Word of Salvation – Vol.33 No.19 - May 1988

The King’s Kingdom

Sermon by Rev. M.C. de Graaf on Acts 1:6-11

Scripture Reading: Ps. 79:5-13; Catechism: L.D. 18

Suggested Hymns:

PH: 42; 204; 125; BoW H.507; H.707

Brothers and Sisters,

I guess we all know that Karl Marx and his followers are not very keen on Christianity – OR ACTUALLY, TO BE MORE FAIR AND ACCURATE – they are not keen on what they perceive as "religion" in general.  Not only do Christians get persecuted but so do Muslims, and Jews and whoever believes in something other than the State ideology.

Many of us know about this of course.  We've read about Christian pastors being imprisoned and Jewish leaders being "internally exiled."  BUT I wonder how many of us have given any thought to what kind of thinking lies behind these actions.  ON THE ONE LEVEL, OF COURSE – we can say that in all this we see Satan at work.  As the book of Revelation shows us he is working hard with all his (limited) power to fight the bride of Christ...!!

BUT (obviously enough I guess) THAT'S NOT WHAT THE MARXIST HIMSELF SAYS.  Karl Marx had various problems with "religion", but one of his main problems was that he believed that religion was an "opiate" to the people!!  In other words, it puts people to sleep, they become so obsessed with some "new world" that they turn a blind eye to the pain and suffering and injustice of this world.

NOW YOU AND I KNOW THAT (basically and foundationally) MARX MISSED THE POINT.  He and his followers cannot see Jesus for who He REALLY is: the Christ, the Son of God.  Nor have they carefully read the Old Testament prophets or the New Testament teachings on the Kingdom!!  ALSO, SIGNIFICANTLY, they do not really understand what the Bible calls "sin" and the need for salvation and conversion.

AND YET – when I look at the history of the church, OR even if I look at the Church TODAY – I can't help but wonder if maybe, just maybe, Marx had (at least) a sub-point.  And maybe the Church has missed it!

Maybe he's not the only one who cannot see the challenge and the true radicalness that lies at the heart of the Kingdom!

When we look at this first chapter of Acts and the various things that are said and done within it – we see that perhaps even the DISCIPLES had not yet seen these things.

JUST LOOK AT THE TWO THINGS THAT THEY DO IN OUR TEXT.

1.  FIRSTLY they ask that unbelievable question.

2.  SECONDLY they stand there staring into heaven.

1  FIRSTLY THEN THAT UNBELIEVABLE QUESTION.

I call it "unbelievable" because when you first read it you wonder what the disciples have been doing for the last three years.  It seems to indicate a very narrow vision on their part.  A vision that despite the transfiguration and the resurrection is still very much set out in purely HUMAN TERMS.  "Is this now the time that you are going to restore the Kingdom to Israel?”

After three years of teaching, the disciples still seem to be little different from most other Jews Jesus had met.  They still seem to think of him as little more than purely a Jewish "political Messiah", not unlike Joshua or David.  Through him at last they would be liberated from the Romans.

Even after Good Friday and Easter they still did not see HOW MUCH MORE PROFOUND THE LIBERATION OF JESUS WAS.  They still did not see how the cross had changed the WHOLE DIRECTION OF HISTORY.

To be fair, of course, they weren't really any different from any other sinful human being.  They could not hope to understand until, at last, the Spirit burst through their ignorance on Pentecost morning.

BUT FOR NOW – we still see that NARROWNESS in their thinking.

2.  SECONDLY, we also see IN THEM a certain helplessness.

Look at them there, (in verse 10) staring off into heaven.  It must have been a strange feeling for them.  It was not the first time that Jesus had disappeared into a cloud.  Just think of the Transfiguration.

BUT THIS WAS DIFFERENT: their friend, their master, the man who had walked with them and taught them for three years, their Lord and King, was leaving them.  He had been so close; he had guided and instructed these ignorant, often confused fishermen from Galilee and now, now He was gone.  NO WONDER THAT THEY STOOD THERE FOR SO LONG STARING UP INTO THE SKY.  They must have deeply felt that separation.

BUT, of course, in the end this passage is not about NARROWNESS nor is it about HELPLESSNESS – there is another much clearer picture being painted for us.

IN CONTRAST TO THE NARROWNESS AND THE HELPLESSNESS of those disciples, we see the wide all-encompassing greatness and power of their Lord.  He says, "Hey, don't get caught up in the times and the dates of this world – that belongs to the Father (He's responsible for the wider picture).  YOU, YOU are to be witnesses to the GOOD NEWS throughout this world".

That word "witness", of course, is a significant one.  In a trial, a witness has a significant role.  He is a person who speaks what he believes is the truth (not just hearsay).  He proclaims it to all around him – (and that of course does not just include words but also what he does).  FURTHERMORE, he stands up for it.  In the Greek the word for "witness" is the same as the word for "martyr".  To be a witness means to be loyal to the truth no matter what the cost.

WHEN WE READ ON IN ACTS WE SEE THAT that loyalty would cost some of the disciples their lives.  Others would be thrown out of cities, seen as outcasts by their own people.

Jesus had given them quite a calling.  Perhaps it's little wonder that they stood there staring into heaven.  Maybe that's why so many Christians today are still doing the same: listening to sweet music and hiding their faith away in churches.  The World can be so overwhelming.  BUT there is more than just a command here, at the beginning of Acts.  There are also promises!

(A)  The first promise is made by Jesus Himself.  He doesn't just say "go and be my witnesses" (like saying to me: go run to Newcastle!).  No, first he says they will be empowered by the Spirit.  Through that power those uneducated, impetuous fishermen, from a backward part of a backward country would spread the gospel throughout the known world.

Within a generation the heart of the Empire would hear about Jesus.  Within three generations its emperor would himself be a Christian.  Jesus continues His work through His disciples, His servants.

(B)  The second promise in our text is made by those two men (probably angels) who speak to those wonder-struck disciples: "Hey, why are you looking up there for – don't you know he is going to come back?

And if that is true, then you shouldn't just stand there staring off into heaven all day, feeling discouraged or confused.  You've got things to do – a King to be witnesses to – a Kingdom to proclaim and work for!".

THERE IS A GUARANTEE THAT HE IS INVOLVED AND THAT He will return to claim what is His.  In a round-about way that brings us back where we started from.  So many Christians see the Kingdom equals heaven (that pie in the sky when we die!).

This first chapter of Acts, reminds us of the Christ's deep concern for this earth.  He who has ascended, will return.  He will send His Spirit, so that we can be empowered; not to be an opiate – putting people to sleep, tucking them in with nice bed-stories.  But rather, we are empowered to be a light for people lost in darkness!  WITNESSES TO THE GOOD NEWS!  Jesus has come – there is an answer.  As the angel had said at the beginning of Luke's first book: We bring good news of great joy – a Saviour has come, the Christ the Lord!  Through Him there can be peace with God and reconciliation between men.

That is the Kingdom to which we belong.  We are part of it – right now.

AMEN.