The Befuddling Work

The record of the earliest days of the church as it is set forth in the book of Acts depicts a situation which can still be seen in the contemporary church.  The instructions of Jesus were clear.  "...stay here in the city until you have been clothed from on high."  (Luke 24:49)  "While staying with them, He ordered them not leave Jerusalem, but to wait there for the promise of the Father."  (Acts1:4)  And, to their credit, they stayed.  The did what they were told to do.  They did not head back to familiar places, but stayed in a place that was surely rift was danger, rumors, and turmoil.

 

What we preachers like to preach is that as they stayed, they spent all their time praying.  They waited, they tarried, they prayed.  But, while they surely did spend time praying for the Word says, "All these were constantly devoting themselves in prayer..." (Acts 1:14), it is also obvious they did some conferencing, some planning, maybe even some politicking.  Somewhere along the way between Ascension and Pentecost, they decided on the requirements for the successor to Judas and the way he would be chosen.  Before verse 23 could take place, there had to be a reaching of consensus. 

 

And while there is nothing wrong with any of what they did in figuring out that part of the future, it is likely that the waiting on God to act was difficult and that they thought their decision making might help God along with His work.  What the pre-church group had difficulty doing is the same struggle of the contemporary church.  Waiting on God was hard then and it is now.  We have never figured out exactly how to do it.  We pray and then we work.  Sometimes we work and then we pray.  But, to wait is a befuddling and difficult task.  It was from the very beginning and remains so even to this day.