Let's invite George to come up and read Scripture for us.
Our reading this morning is from Luke's Gospel, verses 28 to 53.
!
And they said to each other,
Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road,
while he opened the Scriptures to us?
And they rose that same hour and returned to Jerusalem,
and they found the eleven and those who were with them gathered together,
saying, The Lord has risen indeed and has appeared to Simon.
Then they told what had happened on the road
and how he was known to them in the breaking of the bread.
As they were talking about these things,
Jesus himself stood among them and said to them,
Peace to you.
But they were startled and frightened and thought they saw a spirit.
And he said to them,
Why are you troubled?
And why do doubts arise in your hearts?
See my hands and my feet,
that it is I myself.
Touch me and see.
For a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.
And when he had said this,
he showed them his hands and his feet.
And while they still disbelieved for joy and were marveling,
he said to them,
Have you anything here to eat?
They gave him a piece of broiled fish,
and he took it and ate before them.
Then he said to them,
These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you,
that everything written about me in the law of Moses and the prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.
Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures and said to them,
Thus it is written that the Christ shall suffer and on the third day rise from the dead,
and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations,
beginning from Jerusalem.
You are witnesses of these things.
And behold, I am sending the promise of my Father upon you.
But stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.
Then he led them out as far as Bethany,
and lifting up his hands, he blessed them.
While he blessed them, he parted from them and was carried up into heaven.
And they worshipped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy
and were continually in the temple blessing God.
And may God bless to us this reading from his own precious and most holy word.
Amen.
Let's pray together.
Lord, we give thanks for summer and for the great weather we've had,
and we pray for our kids and our teens as they enter their school break.
We ask more than anything else, Lord, that you would give them childlike faith,
faith appropriate to their age,
and that we as adults would learn from it,
that we would see what it looks like to believe.
And we pray that you would protect them as they travel, as we all do,
and bring them back to us at the end of the summer.
And Lord, we thank you for the people that have been part of this church family
that will now be leaving us.
I pray today for Axel, our dear friend.
And we give thanks for him and all he's meant to this community
and for his testimony of faith and for his love, his kindness,
his friendship, his faithfulness.
Lord, so we ask that you would bless him and keep him as he goes from us.
And we do pray, Lord, as in every person that leaves,
that if it be your will, you would bring them back to this church family at some point.
And for anybody else that may be leaving, I might not know about, Lord.
I do pray and lift these same prayers for them as well.
Now, Lord, I give you thanks for every single person here today.
And I ask that as we come to your word,
you would open our hearts, that you would meet us where we are,
and that the Holy Spirit would condescend and illuminate the Bible for us,
that we would be transformed, that our faith would be strengthened,
that maybe you would give us the gift of faith today for the very first time.
And so we pray for that.
In Jesus' name, amen.
Amen.
We have been working through the Road to Emmaus story for three weeks already.
This is our fourth week looking at the same passage.
And so far in the story, we've met two travelers that are walking on the way to the Road to Emmaus.
And then this stranger meets them on the highway.
And the reader, you as the reader, know that the stranger is Jesus.
But they don't know that because they're blind.
They can't see him.
And we're told in the story that he opens their eyes.
He changes their life by opening the Word to them.
So two different sections, both to the two travelers to Emmaus,
but also the 11 later on.
He goes through the Old Testament, the Torah, the five books of Moses,
and the prophets from Joshua forward, from the Psalms to the writings.
And he shows that how Jesus was already preached in the Old Testament
and how the cross was necessary, verse 26,
that the cross had always been preached,
even from the ancient areas from the time of the Old Testament.
He opens their eyes fully at the table.
They finally get to the road to Emmaus, I should say,
and he breaks the bread and their eyes are open and they can see him.
We've said every week that this story is paradigmatic
of the normal, completely ordinary Christian life
that God meets us, Jesus meets us on our roads, on our ordinary roads,
and he opens our eyes to see our minds by way of the Scriptures,
the Old and New Testament.
And then the point of the Christian life is that one day
he will bring you all the way to the table,
to the banquet feast, and you will sit down with Jesus
and you will see him face to face,
and you will break bread with him,
and that this is a paradigm.
He wants us, week one we said,
we don't know all the reasons,
but Jesus wants every single one of us to believe him
by hearing the word before we ever get to see him.
And so that means that we've all been called to live this life by faith
before one day when we can live by sight,
where we can actually see him and sit across from the table.
