Stay Here in the City
Rev. Mark Schaefer
Kay Spiritual Life Center
May 4, 2008
Luke 24:44-53; Acts 1:1-11

Luke 24:44-53 Then he said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you—that everything written about me in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms must be fulfilled.” Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures, and he said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Messiah is to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. And see, I am sending upon you what my Father promised; so stay here in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.”
Then he led them out as far as Bethany, and, lifting up his hands, he blessed them. While he was blessing them, he withdrew from them and was carried up into heaven. And they worshiped him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy; and they were continually in the temple blessing God.

Acts 1:1-11 In the first book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus did and taught from the beginning until the day when he was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. After his suffering he presented himself alive to them by many convincing proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God. While staying with them, he ordered them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait there for the promise of the Father. “This,” he said, “is what you have heard from me; for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”
So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, is this the time when you will restore the kingdom to Israel?” He replied, “It is not for you to know the times or periods that the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” When he had said this, as they were watching, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. While he was going and they were gazing up toward heaven, suddenly two men in white robes stood by them. They said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up toward heaven? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.”

I. BEGINNING

Every time I get to this time of year, I am reminded of something Joe Eldridge said to me when I first started here. "The hardest part of this job," he said, "is that they leave.” You spend four years working together with these students and you develop relationships with them and then they’re up and gone before you know it.

It’s true. It’s the hardest part of the job. When I was in college, I didn’t do well with the idea of loss and separation. I became practically obsessed with having pictures of everything that I did with my friends and of all the people I knew—ways to hang on to them once they were gone. I’ve gotten past that particular neurosis, but it doesn’t make it any easier to say goodbye to people.

I often joke that what we really need to do here is save up our money and buy an apartment building in town where all the alumni can go and live once they graduate. A UMSA alumni house, if you will. It would be the easiest way to keep in touch with you all, and we could provide affordable housing to all of you in search of your first job out of college. It’s silly, but just in case, if you know of any wealthy donors who own real estate, let me know.

Times of transition like this are bound to be difficult. Not just for those of us who have to witness the spectacle of graduation year in and year out. For those of you going through it, undoubtedly it is a bitter-sweet time. This is it, after all: you are finally done with schooling and ready to head out into the big wide world. You are no longer bound by anything other than your own dreams. You have the your whole lives and the whole world in front of you.

And that’s scary as hell, isn’t it?

There is a temptation to want to cling onto what is familiar. To stay where it is safe. There is a temptation to do more looking back than looking ahead.

II. The Text

In today’s scripture lessons, we read the story of the Ascension, told in two different ways by the same author—Luke, who wrote both the Gospel of Luke and the Book of Acts. In them we read of Jesus’ final instructions to the disciples before he ascends to heaven. There are a couple of things striking about these stories.

The first is the way that the story in Acts ends:

While he was going and they were gazing up toward heaven, suddenly two men in white robes stood by them. They said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up toward heaven? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.”

Jesus ascends into heaven and the disciples stand there looking up to heaven. I imagine that they felt the same kind of apprehension many of you may feel. They have just had an incredible, life changing experience, but now when it is time to take the first step, you are tempted to try to stand and stare into the heavens.

It can be frightening to realize that the net has been removed. The training wheels are off. You’re heading out on your own. And there’s no one to tell you how.

III. Staying in the City

The second thing that strikes me is that in the version of this story from the Gospel of Luke, Jesus says to “stay here in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high”

Stay here in the city.

Many of you will be staying here in the city, and while that makes your lives a little easier in terms of moving arrangements and ours in terms of alumni relations, that’s not quite what Jesus is talking about.

See, one of the interesting things about the Gospel of Luke is that it, unlike the other three, focuses a lot on Jerusalem. The entire Gospel is oriented toward Jerusalem. In Matthew and Mark, the first time that Jesus’ disciples encounter him after the resurrection is in Galilee. In Luke and John it is in Jerusalem. In John, they return to Galilee and encounter him again there.

But Luke focuses on Jerusalem—the Holy City, the city where the action takes place. In Luke’s telling, the disciples are told to stay in the city until they have been given power.

