both the gospel of Luke and the book of Acts are addressed to someone named Theophilus who may we have been an actual person in real life. (For more, read https://www.bartehrman.com/theophilus/).)

But because the name literally means “friend of God, or “one dear to God,” we can also assume that both the gospel of Luke and the book of Acts are addressed to any one of us who love God enough to care about the story Luke has to tell.

And it is quite a fascinating story, this “orderly account” of a first century rabbi who was crucified by the Roman Empire, rose again three days later, and then ascended into heaven where he now reigns at the right hand of God, the Father (Luke 1:3).

But what is even more fascinating, at least for our purposes today, is that the crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension of this Jesus are not, in any way, either the climax or the end of Luke’s story. In fact, when it comes to this story, chapter 1 of the Acts of the Apostles isn’t even in the middle, because this story is still unfolding.

Todays’ reading might end with Jesus’ disciples gathered in the upper room, but I want you to know that this story is still being written by the disciples of Jesus gathered in this one.

When Jesus promised his followers that they would receive the power of the Holy Spirit and be his witnesses to the ends of the earth, he wasn’t just talking to Peter, James, and John, Andrew, Philip, Thomas, Bartholomew, Matthew, the other James, the other Simon, and the other Judas, but to that Andrew over there in the pew and the other Andrew we have up there in the balcony.

He wasn’t just commissioning Simon Peter but the other Peters we know as Ives and Kakos. Not just Mary the mother of Jesus, but Mary Magdalene and Mary Hoch. Not just James the son of Zebedee but the other Jameses we know as Jim Palermo and Jim Cope. You get where I’m going with this.

Sue, Jessica, Tom, and Linda, you are all a part of this story…and if that alarms you a bit…I think I know why.  I mean, the word “witness” is kind of a dirty word in our circles now. The whole idea carries way too much baggage.

For some of us it smacks of colonialism and the degradation of indigenous peoples, disrespect for other cultures and faith traditions, and the coercion, violence, oppression and extraction that inevitably follow.

For others of us it conjures up threatening and painful images of people with placards and bullhorns or awkward encounters with the sort of well-meaning folk who knock on your door with pamphlets they hope will scare you straight to heaven…or at least straight.

And then there are all those of us who grew up or have spent time in the kinds of churches that send those well-meaning people out into the world. Some of us have been those people and we don’t want anything to do with that kind of witnessing anymore.

Who are we to tell people what to believe? And honestly, who wants to share a gospel that starts off sounding like a gracious invitation but rapidly devolves into a terrible threat if you can’t or won’t or just don’t believe in Jesus the way the well-meaning pamphlet person says you need to believe in Jesus?

The whole idea of witnessing is a tough sell in progressive circles for good reason. And, as if it wasn’t already hard enough, let me just say that the idea of Jesus ascending up to the Father in heaven to sit enthroned at his right hand before he returns some day “soon” to wrap things up down here doesn’t exactly help, as it only seems to reinforce the rules of a world built on patriarchy, hierarchy, domination, and fear; the very things that got Jesus killed to begin with if you think about it.

And I do.

A lot.

Which is why I have come to believe that the gospel Jesus wants us to share is so much better and more revolutionary than what so many Christians have been taught. Someone once said that if it’s not good news for everybody, it’s not good news for anybody. And if it’s not good news then it’s not the gospel.

I believe that is true and I am convinced that the good news Jesus wants us to communicate to the ends of the earth is truly good news for all the earth (…not just every last person, but every last animal, vegetable, and mineral.)

So allow me, if you will, to lay it out for you, in big, bold strokes, because it’s good to remind ourselves every now and then what this is all about and how it all fits together. I’m essentially going to summarize the Bible and our faith in 4 and a half minutes so yes, I will be leaving a lot out, but this is how I understand the story as a whole and maybe this will help you understand it too.

First things first: God loves the world. I mean really loves the whole world that God made and declared good. God has not given up on this world and God never will. God has no plan to scrap this whole thing in the end.

And yet, from the very beginning, humans have made a mess of all this goodness by hoarding and hurting one another and our planet.

So to get us back on track, God chose a people, Israel, to instruct on how best to live upon this earth. He gave them 10 commandments meant to guide them and keep them from hoarding and hurting. And God made a covenant with Israel. God promised to be their God if they would be God’s people on earth…a godly people…a god-like people.

God blessed them to be a blessing…blessed them that they might use their god like powers in god like ways to love the world the way God does.

Sometimes, as we read in the scriptures, they lived up to that promise. They kept the commandments in spirit and in truth and all was well for them and their neighbors.

