Waiting on God (Luke 24:49-53, Acts 1:4-11)

Jesus met with his disciples on a number of occasions after his resurrection. No doubt Jesus taught them, encouraged them, and tried to build up their faith. In one famous incident, Jesus restored Peter in his discipleship, through refocussing Peter on what mattered most – “Do you love me more than these”, Jesus asked, to which Peter replied “Yes”, and then Jesus recommissioned Peter with the words “Feed my sheep” (John 21:15-19). But ultimately, these disciples were only human, and they would need significant Divine help if they were going to succeed on mission. The resurrection of Jesus changed a lot, but they would still need help in applying and sharing their new found understanding of God’s mission to the world. So these gathered disciples were given a promise. The Father would be sending them power from on high that would clothe them with effectiveness (Luke 24:49).

But what would these disciples have to do?? They would have to “stay here in the city”! Or as Acts 1 puts it: they were not to leave Jerusalem, “but to wait there for the promise of the Father” (Acts 1:4). This I think was quite a big ask … to stay exposed in a city where Jesus had been tortured and crucified and many of these disciples had previously felt highly threatened. The first Gospel written, Mark, makes the very raw admission, that following Jesus’ crucifixion and the scene of the empty tomb, all of the disciples scattered because of their fear (Mark 16:8)! In John’s Gospel, Jesus seems to later reconnect with his disciples after some of them had returned to their fishing business (John 21:1-3). So, given these emotional reactions, it was quite a big thing to ask them to now stay put in Jerusalem for an undetermined amount of time.

It turned out to be only ten days between Jesus’ ascension and the ‘Day of Pentecost’, but even a ten day wait may still have been a challenging and frightening concept for these disciples. I sometimes find it hard to wait one day for something I’m quite expectant about, let alone ten! So, a fair question would be … how well do we wait for God’s promises to come to fruition in our lives? How do we react to having to wait for God’s promises, or for God’s answer to our prayers, or for circumstances to change for the better??? The more mature we are in Christ, the more patient we would likely be!

The other question worth asking is: What do we do while we wait? Can we stay still enough to hear God’s voice or to clearly see God moving in a certain direction? Or, at the other end of the scale, can we be about the activities that help us be part of the solution – part of bringing about God’s promises? It’s likely NOT one or the other, stillness or activity, but rather a bit of both. So, what did the disciples do when Jesus asked them to wait (according to Luke)?? Refer chapter 24 verses 52 & 53 – the last two verses of Luke’s Gospel. These disciples worshipped Jesus, were obedient (yet with joy), and spent their time around the centre of spiritual activity … quote, “blessing God” – which would surely mean both: living how God would have them live, and, bringing due attention to God’s goodness and love.

In Acts, Luke adds another bit of dialogue that occurred between Jesus and his disciples … refer chapter 1 verse 6-8. Here the disciples asked Jesus a question about the future … if only they had a better idea of what the future held, then they would feel better about things (and feel better about waiting)! Why do you think Jesus answered in the way that he did?? First, faith is not about knowing the future, but rather about trusting God whatever the future might hold! And second, the job description of the disciples does not concern having all the answers, but rather about being witnesses (in the power of the Holy Spirit). So, in waiting, we have to be careful not to fall into diversions from the main game. We will find God’s promises fulfilled much more so in the main game than in the peripherals.

Jesus is saying: ‘Don’t be side-tracked by things like this – I’m about to lay out for you your ultimate mission – get on with this, and leave the rest to God’! God himself will not be a party to our diversions. So if we ever seem to be praying or waiting in vain, then this might reflect on what we are praying or waiting for! ‘No, don’t worry about what only God needs to know, just be my witnesses’. As the Holy Spirit empowers us to witness to the Jesus who once walked the earth, this job description of being witnesses to Jesus will involve addressing and embracing Jesus’ own job description (Luke 4:18-19), i.e. bringing good news to the poor, releasing captives, restoring sight to the blind, and letting the oppressed go free.

Then, in the Acts version of the ascension of Jesus, we have heavenly messengers speaking to the disciples, saying, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up toward heaven”? Now it would be understandable that these disciples would respond with awe and wonder at such a sight, but they had just been given their job description, and such a job description had some urgency attached. The heavenly beings did not want the disciples so caught up in this moment that they then became paralysed. If they had become content in this moment, or at this level of experience, they may have missed being together in Jerusalem in the one place when the Holy Spirit arrived (refer Acts 2:1)!! We can so easily become content, and thus miss something even greater or of more significance!

So, waiting then becomes a time of good preparation. And the biggest part of waiting seems to be actively watching, so that we don’t miss the sort of answers that God is bringing to us. God always fulfils his promises, but sometimes in surprising ways. Who would have expected all sorts of different people to hear the Gospel in their own language when being spoken by mere Galileans! Returning to Luke 24:52-3, the best waiting is done in the context of worship, joyful obedience, and an attitude of blessing God in the centre of one’s life.