Now today, we start at the table,
and in verse 31,
he's there at the table with them,
and he breaks the bread,
and their eyes are open.
And then all of a sudden,
it says in verse 31 that he vanishes,
and that's where we pick up today.
Remember, when they were walking on the road,
in verse 21, we learn that they were depressed,
they were without hope.
It said that they had hoped he was going to be the Redeemer,
the Messiah of all of Israel.
They had hope, but they had lost that hope
because they thought their Messiah was dead.
And now, as they sit at the table,
and he broke bread for them,
that thought became something different,
and it became something more like this.
They had said,
they crucified him.
Full stop.
He's dead.
But now, as they see him,
they can say,
they crucified him,
and that is the very way he has redeemed Israel.
He has redeemed us.
And so their eyes are open.
They believe.
They see him.
They have sights, not only faith.
But then, sort of the surprise of the passage
is that he vanishes,
and the reader is left.
We're left sitting there thinking,
why did he vanish?
In other words,
the whole Bible has been culminating to this moment.
If the whole Bible has been teaching
that the Messiah must die
and must rise from the dead,
then finally, this moment where the curtain's pulled back
and they can see the resurrected Lord,
and he's sitting there in front of them,
you think,
surely this is the moment
where the Lord is going to inaugurate
everything that was promised in the Old Testament,
and the Edenic Garden is going to fall down upon earth,
and these disciples are just going to get
to break bread with him forever,
and instead,
he's gone.
He vanishes in that moment.
Why does he do it?
And I think that the reason he does it
is because, again,
this is a paradigm of the normal Christian life.
This moment of him showing himself,
this is the great hope,
the beatific vision,
and the vision of God of every Christian,
but then he departs.
Why?
Because he's foreshadowing the fact
that he must ascend,
that the work was not yet finished.
He was going to be with the Father.
So you remember maybe in the garden,
Mary Magdalene,
when she finally saw him,
the text says that she clung to him
and gave him a big bear hug,
and he had to say,
don't cling to me.
In other words,
the work is not yet done.
And so here,
they finally see him like Mary Magdalene,
and then he just disappears.
And you're left thinking,
Lord, why didn't,
why can't you just stay?
Why can't you just inaugurate the new heavens
and the new earth right here in this moment?
And the reason is,
well, we don't know all the reasons.
But he disappears,
he vanishes in this moment
because he's telling us
that the work is not finished.
And so from the table,
from sight at the table,
he sends them back out onto the road.
And that also is the normal rhythm
of the Christian life,
that when you come to see him,
when you come and realize
that you are walking on his road,
that he's set before you,
he then, after giving you faith,
sends you out.
And he says one thing,
and this is the great identity marker
of the Christian life,
and it's found in our passage
in verse 48 in a single word,
and it's the most important word
of Christian identity
until he comes again,
and he says,
you will be my witnesses.
And so we don't know all the reasons
that the Lord in that moment
doesn't just inaugurate
the new heavens and the new earth,
but we do know that
until we get to the table,
the banquet feast at the end of our days,
he has in this moment
then commissioned them and said,
you will be my witnesses.
And that is fundamental identity
of a normal Christian.
And it was for the two travelers,
and then it became for the 11,
and then if you,
that's just the beginning,
the prologue to the book of Acts
that Luke also wrote,
where in Acts chapter 1 verse 8,
he says,
to the whole church,
you will be my witnesses
from Jerusalem to Judea to Samaria
to the ends of the earth.
And so today we come,
and the Lord says at the end of this series,
you will be my witnesses.
Let me tell you three things
that this story teaches us
about what it means to be a witness
according to the Emmaus Road.
Number one,
we learn here that witnesses
are emboldened
to walk out into the dark.
Okay, so,
at the very beginning of the table,
sorry,
at the very end of the table,
I should say,
in chapter 24 verse 32,
when they realize
that this is Jesus,
they say to each other,
did not our hearts burn within us
while he talked to us on the road
and opened the Bible?
So when he opened the Bible
and showed them himself,
they realize
the Lord has lit a fire
in the bottom of our souls
as we realize
that he really is the Messiah,
he really is the Redeemer.
But then as he vanishes,
of course,
that's not just saying
that the fire was lit
as the word was opened on the road,
the fire is there in that moment,
and in that moment
it becomes an engine,
and that engine of fire
in their hearts
for the risen Christ
is the engine
that then sends them out.
And so in verse 33,
they leave.
