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March 9, 2008
Walking Together Sunday
Acts 1:8
Pastor Joel Zank

MARCH OFF THE MAP!

(Acts 1:8)  But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."

In Christ Jesus, the Lord of the Church, dear fellow redeemed,

More than 300 years before the time of Christ, Alexander the Great was marching across Asia Minor. Under his command was the greatest army the world had ever known. Nation after nation fell to the Greeks. But when this mighty army reached the Himalaya Mountains, the leaders on the front-line came back to Alexander filled with concern and dismay. “We have marched off the map,” they said. “We should go back to where we know.” Can you imagine? They had literally marched off the known map of that time. Alexander listened to their complaints and then said this, “Mediocre armies always stay within the territory they know. But great armies march right off the map.”

Today in one little verse from Scripture, we hear Jesus say the same sort of thing to his army, his church. Fellow soldiers, today our Savior gives us the command, “March off the map!” As we consider our Commander’s marching orders from Acts 1, we will see that we are encouraged, we are compelled: 1) to march together as a Spirit-led Church; 2) to march together as a risk-taking Church; and 3) to march together as a reproducing Church.

The Savior’s command is a tall order, but not to worry – he also gives us this promise: Before sounding the orders to march, our Savior makes a promise. He says, “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you.” As you hear those words, stop to think what a difference it makes for us to be a Spirit-led army, a Spirit-led Church. For one, it gives direction. The Holy Spirit provides the Church with an understanding of what we should be concerned about. That’s not something that comes naturally to us sinners. Remember the disciples who first heard these words from Jesus? They walked with Jesus for three years. They witnessed his resurrection. Over a period of 40 days he had made it crystal clear to them that he had conquered death. But what were they concerned about? Not the Kingdom of heaven! No, their heads were still buried in the sands of earth as they asked, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?” (Acts 1:6).

Brothers and sisters, by nature we are no different. On our own, it is impossible to comprehend spiritual things or to know their true importance. Like those first disciples it is so easy to let our personal ideas about what the church should be doing interfere with what the Lord wants done. Soon programs can become more important to us than people; beautiful buildings more valuable than souls won for Christ. How quickly we forget the Lord’s mission. Jesus knows this. That’s why he sends us his Spirit. Working through Word and sacrament, the Spirit sees to it that we are not left spiritually wandering or wondering. The Spirit leads us to see Jesus as our Savior and to recognize that our job on earth is to be witnesses of that Savior. It is important to march together as a Spirit-led Church because the Holy Spirit leads us to remember what we are commissioned to do.

But not only does the Spirit show us the direction in which to march, he gives us confidence to take the first step and, then, keep marching. Christ, our Commander says, “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you.” Look at the impact that the Holy Spirit’s power had on the Savior’s first disciples. Just a few weeks prior to Pentecost one of those men fled naked in the Garden of Gethsemane and another one crumbled under the questioning of a servant girl. All of them abandoned the Lord Jesus. But later, given the Spirit’s power, those same disciples were changed from frightened cowards to fearless confessors. Empowered by the Spirit they could even perform miracles such as driving out demons and curing diseases. But the greatest demonstration of the Spirit’s power was not seen in outward miracles, rather it was seen in the impact that their message had on human hearts and lives. Remember that first Pentecost Sunday? Led by the Spirit, the disciples preached to the crowds assembled in Jerusalem. Under the Spirit’s power, their message took hearts filled with hatred of Jesus and turned them into hearts pumping with love for Christ. That’s power – amazing power!

And that same amazing power has been given to us by the Spirit. We have the gospel which is the power of God for salvation! But we forget that at times, don’t’ we? Sometimes, like the first disciples hiding behind locked doors, we sit around and wring our hands about the boldness of Jesus’ enemies. They are so blatant in their sin and so outspoken in their hatred for Christianity. What hope do we really have that any of them will join us in the faith?

Do you see what I mean? We’re forgetting the sin-blasting power of Christ’s gospel, a gospel that is no less capable of creating faith today than it was 2000 years ago. Think of it! As a Spirit-led church, we have the power to pour water on a baby’s head as we speak God’s Word and know that another child is being brought into God’s kingdom! We have the power to offer simple bread and wine connected to God’s Word and know that Jesus is there with his body and blood to forgive sins and strengthen faith. As a Spirit-led church we are equipped with everything we need to knock down Satan’s roadblocks. We have the gospel by which to cut through hearts of stone, a gospel that turns stubborn sinners into grateful saints. Do you doubt this? Look in the mirror – you’re living proof that it is so. Fellow soldiers, we can march together confidently as a church because we are guided by the Spirit of God and equipped with the power of God.

Spirit-bred confidence means that we can also march together as a risk-taking church. That sounds a bit out of character for a group of Lutherans doesn’t it? We don’t take risks do we? We do when Jesus tells us to! He’s not asking us to play it safe, not when he says, “You will be my witnesses.”

