A CO:MISSION Given...

This week, we are looking at a section of a letter in our Bibles called the book of Acts. In this section, Jesus is having a conversation with the disciples after He was raised from the dead. And in the midst of this conversation, the disciples found themselves confused as to whether or not Jesus was staying with the disciples or leaving to God back to God the Father, as He had previously told them. And in the midst of their confusion, the disciples ask Jesus a question, which is recorded for us in Acts 1:6:

So when they had come together, they were asking Him, saying, "Lord, is it at this time You are restoring the kingdom to Israel?"

Now this question, if asked in the language that we use in our culture today, would sound something like this: “Jesus, is now the time where you are going fulfill your promise to restore the Jewish people to political prominence and power as your chosen people? Is now the time when you are going to defeat the Roman Empire and reestablish the Jewish nation with you as our King, so that the Jewish people would have a kingdom like we used to in the days of King David and King Solomon?”

You see, the disciples, along with the vast majority of the Jewish people, viewed the Messiah as being a military and political leader who would rescue and restore their political fortunes. So the disciples were awaiting their marching orders; the disciples were waiting to receive their mission, so that they could be a part of reestablishing God’s kingdom. What mission would they be given? “Sure we are to wait in Jerusalem to receive the Holy Spirit; great. But what is our mission? And when is the kingdom being established?” And, as was so often the case, the disciples were not prepared for the answer that they would receive from Jesus, which is recorded for us in verse 7:

He said to them, "It is not for you to know times or epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority;

In other words, Jesus says “that is above your pay grade and that is not to be your concern. Instead of being concerned with the things that only God has the position and power to establish, I want you to concerned with what you should be concerned with, which is to follow my command and wait in Jerusalem so that you can be equipped and empowered to complete the mission that I have for you. Jesus then gives the disciples and followers of Jesus throughout history, the mission that they were to be concerned with:

“and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth."

The disciples were not given a mission to lead a military campaign. The disciples were not given a mission to establish a new political party. Instead, the mission that the disciples were given was to be Jesus witnesses. Now, just as it is today, a witness is one who affirms and testifies about something that they have seen or heard. The disciples were to affirm and testify about what they saw and what they heard when it came to Jesus life, death, and resurrection. The disciples were to share the claims of Christ and the message of the gospel as the means by which all of humanity had the opportunity to receive forgiveness and experience the relationship with God that they were created for.

And this mission to share the claims of Christ and the message of the gospel was to be a mission that was ever expanding in size and scope. The disciples were to live lives that revealed and reflected Christ as they shared the claims of Christ and the message of the gospel to those in their immediate sphere of influence, which was Jerusalem. The disciples were to equip and empower followers of Jesus to live in such a way that they would develop relationships that enabled them to take the claims of Christ to those who were not in their immediate sphere of influence, which was Judea and Samaria. And the disciples were to have a passion to take the claims of Christ and the message of the gospel to the entire world.

And the mission for us as followers of Jesus remains the same. At the church where I serve, we communicate God’s kingdom mission this way: At City Bible Church, we are a “city within a city" that is striving to reveal and reflect Christ as we love and serve the city. As followers of Jesus, we are to live our day to day lives as missionaries that reflect a genuine and authentic relationship with Jesus and that reveal Jesus to those around us through our words and our actions as we love and serve those around us. Our words and our actions as individuals and in community with one another should affirm and testify to the truth of the claims of Christ and the message of the gospel.

And this mission is not a solo mission; this mission is not a mission that is simply done in partnership with one another. This mission is a co-mission that is empowered by the very presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives that enables us to not only live the Christian life, but to partner with God as He completes His mission.

Now, as you might imagine, Jesus words here were confusing. This was not what they expected to hear. And, if Jesus words were not enough to confuse the disciples, tomorrow we will look at something that happened next that was even more confusing...