Is it Time? (Acts 1:1-11)

Sermon as Preached at Lambs and Evington UMC on 6/1/14

Image Courtesy of Vanderbilt Divinity Library

Later this week Heather and I will have been married for 8 months now, and while for many of you that’s laughably short, for me it’s amazing how quickly the time has gone since that wedding day. I mean there is so much build up for that special day; for Heather and I we had dated in college and seminary for three years even before our engagement, and finally we were engaged and yet waited another year and a half before we walked down that aisle. And that year was full of change and expectation, I started my ministry here while Heather continued school, we dreamed of when we would live together, we dreamed of our wedding day, what we would wear, what music would play, where we would get married and who would officiate. With all of that expectation,  when the day finally did come it almost didn’t feel real, and in the blink of an eye the day was over… we were married. And yet now eight months in I start to wonder about what it was that we were really anticipating. Were we anticipating the day in which were united in holy matrimony or was it the marriage itself. Because in the matter of a few hours all of the preparation we had done for that wedding was gone and past, and yet the work of marriage had truly just started. We were finally married and yet it had really only just begun.

            I mention this because in our scripture for today we find the disciples of Christ waiting and expecting what they have dreamed and hoped for all of their lives. In their scriptures, which we must remember is only the Old Testament for them at this time, they have been hearing about this Messiah who would come and return Israel to its rightful place, and here is that Messiah, this man named Jesus.  They have followed him, watched him perform miracles, and listened to him tell stories of the Kingdom of God here on Earth and so they waited.  Jesus was then arrested and crucified, and while the disciples did not understand, while their faith was shaken, they waited, waited for the arrival of this Kingdom of God. Jesus rose from the grave restoring hope to the disciples and now for forty days they have followed him and prepared for this very moment, This moment when Christ would ascend to the throne. And so in great joy and expectation the disciples ask, “Lord, is this the time when you will restore the kingdom to Israel?"  And Christ replies, “It is not for you to know the times or periods that the Father has set by his own authority.”

            The disciples  seem to be asking the right question, all of their expectations have been waiting for this day in which Jesus Christ would reign, and when he ascends that is exactly what he does; he sits at the right hand of God the Father on the throne. So this must then be the time when the Kingdom is restored. And yet Jesus simply answers, “It is not for you to know the times or periods that Father has set by his own authority.”  Frustratingly Jesus neither gives us a simple yes or no.  At first glance it seems as though Jesus denies that this is the time of the Kingdom, and yet when we look at his reply we see that that is not the case, he simply tells us it is not for us to know the period or times set by the father.

            When we hear this we may become frustrated just like the disciples. We want to ask, has the Kingdom of God arrived on Earth or is it still to come, and the answer to this question is just as frustrating. This is not a yes or no question and yet the answer is simply yes.  Has the Kingdom of God arrived on Earth, yes!  Christ came to Earth as a human, took on our sinful and broken nature all the way to the cross, and then conquered it with his resurrection.  Freed us from our slavery to sin and death, and created with us a new covenant by water and the spirit. Christ freed us from ourselves so that we may truly follow him, and throughout his life both before and after the cross, Jesus taught us what following him would truly look like. Through all of this action Christ has created a new world order, Christ has established his Kingdom on Earth.

            And yet if we ask if the Kingdom is still to come then the answer is yes as well.  It is in fact a lot like a marriage. If after that wedding day, you ask if that couple is married then answer is of course yes.   But if you were to ask that couple if on that day their marriage was complete, well I’d hope they laugh, for it has only started. Our day of ascension is almost like that wedding day. Christ’s bodily ministry on Earth is over, he has done everything he has needed in order to establish his kingdom and now he takes his rightful place on the throne, the kingdom is established and nothing can take that away.  And yet though it is established, it is only the beginning; many years must come until it arrives in completion. How many years? Well now we are asking the disciples question, and we get the same response they did, it’s not for us to know.

            The question of how long or how soon is not what we should be focusing on. How long do I have with Heather, how long until our marriage is complete; 40, 50, 60 years, or 1 year, one month or even one day?  As humans we do not know when our lives will end, when the lives of our loved ones may end, and yet marriage it is not the  1 day or 60 years that matter, what matters is what you do with it. What matters is how we are working together to grow and strengthen our marriage each day.  And so likewise Jesus is telling us it is not for us to worry about when the Kingdom of God will come in completion. We have been the assurance that the Kingdom has been establish and nothing can change that. We have been given the hope that one day the world will be renewed and restored as the Kingdom comes in final glory and we feast at the heavenly banquet. It is not for us to worry about when, it is for us to worry about what we are doing to bring forth and build up that Kingdom in the meantime. How will we respond to the grace given to us by our Lord and savior Jesus Christ. How will we allow the power of the Holy Spirit to work through us?  How are we striving to bring forth the Kingdom of God?