Acts 1:12-14 * May 4, 2008 * Easter 7 * Pastor Pagels

In the name of Christ Jesus, dear friends:

Hollywood, California is recognized as the movie capital of the United States, but sometimes you have to wonder if the goal of the motion picture industry is to make movies or to make money. For example, if a new film does well at the box office, you can almost guarantee that within a year or two there will be a sequel.

That might help explain why there have been six Rockies and three Spider-Mans, and why a new Indiana Jones movie is scheduled to come out later this month, almost twenty years after what was supposed to be his “Last Crusade.” Making a sequel isn’t bad, but many sequels are. And it is extremely rare to find a sequel that is as good as the original.

On Thursday evening some of us gathered here to celebrate the Festival of the Ascension of our Lord, and fittingly the sermon text (recorded in Acts 1:1-11) was Luke’s account of Jesus’ ascension. The first lesson for today comes from the same chapter. The first eleven verses of Acts are repeated, but this morning the reading continues through verse fourteen.

We might consider these three verses to be a sequel to the ascension. They tell us what the disciples did after Jesus ascended, and they teach us what the Lord wants his followers to be doing until he returns.

You won’t find any miracles in our text for today. You won’t find any passages that you memorized in catechism class. These verses are not action-packed. These words are not very well-known, but they are worthy of our study because they are inspired words. And so for the next few minutes let’s take a closer look at Luke’s account of…

THE ASCENSION OF JESUS: THE SEQUEL

I. The disciples obeyed

II. The disciples prayed

The disciples had forty days with Jesus after his resurrection, forty days to have their questions answered, forty days to have their faith strengthened, forty days to have all their fears put to rest. When those forty days were over, Jesus took his disciples to the Mount of Olives. He gave them a promise that he would always be with them (Matthew 28:20), and then he left. Without any warning, without any wires, Jesus ascended before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight.

As soon as Jesus disappeared two men dressed in white (angels) appeared and said: “Men of Galilee, why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven” (11). Jesus’ work on earth on earth was done, but the disciples’ work was just beginning. And they couldn’t get anything accomplished as long as they were staring up at the sky.

So what did the disciples do? “They returned to Jerusalem from the hill called the Mount of Olives, a Sabbath day’s walk from the city” (12). These men went back to Jerusalem the same way they came. The only difference was that they made the return trip without Jesus.

The distance we’re talking here is less than a mile, much of it downhill. That doesn’t sound all that difficult. That doesn’t sound like a big deal. Unless you remember what was waiting for the disciples in the city. Jerusalem was the place where Jesus had been brutally murdered. Jerusalem was the place where Jesus’ enemies were plotting and planning to do the same to his followers.

It would have been much easier for them to go in the opposite direction. It would have been much safer to go back to their homes in Galilee. The thought of getting as far from Jerusalem as possible must have crossed their minds, but the disciples didn’t run away. They marched straight back to the city because that’s what Jesus told them to do (1:4). The Lord had given them a command, and they obeyed.

Who obeyed? Luke tells us: “Peter, John, James and Andrew; Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew; James son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of James” (13). We recognize these names as the names of the disciples. They had spent three years with Jesus. They heard his parables. They saw his miracles. They were convinced that Jesus was the Son of God, the Messiah, the Savior of the world.

That is why they were so quick to obey him. That is why the disciples were willing to do anything he told them to do. And we can learn from their example. We would do well to imitate their obedience, but we also need to remember that the disciples weren’t always so eager to obey.

James and John selfishly requested the places of honor in heaven on either side of Jesus (Mark 10). Peter denied Jesus (Luke 22). Thomas doubted Jesus (John 20). And if you count the names included in Luke’s list you will come up with one less than twelve because Judas Iscariot is missing, Judas the disciple who betrayed Jesus.

We are disciples of Jesus too. We love him. We are loyal to him. We want to obey him. So why is it so hard? Why are we so selfish? Why do we doubt Jesus? Why do we deny Jesus? Why do we sin and sin and sin when our sin threatens to separate us from God forever? Sin isn’t just what we do. Sin is what we are. It makes us God’s enemies. It keeps us from being obedient disciples. We are no better than Judas, and we deserve no better than Judas.

