“Stay…Wait…Witness”

April 3, 2016

Stetson Memorial UMC

Sermon Series:

“When in doubt…read the instructions”

(What did Jesus instruct His disciples then and now…?)

Acts 1:1-14 NKJ

Psalm 150:1-6

“Stay…Wait…Witness”

How many of you read the instructions when you get something new? I know many times I don’t and then when there is an issue I have to go and find the instructions then read them. I think that if I had read the directions in the beginning I may not have had the issue I did. Ok…how about this…how many of you have ever tried to train a puppy or dog? You give the animal instructions on what you want them to do and you can just see in their eyes the conflict in their head. “Ok…this nice person who loves me wants me to (Fill in the blank). But I don’t want to follow that…I want to be running around and having fun…ready set go!” they are off running doing what they want… Sometimes it leads to things they had not expected like a run in with a skunk or worse. If they only followed the instructions they would be ok.

We sometimes go through life saying” I wish I had an instruction manual for life. It would make it a whole lot easier.” Well the first question is, would we read it if we had one…remember…we hate reading instruction manuals…the second is this, what do you mean there is no manual…there is a perfect one that we tend not to read. There is one that I like to call “everything you need to know about life and then some.” It’s the BIBLE silly… It is full of all kinds of information…

There is so much information in the bible that pertains to everything from how to raise kids to how to raise your spouse… But we just don’t pick up the book. There seems to be some kind of taboo so to speak about looking for answers in the bible. We, as humanity, go everywhere else but to the source of all wisdom.

We, as Christians, should know better. We know that the bible is our love letter of instruction and hope but we don’t seem to want to read it. As a matter of fact…we, as Christ followers, sometimes don’t know what Jesus wants us to do. We use the phrase “what would Jesus do” but we don’t even know the answer and don’t bother to look it up. We can be so silly at times… Jesus taught…instructed…His disciples then and now what they needed to do.

I would like us to take a look at some of those instructions. Now…this is what I need…ok would like….for you to do. Over the next few weeks…OK up until after Pentecost…I would like you to bring you bibles to church. Yes I am going to make you read the bible. I want us each to look up the instructions…who knows, maybe after we are done it is something we will continue to do…just sayin.

Let’s back track for a moment. The first instruction was on Easter Sunday to a woman called Mary Magdalene…Go, tell. Just that simple…go tell the disciples I am alive…tell them you have seen me…tell them to Galilee and they will see me. Go and tell…You see ministry is an action…sometimes we can get all caught up in our programs that we forget what ministry is all about. Go…tell.

Next…”Stay, Witness”…I like to add wait in that instruction. Let me read this account to you…it’s found in acts 1:1-14…Read the account…

Now I can see these disciples now…much like training the dog. Mark 6:7-13 tells us they had already been sent out by Jesus and given the authority to heal and drive out demons. They know what it is like to “be in ministry”. But Jesus told them to stay where they were and wait… OK wait…they knew what they were doing…they didn’t need the instructions…they already had success. Now Jesus wants them the…and here s the wait I put in…wait to receive the Holy Spirit. Luckily they followed the instructions that Jesus gave them to stay and wait otherwise it could have be disastrous for them. We too, as Christ followers can tend to rush into things in which we “think” we know only to find out we knew nothing and there is a disaster sitting in front of us…

If they hadn’t followed the instructions they would not have been able to complete the other part of their instruction…Witness. Without the Holy Spirit they could not have done so. Without following Christ’s instruction to us through the Holy Spirit we too cannot go forward. And what did they do when they waited? They got together in the place they met and prayed…they prayed in one accord…they prayed in one voice. We can tend to be there like the disciples did in the beginning, staring up looking for Jesus. But that really doesn’t get us anywhere. We are looking intently to the sky for His return but in the meantime we are “called to action.” Talk about the instruction I have been given to share…pray together at our church one night a week…

We as the “hands, feet, arms…” of Christ need to hear the instruction that God is giving us to be whom He has ordained us and yes we all have been Ordained and Anointed by God to do His work in the world. And the only place we are going to find it is in His word…not from any self-help book that is on the market. Let’s spend some time together in God’s Word and in prayer. Maybe as we do this…we will once again hear God’s voice. Perhaps…maybe…just maybe…we will again activate the power of Pentecost…the Power of the Holy Spirit…within our ministries and our church’s. Just think of the possibilities as e step out in faith and trust in our Risen Lord Jesus Christ. Just imagine…

Amen.