Now this is striking.
Luke wants you to see
how striking this is.
They have just come
seven miles from Jerusalem
after he was raised from the dead.
It took them all day.
Luke goes out of his way
in verse 28 and 29
to say the day was drawing
to a close.
They were tired.
They urged Jesus
not to keep going.
They wanted him to come
and they pulled him in.
It says it's too dark.
The day's over.
You're exhausted.
We're all exhausted.
If you're a first century traveler,
one of the things
you never want to do
is to step out
on a road in the dark.
And you can read
all about that
throughout the ancient Near East
and documents we have
extra biblical literature
that talk about
how dangerous it is
to travel
in rural roads.
I mean,
how many of us
want to walk through
the rural roads
of the highlands
in the middle of the night?
Probably hardly any of us,
but in the first century,
boy,
that is something
you do not do.
And as soon as
they see him
and he vanishes,
they get back up
after just having arrived
and walk straight back
to Jerusalem
in the middle of the night
in the dark.
Why?
And the answer is
because they believe
the resurrection.
And what we learn here
is that
when you come to believe
in the resurrection,
it gives you
a ministry energy
that you didn't have before.
I can attest,
many of you can attest,
that ministry
makes you tired.
But when you believe
the resurrection,
there is a ministry energy,
a fire,
an engine
that gets lit
in your life
that sends you
back out on the road
even if that road
means walking
straight into the darkness.
And so there's
a great reversal
in this moment
where they are exhausted,
they're so tired,
and yet at the same time
when they see
he really has risen
from the dead,
it sends them
back out emboldened
as new witnesses.
I want to ask you
this morning,
has your life
been disrupted enough
by the resurrection?
Have you been emboldened
to go out
into the darkest places,
places that you
couldn't have imagined
you would be able to
because you believe
the resurrection?
Is the resurrection
a doctrine
merely,
a doctrine
that if you were asked
to check mark
your confessional beliefs
that you can just
file away and say,
check,
I do believe
the resurrection?
Yes,
we need that.
And is the resurrection
a historical reality,
a future reality
that has disrupted
your life
and changed you
and unsettled you
and sent you back out
on the road
as witnesses?
One of the cultural idols
that the sociologists,
the theologians,
the philosophers
talk about so much
in our time
and we've talked it
to death here,
I know,
but is the reality
that the modern person
is curated to be
an autonomous self.
Autonomous meaning
self-governed,
self-ruled,
self-defined.
And in the modern story,
we're told that
you are the author
of your own life,
you create your own path,
your own meaning,
your own purpose.
It's your truth,
it's your journey,
it's your terms,
you are in charge
of yourself.
self-control,
it's worth noting
that the resurrection
won't allow
for that narrative.
The resurrection
is the fact
in the middle of history
that says that
you can't just be
in charge of your own
life anymore,
you can't just decide
who you're going
to be anymore.
The resurrection
actually disrupts you
so much,
it disrupts all of history
so much,
that it's got to change us,
it's got to change the way
that we're living
our life today.
Last week,
we talked about
two great desires
that every human has
to reach the end
of the road
at the table
and the two great desires
are we were made
to see God,
to see the beauty
of God's face
and that happens
in the face of Jesus Christ
at the end of our road
and we were made
to do so
in healed,
resurrected,
uncorrupted bodies
in the land of the living
and what we're being asked
to do here
is to say
if that's true,
if one day
because of the resurrection
I will see the beauty
of the face of God
in the face of Jesus Christ
and I will do so
with an uncorrupted,
resurrected,
healed,
healed body
then just those
two simple facts,
the very things
you were made for
have got to change the way,
mean something
for the way
we're living life today.
The simple fact
that that is the end
of our road
has got to dictate
to some degree
how we're going to live life
on the journey,
on the way
that we've been sent
back out to
in the historical moment
we're in right now
and so that's why
in the book of Acts
we've said
every week,
I know,
but we've said
that in the book of Acts
Christianity was called
The Way,
six different times
we're told it's called
The Way.
We see here
because when you have
faith in Jesus
and you believe the resurrection
the next thing that happens
is you get sent back out
onto the road
to walk the way
until you see him
with sight
and we're simply being asked here
to say,
has the resurrection
disrupted my life enough?
I know that in this room
because I know
a number of you
in this room
that we all have
many of us have
even right now
roads to walk back
onto
when we walk out
the front doors
this morning
that are dark
that there are dark things
this week
for some of us
even decisions
that have to be made
conversations
that have to be had
the pain
that has to be endured
every single one of us
can talk about that
to some degree.
