Luke 24: 44-53 

Jesus said to them to stay put, to wait in anticipation of the power from on high coming to them. Then he ascended as they watched. This is perhaps the one Sunday in the year we can say convincingly our task is to stay put, to wait, remain where you are. Of course, Jesus told his disciples before he ascended to remain in Jerusalem and wait for what was promised to come, to be clothed with power from on high. It’s not the nature of the church to stay put, but this morning, we hear of the disciples being told to stay put, to wait. Let’s allow ourselves to stay put with them today. 

Would we do well staying put? Sometimes staying put is interpreted as being lazy. A man was driving on a lonely road one summer day. He saw a car with a flat tire pulled over on the shoulder of the road. A woman was standing next to the car and looking down in dismay at a flat tire. The man decided to pull over and play the Good Samaritan. He grew hot and sweaty and dirty in the hot sun as he changed the tire. The woman was watching him and when he was finished, she said, “Be sure and let the jack down easily now because my husband is sleeping in the back seat.” Then there’s the management consultant who shared this observation with a team of mid-range managers: “Be the first in the office every morning, be the last to leave every night, never take a day off, slave through the lunch hour, and the inevitable day will come when the boss will summon you to his office and say, ‘I’ve been watching your work very carefully, Jackson. I have to ask just what the devil are you up to, anyhow?'” 

Actually, I think we do too well staying put. We’ve grown accustomed to assuming the lost know where we are, and they can come anytime and get what they need. This is not what the disciples were doing those days. They were told again by the resurrected Jesus that everything written about him in prophetic language would be fulfilled by his suffering, dying and rising from the dead, and repentance and forgiveness of sins was to be proclaimed in his name to all nations. Beginning from Jerusalem, they were witnesses of these things. Jesus then said that what the Father had promised would come so they should stay put in the city until they were covered with, clothed with power from on high. They stayed with a purpose in mind, they stayed put purposefully. The guy in the back seat stayed put to sleep. We so often stay home in order to catch up on our rest. The disciples weren’t staying put to rest or nap. They stayed put for the purpose of waiting. “Stay here in the city until you’ve been clothed with power from on high.”  

Not merely staying put but waiting. Have you been in a season of waiting recently? Are you waiting now? To wait in this instance is to remain inactive but look forward eagerly until what was expected happens. The biblical illustration of waiting is always coupled with the mysterious. No biblical character who spent anytime waiting knew how, where or when the waiting would end. Those who waited for the Messiah expected a king to emerge eager to be coronated. Those who waited for the Messiah to enter Jerusalem expected a warrior king to ride in on a warhorse with legions to follow to defeat all the enemies of Israel. What do we wait for from the Lord today? 

This morning, we hear of the disciples being told to stay put, to wait. We are staying put with them today. They were called upon to stay and wait in Jerusalem. Just like all those who came before them and waited, how the Lord satisfied their waiting was not in ways they expected. What was it to be clothed with power from on high and then to be the witnesses of what he said and did? No answers came ahead of time. Stay in the city until you’ve been clothed with power. How it would be manifested was up to the Father. The Lord just wanted a faithful company to stay and wait and expect the promise to be fulfilled in them.  

For what we wait for today, I’ll offer this scripture: 

“Have you not known? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not grow faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the faint and strengthens the powerless. Even youths will faint and be weary, and the young will fall exhausted; but those who WAIT (HOPE) 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” – Isaiah 40: 28-31. 

Waiting, hoping are not meant to be exhausting. When we wait for what the Lord can bring, when we hope for what the Lord has promised, we are renewed and strengthened and given flight, given elevation (WITH WINGS LIKE EAGLES), given a new perspective of where we are and for what we hope. From Bethany, after Jesus ascended and disappeared, they worshipped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy and were continually in the temple blessing God. That was how they waited – worshipping and blessing the Lord. How will we spend our waiting, renewed and strengthened and given a new perspective? We’re all encouraged to bless the Lord while we wait for what he will yet do in and through us. 

(Preached at St Mark United Methodist Church in Anniston, AL, 6-1-25)