Final Instructions

Ascension of the Lord, Year C
1 June 2025

Acts 1:1-11
Psalm 47 or Psalm 93
Ephesians 1:15-23
Luke 24:44-53

 

My grandfather was a kind person. He lived a long life. He died just one month short of his 102^nd birthday. What I remember most clearly about my grandfather was his strong faith in God. In one of my last visits with him, my grandfather pointed upward with his finger and said to me (in the Dutch language), “Mijn zonden zign vergaven!” My sins are forgiven.

Toward the end of his life my grandfather was made very aware of the fact that he was a sinner who needed forgiveness. His reminder came with the death of my grandmother who died at the age of 93 in 1997 five years before my grandfather died. She and my grandfather had been married for 76 years. After my grandmother died, my grandfather was angry at everyone around him. He said some nasty things. It got so bad that the matron at the senior center where my grandparents lived told my uncle that my grandfather would have to move out of the center.

So my uncle sat down with his 98 year old father and told him that he might have to pray that his father would die. I was shocked to hear what my uncle said to his father. But that conversation changed everything for my grandfather. My grandfather changed. My grandfather became a better person. Starting that day my grandfather told people that his sins were forgiven – even the sins he had committed after the death of his wife.

And my grandfather did not stop with his talk about forgiveness. That day, during my last visit with my grandfather, he also said to me (again in the Dutch language) “de genade van God!” The grace of God. My grandfather, an old man who missed his wife dearly, an old man who was almost blind, an old man confined to a wheel chair, an old man now living in the extended care wing of a hospital, was thankful that because of God’s grace, his sins were forgiven. These final words my grandfather spoke to me were my grandfather’s final instructions to me about God’s grace, God’s forgiveness, and the joy of a life lived with thankfulness.

Our reading from Acts this morning is filled with final instructions – final instructions from Jesus, final instructions to his disciples but also final instructions to us…..Jesus also says to us “you will be my witnesses in Richmond, Vancouver, White Rock, Surrey, Langley. You will be my witness at whatever place on earth that is your home today. “

This last encounter between Jesus and his disciples was the final event that the disciples never forgot in the same way that I will never forget my final encounter with my grandfather. In some ways the ascension of Jesus marked the continuation of what Jesus did and taught. But now it was the disciples who were doing and teaching.

But in many ways there was a finality to this occasion. In addition to the final instructions from Jesus to the disciples, there was a final charge by Jesus for the disciples to wait in Jerusalem. The charge to wait is followed by a final favorite question by the disciples to Jesus, a final answer by Jesus, followed by the departure of Jesus and at the end a final promise spoken by 2 strange men in white robes.

We need to pay attention to the details of these final events. Notice that the final commands from Jesus are specifically to the disciples. At this point we are not told what these final commands are. But the commands are specifically for people who were with Jesus from the time of his baptism until the ascension – people who were first hand witnesses of all Jesus did and said.

If you would like to know what these instructions or commands by Jesus to the disciples were, I encourage you to read the rest of the book of Acts. There you will hear the apostle Peter tell his fellow Israelites, “God has made Jesus both Lord and Messiah …. Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus…so that your sins may be forgiven ….” In the rest of the book of Acts you will hear Philip proclaim the good news about Jesus to an Ethiopian eunuch, a man no self-respecting Jew would normally talk to. You will hear Paul talk about Jesus in the synagogues of Damascus saying “Jesus is the Son of God.” Just like my grandfather 20 years ago these witnesses tell people that because of the grace of God their sins are forgiven.

But there are more finals in our reading from Acts. The final command is followed by a final charge from Jesus to the disciples. The final charge was a hard one. The final charge is to WAIT! Wait in Jerusalem. Wait for the promise of the Father. As John baptized with water, you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit. As the water of baptism made a person ready for God to come, the Holy Spirit is the sign that a whole new era in our relationship with God has begun. The Holy Spirt will guide and direct what the disciples say and what the disciples do.

I have a confession to make. For all of my life I have not been good at waiting. When I see a problem that I can fix, I want to fix if right away. I cannot even wait for my morning toast to pop out of the toaster. I push the button to make the toast come out and then I am unhappy that the toast is not toasted properly yet!

The disciples were no different. Waiting is difficult. The disciples’ final question for Jesus proves my point. These people had a problem. They expected Jesus to solve their problem. So they ask Jesus what I believe is their favorite question, “Lord, is this the time when you will restore the kingdom to Israel?”

The disciples’ problem was that their country was under Roman oppression. Jesus was supposed to save Israel from their enemies. Jesus was supposed to save them from the hand of all who hated them. The Jews had already waited 400 years for God to keep his Promise to free them from their oppressors. The disciples concern was for the freedom of Jews under Roman oppression. The disciples were not concerned about outsiders, about other people who were not Jews.

