“The most radical revolution”, part 2/3
Text: Acts
1.1-11
Chosen
Isn’t it thrilling to be chosen for
something? Perhaps it was getting picked
by a sports team, maybe it was being selected to act in a play, perhaps it was
getting a job after successfully navigating a competitive hiring process, maybe
it was getting proposed to (or receiving a positive answer to your proposal),
perhaps it was being promoted to a position of greater responsibility or
leadership. Whatever it may have been,
it’s almost always a rewarding experience to be selected to use one’s
abilities to contribute to the success of a group, an organization…or a couple.
Being chosen is the fun part. But what about what happens from that point
on? A lesson that the Bible teaches
again and again is that those who are chosen by God are not usually chosen for
their strengths, talents or the usual reasons why we get chosen for various
things in life. In the Bible, God
chooses people, not because of who they are or because of what they can
do; rather, God chooses people because he is merciful…and because he is humble. God has always desired to involve his human,
image-bearing creatures in his projects and in his plan of salvation. The God of the Bible doesn’t seem to like to
“go it alone”. Ultimately, God became
a human being in order to save the world.
Lest we make the mistake of thinking that being chosen by the Creator is
like getting a promotion, let’s now forget just how difficult it was for
God-incarnate to live in this world (cf. Phil. 2.5-11). Being chosen by God always means suffering
and humble service; indeed, it often means being humbled by suffering so
as to be made useful for God’s purposes.
It's
all about God
As often happens when we bring our
questions to the Bible, we discover that our questions aren’t exactly the right
ones. This is often simply because our
questions reflect our concerns (and our sense of self-importance), while God’s
concerns are often quite different. In
the beginning of the book of Acts, the resurrected Jesus is with the
apostles outside of Jerusalem, and the disciples ask him one of those
questions:
Like good,
faithful Jews, the apostles are eager to know if Jesus will finally do what
they think the Messiah is supposed to do – liberate Israel from her enemies and
make her the dominant nation on the world stage. Isn’t that what Psalm 2 was all about? The nations may rage, but Yahweh’s anointed
king will rule them with a rod of iron from his throne on Mt. Zion. So, the apostles ask, has the time now come
to put this program into practice?
Both the crucifixion and the resurrection
of Jesus had taken the disciples completely by surprise – they could never have
imagined that the Messiah would suffer and die, let alone rise from death as an
advance sign of the world to come. What
the disciples would eventually come to understand was that Jesus’ death on the
cross had been precisely his enthronement as Israel’s anointed king – the King
of the Jews – and the launch of the kingdom of God (cf. Ac. 1.3). Jesus had tried – unsuccessfully – to
explain to his apostles that the kingdom of the Creator functioned very
differently from those of the world (cf. Mk. 10.32-45). The apostles – and Jesus himself – were indeed
members of God’s chosen people, the nation of Israel, the people of God. The apostles – correctly – believe that the
people of God are integral to God’s plan and they are eager to experience the
realisation of God’s promises to his people that are peppered throughout Scripture. However, as Jesus has tried to point out,
they have a very inadequate understanding of the why of Israel’s “election”
as the people of God.
Why
Israel?
So why did God choose Israel as his
people and rescue her from slavery in Egypt?
As we heard from Deuteronomy, God chose Israel out of love and because of
his faithfulness to his promise to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (cf. Dt.
7.7-8). We have to be extremely
careful here – being loved by God, being chosen by God, are by no means a
simple matter of being God’s favourite, or of enjoying a life without
difficulty. Remember the words spoken
from heaven at Jesus’ baptism: “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well
pleased” (Lk. 3.22). How did things
turn out for Jesus…? The words of
the Father at the Jordan River echo God’s previous words about the Israelites when
they were in slavery: “Israel is my firstborn son” (Ex. 4.22). In the Bible, whenever God – in his love and
mercy – choses someone, it is always so that person or group of people
can serve his purpose, the purpose of saving the entire world. (As we know, there can be no salvation
without suffering…)
We see this from the very moment that God calls Abraham to be the “father” of a great nation (what will become the nation of Israel): “…in you all the families of the earth will be blessed” (Gn. 12.3). Israel’s “servant identity” is re-affirmed at Mt. Sinai. God tells his people “…you will be a kingdom of priests and a holy nation” (Ex. 19.6). Israel’s vocation was to be a nation that would intercede with God for all the other nations of the world. Israel was called to perform the priestly duty of offering to the Creator the worship that the whole creation owed him. All the sacrifices offered in the Tabernacle and the Temple were offered on behalf of all the other nations. God had called the nation of Israel into being so that she could be his special nation – not in the sense of being the privileged favourite, but so that Israel could represent God and demonstrate to all peoples how to live according to his will. Israel was called to be a “light to the nations”. All this is spelled out in the “Servant Songs” of Isaiah chapters 40—55. Israel, according to this portion of Scripture, is Yahweh’s “Servant”, called to witness to God’s goodness and love in the midst of a hostile world. Ultimately, a single individual would be chosen to fulfill the Servant’s vocation – the words spoken from heaven at Jesus’ baptism are actually an allusion to Isaiah 42.1. The early Christians saw the sufferings of the Servant described in Isaiah 53 as being a prophecy of Jesus’ own sufferings (cf. Ac. 8.32).