The resurrection
does not remove
the darkness of the road
today
but instead
it removes the power
of the dark roads
we're walking down
to be the last word
and so you got to say
as you walk out
the doors today
that if the darkness
I'm walking through
right now
if the road
that I'm going down
right now
if there is a resurrection
at the end of my life
at the end of all of history
then that has to matter
so much
for the way
I'm facing the road
facing the darkness
the darkness
is not the last word
the resurrection
when you encounter Jesus
and you say
he really has risen
from the dead
it has to send you
back out
into your life
ready to face things
in a way that's different
that's new
it's got to disrupt us
it's got to change us
secondly
not only
does encountering
the resurrected Jesus
make us into witnesses
who are emboldened
to enter into the darkness
the second thing
we learn here
is very simple
and it's just this
that we are witnesses
if you're a Christian
today
you are a witness
and if you are
a Christian
and a witness
you have been sent
by Jesus
now
Charles Scobie
is a commentator
on the gospel of Luke
and he talks about this
he says that
this is the
culmination point
of the entire
journey motif
throughout the whole bible
so you can think of
Abraham
being called
from Babylon
Chaldea
to go to the promised land
this journey
and then Israel
being called
out of Egypt
on the exodus
wanderings
through the wilderness
to the promised land
a journey
or the psalms of ascent
these journey
these pilgrimages
that people have to take
every year
and then when you get
to Luke's gospel
Jesus
the whole frame
of Luke's gospel
is that the disciples
have been invited
to journey with Jesus
from outside Jerusalem
to Jerusalem
to the cross
and in that moment
then to be sent
back out again
and so
Charles Scobie
points this out
he says that
the whole bible
is framed
like all of history
and that's that
all of life
has been a journey
going to the middle
of history
where Jesus
is there on the cross
and then when he rises
again
humanity has been
sent out
from that moment
from Jerusalem
so here's another reason
they go back to Jerusalem
they see him
they get up
they go right back
to Jerusalem
where they've been
because it all
begins in Jerusalem
and when you get
to Acts chapter 1
Jesus gives this
thesis statement
for what it means
to be a witness
he says
you will be my witnesses
from where
from Jerusalem
then to Judea
then to Samaria
then to the ends
of the earth
and so we learn here
that we
the apostles
in this moment
start in Jerusalem
and in verse 48
he declares
and says to the eleven
and says to the two
and says to Simon Peter
you will be my witnesses
and then from there
we are sent back out
into all the parts
of the world
let me show you this
in just a couple ways
in verse 48
he says
you will be my witness
you are witnesses
he had appeared
to the two
and then we read
that he had appeared
to Simon Peter here
and we don't know
anything about that
it's just mentioned
there was another
appearance to Simon Peter
and then he says
this is your fundamental
identity
you are now witnesses
what is that
a witness
is a person
who bears testimony
to the truth
it's a courtroom term
and so he commissions
the apostles
in this first moment
and then to us
and says
fundamental identity
is now you are
to bear witness
like a person
in court
testifying to the truth
out anywhere
that God has sent you
now we know
that the apostles
the travelers
Simon Peter
Mary Magdalene
and so many others
they did this
in Jerusalem
you can follow
the book of Acts
and say
they started in Jerusalem
then they went
to Judea
then they went
to Samaria
and then they started
to go to the ends
of the earth
you know
Paul got to
we guess
maybe Spain
but nobody ever
as far as we know
in the book of Acts
nobody ever got
to Edinburgh
and nobody ever
got to Scotland
and that means
in verse 48
when he says
you are witnesses
of these things
we're being told
that there is
this apostolic office
that Jesus creates
and that apostolic office
has a qualification
you must have seen
the risen Jesus
in person
but you could say
as people have said
well doesn't that mean
they are the witnesses
we're not
but when you get
to the book of Acts
what you do
is you see the apostles
preaching
and they preach
the gospel
in Philippi
and Colossae
and all sorts of places
Colossae
and they say
they say
you are now witnesses
and those people
never saw
the resurrected Jesus
before he ascended
into heaven
and we realize
the only way
to fulfill
the great commission
the only way
to fulfill
the thesis statement
of the book of Acts
to take the gospel
the word of the resurrection
to the ends of the earth
is if it's also our job
it has to be our job
as well
and so
when you
when Jesus encounters
you on the road
and you believe him
and you say
the resurrection is real
an identity marker
has entered
into your life
and you can't get rid of it
