BROADCASTS.com

One day Jesus was eating with them. He gave them a command. \u201cDo not leave Jerusalem,\u201d he said. \u201cWait for the gift my Father promised. You have heard me talk about it (Acts 1:4).

Today, we begin a new series. Wilderness Wanderings was launched in the early days of the first COVID lockdown to help shepherd our congregation (Immanuel Church in Hamilton Ontario) through the pandemic. During this past summer, our congregation participated in a conversation called \u2018Vibrant Congregations\u2019. Our leadership asked us to explore some of the learnings from that conversation in Wilderness Wanderings. We recognize that many people use this as part of their personal and family devotions. It is our intent to continue leaning in that direction. So even if you are not part of the Immanuel family, we hope that you will find these next four weeks edifying for your faith.

We are calling this series, Together in Faith. Since around 2008 this has been the tagline of our congregation. As the leadership sorted through the feedback from the Vibrant conversation, we realized that even though the church has changed in many ways, this tagline still resonates with many folks. Yet, living it out today looks different than it did 15 years ago. God has been at work among us. He is calling us deeper and higher.

So let us begin at a rather strange place: Acts 1:4. Here Jesus instructs his disciples to sit down and \u201cwait\u201d. After several years of COVID restrictions, after a whole summer of gathering material, we start with more waiting. And you respond, \u201cBut what are we going to do?\u201d And we reply, \u201cWait.\u201d Not as in, \u201cWait for it.\u201d But simply, \u201cWait\u201d.

Let me remind you that we are listening to the God of the Bible, not the gods of North America, which are constantly goading us to hurry up and get there. We, of course, never arrive where there is. The God who reveals himself in the Bible is rarely, if ever, in a hurry.

Abraham and Sarah waited decades for their son. Isaac and Rebekah were barren for a while as well. Israel spent 40 years in the wilderness. After David was anointed king, he went back to shepherding, became a soldier in the king\u2019s army, became his son-in-law as well and then an outlaw, all before he assumed the kingship. Throughout the Bible God\u2019s folks do a lot of waiting. Isaiah offers this summary, \u201cIn repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength, but you would have none of it\u201d (30:15).

For many years, mission and vision statements, strategies and goals have been buzz words in church life. All of these can be good things and very helpful for a congregation. We do not intend to demean any of that work; however, we want us all to recognize that those things tend to create more busyness and can cause the church to become dependent on strenuous human effort. Peter, a de facto leader among the disciples, was a go-getter. He wanted to get things done. The kingdom of God moves forward by divine effort, not by human go-getters. Certainly, we Christians participate, frequently getting in the way, just like Peter (cf. Matthew 16:23).

Waiting implies that the Kingdom is beyond our ability to accomplish by our own effort, programs, and plans. Some other empowerment is needed. Jesus told his disciples to wait for the promised gift from the Father which he had told them about. It appears that they also remembered his teaching that the Father would give his Holy Spirit to those who asked (Luke 11:13). Luke tells us that the disciples (120 of them) got together \u2018regularly\u2019 to pray (Acts 1:14,15).

Members of GOHOP (Greater Ontario House of Prayer) are coming to Immanuel this fall, to lead us in a course on prayer. This was already in the works before we finished the Vibrant conversations. Maybe God was ahead of us so that as we work out our Vibrant learnings, we are also spending more time in prayer.

Jesus\u2019 invitation to wait is not just a matter of time, but a posture of the heart. It is an attitude for the whole Christian life. Prayerful waiting shows our trust that in God\u2019s loving hands \u201call things will work together for our good\u201d (Romans 8:28).

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen. (Ephesians 3:20-21).