Acts 1:1-14 (NRSV)

In the first book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus did and taught from the beginning until the day when he was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. After his suffering he presented himself alive to them by many convincing proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God. While staying with them, he ordered them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait there for the promise of the Father. “This,” he said, “is what you have 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, is this the time when you will restore the kingdom to Israel?” He replied, “It is not for you to know the times or periods that the Father has set 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, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” When he had said this, as they were watching, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. While he was going and they were gazing up toward heaven, suddenly two men in white robes stood by them. They said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up toward heaven? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.”

Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a sabbath day’s journey away. When they had entered the city, they went to the room upstairs where they were staying, Peter, and John, and James, and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James son of Alphaeus, and Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of James. All these were constantly devoting themselves to prayer, together with certain women, including Mary the mother of Jesus, as well as his brothers.

I was hanging out in the garage, coffee mug in hand, waiting for the plumber to arrive. One of the downsides of our family’s isolation is that Cheryl gets to spend more time looking at the list of items to be taken care of at some point our own personal deferred maintenance list and included in that list was an item (full disclosure, I added the item) to have the temperature control on our water heater checked.

Anyway, I was waiting for the plumber and I got to thinking about waiting. And impatience; and how we’ve gotten used to having everything now, right now. As an example, while waiting for the plumber and thinking about waiting I pulled out my cell phone and started dictating the words that I am speaking to you right now because, Well, because I can.

These little devices that we carry around have frankly more power and more capacity than a room full of computers ought to have. And that’s all in addition to their gift of immediacy of communication. I’m no longer amazed that I can pick up my phone and call a friend in Germany. I can even video chat with him. How long ago was it that such a conversation would take weeks, months, years?

And maybe you have discovered that your little hand-held device can connect you to a great dictionary, or encyclopedia, or Bible. It can also keep your calendar, manage your todo list (in case you were likely to forget to call the plumber to check the water heater), and share pictures of your ultra-cute grandchildren. Definitely one of the gifts (or perhaps it isn’t so much of a gift) of modern cellular technology is immediacy. It’s all here, right here, right now. We don’t have to wait for it.

I use the example of the cell phone with the understanding that there are those who don’t use their phone like I do. I freely admit to my geekishness. So if you aren’t as nerdy as I am don’t worry. There are many other examples of how we have bent technology to avoid waiting. Think about driving to Caldwell, or Ontario, or Pendleton. It wasn’t really that long ago that people would think of a drive out to Ustick in the same way we think of driving to Twin Falls. We’ve completely changed our concept of time and space. And along the way we’ve lost whatever patience we might have had with waiting.

So the disciples waited in Jerusalem for 40 days. Wimps! By my reckoning we’ve been waiting 70 days to be released from our virus imposed isolation. You’ll need to forgive me if I’m just a bit unsympathetic with Jesus’ followers’ impatience. “Is this the time…?” Now? Are you going to restore the kingdom of Israel now?

OK, we’ve got just a couple of issues here.

First, they are misunderstanding which kingdom Jesus was talking about. Have they not been listening? Apparently not. Nowhere, at no time, has Jesus mentioned restoring Israel (as in way the way the Maccabeans had kicked out the Greeks less than 200 years earlier). He spent a lot of time talking about the Kingdom of Heaven, God’s Kingdom, the great banquet and so forth but when Roman oppression is a fact of daily life it’s hard grasp these higher spiritual matters. And since they didn’t have our advantage of hindsight I guess the disciples could be forgiven for their misunderstanding.

Second, I think they still don’t grasp the concept that it is they, not Jesus, who will be doing the legwork. So…

Third, we have Jesus response. The spirit will come, “…and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” Which, as it turns out, is a pretty accurate project plan for the growth and mission of the church from that point until today.

“…my witnesses…” What does that mean? Here’s where things get complicated, or maybe they get easier, it’s hard to tell sometimes. If Jesus had laid down a set of rules – “Do these things and you will be good witnesses.” It would all be very straightforward. But he didn’t.

He told stories, parables designed to mask as much as they illuminated. You and I have spent quite a bit of time together over the past few years trying to unpack some of these parables. And it’s often hard to tease out what they meant for Jesus’ listeners, much less for us.

And He sparred with the religious leaders. It almost seems like he enjoyed his encounters, particularly with the Pharisees. It’s interesting that no matter how much he abused them, they kept coming back for more.

He healed, mind and body, generally without regard to whether the patient was a good Jew or a gentile, someone like him, or an “other.”

And finally, in the end, he demonstrated his incredible, amazing, all encompassing love for all of humanity by sacrificing himself on the cross, for our sake, even though we don’t deserve it, even though we weren’t even born yet.

Jesus left us with that rich full record of individual encounters and obtuse teaching to help us figure out, in every time and place, what it really means to be his witnesses. My favorite interpretation of what this all means is the simple quote; “Our task as Christians is to look for where the spirit is moving and get on board.” We don’t create God’s kingdom. We don’t defend God’s kingdom. We don’t even have to know what it’s all about. All we have to do is encounter people where they are, sharing the love we have experienced in Christ and thru others, inviting them to join us on this great adventure.