The
kingdoms of the world and the kingdom of God
During the period when Israel was
dominated by pagan empires, beginning with the Babylonians and culminating with
the Romans, it was easy for the people of God to forget their calling to be a
light to the nations and to focus instead on survival, on dreaming of
the day when Yahweh would act, as he had done in Egypt, to defeat their enemies
and rescue them. During this time, it was
easier to pray and wait for the day of Vengeance than to seek to be a witness
to the Gentile nations. When Jesus’
contemporaries heard him say that “the kingdom of God is near”, they understood
him to mean that the day of rescue was at hand – when God would finally exercise
his kingly rule (i.e. establish his kingdom), it was assumed, pagan empires would
crumble and Israel would be vindicated as the true people of the one true God;
she would be victorious, the Gentiles would bow the knee to the “son of David” (i.e.
Messiah) and there would be peace and justice for all. This is what the apostles are asking Jesus
about. This was their
expectation. It is precisely this
expectation that we find throughout Luke’s 2-volume work; and it is precisely
this expectation that Jesus radically re-interprets and fulfills in a dramatically
unexpected way.
In Luke’s work, Jesus re-interprets both
the what and the how of the kingdom of God. The apostles were expecting that the kingdom
of God would resemble the other kingdoms of the world in the sense that God’s
enemies would be compelled to respect the power of Yahweh’s dominion –
and that of the Messiah, his representative – which would emanate from Jerusalem
to encompass the world. They also
assumed that it would require force to bring about this “New Age”. The fact that Jesus rose from death after
having been crucified by the “kingdom of the world” was the first clue that they
had been mistaken about the nature of the kingdom of God…
The kingdom of David
In a sense, the disciples make the right
mistake. After all, the Old Testament is
full of God’s promises to establish the kingdom of David and his descendants,
including the Messiah himself. In the
beginning of Luke’s Gospel, we find multiple references to the “hope of Israel”
for salvation and rescue. When Jesus is
brought to the Temple to be circumcised, Luke introduces us to two elderly figures
(like Zechariah and Elisabeth in chapter 1): Simeon and Anna. Simeon is described as someone who was waiting
for the “consolation of Israel” (Lk. 2.25).
Anna, for her part, is shown to be talking to anyone who will listen about
the “redemption of Jerusalem” (Lk. 2.38).
Luke begins his 2-volume work by painting a picture of Israel’s expectancy
for deliverance, for rescue. This urgent
anticipation of salvation is what drives Luke’s narrative, both in his Gospel and in the book of Acts.
When the angel Gabriel
announced to Mary that she had been chosen to be the mother of the Messiah, the
long-awaited king of Israel, he had told her something absolutely fascinating:
“…you will
conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. He…will
be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David. He will reign over the house of Jacob
forever, and of his
kingdom there will be no end.” (Luke
1.31-33)
Gabriel tells Mary that her son will receive “the throne of David” and
that “his kingdom will last forever”.
This is indeed what God had promised David – God had told him that one
of his descendants would always sit on his throne (cf. 2 Sam. 7.13-14). So, Jesus is the promised descendant of David
who will reign over Israel forever.
God’s anointed king
Once ancient Israel had established
a monarchy, a new twist was introduced into the story. To take one example among many, in Psalm 2,
God tells the king of Israel that he has been chosen to rule, not only over the
people of God, but also over all
the nations of the world:
“I have set my king on
Zion, my holy hill.”
I will tell of the decree of the Lord: He said
to me,
“You are my son;
today I have begotten you.
Ask of me, and I will make the nations your
heritage
and the ends of the earth your possession.” (Psalm 2.6-8)
So, according to the Hebrew Scriptures (the Old Testament), the king of
the descendants of Abraham is destined to rule over the entire world. The king of Israel is destined to reign over the kingdom of God, which will include all the nations of the
earth. Ultimately, according to many
Psalms, God was king of both Israel and the world (e.g. Pss.
47, 90-96). God’s “anointed one”, the
king of Israel, was called to rule as God’s representative on earth (cf. Ps.
