Back in the days before cell phones leashed us to work, commerce, and distraction, it was easier to vacate. Connie and I used to vacation along the Outer Banks of North Carolina: Ocracoke, Salter Path and Cape Hatteras. Below the dunes, cell coverage was spotty. So after the kids drifted off to sleep, I walked up the wooden steps up to the pagoda overlooking the mysterious black ocean. Sometimes, I raised my handheld Motorola up to the night sky hoping for a few  bars.  That early 1990’s Motorola, “the Brick” was 10 inches long plus an 8 inch antenna. It weighed 2 pounds. I risked wildy unregulated roaming fees, to check my voicemail for urgent messages from home or the church. If I had a pressing message, I walked to the camp store and stood in line, waiting my turn to type my calling card number into a payphone to make a long distance call.   

In those ancient pre-connective days, Connie would craft pages of elaborate handwritten notes for our dog sitter.  These prescriptions shared where the dog food, leash, bowls were; when to feed the dog, when to walk the dog, the vet’s number, the emergency vet’s number, neighbors who might help find a roaming dog, circuit breaker box and emergency water cut off location, the campground phone number, my parent’s number,  and many more more highly detailed instructions.  Connie wanted to be sure that whoever was taking care of our beloved Millie knew what to do without us around. 

In the Hebrew Bible, Moses came down from The Mountain carrying two stone tablets inscribed with 10 Commandments. Deuteronomy and Exodus tell us that God, God’s-very-self, carved these instructions in stone.  If you keep reading you will see Moses left almost 10 chapters of instructions for the people to follow like “If you lend money to people who are poor you shall not collect interest from them” (Ex 22:25).  The verses read as if God spoke the words to Moses directly and Moses wrote them down exactly like a sanctified stenographer. Such divine dictation is not the Biblical norm. Acts begins with an unnamed author writing, “In the first book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and teach.”  The Book of Luke begins telling us that the writer “carefully investigated everything from the beginning” to give us an orderly account.  In the Bible, Divine dictation is an exception than the norm. 

Acts tells us that in the 40 days between Easter and Ascension Sunday Jesus “appeared to the disciples and taught them about the Kingdom of God”. Strangely, our writer does not tell us much of what our Risen Lord taught!  I have been wondering why Jesus did not write down some official detailed instructions for the church?  In those 40 days, why did Jesus not pull together some kind of an official record, authorize creed, or dictate a guidebook? Jesus leaves earth leaving a lot up in the air, like…  

• What makes someone a Christian? 
• What books belong in the Bible?
• Should Christians keep worshipping in the Jewish Temple?
• What is the proper order of Christian worship?
• What are the proper creeds or church charters? 
• Sprinkled, poured or dunked? 
• Can we eat cheeseburgers or is Kosher food a requirement?
• Or as Hunter shared last week,  is it okay to eat in the home of a gentile? 

Jesus heads off to heaven without personally signing off on any official books, instructions, or creeds.  Yes, we have four gospels, written after Jesus ascended, but sometimes they do not perfectly align. In Matthew 28, Jesus’ last words to the church are not about waiting in Jerusalem for the Holy Spirit but going out into the world: “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit and teaching them to uphold everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” Matthew 5 instructs “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” Luke 6 only shares “blessed are the poor”   Luke leaves out “Blessed all the peacemakers”  What do we make of these Biblical differences? 

Could it be that Jesus: (First Born From the Dead, the Very Image of God, fully divine and fully human, the True Vine, the Way, the Truth, the Life, the very Word of God Made Flesh,) was not as concerned with the exact wording of Scripture as some Christians are today? 

In Acts, just before the ascension, the disciples still have questions for Jesus: “Lord, when are you going to restore God’s kin-dom on earth?  Jesus does not answer their questions, instead Jesus replies “It is not for you to know, but (hear this) 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.”  Instead of an answer Jesus offers us powers. “God, when will you make everything right?”  Jesus answers, “you have power to remake this world.” Don’t just stand there looking up at heaven, the power is within you.  John’s telling invokes the creation story, Jesus breathed on them and said “receive the Holy Spirit!” Maybe spiritual empowerment matters more than answers? Perhaps the gift of the Holy Spirit is better than a pile of Bible verses? 

And there may be a lesson in the fact that Jesus entrusted his story and mission to the same disciples who forty three days before denied even knowing Jesus?  Could it be that Christianity is not about knowing all the answers but about abiding in a deep communion with the Creator, Christ, the Holy Spirit and one another? In 1 Corinthians 4:20 Paul writes “God’s kingdom isn’t about words but about power.’  In Romans 15:13 Paul shares “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in faith so that you overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit”.  Paul writes to his friends in Ephesus “I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, will give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation that makes God known to you. I pray that the eyes of your heart will have enough light to see what is the hope of God’s call, what is the richness of God’s glorious inheritance among believers, and what is the overwhelming greatness of God’s power that is working among us believers.” and a little later “This is why I kneel before the Father. Whom, every ethnic group in heaven or on earth is recognized by. I ask that God will strengthen you in your inner selves from the riches of God’s glory through the Spirit. I ask that Christ will live in your hearts through faith. As a result of having strong roots in love, I ask that you’ll have the power to grasp love’s width and length, height and depth, together with all believers… that you’ll know the love of Christ that is beyond knowledge so that you will be filled entirely with the fullness of God. Glory to God, who is able to do far beyond all that we could ask or imagine by God’s  power at work within us; glory to God in the church and in Christ Jesus for all generations, forever and always. Amen (Ephessian 1&3)

Rev Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. writes in The Strength To Love:  “Each of us faces circumstances in life which compel us to carry heavy burdens of sorrow. Adversity assails us with hurricane force. Glowing sunrises are transformed into darkest nights. Our highest hopes are blasted and our noblest dreams are shattered. Christianity has never overlooked these experiences. They come in-evitably….. 

Admitting the weighty problems and staggering disappointments, Christianity affirms that God is able to give us the power to meet them. God is able to give us the inner equilibrium to stand tall amid the trials and burdens of life. God is able to provide inner peace amid outer storms. This inner stability of faith is Christ’s chief legacy to his disciples. God offers neither material resources nor a magical formula that exempts us from suffering and persecution, but God brings an imperishable gift: “Peace I leave with thee.” This is that peace which passeth all understanding.”

There are moments in life when we want to know why, but perhaps our Ascension  passage indicates that answers are not our deepest human need. Our worst sermons try to explain away suffering and loss. Peace amid the storm, Love amid the hate, Compassion amid the callousness, Grace amid the harshness may matter more.  Indeed, maybe it is not some careful crafted creed crossing our lips but “the love of God that surpasses knowledge” radiating from our hearts that makes us Christians? The early Methodists talked about conversation by asking each other: has the love of God been spread abroad in your hearts?   Maybe it is the power to grasp love’s width and length, height and depth that unites us together with all believers more than a church charter? Creeds and church charters are good at defining and dividing, guiding and excluding, but not so great at growing love of God and neighbor. So I wonder, if Jesus did not authorize an official edition because Christ is still with us, radiating in us peace, courage, hope and love?   

The disciples asked “Lord, when are you going to do it” and Jesus said you have the power, wait for it, come together, unite in prayer, worship, and service. Listen, meditate, worship, serve: wait for it, and you can hear Jesus still whispering, “you will receive power, when the Holy Spirit comes upon you”. Amen