it's who you are
you are his witness
you have been commissioned
to bear testimony
in the very place
that God has put you
in this moment
in your moment
in human history
and so
we're sent to
it wasn't just a calling
for the apostles
the Lord is risen indeed
what did they say
they come to the 11
and they
the 11 say
we heard already
from Simon Peter
this has happened
somehow along the way
Jesus had appeared
to Simon Peter
after he had vanished
or before
I don't know
with the two
and they get to the room
behind the locked door
and the 11 say
the Lord has risen indeed
that's what it means
to bear witness
that's a testimony
and so you can think about
the woman at the well
she was
her life was changed
by Jesus
and she went into the village
and she just said
let me tell you
about a man
who knew everything
I ever did
and then
these folks see him
and they come
to others
and they just say
he really did rise
from the dead
and that means
that this commission
is not for
the elite
this is for ordinary people
this is for every one of us
to go out
into the city
into whoever God
has put you
in front of
in your life
and just to say
something simple
like the Lord
has risen from the dead
and here are the reasons
that I actually believe that
and so I want to ask you
a question this morning
have you ever
told anybody
that you know
if you're a believer
in this room
have you ever
told anybody else
that you know
the Lord
has risen from the dead
and
because that's
the very invitation
of fundamental
Christian identity
is to go out
into the world
and be a witness
and you can ask
yourself today
have I been emboldened
by the reality
of the resurrection
that I'm willing
to go into dark roads
and for some of us
today I would imagine
that maybe
maybe
the darkest road
you can possibly
think about
the darkest event
maybe
would be
to actually
turn to somebody
in your life
that you know
and love
and say
the Lord
did actually
rise from the dead
and
boy
we have to do that
with wisdom
we've got to think
about that carefully
I know
but
we are being
called here
and commanded
to go out
into the world
and to say
to somebody else
the Lord
has risen indeed
and that is
what it means
to be a witness
thirdly
and lastly
witnesses
are emboldened
to go back out
into the darkness
we see this
from the table
to the road
and then
we are called
witnesses
we're sent
he tells us
in verse 48
and then lastly
witnesses never
graduate from the basics
now
how do we become
these people
how do we become
these people
how do we become
faithful witnesses
emboldened witnesses
and at the very end
of this story
down from verse
49 to 53
we learn a few things
and let me just give you
four things
as we wrap up
and I'll just
give them
very briefly
about what it means
to cultivate
your life
as a witness
and they're the basics
really
they're just the basics
and they all show up
right here
in this passage
so down in verse 50
to 53
after he blesses
them in Bethany
in verse 52
the way they respond
to him
in the earliest moment
of being his witnesses
we learn in verse 52
is they worshipped him
and returned to Jerusalem
with great joy
and they were continually
in the temple
blessing God
the very first thing
they do
to cultivate
the beginning
of their lives
as his witnesses
is they go to church
they just go and worship
and it says
week by week
they continually
went back to the temple
in those early moments
they were trying to figure out
where to worship
and so we see
worship move
from this moment
from the temple
to the house church
then to constructed churches
a few centuries
a century later
but they just went to church
and one of the most
important things
I think we can see
is that
it will be very difficult
to cultivate fire
in our hearts
as resurrection witnesses
if we don't have
the sense
that as Christians
we never graduate
from the basics
that
the word and the table
Sunday by Sunday
are the meat and potatoes
of the Christian life
and I say that
in the best possible sense
of meat and potatoes
I like meat and potatoes
I hope you do
in that metaphor
you never graduate from it
it's not your fillet
the Lord's Supper
is not your fillet steak
it is your tea and toast
you need it all the time
you need worship
you need the word
and the table
all the time
because
as you're walking
back out on the journey
as witnesses
Sunday by Sunday worship
is like
coming to that end
for refreshment
when you are
desperately tired
and
there's an invitation here
just to see what they do
they modeled it for us
as soon as they say
I am his witness
they went week by week
going to places
to bless him
and worship
and that means
that
if Sunday worship
has become
as the culture
tempts us so much
for it to be this way
has quietly become
optional
once life gets tired
and once life gets busy
there's so many good reasons
to not be
in worship
on a Sunday
a few
being sick
being away
but if
Sunday worship
with the gathered people
of God
has become an option