2.7-8). Gabriel tells Mary that her son
Jesus will be the long-awaited king who will rule over Israel and the
nations. This is the point of the story that Luke is telling in his two-volume work (Luke – Acts). Luke is telling the story of how God’s
promises to Abraham and David are fulfilled through Jesus and his
apostles. In his Gospel, Luke shows us how Jesus is the king of Israel (the Messiah, the Son
of God); in the sequel, The
Acts of the Apostles, Luke
shows us how the kingdom of God spreads from Jersualem “to the ends of the
earth” as the witnesses to Jesus’ resurrection proclaim him as Messiah and Lord
(cf. Ac. 1.3, 8; 2.36).
We’re part of the story
So, Acts chapter 1 is
telling us that the risen Jesus is teaching the disciples about the kingdom of
God (cf. Ac. 1.3) – which is the kingdom of the Davidic king, the Messiah. Jesus helps them realize just how vast the
kingdom of God is – it is not limited to the nation of Israel, to one strip of
territory between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea; rather, the
kingdom of God – as Psalm 2 had promised – is to extend “to the ends of the
earth”. Not only does Jesus clarify the
scope of the kingdom, he also informs the shocked disciples that the kingdom of
God will spread outwards from Jerusalem – through their witness to his resurrection! The disciples, descendants of Abraham
and members of the people of God that they are, are not merely recipients and
beneficiaries of the kingdom; rather, they are the very means by which the kingdom will become a reality in the world. Instead of
acquiring “power” because they are the friends of the Messiah, the apostles
find themselves to be servants of the gospel, tasked with an impossible mission,
but told to wait until they receive what God had promised, i.e. the true power of the Holy Spirit. The
apostles, who represent the people of God – that’s why there was 12 of them,
find themselves sent out into a dangerous and often hostile world, armed only
with the promise of the Spirit.
Chosen…for others
The disciples had to learn
the lesson that Israel had consistently failed to learn ever since the call of
Abraham. The people of God were chosen
to belong to the Creator for one very specific reason – to be God’s instrument of salvation
in the world. Israel had never existed for herself. As a nation, Israel had been chosen to be a
“light” to the world and to be the “salt of the earth” (cf. Mt. 5.13-16). Israel had been called to be the servant nation. She had
not been chosen to simply enjoy being God’s favourite; rather, the people of
God had been chosen to draw all nations to the Source, to Yahweh, the Creator
and Redeemer of all things. As Jesus sends
the apostles on a mission to “the ends of the earth”, he is re-affirming the
vocation of the people of God that had been in place since the call of Abraham –
the apostles (and many others) will go to all the nations with the liberating
message of the gospel. “Israel”, now
renewed around the Messiah and open to people of all nations, will now finally
fulfill her destiny – through the witness of the followers of Jesus the Messiah,
the Son of David.
Chosen
to suffer
Ancient Israel was chosen to suffer as Yahweh’s servant nation in the world. Hers was a sacred and painful destiny. As you read the book of Acts, you will discover that it was no different for “the 12” (apostles) and their associates as they travel throughout the Roman empire to proclaim the good news of Jesus. The people of God is always called to obedient, faithful and often painful witness to its risen Lord. This is our calling as much as it was ancient Israel’s and as much as it was that of the first-century movement whose members would come to be called “Christians” (cf. Ac. 11.26). This is the vocation of all who would follow Jesus. As the late spiritual writer Brendan Manning said of a late American singer-songwriter:
“Jesus of Nazareth ruined Rich
Mullin’s life. And out of the ruins
he recreated a ragamuffin of startling originality; no human being who has
crossed my path even remotely resembles him”.
Dietrich
Bonhoeffer said, “When Christ calls a wo/man to follow him, he bids them
come and die”. As Jesus said to
Ananias of Damascus about Saul of Tarsus: “I will show him how much he must
suffer for the sake of my name” (Ac. 9.16).
As Paul, once he had changed his name, said: “I regard everything as
loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his
sake I have suffered the loss of all things…” (Phil. 3.8).
If the apostles had to be taught that the people of God exist for the good of the rest of the world, we – as the people of God in this place and at this time – also have to learn this lesson. The only reason we exist is for the good of the wider community all around us. If we belong to the God whose Word became flesh (cf. Jn. 1.14), we are on a mission. Our risen Lord is sending us out of the safe confines of our church into the dangerous and hurting world with good news – good news for the poor, for the lonely, for the despairing, for the self-satisfied, for the broken, for the powerful, for everyone. The gospel we are called to proclaim and embody is that Jesus is Lord, and therefore, true joy (and “power”!) can be experienced by humbly loving God and humbly serving each other. This is the revolutionary message we are called to spread “to the ends of the earth”, or perhaps, simply to the end of the street. Amen.
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