Tuesday, September 9th

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Tuesday, September 9

Acts 1:1-8

In the first book, O Theophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach, until the day when he was taken up, after he had given commands through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. He presented himself alive to them after his suffering by many proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God. And while staying with them he ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, "you heard from me; for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”

So when they had come together, they asked him, "Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?" He said to them, "It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed 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 in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth." 

It’s the high school football season so maybe you can understand why I thought of football when I read this text. Then again, maybe not! 

But imagine a locker room filled with high school football players gathered in front their coach before the first game of the season. Before the coach has a chance to give his pre-game speech, one of the players raises his hand and says, “Coach, is this when we get the championship trophy?” 

I think the coach would be pleased that his players were dreaming of such an accomplishment, but he would also want to make sure they understood that such a dream would only become a reality if they, themselves, were totally invested in the process of making it happen. In other words, they would have to go out and make it happen on the field! 

These early disciples had to be both overjoyed and overwhelmed to have the risen Jesus back with them for a time. I can certainly understand their enthusiasm!

So when they had come together, they asked him, "Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?"

They had to be thinking this was it! The “Kingdom of God” that Jesus was always talking about during his ministry was actually going to happen! Jesus would be King and each of them would play a prominent role in his kingdom.

In essence Jesus says, “Not so fast.”

He said to them, "It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed 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 in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth." 

Simply put, Jesus is saying that his goal is to take the gospel to the whole world, and his method for doing that is his followers.

In Jesus we see that God is a “reaching God.” In Jesus God reached into human history with the good news of salvation. The Book of Acts tells us that the church is to be a “reaching community;” that the church is to carry out the mandate to take the gospel to the world.

That means that we are to be “reaching people;” that every believer has both the responsibility and the opportunity to reach others with the gospel.

Have you ever thought of yourself as a “reacher?” It might surprise you that Jesus thinks of you as just that! Jesus is saying that we are his marketing plan! 

As someone once wrote, “Christians are the only Bible most people will ever read.” 

Pastor Brian Coffey