INTRO
If Jesus were sitting among us today – what would you ask him?  I'm not talking about asking him FOR something like he was some kind of genie.   I'm talking about a heartfelt question.  Something that weighs heavily on your heart perhaps, something that only Jesus could answer.  I'm not looking for anyone to shout at an answer at this point – but keep it in the back of your mind.  The story in today's text contains a question.  The last question that the disciples asked Jesus according to Luke. 
ACTS BACKGROUND
Before we get into the story, however, a few words about the book of Acts.  Luke wrote Acts as a sequel to his gospel.  Now Luke was a travelling companion to Paul (you'll often see him using "we" when he's recounting Paul's travels later in the book), and while the other gospels are more in the style of Greco-Roman biography, Luke is writing as a first century historian.  At the same time of course, Luke is a theologian and is writing with a theological purpose – one of his goals is to legitimize the Christian movement as the authentic continuation of Judaism, and to explore how it becomes a predominantly Gentile movement.  Luke wishes to show how God has acted in human history.  The timing of the book is critical here.  It is thought that Luke was written after the year 70 – the year during the Roman-Jewish war that saw the destruction of Jerusalem.  In light of this, Luke needed to address the question – Has God forgotten about his ancient promises of salvation and restoration for Israel?  Has God proven himself to be faithful?  Is he faithful today?  The whole Christian thing hadn't really caught on in 1st century Palestine – the idea of Jesus as the Messiah had been rejected by the majority of the nation to which he was sent.  A lot of times it seems we're in the same situation today.  Is God still faithful, we might ask.  Are we fighting a losing battle?  We're living in a society that seems to have collectively rejected his message.  What exactly are we doing here??
Jesus Did and Taught
Luke starts with a recap – reminding his readers about "all that Jesus did and taught from the beginning."  Jesus' revelation was always a two sided coin – actions and words.  In Luke 9 v 2 we read that Jesus sent the twelve disciples to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal.  V 11 has Jesus before a crowd and it says he spoke to them about the kingdom of God, and healed those who needed to be cured.  Demonstration and proclamation!  It runs throughout both Luke and Acts!
 Luke looks ahead to two aspects of the disciples ministry The Spirit and the kingdom of God
V 2 reads – "until the day when he was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen."  This is a preview of what will empower the disciples ministry – the same thing that had empowered Jesus' ministry – the Holy Spirit.

V3 "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."  The kingdom of God has been inaugurated in the death and resurrection of Jesus.  The ministry of the disciples will be underpinned by this truth – the kingdom of God is here!  And the ministry of the disciples will be empowered by the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit.  They are not alone!  Let's look at each of these things more closely:
Holy Spirit – The disciples got to spend 40 days with Jesus talking about the kingdom of God.  That's one small group I would have liked to have been a part of   Even so, this wasn't enough for them to set out on the task Jesus had for them.  They were told to wait for the promise of the Father.  Some translations say the "gift of the Father" – I like that – it makes me think of grace.  The Holy Spirit is a sign of God's grace, of God's love for us.  In the Old Testament, the Holy Spirit was associated with prophets who spoke for God, under his inspiration.  The prophet Joel spoke about God's Spirit being poured out: – Then afterward I will pour out my spirit on all flesh; your sons and daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions.  Even on the male and female slaves, in those days, I will pour out my spirit." Joel 2:28-29
And these disciples would see this prophecy fulfilled!  In  Acts 2:1-4, we read –" When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. 2 And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting.  3 Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. 4. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak in other languages, as the SPIRIT GAVE THEM ABILILTY."     God's not going to ask us to do anything he won't equip us for.  We don't need to rely on our own charm, education, eloquence.  The rest of the book of Acts is full of people proclaiming what God has done in the power of the Holy Spirit.  From Peter and John addressing the Sanhedrin (and the Sanhedrin wondered how two uneducated men could talk like that) to Paul and Silas singing and praying in a Phillipian jail (it wasn't always talking, sometimes it was singing – isn't that great!).
The Kingdom of God
You have one question to ask Jesus.  In Luke's case he recorded one question – the last one the disciples would ask.  V 6 – "Lord, is this the time when you will restore the Kingdom to Israel?"  It was a legitimate question.  References in the OT to the outpouring of the Spirit were usually accompanied by promises of Israel's restoration.  Gabriel had told Mary that the Lord God would give her son the throne of his ancestor David.  Israel had had a hard time of things since the day of David and Solomon.  Last year Nicole and I went to see the Dead Sea Scrolls at the ROM.  One thing that really struck me – well lots struck me – but the thing relevant here was a map showing the way the Israel had just been continually rolled over and conquered by opposing kingdoms.  For hundreds of years.  Assyrians, Babylonians, Persians, Greeks, Romans.  "When will the great restoration come?" the disciples were asking.
But Jesus was talking about a different kind of kingdom.  It wasn't going to be based on how many divisions one had, national power, or military expansion.  It was based on a new reality in the death and resurrection of Jesus:  William Willimon describes this new reality:
 For Luke, that new reality involved the vision of a Jesus who is raised to rule with the  Creator of the universe.  Death...has been ended in the resurrection of Christ.  Luke's  "history" is the story of that new reality which has turned the world upside down...and  enabled believers to live as people "between the times"... open ended to the  movements of the Spirit.
We're living in this between the times aspect - some have described it as the already/and not yet aspect of the kingdom of God.  It's one of the mysteries of our faith.  I never mind the mysteries – I would hate for everything to fit into neat doctrinal boxes!   You can see both aspects of the kingdom in Jesus' answer – I'm coming back one day to restore all things – and it's not for you to worry about when that will be.  In this way the kingdom is not yet.  But it's also already.  The kingdom's here and I want you to be my witnesses.  I want you to proclaim it in word and deed.  Demonstration and proclamation – just like I did.  I want you to do this from Jerusalem to the ends of the earth – it's for everyone!  You don't need to build the kingdom – leave that to me, and my father and the Holy Spirit.  Proclaim it.  Celebrate it.  Pray for it. Wait for the Holy Spirit in Jerusalem.  You don't need to do this on your own.  I told you I'd always be with you didn't I? 
And we see what happens on the day of Pentecost.  They begin to speak in other languages – but what do they speak about?  In Acts 2:11 the crowd says "We hear them speaking about God's deeds of power."  About God reconciling all things to himself in his grace and through the gift of his son…About God becoming man and dying the death of a criminal... and being freed from death because it was impossible for him to be held in its power... and being exalted at the right hand of God... and of Jesus having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, and pouring this Spirit out!  And when we are confronted we're with this new reality, there are only two ways to react 1) What could this mean? or 2) Are you drunk?  That's how radical it is.....

