FINISHING THE UNFINISHED TASK
ACTS 1: 1-11
Introduction: September 11th,
2001 just past 9:00 am, Stanley Praimnath, Vice President for Fuji Bank, was in
his office in the South Tower at WTC when his phone rang. “Are you watching the
news?’ asked a woman from the Chicago office. “Are you alright?” “I’m fine,” he
said wondering why she had called. Just then he turned to gaze out the window
at the Statue of Liberty, as had been his routine. The surreal sight of a
low-flying commercial jet, heading straight for his tower disrupted his view.
He dropped the phone in mid-sentence and dove to the floor. Curling under his the desk he began praying to God, “Lord, help me” he prayed desperately as the
aircraft smashed into the tower.
The smell of jet fuel in the air, equipment scattered all around, rubble covering
the floor, dust in the air, he began clawing across a mound of debris. “Lord, I
have to go home to my family,” he gasped. “I have to see my daughters.” Just
then he saw a light.
“I
am here to help you.” He thought, “This is my guardian angel! The Lord sent
somebody to help me!” Brian Clark, a Christian who was an executive three
floors below. The two miraculously climbed out of the rubble to safety. Praimnath
stated, “My Lord has some unfinished tasks for me.” “I took the tattered
clothes I was wearing that day, put them in a box, and wrote DELIVERANCE all
over it. I told my wife, ‘if I ever get spiritually cold, I want you to bring
this box to me, open it up, and show me what the Lord brought me from.”[1]
Could
it be the reason why you and I are still alive today while many others have
passed away is that the Lord might be having some unfinished task for us to
complete? Let’s look from our passage what that Unfinished Task is all about
and how we might get the job done.
Remember,
on the cross what did Jesus mean when he said, “it is finished!”? He was
referring to the accomplished mission of bringing salvation to humanity. Jesus left
the remaining task of carrying the gospel of the Kingdom to his disciples. In
the passage we read, what Jesus was continuing to do after his resurrection
until the day he was taken up into heaven.
I
POST RESURRECTION TASKS (1-5)
After Jesus rose from the dead, did
he hang up his coat and said, “this is it! Now all is over I can sit back and
relax” No! Instead, he got himself busy completing some of those unfinished
tasks. The apostle records them in the passage we read. Vs. 1-2, “In my first
book I told you, Theophilus, about everything Jesus began to do and teach until
the day he was taken up to heaven after giving his chosen apostles further
instructions through the Holy Spirit.” These verses tell me that our Lord never
took retirement, but kept working until he was taken up.
The standard way of living for many is to work hard after a certain age retires from work and spend the remaining days in ease
and comfort. But I wonder if there ever was such a thing called retirement for
the Children of God when there is so much still to do in this world?
What
was it that Jesus busy with, till the end and expects the same from all of his
followers at all times? Vs. 3, “During the forty days after he suffered and
died, he appeared to the apostles from time to time, and he proved to them in
many ways that he was actually alive. And he talked to them about the Kingdom
of God.” This verse tells us a few things.
Talking
about the Kingdom of God was very important to Jesus. His inaugural speech if
you will was about the Kingdom, and he continued to talk about it and demonstrate
it throughout his ministry. But that is not the end; he spoke about it for forty
days after his resurrection. If the Kingdom God was so important to Jesus, what
do you think it should be for us? If Jesus spent most of his energy for the
sake of the Kingdom, where should we spend our energy and time?
II
THE UNFINISHED TASK
One
of Jesus post-resurrection tasks was to meet up with his remaining eleven
disciples on a designated mountain in Galilee. When he met them, some
worshipped him while others doubted. To this somewhat semi doubtful yet
worshipping group of disciples, he gave the unfinished task saying, “I have
been given all authority in heaven and on earth. Therefore, go and make
disciples of all the nations, baptizing
them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new
disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am
with you always, even to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:18-20)
Jesus
picked up the message of the Kingdom from where his cousin John the Baptist had
left. He continued with it until he was taken up into heaven, but before that he
passed on the unfinished task into the hands of his disciples to complete it.
What is that unfinished task?
