerusalem, and how you or others you support will reach Judea to the south, Samaria to the north, and even the end of the earth. (This is where we find Korea and America in the Bible if we are willing to see them. We are the ends of the earth.) Jesus will do all this by His Spirit through the church. Without the Holy Spirit, we simply do not have the power to do the work of heavenly lowliness that changes the world.

1. What does the question of the disciples suggest concerning their interests?

2. What are the limitations of our knowledge and authority concerning the future?

3. What is the nature of the power that Christ will give to the church?

4. How is this power related to the task that He has given us?

OT Passage: Psalm 139