But sometimes they didn’t. And when they failed, it all went to hell. But no matter how far they strayed or how bad things got, they held onto the belief that God would still come to them, show up for them, redeem and restore them by sending them a messiah.

Christians believe that messiah was Jesus: God come to earth in human form to remind us of the godliness we are called to and the god-likeness we are capable of.  And Jesus let us know that no matter how far we stray or how long it takes us to get it right, God has not and will not ever give up on us.

So much so, that we can even kill our messiah, kill the incarnation of this God who loves us enough to come and be with us, and that messiah will come back to us three days later with nothing but love and forgiveness in his heart.

Friends, the gospel Jesus Christ embodied was the good news that we are loved forever and forgiven for always. God will never leave or forsake us. God loves us because God is love. God is good with us because God is good.

The question is, will we be good with God? Will we live up to our end of the covenant or will we forsake God’s ways? Will we be Godly people…a god-like people, on this earth, or not?

This is where repentance comes in. With apologies to Martin Luther, the gospel in miniature is not John 3:16, but Matthew 4:17: “Repent for the kingdom of heaven has come near” (see also Mark 1:15).  This was Jesus’ gospel message from the very beginning and it is still his message at the very end.

As I said before, Luke and Acts are written by the same author, and the very end of Luke overlaps with the very beginning of Acts, such that Jesus is on this same mountain having this same conversation with the disciples.

Before he ascends at the end of Acts, Jesus says, you will be my witnesses to the ends of the earth, and at the end of Luke, he lets us know what the content of our witness is to be. Jesus commissions his disciples to announce repentance to all the world and God’s forgiveness of our sins.

Now please don’t shut down when you hear that word “repentance,” because the fact that we can repent is good news. Repentance doesn’t mean to feel sorry for your sins. Repentance means to change your mind, to change your course.

True repentance means that you are ready and willing to do things differently. The fact that we can repent at all is a gift. It is the best news of all because it means we don’t have to live the way we have been living. We don’t have to keep hoarding or hurting each other any longer.

Notice that the first disciples still didn’t quite get it. “”Lord,” they ask, “is this the time when you will restore the kingdom to Israel?” But notice that Jesus wants nothing to do with that. He doesn’t offer his disciples an earthly kingdom, but the opportunity to help bring his heavenly one to earth.

Jesus doesn’t take up earthly power any more than he has ever wanted his followers to seek after it, but instead sends us all out as witnesses, literally heralds- royal emissaries- to let the everyone know that there is only one king any of us ever need serve and that is the king of heaven…the king who only ever uses his power to love the world.

Wait for the Spirit God will send from on high and you will be empowered to show them God’s power, the power of love. And when you do, the world will be changed. Go to the ends of the earth living according to God’s rule, and then watch as God’s kingdom comes because God’s will is finally being done here on earth as it is in heaven.

Friends, the kingdom breaks forth and takes root whenever and wherever godly people live according to God’s ways. The kingdom comes when we stop chasing after wealth and choose instead to share what we already have, when we stop chasing after power for ourselves and use it instead to lift others up, when we stop exacting revenge and choose instead to forgive, when we stop waiting for everyone to love and serve us and instead go out to love and to serve the world.

To conquer or colonize, to oppress or exploit, to threaten, coerce, ostracize, exclude, steal, or kill in the name of Jesus is anathema to the rule of Jesus, to the way of Jesus, to the name of Jesus.  Instead, Jesus sent them out, just as he sends us even now, empowered to forgive sins and debts, to heal, to liberate, to feed and clothe, to drop our swords and beat them into plowshares, to love and to care.

God loves the world so much that God wants to help us bring heaven here one loving act at a time.

People love the idea that St. Francis, one of the most Christ like witnesses in human history, once said, “preach the gospel at all times, if necessary, use words.” He probably didn’t say that, but the idea is still sound. The more you understand the gospel, the more you understand that witnessing need not require words at all.

Friends, imagine how different human history might have played out, how different the world would be, how different the world could be, if Christians truly understood the gospel and lived it into being?

This is what Jesus was asking of his disciples that day on the mountain and what he is asking of us even still. To imagine. To repent. To go and do differently.  To be god-like. To be loving like God and in so doing, bring heaven to earth.

Dear Theophilus, friend of Luke and friend of God, this is our calling and our charge, our faith, and our hope, the gospel we have received, the story we can show and, if need be, the story we still have to tell.  May we witness through our words and our actions to this gospel that is and ever shall be good news for all. Amen.