"What Do We Do Now?"

A sermon preached at Edgemont Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) on Ascension Sunday 2008 by the Rev. Christopher E. Yopp. The sermon is based on Acts 1:6-14 and II Thessalonians 3:6-14.

Colleen Hitchcock has written a poem entitled “Ascension”. It reads:

“And if I go,

while you’re still here...

Know that I live on,

vibrating to a different measure

- behind a thin veil you cannot see through.

You will not see me,

so you must have faith.

I wait for the time when we can soar together again,

- both aware of each other.

Until then, live your life to its fullest.

And when you need me,

Just whisper my name in your heart,

...I will be there.”

Certainly, these words mirror those spoken by Christ’s to his disciples at his ascension. You may recall that over the past couple of weeks, our Gospel Lessons have focused on Jesus preparing his disciples for the time when he will no longer be with them in the flesh. And now, the time has come for them to leave them. But Jesus assures them that even though their relationship is changing, it is not ending. Even though he will no longer be with them in the flesh, physically; they will remain connected to him, spiritually, through the power and presence of the Holy Spirit – Parakletos.
This relationship wasn’t ending. Jesus promised not to leave them, nor us, comfortless. Jesus’ ascension wasn’t like that of Ickle Me, Pickle Me, Tickle Me too, as we are told in that infamous children’s poem as, “higher, and higher, and higher flew... over the sun and beyond the blue...” but poor…

“Ickle Me, Pickle Me, and Tickle Me too
Never returned to the world they knew
And nobody
Knows what’s
Happened to
Dear Ickle Me, Pickle Me and Tickle Me too.”

The ascension of Christ is told three times in the New Testament. We find it in the 1st chapter of the book of Acts, in the 24th chapter of the Gospel of Luke and in the 2nd century addition to Mark’s Gospel. Now, keep in mind, the concept of ascending to the heavens was common in the Hellenistic world. To be transported to the realm of the gods was generally interpreted as a sign of divinity and immortality for kings, heroes, prophets and even holy men. Without a doubt, the gospels and even the book of Acts tells the story of Jesus’ ascension as a way to further demonstrate his divinity, as well as a way to signal the beginning of the messianic kingdom.
With Jesus gone from their midst and the promised kingdom of the Messiah not yet a reality, certainly they must have thought; “What do we do now?” But Jesus reminded his disciples that they would receive power and strength when the Holy Spirit came and they would be his “witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” The assembled disciples posed the question in so many words. Jesus answered it, not only for that time, but for all time. The spiritual power of God that was at work in Jesus had now passed to the assembled community of men and women who followed him from Galilee to Jerusalem, had witnessed to his resurrection, and now formed a visible community of faith awaiting his return. The church remains that visible community of believers to this day.
Our Scripture Lesson makes a point to tell us that, after Jesus had ascended, the disciples stood there looking up in awe and amazement, and two angels appeared and said to them; “Why do you stand here looking into the sky?” And, you know, that’s a good question! We have a tendency to stand gazing up into the air, fixed and focused on the kingdom which is to come that we forget about our responsibility now. While we all long and wait for the full manifestation of God’s kingdom, but we must not forget nor neglect our responsibility to live out that kingdom here and now.
The Russian psychologist Pavlov, who pioneered in the techniques of conditioning, did experiments with dogs. He first rang a bell, and then a second later gave them some meat. After doing this a few times - he rang the bell - but did not give them the meat. Even though the dogs did not get the meat - they salivated - their whole system was geared to receiving meat when a bell rang. The experiment proved what Pavlov wanted it to prove - that animals - and indeed people could be taught to automatically respond to key signals.
Pavlov next wondered how long a period of time he could create between the time of ringing the bell and the time when the dogs would salivate. So he extended the time between ringing the bell and giving the dogs meat. It was quite successful - he could ring the bell and have the dogs go for a long period of time before they automatically salivated. But Pavlov finally ran into a problem. It seems that after a certain period of time the dogs would not salivate as he had hoped they would - instead they would fall asleep - and they would do this because their attention was so firmly fixed on where the meat was supposed to come from after the bell rang that their entire nervous system would begin to shut down. They concentrated so much on what they were waiting for that they had no energy left to keep themselves awake.
This was the problem Paul faced when he wrote his second letter to the Christians living in Thessalonica. Paul had stressed the imminent return of Christ in his first letter, so much so, that many of them had quit working because they thought Jesus was coming back at any moment and they didn’t see any reason to exert themselves. Many of them also felt as though they could just simply relax because there were plenty of wealthier members in the church who were always willing and ready to share. And so, they had become laxidasical. They were like the disciples on that first Ascension Day, gazing up into the heavens.

So Paul wrote this second letter, in part, to warn the Christians in Thessalonica that even though Christ is coming again there is still work that must be done and responsibilities that are to be fulfilled while awaiting “his glorious appearing.”
And to provide an illustration of this teaching, Paul pointed out that he had not abandoned his work as a tentmaker. Everywhere Paul spent much time, he established his tent-making business and began to take orders.
It has been said that lazy Christians are "so heavenly-minded that they are no earthly good." Certainly, that had become the case for many of the Christians living in Thessalonica, they were so heavenly-minded that they were no earthly good.
The word Paul uses in verse 6 as "idle" is the Greek word ataktos, which literally means, "to walk disorderly" or "to walk out of line" or "synch". In contrast, we see in verse 7 that Paul writes; "For you yourself know how you ought to follow our example. For we were not idle..." Paul, in verse 7 adds the Greek word ou, prior to atakteo, which literally means "to not behave disorderly" or "not to walk out of line." And, may I add, the disciples were not being “idle” when they were waiting in the upper room in Jerusalem, as Jesus had commanded them. Now, friends, I think it is important to understand that this was not a wasted time for the disciples. They were not being “idle” as Paul meant. Instead, they were praying and prayer is not an idle activity - for prayer aligns our will to the will of God. The Christian life is a balance of both work and rest, and our times of rest can be just a productive as our times of labor and work. For it is in such times of rest that we can learn to be more receptive, more open, more peaceful, and more ready to recognize God’s gifts in our lives and God’s presence among us.
The poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote:

"Let us, then, be up and doing,
With a heart for any fate;
Still achieving, still pursing,
Learn to labour and to wait."

I want to close with something that I read sometime back. Interestingly enough, there are two popular traditions in Africa: drinking tea and playing soccer. However, these traditions are not unique to Africa, but were brought to the continent by the British. Even when it is very hot, each afternoon in many parts of Africa they pause to drink hot tea. Why? Because the British who colonized Africa brought those traditions with them. Even though a person may have never visited the United Kingdom, they can get a glimpse of the U.K. by watching a soccer match and participating in tea time. They are doing in Africa as it is done in England.
Certainly, the disciples were asking themselves after Jesus’ ascension: “What do we do now?” And perhaps, we are asking ourselves the same question: “What do we do now?” In the same way, Africa reflects the British traditions of soccer and tea time; so people should get a glimpse of kingdom that Christ came to introduce by viewing our lifestyles as we allow God’s will to be done “on earth as it is in heaven.” We are ambassadors of Christ, we are called to point others to the kingdom. We have a responsibility to live as though the kingdom were already here. To share the wonderful message of God’s love and grace. My friends, John reminds us that the kingdom isn’t just something that we are waiting for but that the kingdom is within us, it is a part of us, we have a foretaste of this kingdom now through the power and presence of the Holy Spirit in us. And so, may we become a reflection.