Faithfully Waiting for What Comes Next

Acts 1: 6-11

Roger Lynn

September 11, 2016

(click here for the audio for this sermon)

The Church was in a time of transition. What was had come to an end. What would be had not yet taken shape. And so it was that the faithful found themselves gathering together, waiting for what comes next. We know what that feels like. In fact, it is a common human experience. The situation I just described is the first century church from the beginning of the book of Acts but it sounds remarkably fresh and familiar. It can be helpful sometimes to remember that the path upon which we currently find ourselves has been trod by others who have gone before us. We are not alone. We are in good company.

This congregation is also in a time of transition. I’ve been your pastor for a little bit less than a year. We are still getting to know each other, and we are still figuring out what comes next. Unlike those first-century disciples, I don’t think we are experiencing a lot of lost and confused feelings, nor are we particularly sad and overwhelmed, but there certainly is a sense of waiting for what comes next. With that in mind we turn to Luke’s story in Acts to see what we might glean.

As Luke tells the story, both at the end of the Gospel of Luke and again at the beginning of Acts, there was a period of forty days following the first Easter when the faithful followers of Jesus experienced his resurrected presence in a variety of forms and settings. As they struggled to make sense of what had happened, the living presence of Christ among them began to guide them in the process of reshaping their lives and their world. Fear and confusion gradually gave way to peace and understanding. Healing transformed brokenness into new wholeness.

It is no accident that Luke describes this period in terms of forty days. Forty is one of those numbers that makes frequent appearances throughout scripture, and it is usually significant and worth paying attention to. Luke is almost certainly not trying to tell us that five weeks and five days had elapsed on the calendar. It isn’t about the passage of time in a chronological sense. This is about time as it is measured by our souls. Forty is biblical code language used to tell us that something important is at stake. As one of my clergy colleagues once put it, “it is ‘a long time’ and the amount of time it takes to do what needs to be done.” So it was that the Hebrew people wandered in the wilderness for forty years, figuring out what it meant to be God’s “Chosen People.” Jesus spent forty days in the wilderness, figuring out what his ministry would look like. And the followers of Jesus spent forty days figuring out what life was like on this side of the resurrection. “Forty days” is transition time – the time between what was and what is yet to be. It is the time it takes to let go of what was and get ready to embrace what comes next, remembering that what is coming will be connected to what was but it will also be different from what was.

And when we find ourselves in such a transition time the temptation is to get through it as quickly as possible. Jesus’ disciples ask him, “is this the time when you will restore the kingdom of Israel?” (Acts 1:6) Can we get on with it now? Or in the words of every small child who has ever been in the back seat of the family car on a road trip, “Are we there yet?” We frequently fail to recognize any value in the experience of being in the time of transition. It is simply what must be endured before the next thing comes along. We just want it to be over and done with, preferably now, or at least very soon.

But there can be value in learning to wait faithfully. “It is not for you to know the times or periods that God has set...” Jesus says. (Acts 1:7) God’s timing is not our timing, and faithful waiting is all about becoming attuned to God’s timing. Faithful waiting is not passive. It is not sitting in the doctor’s waiting room distracting ourselves by reading a three year old magazine. Faithful waiting means being actively engaged in seeking God’s presence, God’s guidance, God’s timing.

And so at the end of the forty days Jesus departs from them. The way things were has come to an end. What comes next will be something other than simply “more of the same.” And waiting for that next stage of the journey can be uncomfortable. We want assurances. We want the comfort of knowing. And sometimes what we get instead is the opportunity to practice faithful waiting. Here at Plymouth we are still living into the “what comes next.” In truth, we will always and forever be living into the “what comes next.”

In the story Luke tells about Jesus’ ascension, the disciples are standing around staring into space with their mouths hanging open when they are called back to the present reality by the heavenly visitors who ask, “why do you stand looking up toward heaven?” (Acts 1:11) In other words, don’t get stuck – don’t become so focused on what was, or even on what presently is, that you are unable to start getting ready for what will be. For those early followers of Jesus, and for us, “getting ready” includes being intentional about spending time in prayer – listening for God’s guidance and direction.

The writer of Ecclesiastes reminds us that there is a time for everything. Sometimes it is a time to prepare. Sometimes it is a time to wait. And always it is a time to remember that in God’s time we receive the power of God’s own Holy Spirit to do what needs to be done. May we actively, intentionally, faithfully, prayerfully and patiently wait for what is coming next from the gracious heart of God.