“Left Alone and Under Attack”

June 05, 2011

John 14:15-21 Acts 1:6-14 1 Peter 3:13-22

There was a day in the spring of 1988 that I will never forget. In one of our last classes during our senior year in
electrical engineering we were waiting for our Professor, Dr. Klingenberger, to arrive. When he did we dutifully
prepared to take notes for our continuing study of electrical fields and waves (I think) but instead of beginning
his lecture, he set aside his notes and began to tell us a story. Dr. Klingenberger was a WWII veteran and had
been captured during the first day of the Battle of the Bulge during the war for Europe. At the time, we knew
none of this because Dr. Klingenberger had never once spoken of it… to anyone. He explained to us that in fifty
years he had never told his story but one of his closest battlefield friends had recently written a book that told of
their experiences and so, after he had read the book, he had told his wife his story for the first time. The next
morning, he came to class and told us. Never in all the years I have attended school do I recall a class of 47
students who sat as quietly and attentively. We listened as well as we could and we hung on every word as if our
lives depended on it. We were being treated to a truly unique opportunity and we knew it.

As he told it, Dr. Klingenberger’s unit was on the front line as a part of the Allied advance across France. In the
evening he and four others were assigned to a forward listening post as a part of their unit’s defensive perimeter.
Shortly before dawn they began to wonder what had happened to the next shift, because their relief was already
over an hour late. One man was sent back to the unit to find the men who were supposed to stand guard in their
place but when he returned he informed them that their entire unit had simply… vanished. As Dr. Klingenberger
told it, because he was well known for being a practical joker, no one believed the man who had gone to look
and so another of the five men went to the rear to find their relief. He too returned to tell them that indeed, the
entire unit, an entire battalion of men and equipment, had simply vanished overnight and none of them, despite
being on guard duty and specifically tasked to listen, had heard a thing. No one had come forward to inform
them that the unit was leaving. Suddenly the realization struck these five men that they had been abandoned.
They were now alone and more than likely behind enemy lines. For over an hour Dr. Klingenberger told us
how he and his friends had nearly walked right into a German troop convoy, had evaded capture for a day or two
and had finally been captured while trying to find their way back behind friendly lines.

While being at war may frighten us, the idea of suddenly being left abandoned and alone terrifies us in the depths
of our being. Being abandoned in a place where we are hunted and under attack would practically leave us
paralyzed with fear. We know that King David did exactly this sort of thing in 2 Samuel 11 when he
commanded his General, Joab to “Put Uriah out in front where the fighting is fiercest. Then withdraw from him
so he will be struck down and die.” It is the sort of thing that just leaves a lump in the pit of your stomach.

I say all this because I wonder if this isn’t the sort of thing that the disciples felt when it came time for Jesus to
return to heaven after his death and resurrection. In Acts 1:6-14, the disciples ask Jesus, now that he had
conquered death, if this is the time that he will raise an army and overthrow the Romans but instead of fighting,
Jesus simply vanishes…
6
Then they gathered around him and asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to
Israel?”
7
He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. 8 But you
will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all
Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

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After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight.
10
They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood
beside them. 11 “Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who
has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.”
12
Then the apostles returned to Jerusalem from the hill called the Mount of Olives, a Sabbath day’s walk from
the city. 13 When they arrived, they went upstairs to the room where they were staying. Those present were Peter,
John, James and Andrew; Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew; James son of Alphaeus and Simon
the Zealot, and Judas son of James. 14 They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and
Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers.

The disciples knew that the temple leaders still carried a grudge against them. They easily remembered that not
long ago they were hiding and meeting together in secret because of their fear of those who opposed Jesus and
the message of the Gospel. They had been encouraged when Jesus had risen from the dead. Knowing that Jesus
was alive, they had come out of hiding and had returned to their ministry and had once again begun preaching
the Good News… but now Jesus had left them. Perhaps some of them felt much like Dr. Klingenberger and his
friends had felt… abandoned and alone.

Before Jesus had come, their lives had not been all that bad, they had jobs and families and friends and, generally
they got along with people and were unnoticed by the leaders of their church. Jesus had changed all that. After
they met Jesus they had committed to a different way of life. They had left behind their families and their
friends and they had become outspoken critics of many leaders in their church. In fact, they knew that their
association with Jesus and their criticism of these leaders had made them the enemies of those men. They knew
that some of those church leaders were so angry that they were plotting to kill anyone who had been associated
with Jesus. And now Jesus was gone and they had been left alone to face their fears as well as the powerful men
who wanted them dead. What is both interesting and strange is that eventually, if not at first, the disciples come
to expect that their message will be unpopular. In 1 Peter 4:12-14, we hear this…
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Dear friends, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that has come on you to test you, as though something
strange were happening to you. 13 But rejoice inasmuch as you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you
may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed. 14 If you are insulted because of the name of Christ, you are
blessed, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you.

But there is more to Peter’s message than fear and trial and abandonment. In 1 Peter 5:6-11, he also says…
6
Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. 7 Cast all your
anxiety on him because he cares for you.
8
Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to
devour. 9 Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the
world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings.
10
And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while,
will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. 11 To him be the power for ever and ever.
Amen.

In the midst of verses where Peter tells us that we should not be surprised when we face a fiery ordeal and that
the enemy is seeking to attack us, Peter also reminds us of two very important principles. First, if we are humble
before God, God will, eventually, lift us up and rescue us from our ordeal because… he cares for us. Second,
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Peter says that the God who called us to follow Jesus Christ will personally restore us after our suffering so that
we will become strong, firm and steadfast.

It didn’t happen right away, but Peter and the disciples eventually understood that when Jesus left the earth and
returned to heaven, he did not abandon us to our fate here on earth. In John 17:1-11 Jesus prays for us. In John
17 we hear Jesus pray for all those who have believed Jesus had been sent by God and asks God to protect them
so that we could all join together and become one in heaven and so that not even one would be lost.

When Jesus left the earth to return to heaven his disappearance seemed sudden and abrupt. I have little doubt
that the disciples felt frightened and alone in a world that they knew was out to get them and where powerful
people wanted them dead. What they soon realized however, was that they were most certainly not alone. Jesus
cares for his people and he prayed that God would watch over his people so that not even one would be lost.
Even though we can sometimes expect to suffer, in the end God will restore us so that we will become strong,
firm and steadfast.

The last thing that Jesus said before he disappears is that “you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on
you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
Jesus says that we are not to be left alone but that we will be filled with power when we receive the Holy Spirit
so that we will become witnesses in Jerusalem, in all of Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth. Jesus
promises that we will not be left alone so that we can continue to accomplish the mission. So what did Jesus
mean by Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the ends of the earth? It really is fairly straightforward. They were
to wait for the Holy Spirit in the city of Jerusalem. Jerusalem is in the region of Judea; next door to Judea is the
region of Samaria and well, to the ends of the earth means… to the ends of the earth. For us then, since we do
not live in Jerusalem, our mission is to be witnesses to the Village of Barnesville, to all of Belmont County, to all
of the Ohio Valley and then, like the disciples, to the ends of the earth.

We must give special weight to the last words of Jesus before he leaves earth and returns to heaven. The words
of Jesus give us confidence and fill us with purpose. Jesus says that we will not be left alone. Jesus cares for us
and promises to send the Holy Spirit who will fill us with power but his words do not end there. Just because we
live in a small town in a rural county does not excuse us from thinking big. Jesus himself has told us that our
ministry has no borders. The words of Jesus were not only to make us feel good and leave us there. Jesus says
that we will be filled with the power of the Holy Spirit so that we can be witnesses of Jesus Christ to the people
in Barnesville, in Belmont County, in all of the Ohio Valley, and to the ends of the earth.

Jesus’ message is clear. Go and make disciples. Jesus cares for you. You may be under attack, you may suffer
fiery trials but you are never, ever alone.

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