Why is being a witness so risky? Look again at the first disciples. As they witnessed about Christ and for Christ, their very lives were at risk. They were tortured for even mentioning the name of Jesus. They were arrested, tried, imprisoned and finally executed for simply talking. It is no surprise that the Greek word for witness is at the root of our English word, “martyr” – a person who’s willing to die for his beliefs.

But it’s not just opposition from the world that makes witnessing so risky. Very often the bigger risks that we face come from internal threats. You know what I mean. Every time we think about opening our mouth and talking about our Savior, we feel threatened by the fear of failure. “Will I say the right thing? Will I anger someone? Will I embarrass myself? Will I walk away with some questions about my own faith?” We don’t like to fail.

But just as much as a fear of failure is a threat to us, so is the fear of success. We’re not any different than those soldiers who came to Alexander the Great and said, “We should go back to where we know!”  We all realize that witnessing can lead us to places we’ve never been before. Or to put it more succinctly, witnessing can take us out of our comfort zone. Let me show you what I mean. In ever increasing numbers, the people moving into our neighborhoods come from cultures different than our own. What will reaching out to them mean for our congregation?  Are we willing to change the way we do ministry in order to reach out to these people? We dare not change our message, then we’d have no reason to reach out. But are we willing to try more things like our “English as Second Language” classes? Would we be willing to simplify some of our worship services so that people just learning our language could follow along more easily? Would we be willing to add another called worker to our staff to take the lead in doing cross-cultural ministry? Likewise, as a synod of believers, are we willing to take mission dollars and support alternate mission strategies to reach out in places like China, Pakistan, Nepal, and Indonesia, places that do not allow us to put an American missionary on their soil?

To these questions and others like them, we’ve often said, “No, we’re not willing to take the risks. We like do things the way we’ve always done them. We like staying in our comfort zone. We like keeping the gospel right here among us and our children, where it feels safe and familiar.”

Friends, what if our Lord Jesus had had such an attitude? What if he would have decided to stay safe in heaven rather than venture down to our world on that first Christmas? Or once he was here, what if he would have stayed silent and played it safe? What if he would have remained up in Galilee rather than entering Jerusalem on Palm Sunday? The all-knowing Son of God would have had no trouble sidestepping the shame and embarrassment of an arrest. And how easily he could have avoided the torture of the cross, the anguish of hell, and the coldness of the grave. Had Jesus chosen to stay in his comfort zone, there would be no payment for sin and no resurrection to life. There would only be misery for you and me and all people, now and forever. But Jesus did not stay in his comfort zone. He left his throne in heaven and entered the depths of hell in our place. In doing so, he set an example of love for us like no other. But, of course, if that’s all he accomplished, it would mean nothing because his example can only highlight how selfish we are by comparison. No, Jesus didn’t come here just to exemplify love; He who is Love came to take ownership of our self-centeredness and die our death in hell for the same. He has paid the price of our sin–all of it, even our sin of doubting what his word can accomplish, even our sin of keeping his gospel to ourselves. When he tells us today to “March off the Map!” he does not seek to motivate us by guilt. He is not suggesting that we make up for past failures by finally getting it right. No, thanks to him, there are no past failures; There is only God’s forgiveness and with it, a new lease on life.

Don’t you see, we are free, free from guilt, free from fear, free to take brand new risks in spreading the gospel, and as we do, the fun begins! For you see, a Spirit-led church that takes risks cannot help but become a reproducing church! Jesus says, “You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” Just ten days after Jesus gave the church its marching orders, we find Peter, led by the Spirit, taking what seems like an incredible risk. Preaching to the very people who had called for Christ’s execution, Peter points out their sin and proclaims the crucified and risen Jesus to be their Savior. What happens next? They believed! Three thousand were added to the church’s number on that day, people from Arabia, Africa, Italy and Greece – talk about reproducing! Talk about the “ends of the earth!”

All these years later, nothing has changed. As a mother sings, “I Am Jesus’ Little Lamb” to her baby boy, Christ’s church is reproducing. When a pastor tells his congregation, “Through Jesus, your sins are forgiven!” Christ’s church is reproducing. When a grandfather witnesses to his grandchildren from his deathbed, “I’m going home to my Savior,” Christ’s church is reproducing.

And this miracle is happening, not just in our homes and congregations, no, the testimony of Peter and the other eyewitnesses is still going out quite literally to the ends of God’s earth. Think of Pastor Paul Thao, our pastor to the Hmong right here in Appleton taking the gospel back to Thailand and performing dozens of baptisms there. Think of our sermons from Mount Olive going out over the internet to places like the former Soviet Union and China. Think of young people from our congregation going out to far away countries to teach English as a Second Language, all the while wearing their faith on their sleeves. Can you see it my friends, can you see that Christ’s church is still reproducing? And in his grace, God is pleased to make us part of this miracle. So to this blessed end, may we continue to march together as a Spirit-led Church, a risk taking church and a reproducing church. Christians, may we keep marching together right off the map in Jesus’ name. Amen.*

* Portions of this sermon are based on materials provided by the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod.