By Jonathan Keller
Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day’s journey away. And when they had entered, they went up to the upper room, where they were staying, Peter and John and James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot and Judas the son of James. All these with one accord were devoting themselves to prayer, together with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers. (Acts 1:12-14, ESV)
“Bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown.” It’s been 20 minutes, and my mess-erole looks kind of golden? Not brown enough? Why is it bubbling? Do I leave it in? Oh no, I took it out too soon…
Recipes, as many things in life, lack the kind of precise clarity we’d appreciate. Continuing in our series about the early days of the church, we see that Jesus’ disciples sought some clarity for their lives.
Jesus told them to wait after He ascended. Wait until you are baptized with the Holy Spirit. What did that mean, though? If John baptized with water, how would they be baptized with the Spirit of God? How long is “not many days”?
Thankfully, this recipe wasn’t so cryptic. According to Acts 2, the Holy Spirit came at Pentecost, the Feast of Weeks 50 days after Passover. Jesus had taken 40 of those days already, so at most, there were 10 days left after He ascended! God’s redemption plan moved quickly behind the scenes to pour out the Spirit upon His apostles.
While God worked in heaven, the disciples on earth were confused. What did they do in their confused waiting, though? They went right to the means the Lord gave to guide them – prayer, in conversation with His Word. Through this prayer-Word conversation, Peter clarified Judas’ role and gathered the rest to replace the traitor as an eyewitness to the resurrection. Unbeknownst to them, these actions put them in exactly the place to be ready for the Holy Spirit to come on Pentecost.
We are not apostles today, nor are many of us even church officers. Yet we have some direction from the Lord according to our stations, and many times that direction seems unclear to us. What means do we have to seek clarity? Word and prayer, together with the fully revealed sacraments of the Lord’s supper and baptism. What assurance do we have that we will find guidance there? Remember, our Lord is ascended, and through Jesus we have a great high priest between us and the Father. From us to the Father He takes our prayers, and from the Father to us He gives us His Word written, read, preached, and prayed. Whenever we lack clarity with our lives, let us turn to God again and again for guidance from His Word, sacraments, and prayer.
Let’s turn to Him now in prayer.
O heavenly Father, may You be praised for how You govern and guide all the world. You tell the wind where it should go, the birds where they should fly, the trees where they should put down roots. You speak to us clearly by Your Word, and at many times we struggle to hear it. Give us more of Your Spirit that we would understand Your Word as You lead us through our many paths. Give us clarity according to our needs that we might follow You, and give us patience to come to You as we have our many needs. In Jesus’ name we pray, amen.