It
is to go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of
the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey all of
His commands. One would think it is a distinct command to His disciples, and
they should be excited and committed to complete the job, right? But it was not
the case. The disciple's minds were somewhere else.
While
all along Jesus was talking about a heavenly kingdom, ironically the disciples
were thinking of an earthly kingdom. So, with that concern, they kept asking
him like little children, “when is the time, is this the time, that you are
going to free Israel and restore their kingdom? Jesus
had to turn their attention back, to what mattered, so he said, “The Father
alone has the authority to set those dates and times, and they are not for you
to know. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And
you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere—in Jerusalem,
throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
In other words, “Boys don’t worry
about it! Get busy! You got some Unfinished Job to do!”
III.
THE FINAL WORDS OF JESUS
Last words have always fascinated
people. Perhaps they hold an echo of wisdom, advice challenge, warning or a
wish. The loved ones pay close attention to those words and do their best to
fulfill the desires of the person who was departing from this world into the
next.
What
were the final words of Jesus to his friends and followers who had been with
him from the beginning of his ministry? His last words were, Vs. 8, “But you
will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my
witnesses, telling people about me everywhere—in Jerusalem, throughout Judea,
in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
After
saying those words, Jesus was taken up into heaven right in front of his
disciples. In shock and bewilderment, the disciples kept looking into the sky,
two angels appeared to them and said, “Men of Galilee,” Why are you standing
here and staring into heaven? Jesus has been taken from you into heaven, but
someday he will return from heaven in the same way you saw him go.” In other
words; “stop staring and start working, you got some unfinished Job to do.”
IV.
FINISHING THE UNFINISHED TASK
Fast
forward over two thousand years, since that moment when Jesus was taken up into
heaven until today the whole Christian community has been looking for Christ’s
return as the angels promised. But where is the promised return of Christ? When
will he come, or will he ever come back? No doubt! These and many other
questions about Jesus’ return plague the minds of both skeptics and saints alike.
Why is the delay? When would Jesus Christ finally return?
The
delay is because the unfinished task of preaching the good news of the Gospel
to all nations remains unfinished. When
the unfinished job is finally completed Jesus will indeed return to the earth,
and establish his Kingdom. However, here is the challenge. Who will get the job
done? Finishing the unfinished job is now left for the Church in every
generation.
The
missiologists believe that
we are within range of finishing the job, with more momentum than ever before.
"For the first time in history, it is possible to see the end of the tunnel
when there will be a church movement within the language and social structure
of every people group on earth, powerful face to face evangelism taking over
within all peoples.
Biblical
faith is growing among more people in more places than ever before. In the last
thirty years, dedicated believers increased from 5% to over 11% of the world
population. The gospel is being preached all over the world as Jesus said would
happen. From across the globe evangelists and missionaries are going forth to
be a part of it."[2]
However,
"The unfinished task" will continue until we have "preached the
Gospel of the Kingdom in the whole world as a witness to all nations [people
groups]" and there are true believers in Jesus Christ "from every
nation, tribe, people and language..."(Matt. 24:14 and Rev. 7:9). The unfinished task calls each new generation to a sense of urgency to "speed
up the coming of that day" (2 Peter 3:12).
What
an excellent opportunity for us to co-labor with our Lord Jesus Christ to see
this world won back to the father? On this second Sunday of Easter; if Jesus
were to come into Hope Church what would be his words for us? I don’t think they will be any different than
what He told his disciples before he was taken up to heaven.
Jesus
would say to us, “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you.
And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere beginning in
Sharon. It is a great privilege to be called as the witnesses of Christ. Our life is short, and it will soon be over,
but what we do for Christ will last a lifetime.
Therefore, let’s get ready, put our work boots, pull up our sleeves and
get to work! We have a lot of ground to cover before our Lord returns. Amen!
[1] https://www.sermoncentral.com/sermon-illustrations/9659/forgiveness-in-jesus-by-james-botts?ref=TextIllustrationSerps
[2] http://www.missionfrontiers.org/issue/article/an-overview-of-the-unfinished-task
