Which Upper Room are you Waiting in?
With Pentecost coming on Sunday amidst the unique situation we find ourselves in this year, locked away in our houses, there is a huge sense of expectancy about what is to come. What might God be about to do? And so many of us are reading the account of Acts 2 where the disciples, following Jesus’ instructions to wait in Jerusalem (Acts 1:4), were gathered together in the upper room when the Holy Spirit came in such a dramatic way.
When I think about this story I wonder how the disciples were feeling at the time. They had just seen Jesus return from the grave. They had seen him and walked with him and he had spoken to them and promised them that they would be baptised by the spirit. They had seen him conquer death and yet the Roman Empire they lived under had not been conquered. And then they had seen him just disappear into the sky. So what were they thinking as they waited in that room? What did they expect to happen? Did they even have any specific expectations? I’m pretty sure speaking different languages and tongues of fire were not at the top of their list of expectations though!
Even when Pentecost came there was no immediate liberation from the Roman Empire for the Jewish people. The disciples were still hoping for this (They asked Jesus in Acts 1:6 “Lord, is this the time when you will restore the kingdom to Israel?”) That’s not what happened though. The injustices persisted. The persecution persisted. And yet everything changed for those disciples because they were changed.
If you are waiting for a Pentecost experience in eager expectation that a political situation will be solved miraculously, I can’t say for sure, but I think it highly likely that you will be disappointed.
If you are waiting for a Pentecost experience in eager expectation that you will grow in love for those around you, that you will grow in boldness to share the heart of God no matter the outcome for you, that you will grow in the power and authority that God promises to pour out on his people, that seems much more likely to me! Let’s not write this kind of transformation off as something tame, boring, and useless though. If we really are transformed in this way, if we are really not afraid of anything anybody could do to us that would radically transform how we live our lives and the world around us.
There is more though ...
When I think of this story I also think of the upper room in John 20 where the disciples are gathered just after Jesus has been crucified. Many of the characters are the same in this story but this waiting was very different. They were so terrified of what might happen to them that they had locked themselves in that room. More than that though they were entirely hopeless. The one they had thought was the Messiah, the man they had followed for 3 years and pinned all their hopes on, had just been crucified and he had been buried along with all their hopes and dreams. And so just a few weeks earlier they had been waiting in a similar room but with a very different heart.
As I think of these 2 rooms I sense God asking us which of the upper rooms we are waiting in? Is our heart afraid and disappointed due to all the things we see around us. Are we locked in our room afraid and hiding or have we met Jesus? Are we expectant and excited for what is to come even if we don’t know what that will look like? Or are we allowing disappointments to keep us in the pre-resurrection upper room?
When I think about this story I wonder how the disciples were feeling at the time. They had just seen Jesus return from the grave. They had seen him and walked with him and he had spoken to them and promised them that they would be baptised by the spirit. They had seen him conquer death and yet the Roman Empire they lived under had not been conquered. And then they had seen him just disappear into the sky. So what were they thinking as they waited in that room? What did they expect to happen? Did they even have any specific expectations? I’m pretty sure speaking different languages and tongues of fire were not at the top of their list of expectations though!
Even when Pentecost came there was no immediate liberation from the Roman Empire for the Jewish people. The disciples were still hoping for this (They asked Jesus in Acts 1:6 “Lord, is this the time when you will restore the kingdom to Israel?”) That’s not what happened though. The injustices persisted. The persecution persisted. And yet everything changed for those disciples because they were changed.
If you are waiting for a Pentecost experience in eager expectation that a political situation will be solved miraculously, I can’t say for sure, but I think it highly likely that you will be disappointed.
If you are waiting for a Pentecost experience in eager expectation that you will grow in love for those around you, that you will grow in boldness to share the heart of God no matter the outcome for you, that you will grow in the power and authority that God promises to pour out on his people, that seems much more likely to me! Let’s not write this kind of transformation off as something tame, boring, and useless though. If we really are transformed in this way, if we are really not afraid of anything anybody could do to us that would radically transform how we live our lives and the world around us.
There is more though ...
When I think of this story I also think of the upper room in John 20 where the disciples are gathered just after Jesus has been crucified. Many of the characters are the same in this story but this waiting was very different. They were so terrified of what might happen to them that they had locked themselves in that room. More than that though they were entirely hopeless. The one they had thought was the Messiah, the man they had followed for 3 years and pinned all their hopes on, had just been crucified and he had been buried along with all their hopes and dreams. And so just a few weeks earlier they had been waiting in a similar room but with a very different heart.
As I think of these 2 rooms I sense God asking us which of the upper rooms we are waiting in? Is our heart afraid and disappointed due to all the things we see around us. Are we locked in our room afraid and hiding or have we met Jesus? Are we expectant and excited for what is to come even if we don’t know what that will look like? Or are we allowing disappointments to keep us in the pre-resurrection upper room?
In particular I wonder if we are allowing disappointments relating to certain political issues to keep us in the pre-resurrection upper room. I know that today as I look around at nations I love I see so much brokenness in political landscapes. I see so much abuse of power by leaders and governments. I see rifts between different view points so deep that hatred for the opposing position is poisoning the simplest of interactions. It is easy to be drawn into disappointment and fear in this atmosphere. To love Jesus but to stop believing that he can really do anything. Maybe I still trust Jesus with most things but I still hold the disappointment that so much brokenness exists in this space. Maybe this disappointment means I'm not even waiting in any room anymore, often this kind of disappointment leads us to just assume we have to take matters into our own hands.
It is only an encounter with the resurrected Jesus that frees the disciples from their fear and disappointment; that enables them to walk out of that room. I know that Jesus longs to meet us in our places of fear and disappointment, even today. He wants us to be able to wait with eager expectation of what He will do in and through us.
So in the lead up to this Pentecost Sunday I am praying that Jesus will meet many people in their locked rooms. That He will speak to our disappointments and fears. That He will reignite hope in us. That we would be a bride that is waiting in eager expectation. Refusing to move on until He has met us powerfully. Trusting that He will pour out the power of His spirit in the ways that we and our cities and our nations need most.
It is only an encounter with the resurrected Jesus that frees the disciples from their fear and disappointment; that enables them to walk out of that room. I know that Jesus longs to meet us in our places of fear and disappointment, even today. He wants us to be able to wait with eager expectation of what He will do in and through us.
So in the lead up to this Pentecost Sunday I am praying that Jesus will meet many people in their locked rooms. That He will speak to our disappointments and fears. That He will reignite hope in us. That we would be a bride that is waiting in eager expectation. Refusing to move on until He has met us powerfully. Trusting that He will pour out the power of His spirit in the ways that we and our cities and our nations need most.
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