May 4, 2008
The Rev. Dr. Dennis E. Morey, Pastor

Sermon: "Not me, not you, but God"
Scripture: Acts 1:6-14
 
In the Scripture for today the disciples are so glad Jesus is alive.  Their sadness and despair at his death is now the distant past, as they bask in the joy of the fact that he has risen from the dead.
 
They have not only had three years of Jesus’ presence in which they had experienced his teaching, healing, saw him facing the challenges of the authorities, they had also heard him speak about the word of God, and lift from its pages the awesome love of God.
 
But the disciples didn’t get it.  They were thinking, now that he had risen from the dead and was himself invincible, at any moment he was going to say the word and all the Jews would band together to reclaim their home-land and over-throw the Roman domination.
 
For 40 days they had experienced the resurrected Christ, waiting for that word.
Luke writes in the beginning of this book that the book is supposed to be about the Acts of the Apostles.
 
While Jesus was still with them, they could not get it through their heads that the plan was greater than the segment of time marked as their life-time.
 
The book is beginning with the fact that even after all they had seen and heard, all they had experienced for themselves, still they didn’t get it.
They still thought that Jesus had come to set up an earthly kingdom.  They thought that he was going to immediately catapult them into paradise.
 
Even in these last moments of Jesus being with them they ask, “Lord is this the time you will restore the kingdom to Israel?” 
They were still thinking about the here-and-now.   They did not see the big picture.  They were simply not on the same page as Jesus.
 
Some times married people look at things differently, we may say, they aren’t on the same page.
 
I read a story about a dying man slowly drifting away from this life, woke to the smell of chocolate chip cookies coming up to his room from the kitchen.
He mustered up enough strength to get himself out of bed and hanging on to the furniture and then the handrail got down stairs.  There on the kitchen table were fresh baked chocolate chip cookies, his favorite.
 
He wondered, was this heaven?  There were so many of them, or was this the last act of devotion of his beloved wife of 72 years.  He reached his trembling hand for one of the wonderful cookies and his wife slapped his hand with the spatula, just like she always had for those 72 years.  She said, “Leave those cookies alone, they are for the funeral.” Still on the wrong page.
 
The disciples were waiting until Jesus made life perfect for them. They knew when the kingdom was restored to Israel; they would have an important position.  Jesus wasn’t on that page.
 
Jesus said, “Quit trying to figure out the details of God’s plan.  You are never going to see the whole picture as God sees it.  That is not your business, but God’s business. 
Here is your business; it is up to you to be ready when the Holy Spirit comes, and you are going to be my witnesses, first in Jerusalem, then Judea (the surrounding area) and then to Samaria (those who are considered lost by the Jews), the difficult spots, the places you would not go to on your own, and finally this message must spread to every place, even the furthest imaginable.

As humans, don't we all want to know what is going to happen when? We may not want to know the bad parts, but we would like to know that things are going to work out for the good of all or at least for our own personal good.

We have been following Jesus for years, we have read his word and we may have even seen a miracle or two. We come to church on Sunday and maybe even read the Bible.
Most of us are waiting, "Lord when are you going to do this for me?" as if we are the center of the universe and our plan is of the most importance.

"Lord, when are you going to catapult me into paradise? When are you going to fix this, when are you going to do that for me?"

We are on a different page. We often go about life amassing for ourselves friends and luxuries that make us the center of attention. When the wife gets busy with the kids, the husband feels neglected. When the new person at work gets more of the boss' time, we get worried. When our kids grow up and marry and decide to eat Christmas dinner with their spouses' family, we feel hurt.

We want to choose where we shop, and don't mind paying a little more when the owner calls us by name. We choose the doctor who will give us time and is good at explaining and acts as if he or she cares about us as a person. We get our hair cut at the place where the person with the scissors is willing to listen to our troubles.

We join the church where people value us, and believe as we do.

When we come to this scripture we can certainly identify with these disciples. They want to know when Jesus is going to set them up in important offices in his kingdom. After all isn't this what this is all about?

Jesus said, "You may have made choices all your life, but this choice is not about your choosing, but God first choosing you." We forget that we can't even know God, we can't love God without God first reaching out to us.
I John 4:19 we read, "We love God because he first loved us."

We are not central, God is central. God is doing the acting. Christ is the orchestra leader, we are playing instruments, following Christ's direction and along with other Christians making the music that will attract others to God.

None of us leads the orchestra. We have not written the music, we have not arranged the various parts for the various instruments, we play only one, we do our part and together with other believers the music happens. Our influence widens.

Jesus said, "Your part is to be my witnesses. Start where you are, then let your circle of influence ripple outward until you have told everyone you know even to the uttermost parts of the earth."

Did you ever play a sport or play in the band or orchestra where one person wanted to score all the points, or have all the solos. How difficult is that for the coach or for the music teacher to have someone who thinks the game or the concert is all about them?

If that person keeps insisting on making all the points, or playing all the solos, sooner or later the coach or the orchestra leader has to phase out that person. They are simply on the wrong page. If that person insists on a one-person-show with themselves as the star, he or she can't play.

If we insist that knowing Christ is about our worth, or our abilities, or our needs, our wants, we can't be as valuable in the orchestra Christ is leading, and the music we make, the life we live will never attract others to God.

Jesus' warning to the disciples is recorded in Mark 8:34 "If anyone wants to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me."
Matthew 19:30 Jesus talks about his kingdom and says, "Many who are first will be last, and the last will be first."

Our part is not about sitting on a silk cushion and playing first chair violin, but about doing whatever it is that we are asked to do for the good of the kingdom.

Jesus said it involved a cross, it involves challenges, it involves having our faith tested and relying on the grace of God to help us through each day and each challenge.

Understanding that we are not the central figure in life is to take our proper seat in the orchestra, become responsible for our own part and doing our best, letting Christ conduct the orchestra as we play at his direction. He alone can unfold the music we are to play day by day.

He replied, "It is not for you to know the times or 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, 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."

Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a sabbath day's journey away.

When they had entered the city, they went to the room upstairs where they were staying, Peter, and John, and James, and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James son of Alphaeus, and Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of James.

All these were constantly devoting themselves to prayer, together with certain women, including Mary the mother of Jesus, as well as his brothers.

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