Scripture reading: 1 John 3:16-24.

Sermon text: Acts 1:1-12

What must we know to take the gospel to the world?

Jesus’ disciples experienced the full range of emotion over the weekend of Easter. From Jesus’ crucifixion to His resurrection, the disciples ranged from despair to ecstasy in only a few days. In the disciples’ minds, Jesus’ resurrection both validated their trust in Him and catapulted their hopes for Israel to new heights. To the disciples, any man who could defeat death could certainly fulfill every promise God had ever made to Israel: Promises to exalt their nation, promises to restore the worship in Jerusalem, and promises to bring heaven to earth.

Over the 40 days after His resurrection, Jesus had given His disciples His final teachings and instructions. On the day of the sermon text, Jesus had walked with His disciples to the Mount of Olives, “a Sabbath day’s journey away.” Jesus told the disciples to stay in Jerusalem, waiting for “the promise of the Father.” Jesus had promised the disciples, “you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”

Apparently the disciples had forgotten a major point about Jesus’ ministry: He had told them He would leave them (John 14:28). Still, the disciples asked him, “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” After everything Jesus had told them, the disciples still wanted Jesus to crush the Romans, humiliate the Greeks, and elevate the Jews to their “rightful” place above all Gentiles.

Jesus would establish a kingdom, but not as the disciples imagined it.

Jesus told the disciples, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed 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 and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

Then, as Jesus “said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight.” After everything they had witnessed in Jesus’ ministry, including the healings, the miracles, and His resurrection, the disciples now saw Jesus rise into the sky and disappear behind a cloud. Nothing the disciples had seen could prepare them for this.

Fortunately, Jesus didn’t leave the disciples without an explanation. “And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes, and said, ‘Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.’” The angels gave the disciples another promise; Jesus would return as He left.

This passage tells us plenty about the real purpose of Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection, and it doesn’t apply to the exaltation of one nation over all the Gentiles.

Jesus could have remained on the earth and directed His disciples in His plan to expand the kingdom of God. He could have led armies against the Romans, He could have overwhelmed the Greek philosophers, He could have walked into the Temple and revealed Himself to the Jewish worshipers. The Jews had waited for centuries for a Messiah; they would have thrown themselves at anything with a resurrected Messiah at their helm.

Yet, Jesus had a greater plan in mind, a plan that would spread the gospel both through space and time.

Jesus expected the disciples and their converts to participate in the spreading of the gospel; Jesus expected the disciples and their converts to overcome the principalities and powers that had enslaved humanity and brought misery to untold millions. The task Jesus gave the disciples would require far more power than they could ever manage to accumulate on their own. The disciples would face all the worldly authorities committed to maintain the status quo: The Sanhedrin in Jerusalem, the Greek philosophers in Athens, the Romans in Caesarea and in Rome itself. Only the Holy Spirit could empower the disciples to overcome the opposition that faced them.

The Holy Spirit would give power to the disciples and their converts (including a man we know as St. Paul) to spread the gospel, first to Jerusalem, then beyond. The Holy Spirit would enable the disciples to confront the Jewish authorities and tell them, “There is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). The Holy Spirit would empower St. Paul to tell the Roman rulers, “Christ must suffer and that, by being the first to rise from the dead, he would proclaim light both to our people and to the Gentiles” (Acts 26:23).

The gospel changes everyone who encounters a living Jesus. We stand condemned before God because of our sin, because of our pride, envy, arrogance, and lust; only the name of Jesus can restore a relationship between fallen humanity and our loving God. St. Paul would later write, “God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life” (Romans 5:8-10). Everyone who calls on the name of Jesus will receive the Holy Spirit as Jesus promised the disciples.

Throughout history, Christians have proclaimed the name of Jesus as the only way to God, the only way to experience redemption from sin and death. Christians have proclaimed the name of Jesus as the only way to eternal life, eternal life that begins at the moment of conversion and continues forever. Christians have transformed societies, protected the helpless, and brought light to a darkened world, all through proclaiming the one Name that can save humanity.

I see this as our primary task today as well. I know that many people have tried to redefine the gospel over the centuries, believing they were advancing the kingdom of God. Instead, these people have tried to create a kingdom in their own image: A kingdom in which secular governments enforced Christian morality. Instead, people who rely on secular powers to achieve spiritual transformation will always find themselves co-opted by those powers. The Church exists to proclaim the one Name of Jesus and change lives, but we must do so by allowing the Holy Spirit to empower us and by allowing the Holy Spirit to awaken the ones to whom we testify of the power of God.

I know we often think we can change the world by other ways or by other means, but only the name of Jesus can truly change lives. Like the disciples, we must start at home, in our “Jerusalem.” Everyone among our families and friends must see the transforming power of the Holy Spirit in our lives before they’ll believe He can change them as well.

Then, we must go beyond our Jerusalem into our “Judea,” the areas connected to our lives. New Hope belongs to an association of churches that work in our county to spread the gospel of Jesus in our Judea. Our association will meet today to call a new director of missions to assist our efforts to spread the gospel.

What about “Samaria?” The disciples probably wish Jesus had skipped Samaria; the Jews and Samaritans hated each other and had for centuries. Yet, Jesus didn’t encourage the disciples to go to the Samaritans; He commanded them to go there. We cannot choose those to whom we proclaim the gospel; we must tell the gospel to all people around us.

Then, we must go “to the end of the earth.” The disciples began traveling throughout the Roman world and beyond within only a few years of Jesus’ ascension. St. Thomas traveled to India, preaching in Persia along the way.  St. Paul spread the gospel throughout the Roman Empire, including to Rome itself. St. Peter carried the gospel to Rome as well. St. Jude and St. Bartholomew converted the king of Armenia. The Church has spread the gospel to every nation as believers have journeyed around the world.

Only one Name can save the world — and we have it. Go proclaim it.