The final answer Jesus gives to the disciples concern for their own people is a disappointment to the disciples. Maybe it is also a disappointment for us who are now living in an age where family and country come ahead of a concern for other people who are not “one of us.” Jesus tells the disciples: “It is not for you to know the times or periods that the Father has set by his own authority.” They have an important task. Their task is to be witnesses for Jesus, witnesses to all people, even outsiders.

And, their task is to tell the facts; their task is to tell people all they heard Jesus teach and their task is to tell people all they saw Jesus do. And their witness to Jesus’ words and actions will go well beyond the boundaries of Israel. Their witness begins in Jerusalem and Judea but then quickly moves to Samaria and to the ends of the earth. Whatever God’s purpose is for the nation of Israel is not their concern. Their concern is with the ongoing work and teaching of Jesus.

What are our ongoing concerns this morning? As a young father 40 years ago my concerns were for my young family. My concerns included fulfilling the demands of my employer. The concerns changed over the years. Today’s concerns are different concerns. Today’s concerns center on age related physical concerns, concerns for our adult children and their children, but also concerns for Canada, for the environment…..the list goes on and on. These are all important concerns. They require our attention. But for the Christian, our primary concern is the ongoing work and teaching of Jesus. We do the work of Jesus when we care for our families, when we care for our neighbours, when we care for our country, or when we work to improve the environment. But we are also concerned with the ongoing teaching of Jesus.

The final answer by Jesus to the disciples’ final question is followed by the departure of Jesus. As the disciples watch, Jesus is lifted up (we are not sure how this happens) and a cloud (a sign of God’s glory) takes Jesus out of their sight.

One commentator on the book of Acts suggests that the departure of Jesus is very similar to the story in the Old Testament about the departure of the prophet Elijah. Elijah’s mantle gets passed on to his successor, the prophet Elisha as Elijah is taken up to heaven. In the same way that Elijah’s power is transferred to Elisha, the power and authority of Jesus passes on to his witnesses. The disciples now do the ongoing work of Jesus and continue the teaching of Jesus.

If you would like to know how the disciples understand the departure of Jesus, you will want to read Acts chapter 2 where Peter explains to his fellow Israelites, “this Jesus God raised up… Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God…..God has made Jesus both Lord and Messiah.” The central concern for the book of Acts is Jesus, the one who is Lord (God), the one who is Messiah, the one who my grandfather declared as his Saviour, the one who made possible the forgiveness my grandfather so desperately needed.

Our reading from Acts this morning ends with the final promise from two strange men in their white robes. They ask the disciples a final question as the disciples continue to stare for a final glimpse of Jesus. They ask, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up toward heaven?” Their question is a mild rebuke. The earth, not the sky is to be their preoccupation. They are to stop staring in the hope of another glimpse of Jesus and begin to look outward to the people around them.

But the rebuke is followed by a final word of promise. “This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.” God will complete the plan. Jesus, taken up, now exalted at the right hand of God, this same Jesus will return in the same way you saw him go into heaven. The promise of his return is a promise the disciples held onto for the rest of their lives. It’s a promise my grandfather held onto. It’s a promise that I trust we too hang onto.

In the meantime we have work to do. The Holy Spirit has come upon us. We are empowered to be witnesses.

For many of us, the word “witness” for Jesus is uncomfortable. When we think of witnesses we think of the disciples who were physically present to witness what Jesus said and did. Or we think of modern televangelists who promise physical rewards, what they call blessings, for those who commit their lives to Jesus. Or maybe we think of someone like Billy Graham, who in his time was able to attract thousands of people and tell them simple stores from scripture and follow this up with a call for people to come forward to follow Jesus. Or maybe we think of an obnoxious Christian at our place of work who likes nothing better that to show people just how holy they are.

Instead of thinking of witnesses for Jesus in these ways I suggest we think of my grandfather in his wheel chair in that care home. My grandfather simply listened to his visitors when they came around. Later he prayed for God to help his visitors with whatever needs they shared with him. And my grandfather was also able to say to me and others “My sins are forgiven because of the grace of God.”

If you read further in the book of Acts this week you will learn that the religious rulers and elders of Israel soon realize that 2 of the disciples, Peter and John, are uneducated, ordinary men. They also know that Peter and John were companions of Jesus.

Jesus calls ordinary people to be his witnesses. We are ordinary people. We are not well educated when it comes to having gone to Bible school or seminary. And we were not there to witness first hand all that Jesus said and did.

But week by week we hear stories about the ongoing work of Jesus and the ongoing teaching of Jesus. Week by week, our liturgy includes the words, “By water and the Holy Spirt God gives you a new birth, and through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, God forgives you all your sins.” This is great news, that in our own faltering ways, we are able to share with people we encounter in Richmond, Ladner, Vancouver, Surrey, Langley, or whatever place on earth we live our lives.

May God help us to continue to be the voice of his disciples.

Amen.

(Ron Vonk)