based on tiredness
and busyness
then we've missed
the calling
of what it means
to be a witness
that's coming
to the end
for refreshment
week by week
at the word
and the table
so we never
graduate from the basics
Sunday worship
as they did
week by week
is our
is our basic diet
we never
progress from it
the second thing
we see that they did
throughout this passage
is just the note
that these are
two travelers
walking from Emmaus
and two travelers
walking back
from Emmaus
to Jerusalem
Jesus came
alongside them
and he journeyed
with them
and then
at the very end
of this passage
there's some
assumptions
and that's from
verse 49 to 50
he said in verse 49
I'm sending the promise
of my father
upon you
but stay in the city
for now
until you're clothed
with the Holy Spirit
and then verse 50
he took them out
to Bethany
and he lifted his hands
and he blessed them
now there's a gap
between 49 and 50
and we don't learn
about what that gap
is until you flip
the page
flip a couple books
over to Acts chapter 1
what's the gap
Jesus stuck with them
for 40 days
and he discipled them
through those 40 days
and he taught them
more about the Bible
and he walked with them
and then what did they do
as they left Jerusalem
for the first time
they decided
let's go two by two
let's go in groups
and so one of the things
you see is
how do you cultivate
a heart of witness
that's on fire
to tell somebody
about the resurrection
a commitment
to local worship
to weekly worship
and then secondly
we've got to walk
the road with people
with Christians
Jesus did that with us
he did that with them
for 40 days
and we see that
as the model
from this moment forward
all throughout
the New Testament
he left them
and he said
now be together
as you go
and you take
the work of witness
out into the city
and so this is exactly
what a local church
exists for
to gather us
every single week
for the inn
of refreshment
the meat and potatoes
the tea and toast
of the word
and the table
and then to create
a space
where you can walk
with somebody
closely
on the road
of witness
until you sit down
with Jesus
face to face
at the banquet feast
one day
this is exactly
what the local church
exists for
and the Old Testament
raises the language
of a pilgrim community
and the Israelites
were pilgrims
longing for the city
of God
in the Old Testament
and on the other side
of the cross
and resurrection
we are pilgrims
as well
walking along a journey
till we enter
the city of God
and so we've got
to do it together
does anybody here
know you
if you're a member
if you're a regular
attender of St. Columbus
or if you're visiting
today from another church
at your church
if you're a believer
does somebody know you
deeply
and can say that
this is the person
that I'm walking
this road with
that I'm in community
with
trying to do the work
of witness
with them
among others
does anybody here
have that kind of
relationship with you
you with them
it's what the local
church exists for
thirdly
we learn here
in verse 49
he tells us
third of four
things that we
need to cultivate
our life as witnesses
!
He says
you are witnesses
of these things
in 48 and then in 49
and behold
I'm sending the promise
of my father upon you
but stay in the city
until you're clothed
with power
now we don't
we could
we could do a sermon
on each of these four
we're not going to
but what is he talking
about here?
he's talking about
the moment that
you flip over to
Acts chapter 1
and you learn
that they are to
wait in Jerusalem
until the Holy Spirit
condescends
and so
just to say
one little thing
about it
he is telling us
he's telling them
that at the beginning
of the church age
Jesus did not
leave us alone
he clothed you
he sent the Holy Spirit
into your life
and today
if you're a believer
you can say
the Spirit of God
dwells with me
and in me
and as you leave
and walk
whatever dark road
you might be facing
this week
with the call
to witness
to the resurrection
to someone
in your life
the Spirit of God
is with you
and the Spirit of God
dwells with you
and goes from
this place
with you
the Spirit of God
is with us
now
in the community
gathered together
and it is
how do you know
one of the
clear signs
of the Holy Spirit
being present
in your life
is that you find
Jesus to be a treasure
and
today
I'd invite you
to
find the
flame
the light
the fire
reignited
in your soul
saying
Jesus is my treasure
he has
risen from the dead
and the Spirit
is with me
as I go out
into the city
today
the Holy Spirit
is with you
you have been
clothed
in power
from on high
and so that means
that when you go out
and you say
you know
the darkest thing
I can imagine
maybe
is saying
to somebody else
Jesus really
did rise from the dead
and here's the reasons
I think that
then
you've got to
then say
but
if the Holy Spirit
really is with me
and has clothed me
from on high
if the resurrection
is actually going
to happen
and it is
then that
that changes
my approach