How comforting that is, isn’t it? How tempting. Stay right here until it’s time to go. Imagine if you could just all stay on campus in campus housing with a campus meal plan until you got your lives figured out. Imagine what it would be like if we did get that UMSA apartment building. You could all live on the same floor and continue along without interruption. When our world is changing, there is great temptation to cling onto the familiar and it seems like that’s what Jesus is telling us to do—to stay here in the city. Except that he’s not.

Jesus says to stay here in the city “until you have been clothed with power from on high.”

Now, in Luke’s combined narrative, these events are succeeded by the events of Pentecost, the day that the Holy Spirit comes upon the Apostles and they are able to speak in tongues and do other deeds of power. This would generally be considered to be the event that clothes the disciples with power from on high. Now, for those of you thinking you can stay around until Pentecost, I feel constrained to point out that Pentecost is in fact next Sunday: graduation Sunday. So it doesn’t really buy you much time anyway.

But there is no need to wait around until Pentecost or any date in the future. For you have already been clothed in power from on high.

You who are members of this fellowship are members of an extraordinary community. You are members of a community in which the presence and power of God can be felt all the time. You have been given the power from on high often in your time here. You have guided the shape of our worship. You have discerned the path for our community as a whole. You have helped the community to reaffirm its witness to be inclusive to everyone. You have led us in praise and music. You have helped organize service projects. You have organized witnesses for justice. You have ministered to one another. You have created safe spaces for others to explore their faith. You have been Christian leaders and your works are works of power guided by the Spirit.

There is no need to linger here in the city.

You have indeed received power. It is a power that is visible to all who encounter you. It is a power that sings out praise. A power that challenges injustice. A power that reaches out to the marginalized. A power that is a visible sign of God’s love and grace. This is the power that you have received. This is the Power of the Holy Spirit of God.

IV. Bound Together in Love

And so while it pains me to say this:

Go. It is time to leave the city.

Go. You have been clothed with power from on high.

Go. You have a world to change and a God to testify for.

Go. You are fully prepared to minister to a broken and hurting world.

Go. For your time here, your contributions here, and the legacy you have left behind will not be forgotten.

Your names will be added to the list of those who have forged this community with their love of God and dedication to Christ: Taylor Walters. Chrissy Lindstrom, Chris Slatt, Bradford Cheney, Lou Belsito, Stuart Denyer, Erin Trouth, Erin Taylor, Amber Pezan, Kate Moore, Kate Boustead, Katie Schroepfer, Dennis Rowe, Nathan Brownback, Holly Masters, Roza Guillaume, Danielle Dickey, Sidney Traynham, Ariel Schwarz, Gussie Abrahmse, Kim McClain, Bryan Colombo, Jason Reimer, Velda Jones, Sarah Anderson, Allen Hays, Patrick Elliott, Eileen Barber, Eileen Hassett, Emily Randle, Erica Benjamin, Jessica Dillon, Jennifer Arver, Kate von Richthofen, Colin Mattoon, Laura Goodman, Shawna Perko, Thaddina Wiley, Adrienne Arey, Steven Bielinski, Marlon Brown, Jessica Davis, Brandy Dillingham, Kathryn Fekete, Marjorie Jeansonne, Lindsey Kerr, Jeff McAleer , Jason Shippy, Corrine Thompson, Lindsey Triplett, Lennea Bower, Bonnie Crouch, Meredith Herbert, Patty Herold, Lara Hogan, Ruth Kemmish, Jesse Marsden, Vajaah Parker, Lisa Rothman, Molly Thomas, and so many others.

V. END

The end of the school year is bitter-sweet. It is a difficult time when we celebrate what has been and look forward to a future that has yet to be written. We are so tempted to stay in the familiar. To cling on to places and people. To watch Jesus ascend but feel comfortable staying right where we are.

But we are clothed by the power of the Spirit. We are called out, called to serve, called out to witness.

And so we go out into the wide world, not fearful, but full of hope. Not sad, but joyous of the time that is to come.

Not worried about loss or separation, but confident that we are forever bound to one another in love.