Acts 1 – It All has To Start Somewhere
The old saying is that the longest journey begins with a single footstep. Everything has to start somewhere. Some of the greatest and largest and most successful companies in the world started with one man or one woman having a good idea. From there it grew into something great.
The church was the same way. It began with death and then life. It began with failure which turned into success. It began with sadness which became joy. It began with one man and ended up being the largest faith in the world.
The church started one day with a couple of hundred people standing around trying to figure out what was going to happen. They were in the temple like they had been for the ten days since Jesus went back to heaven in their sight. They were praying, talking, discussing, teaching, arguing, expostulating – all the things they knew how to do.
They just couldn’t do the most important thing: figure out just exactly what it was they were supposed to do.
Jesus had left them with a single idea: just wait in Jerusalem, for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about (Acts 1:4). He said they would be baptized again, but this time, it was going to be different. This time, he said, in 1:5, you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.
So they waited. They had nothing, after all. They had given it all up when they began to follow Jesus. So it wasn’t as if they had lost a lot in waiting. But wait they did.
And they waited. And they waited. When will it begin? They even asked him, in 1:6, before he left, Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel? Tell us when it will start. Give us some clue.
Jesus’ reply: it will start when the Father decides it will start. You just wait until then.
So they waited.
They even did a little busywork and appointed another apostle to replace Judas Iscariot, who had killed himself after betraying Jesus. Of course, that wasn’t necessary. God had his own plans for the apostolate. You never hear from Matthias again.
And they waited. And prayed. A lot of prayer was prayed, along with all of the disciples, and Jesus’ mother, Mary. Even she didn’t know yet what to do.
Something was going to happen, and when it did, it was going to start something big. They knew that. They just didn’t know what yet.
So they waited. And prayed. And watched. And taught and discussed and talked and argued.
Come, Lord Jesus. It all has to start somewhere. Let it start with us.
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