The key would barely be in the ignition, when I would begin to hound my parents: "How much longer? How many more miles? When are we going to get there?" Little wonder my parents began to take family trips at night when I would be asleep on the back seat.

How much longer? It is a question that belongs to more than little children who are easily bored on trips. It is an especially poignant question when there is some kind of pain involved. My mother was in the hospital following surgery. "How much longer?" she asked. I knew what she meant. How much longer until her next shot for pain?

People who are suffering from life's unfairness or from some social injustice quite often ask in various ways: "How much longer?"

In the passage we read today, that was the question the disciples asked. How much longer until the Roman rule ends? How much longer until we are free and there is justice? "Lord," they asked, "is this the time when you will restore the kingdom of Israel?" It was their version of the same old question: "How much longer?"

Impatience and weariness give rise to this question, and when it is impatience motivated by pain and weariness growing from injustice, the question is asked with even greater pleading: "How much longer?"

It is our question as we deal with whatever problem or heartache is causing us to lose sleep or shed tears. The various forms of hard times and bad times motivate us to ask with great earnestness: "How much longer?"

Jesus' response to the disciples was: "Only God knows." Then Jesus made them a promise, and gave their lives purpose. Jesus said: "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."

This is the promise Jesus gave to them and to us. It is a promise of power and purpose for our living. It is not a promise that our problems with the Romans or "whoever" or "whatever" will end. It is a promise that even in the midst of those problems, God will empower us so that our living will fulfill God's purposes.

It was a wonderful and powerful moment in the lives of those disciples. From time to time some of us—like those disciples—have had powerful and meaningful experiences that hold us spellbound. Rather than move on with our lives, we stay there a little longer, trying to hang on to the wonderful moment. What was, was so meaningful we not only wish we could hang on to it forever, we even try.

So it was for the disciples. As Jesus ascended in a cloud of mystery to reign with God, the disciples stood there, looking at where he had been. He was no longer there, but they kept looking where he had been.

Then, the special messengers came and said to the disciples: "Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up toward heaven? This Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven." It was a declaration that Jesus is with God, but it was also the promise that Jesus had not abandoned them or us. They were being told: "Jesus will come again."

Of course the question is: "What does that mean? What will that look like?" Whatever else it means to say we believe Christ will come again, it means that we believe that what began in Easter, God will bring to completion. The resurrection is the declaration that God wins. Whatever else the second coming means, it means that God's victory will be completed. Sin and evil will be no more. Justice and mercy will triumph.

But we do not know when it will come or how. As Jesus said: "That is God's business, not ours." Our business is to be the witnesses God intends us to be, and Jesus has promised that God will give us what we need to do that.

Some Christians waste a tremendous amount of precious time and energy trying to figure out what only God can know. To focus on trying to guess when Jesus will return or to guess what Jesus' return will look like or to focus on figuring out when God's final acts of justice and mercy will take place, is to focus on what Jesus said is God's business—not ours.

We are to leave the future in God's hands. But that is just what is so difficult for most of us to do. All too often, this is why we fail to be the persons God intends us to be. We become so intent upon trying to know and control what the future contains, we fail to live today as God intends.

The Bible tells us: "Do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Let the day's own trouble be sufficient for the day."^[1] "This is the day the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it."^[2] "Give us this day our daily bread."^[3] But all this Scriptural truth is more easily quoted than done. How can we develop such trust in God that we are able to let go of the past, especially when the past was wonderful? How are we ever able to let go of our fears and anxieties about tomorrow and trust God with the future? How can we live today, this day, the only day we really have, as God intends us to live?

Perhaps we can learn from the disciples. In the passage we read today, they returned to Jerusalem, just as Jesus had told them to do.^[4] And there, all of them, devoted themselves to prayer. Their devoting themselves to prayer was not merely reciting religious words or going through some ritualistic acts that are supposed to produce Godly results.

As I understand it, for the disciples to devote themselves to prayer meant they struggled to be sensitive to the presence of God. They poured out their hearts and souls to God, celebrating the blessings they had received, confessing their sin and honestly sharing with God their deepest yearnings and desires. And they earnestly sought God's will. Now, in their situation, what did God want them to do? Because they earnestly sought God's will, they did much, much more than talk to God. They listened; they practiced being still and waiting on the Lord.

This is what trying to listen to God involves: waiting on the Lord. This is what the Scriptures often call us to do. "Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage, yea, wait for the Lord!"^[5] "Those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint."^[6]

We know what happened when the disciples waited on the Lord. Pentecost happened. They were empowered; and the Church was born. The followers of Jesus were transformed from being merely followers, and they became the Body of Christ.

The disciples were very much like us. They were impatient to have not only their problems solved but also the problems of all Israel. In their own way, they cried out, "How much longer?" Jesus told them that only God knew the answer to that question, but in the meantime, God had work for them to do, God's work. It was work that would involve them in serving God's will not just on behalf of Israel, but the whole world. What is more, Jesus promised they would be given the power to do this work.

But before this could happen the disciples really had to trust God. This meant that on the one hand, they had to quit trying to hang on to the past and on the other hand, they had to stop trying to live in the future. Trusting God meant that rather than trying to manipulate God into doing what they wanted, they would earnestly strive to discern and do God's will. This is why they devoted themselves to prayer.

As most of us know, when they devoted themselves to prayer it was not too long until Pentecost happened. God invaded their lives, changing their priorities and empowering them to live so that what they said and did fulfilled the purposes of God.

You know what? If we follow the disciples' example, the same thing is very likely to happen to us.

God, when life causes us to cry out: "How much longer?" help us confidently to trust you and earnestly to seek your guidance so that what we say and do will serve your purposes and in the process give our lives eternal meaning. Amen.

Pastoral Prayer:
God, just as insensitive fish live their lives without any awareness of the ocean or appreciation for the gifts the ocean provides, all too often we live and move and have our being in you with the same type of insensitivity and ignorance. Just as ignorant fish take the ocean around them for granted, so we all too often take you for granted. Forgive us.

Wake us to your presence. Make us so sensitive to your magnificence that we experience holy awe. Open our eyes so we are able to see more than eyes alone can ever see. Help us to see and love others the way you see and love them. Give us that special vision that enables us to see how far we are from you and from being the persons you intend us to be. Open our ears so we are able to hear more than ears alone can ever hear. Speak and enable us to listen. Make us so aware of your merciful grace that we are overwhelmed, and in humble gratitude and joy we embrace the forgiveness you have given and commit ourselves to living in harmony with you. Make us so aware of your will that our priorities are revised to please you. Enable us to be sensitive to your presence and willing to follow your guidance.

Help us live as Jesus was teaching us to live when he taught us to pray: "Our Father . . ."

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