BUILDING A FAITH
Acts 1.1-11

A small boy had been told he must always wait patiently till he was served meals, and not draw attention to himself. One day he was eating at a friend’s house with his mother, and somehow he was accidentally overlooked. Nobody noticed, and for a time he was patient, but at last he could stand it no longer. Leaning across to his mother, he said in an audible whisper: “Mother, do little boys who starve to death go to heaven?”
That little fellow was more patient than most of us. We don’t like to wait.
Over a period of forty days after his resurrection, Luke tells us Christ appeared to many of the believers. During this time he was teaching them about the Kingdom of God. On one occasion he said to them, “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”
He said to them, wait. Lawrence O. Richards makes the point the disciples must have chafed at Jesus’ instructions to “wait for the promise of the Father” in Jerusalem. They were probably men of action. Why did thy have to wait for God to give them the Holy Spirit? Why couldn’t they just go out and start ministering right away?
We can empathize with those disciples, can’t we? None of us like to wait. We don’t like to wait to see what the results of the tests will be. We don’t like to wait for things to be set right. We don’t like to wait for God to answer our prayers.
Yet waiting is a part of life. Remember how hard it was to wait when you were younger—waiting to graduate from high school, waiting as young parents to get out of the “terrible twos,” waiting as an older adult to get well from a prolonged illness. Jesus told his disciples to wait. They were not ready to receive the Father’s gift. There was some spiritual maturation that needed to take place.
The story is told of a certain samurai warrior who had a reputation for impatient and hot-tempered behavior. A Zen master, well known for his excellent cooking, decided the warrior needed to be taught a lesson before he became any more dangerous. He invited the samurai to dinner. The samurai arrived at the appointed time. The Zen master told him to make himself comfortable while he finished preparing the food.
A long time passed. The samurai waited impatiently. After a while, he called out, “Zen Master—have you forgotten me?” The Zen master came out of the kitchen. “I am very sorry,” he said. “Dinner is taking longer to prepare than I had thought.” He went back to the kitchen.
A long time passed. The samurai sat, growing hungrier by the minute. At last he called out, a little softer this time, “Zen Master—please. When will dinner be served?” The Zen master came out of the kitchen. “I’m sorry. There has been a further delay. It won’t be much longer.” He went back to the kitchen.
A long time passed. Finally, the samurai couldn’t endure the waiting any longer. He rose to his feet, chagrined and ravenously hungry. Just then, the Zen master entered the room with a tray of food. First he served soybean soup.
The samurai gratefully drank the soup, enchanted by its flavor. “Oh, Zen Master,” he exclaimed, “this is the finest soup I have ever tasted! You truly deserve your reputation as an expert cook!”
“It’s nothing,” replied the Zen master, modestly. “Only soup.”
The samurai set down his empty bowl. “Truly magical soup! What secret spices did you use to bring out the flavor?”
“Nothing special,” the Zen master replied.
“No, no—I insist. The soup is extraordinarily delicious!”
“Well, there is one thing…” said the Zen master.
“I knew it!” exclaimed the samurai, eagerly leaning forward.
The Zen master softly spoke. “It took time,” he said.
Some things simply take time. We wonder why God does not work more quickly in our lives. We wonder why our prayers are not answered according to our timetable. We wonder why we do not see results as rapidly as we would like.
One of the great lessons we learn in life is that God’s schedule is not our schedule. Sometimes we have to wait. Perhaps the circumstances are not right; perhaps we are not right. But we can be sure of one thing: Delays do not mean God is not with us; they do not mean our needs are being ignored. When God tells us to wait, it is because God has something greater in store for us.
For the disciples it was the gift of the Holy Spirit. Who knows what you and I may need? Truly only God knows. But God is aware of our needs. God does care.
Mee Spousler of the Mount Hope United Methodist Church in Aston, PA was trying to put her three-year-old son to bed for a nap. When that was unsuccessful, she put him in her bed and laid down with him to encourage him to rest. She fell asleep, but he did not. When she stirred and saw him sitting on a chair at the end of the bed, she asked, “Luke, what are you doing?”
“I’m playing God.” He replied.
“Playing God!” she exclaimed with a puzzled tone.
“Yes,” he explained, “I’m watching over you while you sleep.”
Ah, the wisdom and faith of a child! Just because God does not operate according to or time schedule does not mean God is insensitive to our needs. It simply means God is watching over us until the time is right.
A Jewish rabbi, who grew up in New York City, was blind from birth. Someone asked him how he was able to get through all the studies and arduous process of becoming a rabbi, even though he was blind.
He said it was largely due to his mother. When he was six years old, he went for a walk in Central Park with his older sister. She was holding his hand, but then they got separated. He panicked, and went first in one direction and then in another, calling her name. He was lost.
He crossed Fifth Avenue, stopping traffic. Confused and terrified, he suddenly touched an iron fence, which felt familiar. Excitedly, he began to grope his way along the familiar iron and stone buildings. Finally, he came to the family’s apartment, opened the door and walked in. His mother came in behind him, spoke his name and gave him a hug. She had spotted him three blocks away. It must have hurt the mother’s heart to see her child in distress, but instead of following her impulse to rescue him, she patiently watched while he found his own way home.
How God must agonize as we stumble our way through life. But God knows our needs. God knows circumstances of which we are not even aware. Faith is simply not regularly attending church, hearing the word of God read and proclaimed, and tithing. Faith is learning to trust God, whether in a time of waiting or a time of venturing forth to do great things for God.
Jesus told his disciples to wait in Jerusalem until the Holy Spirit came upon them. You and I need to learn to wait on God and to learn to trust God’s silence is not God’s absence.