The passage ends with Jesus being taken up on a cloud.  The disciples stand there transfixed.  Apparently the word for gazed here is a medical term meaning to stare intently.... I don't know how long that lasted but two men in white robes appeared and 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."  The already/not yet aspects of the kingdom.  One writer calls them the kingdom of grace and the kingdom of glory.  The kingdom of glory is coming.  He's coming back one day.  In the meantime, the kingdom of grace has begun.  Don't just stand there do something!
Where Does This Leave Us?
So what exactly does this have to do with us today?  What are we in 21st century GTA to take from this message to some 1st century Christians.  The first question I asked was "If Jesus were here today, what might you ask him?"  The disciples asked if the kingdom were to be restored to Israel at this time.  Maybe we would ask Jesus why so many have rejected him?  Why are there so many religions in the world?  Some questions... we're not given the answers to.  Some things are not for us to know.  Trust my grace, he says, and let me, my Father, and my Spirit take care of things.
Maybe our question would be "How can I know how best to serve you Jesus?"  "What is your will for my life?"  I think the text provides a pretty good answer here.  Be witnesses to my kingdom.  Proclaim that a kingdom based on redemptive love is here.  Proclaim it in your words and in your deeds.  Think about what that means in your life…. In my own life, it's meant following a call into full time Christian ministry.  It was a call that I tried to run from for many years.  God's fairly persistent though!  Thank you for giving me a chance to stand up before you this morning.  The task of witnessing is not just one for the preacher of course.  People are longing for some good news, for hope, for meaning, for a kind word, for love…  God puts those people in front of us every day.  "It's too hard," we think, "the responsibility's too great."  "Who am I to follow in the steps of a Moses, of a Joel, of a Paul?"  You're a Holy Spirit empowered child of God – that's who!  A Holy Spirit empowered child of God!  We can't build the kingdom, we think.  The good news is, we don't have to.  God will build his kingdom.  We announce it – with our lives!
And yet and yet…… you might say "You're not telling us anything new David.  Some of us have been doing this all our lives, and we wonder if it's done any good."  I want to share two passages with you – one deals with words – the other actions.  Let's look at Isaiah 55:10-11
10 For as the rain and the snow
       come down from heaven,
       and do not return there until they
       have watered the earth
       making it bring forth and sprout,
       giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater,
 11 so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth:
       It shall not return to me empty,
       but it shall accomplish that which I purpose
       and succeed in the thing for which I sent it.
How's that for some good news???
In 1 Corinthians 15, Paul writes "Therefore, my beloved, be steadfast, immoveable, always excelling in the work of the Lord, because you know that in the Lord your labour is not in vain.  Now whenever we see "therefore" we need to look at what comes before it.  I was amazed to see that Paul is talking about the coming Kingdom!  He's talking about Christ's return, and our resurrection!  God will work his saving purposes out in ways we can't begin to understand.  Know in the meantime that when you labour for the Kingdom, your labour is not in vain!
Isn't that good news?  Let me accomplish my purposes, says God.  That's a weight off!  At one point last year I said "Am I doing enough for the Lord?" – as if the Lord depended on me.  I had it the wrong way around. 

CONCLUSION
What are we waiting for???  In Luke they were waiting for the Kingdom of God.  In Acts 1 the disciples were told to wait for the Holy Spirit.  The kingdom of Grace has been inaugurated.  The Spirit's been poured out.  We're waiting for the kingdom of Glory.  It's an active waiting though.  As Helmut Thielecke put it: "To wait in the biblical sense is not just to sit around.  It is to go meet what is coming.  It is an active vigilance."  The book of Acts is a sequel with no ending.  The last chapter has Paul in Rome under house arrest, welcoming all comers and talking about the kingdom.  The sequel continues with us!  Upheld by the reality of Jesus, empowered by the Holy Sprit, proclaiming the kingdom in word and in deeds that embody love, and mercy, and justice, and hope.  God grant an outpouring of his spirit on us here as we seek to announce his kingdom – proclamation and demonstration – to those he loves so much.
Amen
David M.J.Thomas