I couldn’t help it – I had to watch. Yes, I’m talking about William and Kate’s wedding on Friday. It really is fascinating to watch events like a Royal Wedding. Of course, for people like us, rebellious colonists (spare Claire), we don’t always have a good idea about the lineage and succession of the Royal Family.
Emily and I got into the discussion about if Kate could ever be Queen. She said yes, and I said no. Turns out, we were both right and both wrong. She can be called Queen, if and when William becomes King, but she will be Queen Consort, meaning she is married to the King, but will not share in his authority.
After Googling for the answer, I found out that there’s a lot of us who don’t have the vaguest idea of who is heir to the throne. So I found this video that explains it.
(Video explaining Royal Succession)
Don’t you know there are some frustrated people in that line? Charles has been waiting for a long time. Harry can be and probably will be bumped. It’s no wonder that the history books are filled with stories of people killing their parents, siblings, uncles, nieces and nephews, all so that they could inherit the throne. There’s something alluring and enticing about having power.
Now, what if I told you that you were in line to inherit power from a King (and you did not have to murder anyone to get it)? Would you want to hear more about such a prospect?
Well, this morning, we begin looking into such a fact. We begin looking into how we fit into such a line of succession.
Over this period of time from Easter (last Sunday) up until the Day of Pentecost (June 12) we are going to be looking at the text and record of the early Church, the successors of Jesus.
Let’s begin by going back and looking at the Beginnings of this movement.
Take a look with me, if you will, at Acts 1:1-11.
Acts 1:1-11
1 In my former book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach 2 until the day he was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles he had chosen. 3 After his suffering, he showed himself to these men and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God. 4 On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: "Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. 5 For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit." 6 So when they met together, they asked him, "Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?" 7 He said to them: "It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." 9 After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight. 10 They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. 11 "Men of Galilee," they said, "why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven."
[Prayer]
This series we begin today is based on the Book of Acts, but more than that, it is about how we reACT – that is what do we do with this knowledge and power that is given to us.
As we start looking at Acts, many will recall that over time, we have heard that Acts is a history or a historical record of the early church. But to look at it only in that fashion is do it a great disservice. As with any telling of an historical event, it has a purpose. For Luke, the author of Acts, his account of what happened is not just a history lesson, rather it is an account of the apostles fulfilling Jesus’ mandate.
Acts is authored by the same person who wrote the Gospel of Luke, thus we call him Luke. As we see from the beginning of this book, he is writing this as a continuation of what he wrote in the Gospel. He begins basically where he left off, we Jesus’ post-resurrection appearance.
Here is has gathered his disciples together and have told them to wait for the gift of the Holy Spirit. Yet, his followers weren’t quite understanding what Jesus was talking about. So they asked him, “When will you restore the Kingdom back to Israel.” Jesus quickly stops them, saying that wasn’t their business. What they should be and will be concerned about was continuing his ministry.
Let’s take a look back at verse 8 because it forms the crux of the whole book.
Acts 1:8
8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."
Now, I know most of us are not historical geographers, so to help us get an idea on what Jesus is saying, let’s take a look at some maps:
Jerusalem is where the disciples were at the time. So, he is saying, you are going to continue my work here, where you are. This would be the same as if he were saying to us, “You will be my witnesses in Winston-Salem.”
Then he expands the area by also mentioning, Judea. For us, that would be equivalent to North Carolina. But then, Jesus throws a curve.
He says Samaria. I am sure there were probably a few gasps at this point.
While it appears that Samaria was the natural progression in this ever-widening expansion, it was not a place where Jews visited or would consider going to. Galilee, yes! Samaria, no.
Samaria is the region that was located between Judea and Galilee. It was populated by the remnant people who were left behind during the Great Dispersion of the Jews. The people there then intermarried with the people who worshiped other gods, so they were despised by the Jews, looked down upon as less than human.
So, what is it that Jesus is trying to get them to understand? [Allow response]
No one is outside of God’s grace – no one!
Throughout the Gospel of Luke, we see that Jesus lived that out – touching lepers, healing the sick, conversing with the Roman centurion, and yes, forming a relationship with a Samaritan woman by a well. No one is outside of God’s grace!
Luke is conveying that what the disciples witnessed in the Gospel of Luke, they were going to live into and out in Acts.
Friends, that’s out fate as well. What we experience God doing is now our mandate to witness – in Winston-Salem, in North Carolina,
and to the ends of the earth. We are his disciples – we have his mandate.
Two days ago, the question arose about who is in line to be the King or Queen of The United Kingdom. We learned that there is a formula for the Royal succession. But for us here today, we fall in the line of apostolic succession. Jesus has promised us the power to be his witnesses to the ends of the earth. The power comes from the Holy Spirit. Like our predecessors, we pray as we wait for it. But the Spirit is coming.
While we wait, let’s begin preparing ourselves by asking one another these questions:
1) How is it with your soul?
2) How have you experienced God lately?
[Prayer]
[Communion]
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