The disciples meet

Acts 1:12-14

This paragraph is seemingly innocuous, but if we will slow down and read it thoroughly, we find there is nothing innocuous in this passage. Rather, it is a moment that teaches us how to spend our days in faith. It sets a pattern for us to follow. 

Luke loved details. It is in them that he often places deeply important pieces of instruction.

First, he tells us that the disciples returned from the Mount of Olives to Jerusalem, “a Sabbath Day’s journey.” So? So, this means the Mount of Olives is less than 800 meters from Jerusalem, for 800 meters was as a far as a pious Jew could walk without breaking the Sabbath prohibition against work. Why is that important? Because it means the place where Jesus ascended was basically on top of the Holy of Holies--the Temple of Jerusalem. It means the mountain of God is all around the disciples as they begin their own ministry, now embodying in themselves the work of Christ. 

What this note teaches us is that when we engage in the work of Christ, we are on holy ground. When we seek to embody the compassion and mercy of Christ in our own words and deeds we are not far from God at all. Or--God is not far from us. We begin to realize the great promise of Christ that the Kingdom of God is not far away from us, but upon us (cf. Mt. 3:2). 

Next, the disciples gather in the Upper Room. Here was the place where Jesus reworked the covenant between God and us. Here is the site of the Last Supper, the institution of the fellowship grounded in the other-centered, self-sacrificial love that defined Christ as the Christ. It will be from this base that the disciples act. Everything they say and do in their ministry will flow from this table. They will put into action what they received, becoming the body and blood of Christ in their service of love within the world. They will actualize their own redemption as they become redeemers of the world. 

In our churches, there is also a table. We sometimes do not know what to make of that table, so we make it into something other than what it is. But what it is for us is the sign that we are also gathered in the Upper Room as we meet for worship. We also are drawn into the covenant of grace Christ embodied in himself as he gave himself to the world. We also are charged to share the gifts of that table with all whom we encounter. We are also charged to proclaim the love revealed in Christ--that through other-centered, self-sacrificial love, the world can be transformed and transcended. 

It is interesting that Luke once again names the disciples. They are now eleven. Judas Iscariot is missing (a bit later, Luke informs us that he died a horrible death). Those eleven gather together, a still fractured and broken congregation.

We come to Christ incomplete. God has no expectation that we would come any other way. God does not require that we have our act together, that we already know all there is to know about the Bible, theology, or the rites and practices of our religion, or that we exude a holiness from within. No, God takes us as we are, where we are, and how we are. That is good enough. It is good enough because faith is about God. We are simply the vessels through which God chooses to work. That is called “grace.”

Together, the disciples pray. It all begins with pray. A bit earlier, the angels fussed at the disciples for doing nothing as they gawped after Jesus in the sky. Some might argue they are still at it--doing nothing! To the contrary! They are hard at work in faith. They do what faith requires--listen for God, then speak; listen for God, then act. This first step cannot be skipped or dismissed.

As we gather together in our sanctuaries for worship, our primary work should be prayer. Hymns are prayers. Silence is prayer. Sermons should be full of prayer--before, during, and after. Praying for the world, for our beloveds, for the strangers in our midst, for our communities--for everyone and everything--is foremost. We should pray in confession, praise, and supplication--but every single prayer should be more about listening for God than filling the air with words. Then we will know what to say. Then we will know what to do.

Finally, Luke tells us the Upper Room was more crowded than on Maundy Thursday. The women are there. Mary and Jesus’ siblings are there. So? The community of faith already grows beyond the simple bounds of insider and outsider. Yes, Jesus handpicked the eleven men at the table, but the women were the first to see the Risen Christ, and Mary and the kids loved Jesus and knew him in a way uniquely their own. They are all there.

The congregation is as big as the world. Never lose sight of that. In Christ, inside and out are meaningless. Everybody’s “in.” As we gather for prayer and worship, we gather in the midst of a great cloud of witnesses. Inside the church is but a small fraction of the congregation. Go outside and see the fullness of God’s grace, the breadth of God’s love, and the sweep of God’s acceptance and affirmation. They are all there. We are in this together.

So, Luke hid a whole bunch in a string of measly details. Slow down. Take it in. Ponder. Pray. Process.

The rest will make itself known soon enough.