Of course sometimes that’s easier said than done. Our isolation over the past couple of months has impacted us in ways we don’t yet understand, and probably won’t until we are once again freed to share the simple pleasures of a hug and a handshake. Until then we wait, like the disciples waited.

But what do we do while we wait? While the disciples were waiting Jesus continued to teach them. You have to wonder what those lessons were like on this side, as they were, of his resurrection. I can imagine the conversations.

No Peter, when I say ‘feed my sheep’ I don’t mean literal sheep.

James and John, when I told you that you will drink my cup I wasn’t talking about wine.

And I’m sorry, It’s still up to my Father to decide where you sit in the Kingdom.

Look guys, when I talked about taking up your cross and following me, yes, I was referring to a literal cross, but don’t forget the rest of that teaching; “If what you are focused on is saving your lifestyle, that’s a sure way to lose it.

Don’t get so caught up in the things of this life that you lose your heart and soul.

And what else does Jesus teach us in this time? What about his teachings makes sense in new ways since we’ve experienced them in our isolation?

That’s a really big question. Which is a handy way of saying that I’m not going to try to answer it today. I’ll let you think about it this week. How do we understand Jesus’ teaching in a different way since we’ve experienced an extended social isolation?

Instead I’m going to deal with a few of the easier, more mundane questions we should be asking while we wait for life to open up a bit.

In this time of waiting what is it that we are waiting for? Are we waiting for a return to the world we remember from last fall? Was that world everything we wanted it to be? I’m guessing not. But if we humans are noted for our impatience – our inability to wait – another hallmark of humanity is our resistance to change – even if we acknowledge that the current situation isn’t the best or that changing it wouldn’t take a lot of effort. To quote author Matthew Scully “Sometimes tradition and habit are just that, comfortable excuses to leave things be, even when they are unjust and unworthy.” So while we may acknowledge that the world, our culture, our lives need to change we resist bringing that change about. In Matthew Jesus gives us some encouragement;

“Neither is new wine put into old wineskins; otherwise, the skins burst, and the wine is spilled, and the skins are destroyed; but new wine is put into fresh wineskins, and so both are preserved.”

Like it or not, the opportunity to change has been thrust upon us. I suspect that Jesus’ teaching is more than a bit prophetic. Trying to return life to just what it was will be like putting new wine in old wineskins – and the outcome won’t be good.

We have been given a second chance, World 2.0, the opportunity to look at ourselves, our communities, our culture, our world, and to ask a really important question. When this is over what do we want the world to be like? What kind of new wine will we put into our new wineskins? How will our culture reflect our values? What will drive us? Will it be anger? Fear? Love? Mutual respect?

Will we return to the rugged individualism that focuses on self-reliance and shies away from those in need? Or will we bring forth a new understanding of community – one that acknowledges that we are at our best when all voices are heard and all mouths are fed?

Back in the days when I had a desk where I would go every workday and do work stuff, I had a note posted on my computer monitor; “All things come to those who wait – as long as they work like heck while they are waiting.”

If you were perfectly happy with the way the world was last fall you’ve probably already tuned me out. But if you are still with me, if you have begun to wonder if you were OK with that world only because it was easier to adapt than to change it, then you are invited to join me in being really scared. Because we who have been wondering if there is a better way are confronted with another of the aphorisms from my old worklife; “If not me, who? If not now, when?” Take up your cross and follow me begins to take on a whole new meaning when you think of “following Jesus” in the very practical terms of trying to visualize a world of abundance where there is enough food and shelter and education and healthcare and community and love to share with everyone.

Ultimately, though, visualizing such a world is much easier than actually bringing it to reality. Just saying those words I’m humbled by the enormity of the change. Here’s some good news, though. First, we aren’t alone. We don’t have to bring about the change by ourselves. (Although if you make enough noise about it there might be a Nobel Prize in it for you.) Whatever we can visualize there are people and organizations already at work on our dreams.

A marginally famous man once said; “Jesus left us with a rich full record of individual encounters and obtuse teaching to help us figure out, in every time and place, what it really means to be his witnesses. My favorite interpretation of what this all means is the simple quote; ‘Our task as Christians is to look for where the spirit is moving and get on board.’” It’s not a whole lot more complicated than that.

So here’s your assignment for this week. Find a quiet place and a mug of tea (or coffee, or whatever beverage calms your soul). Sit in the quiet and ask God to help you think about how the world ought to work if it were based on community, mutual love and respect, an attitude of abundance. Then do a bit of research. Find organizations that are working toward a vision like yours, and ask how you can help.

I’ve been characterizing this period of isolation and waiting as; “Mother nature put is in time-out.” Perhaps there’s some reality there. Perhaps we’re meant to use this time of waiting to rethink how we live, what we value. Jesus spent 40 days teaching about the kingdom of God. Maybe this is our time to learn those same lessons.

Amen