it changes
my confidence
it changes
my courage
it changes
my ministry
power
my ministry
energy
and then the
fourth thing
the last thing
is
just
just a very
simple thing
that he's
telling them
again
to go out
and to do
the work
of witness
he's
introducing us
in this moment
to the age
of the church
the age we live
in
until our faith
becomes sight
and
that just
simply means
that
we're being
asked here
at the very end
of Luke's gospel
to go and take a risk
a beautiful
bold
risky
life
that's not afraid
to spend ourselves
to talk to other people
about the cross
and the resurrection
it is
normative
in
our culture
along so many other
cultural norms
that are new
for the 21st century
and for the digital age
we live in
to prioritize
rest
and that is
so good
to prioritize
limitation
we just had
Kelly Capuk
speaking on that
and boy that was
such a help
and
at the same time
we must
also say
that
there is a sense
in the New Testament
that
our life
as it's lived
until Jesus
comes again
should be full
of tiredness
because we have
gone out
and spent
our ministry
energy
to witness
to the reality
of the resurrection
there is a sense
of both
that
do it with wisdom
seek rest
but the priority
of the Christian life
on the road
that we're walking
right now
is to be witnesses
to Jesus Christ
and that's
that's how he leaves us
at the end
of the gospel
let me finish
with this
at the very end
of the passage
there's a moment
where you can ask
the question
on the basis
of what power
could I possibly
become this person
so there's no hope
today at all
to feel guilt
about lack of witness
in our lives
not at all
because that's me
instead it's the call
to cultivation
and say
on what basis
on what power
could we go
from here today
and see where Jesus
where the spirit
might be leading us
to share
the truth of the resurrection
with somebody
in our lives
and here it is
it's found in verse 50
he led them out
as far as Bethany
and lifting his hands
he blessed them
now this is the moment
we know from Acts 1
of the ascension
and he noticed
that he lifted his hands
it says
and he blessed them
so he gave them
what we now call
from the Latin translation
a benediction
a good word
as he ascended
into heaven
so in a moment
I'll also give
a benediction
and one of the questions
to ask is
why do we do
benedictions
in churches
at the end of church
why do we give
a good word
to the people
and here's why
so a benediction
is not a prayer
a benediction
is a pronouncement
by Jesus Christ
of a change
in your status
that cannot be
taken away from you
and so when a minister
gets up
as I'm going to do
in a moment
and gives a benediction
at the end of the service
it's not a prayer
asking Lord
will you bless them
it's the minister
simply mimicking
only trying to remind
you
I don't have any
power to bless you
only simply trying
to remind you
ministerially
that Jesus Christ
who has ascended
into heaven
has pronounced
a benediction
over your life
and on what basis
was he able to do that
it's because
when he went
to the
they said
we had hoped
he would redeem Israel
but he went to the cross
and he died
but when they saw him
they could say
he went to the cross
and he did redeem
us
and that means
the reason
Jesus Christ
can stand here
in the middle of history
and lift his hands
over any Christian
in this room today
and bless you
is because the debt
has been settled
the cross
was the fullness
of the payment
of your sins
everything that you owed
you deserved
has been paid for by him
and so you can hear him
in the power
of his resurrection
you know
when he lifted his hands
you could have seen
his scars
he was a real human
he had risen from the dead
and that means
in this moment
he pronounced over you
a word for all time
a change of your status
that you were blessed
you were his
and that cannot be
taken away from you
on what power
can you go today
and become more and more
a witness
the very thing
you really are
and it's to know that
as we pronounce
the benediction today
that is true
not because I say it
not at all
but because
Jesus Christ
says it
over you
from the heavenly places
the debt has been settled
the victory has been won
you will rise from the dead
and that means
that that's got to
send you back out
into dark roads
with ministry power
with ministry boldness
with ministry courage
let's pray
Father we ask
that you would
commission us today
as your witnesses
Lord
we feel the weakness
that we have in that
we come today
to be re-strengthened
and emboldened
and given fresh eyes
and fresh faith
to go out
into our city
and to share
the gospel
with people
to talk to people
about Jesus
to say
the Lord has risen indeed
so Lord
teach us
the courage
the virtue
the strength
to walk down
roads that seem
so difficult
and dark sometimes
but with boldness
and courage
because
Lord you have risen
so I pray now
as we sing
that you would
clothe us with power
by the Holy Spirit
and we ask for that
in Jesus name
Amen