Introduction
Today marks a time of transition in the life of worship in our Church. As from next Sunday the regular pattern for Sunday worship will change from two to one main service. Those who are regulars here will be familiar with the process which has led up to this. Before moving on to look at the passage from Acts where we will be looking at how the apostles handled transition I just wanted to highlight one verse from there and one from John 17 which have been influential in my own journey regarding our Sunday worship. Acts 1: 14 and 2:1 see the Apostles being altogether praying in one place. There is something right and powerful about worshipping together which should over-ride our personal preferences regarding style of worship. Then from John 17:11 Jesus prays “so that they may be one as we are one”. Jesus had a passion for unity – do we share that passion?
As we go through this time of transition how are we feeling? How are we preparing for the change? The disciples were going through a huge time of transition. Jesus, their master, teacher and friend, had left them. However else you understand the Ascension it marks the end of Jesus’ ministry on earth. They had probably started to get used to the idea of His appearing and disappearing since Easter, now He was gone – what were they to do?
Jesus tells his disciples to wait in Jerusalem until they are baptised in the Holy Spirit “Do not leave Jerusalem but wait for the gift my Father promised” Acts 1:4. No doubt it would have been tempting to go back to their home territory of Galilee but Jesus tells them to wait. It is tempting when facing change and transition to rush ahead, sometimes the right thing to do is to wait. Often we know what the right thing is to be doing but need to get the timing right and often God’s timing is different from ours. Surfing illustration. So the disciples waited in Jerusalem but were not idle, they prayed
Acts 1:14 “They all joined together constantly in prayer” cf Luke 24:53 “they stayed continually at the Temple praising God”. They probably had very little idea what Jesus meant when he told them they were going to be clothed with power to be witnesses, but they did know how to pray. The picture we have here is of both set times of liturgical prayer in the temple and more spontaneous prayer together in the upper room. When faced with times of transition we too should devote ourselves to prayer at every opportunity. I have recently returned from a one week visit to a monastery on Caldey Island. There the monks pray formally 9 times a day starting at 3.30am! Whilst theirs is a special calling, we should be committed to regular times of prayer
Arising out of their praying together they make practical preparation for what lies ahead by choosing a replacement for Judas. There has been much comment about this seeing that Matthias is never heard of again and with hindsight one might think that Paul would have made a better substitute. Let us simply note they acted prayerfully, being guided by the Spirit and Scripture. Even if our decisions may seem less than perfect with hindsight it is important to act with integrity at the time.
It would be quite natural for the disciples to have felt fearful, angry disappointed or depressed at the departure of Jesus, however we read in Luke24:52 “Then they worshipped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy”. The gathering in the upper room at the beginning of Acts is certainly a very different one from a few weeks previously when the doors were locked for fear of the Jews. Whilst we may have little control over our moods and emotions we can choose our attitude. For example one of my resolutions this year was to develop a more “can do” attitude.
As we look forward to Pentecost Sunday and all that brings what kind of attitude are we adopting? Are we prayerfully awaiting the filling of the Spirit? Are we open to what God has in store for us?