Sin is serious. Sin is dangerous. It won’t go away. It has to be taken away. And that is precisely what Jesus came into the world to do. He is the Son of God who perfectly obeyed his Father’s will. He is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29).

As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us (Psalm 103:12). He removed them from us and put them on his shoulders. He carried them to the cross. He buried them in the tomb. He rose from the dead to prove that our guilt is gone forever.

And when his work was finished, when every prophecy was fulfilled, when every debt was paid, then and only then did he ascend. For the disciples this was not a tearful goodbye because they knew that they would see their Lord again. They knew that they could talk to their ascended Lord anywhere and at anytime. And so can we.

Even though Jesus is no longer physically present on earth, even though has gone back to heaven, he is never out of your reach. When you are afraid, when you are confused, when you feel like you are all alone, remember what Jesus’ disciples did. Remember how the disciples prayed.

When the disciples got back to the place where they were staying, they were joined by Jesus’ mother Mary and some other unnamed women, probably the same women who served Jesus during his ministry. Jesus’ brothers were there too. We don’t know if they were half-brothers or step-brothers or cousins, but even if they didn’t share the same bloodlines they were all part of the same Christian family.

Luke tells us that the disciples and the women and Jesus’ brothers “joined together constantly.” The word that the NIV translates “together” is interesting. It appears ten times in Acts (and only once in the rest of the New Testament), and it means to be “of one mind/will.” That word describes how the Jewish leaders all joined together to stone Stephen (Acts 7:58). Later in Acts Luke uses it to explain how the Jews in Corinth made a united attack against Paul (Acts 18:12).

The context is much different here. After Jesus’ ascension his followers joined forces, not to go on the offensive, not to go on the attack, but for a much more noble purpose: “They all joined together constantly in prayer” (14).

When we pray at home with our families, when we pray here as a Christian family, we are doing what the disciples did. We are joining together. We are supporting each other. We are encouraging each other. When we pray together we are reminded that we are not alone. When we unite our hearts and voices in prayer we are declaring that we are one. Prayer is a beautiful expression of our Christian unity (horizontal), a bond that is second only to our relationship with our Lord (vertical).

When we pray, we address our prayers to the triune God. And we have many reasons to pray to him. The disciples prayed for the faith to trust in God’s promises…just like we do. The disciples prayed for the courage to be God’s witnesses...just like we do And whenever the disciples came together to pray, I am confident that they prayed the prayer the Lord taught them to pray...just like we do.

The Lord’s Prayer is a model prayer, but because we know it so well and because we say it so often it’s easy to go through the motions without even thinking about what those seven petitions mean. Each of the petitions is worthy of its own sermon, but in the time we have left let me make a few comments to help you remember what you are saying when you pray.

When you pray “Our Father in heaven,” remember that your heavenly Father loves you more than any human parent ever loved a child.

When you pray “Hallowed be your name,” you are promising that all of your words and actions will bring honor and glory to God.

When you pray “Your kingdom come,” you are asking God to rule in your heart and you are asking for the privilege to support the spread of his Word throughout the world.

When you pray “Your will be done on earth as in heaven,” you are admitting that you don’t know better and that God always knows best.

When you pray “Give us today our daily bread,” you are declaring that you are putting all your trust in God to provide for all your physical needs.

When you pray “Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us,” you are acknowledging that you have a personal need for forgiveness and that you need God’s help to be forgiving toward others.

When you pray “Lead us not into temptation,” you are enlisting the support of the Almighty to help you overcome the attacks of the devil, the world and your own sinful flesh.

When you pray “Deliver us from evil,” you are asking God to rescue you from all harm and danger on earth and to relocate you to the place he has prepared for you in heaven.

They say that all good things must come to an end. Maybe that’s what some of the disciples were thinking as they watched Jesus go up into the sky. Perhaps those same words can be applied to us this morning as we come to the end of another Easter season.

But we don’t have to be sad today. We can be glad that Jesus has ascended into heaven. We can be like the disciples who returned to Jerusalem with great joy (Luke 24:52) because we know that the ascension is not the end of the story. The Lord has promised that he is coming back, and this sequel won’t be as good as the original. For disciples of Jesus it will be even better. Amen.