The Sanctuary

The Sanctuary Sermon for 9/14/25

“A Turning Point” Acts 1:1-11

Charlie Kirk was easily one of the bravest Christian men on America’s cultural battlefield to this generation. Why? Because he made it his stock in trade regularly to go into the lion’s den, armed only with a microphone and a brilliant mind for defense. And when I say lion’s den, I mean academia, where the left has been minting young communists for half a century. He was unapologetic in his faith for Christ, in his defense for the right to life and the conservative movement. The shock of his murder just might be the catalyst that lets America regain her footing with a turning point on the righteous ideal of a path that our founding fathers blazed for us.

Let’s look at our text.

In my former book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach 2 until the day he was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles he had chosen. 3 After his suffering, he presented himself to them and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God. 4 On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. 5 For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”

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.”

9 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.”

The obvious aside, we all know that we’re living in crazy times. It’s as if someone opened up a can of crazy and the whole world has gone mad, and I know that you know everything I’m talking about. So, we find ourselves asking along with the apostles, “Lord, is this the time when you will restore the kingdom to Israel?”

In one form or another it’s a question we’ve all asked at times throughout our lives, “Lord, please make things right again!” Aren’t there things in your life and the world today in need of restoration? 

From time to time, I think we need to be reminded of the Providence of God that made our nation entirely possible. Think about this. How did so many gifted men, true geniuses, walk into history at the same time, in the same place, and come together to pursue so brilliantly a common endeavor? The only word that comes to mind is “Providence.”

The term providential is theological and comes from the word “providence,” which means God’s gracious oversight of all the universe. When we apply the word “providential” to American history, we mean that this nation didn’t happen by accident. It didn’t happen by chance but by the good hand of God. It was providential and this nation is in sore need of restoration.

I’ve got questions this morning. Look at our nation. Look at all the division, all of the political violence. We need healing, we need restoration. It should make us say, this is not who we are. Look inside you. What parts of your life need restoring? What does restoration of the kingdom in your life mean for you today? How would the restored kingdom change your daily life, decisions, and priorities? How would that affect those around you?

Think about it. Restoration is often how we pray and what we pray for. Think about your prayer requests or what others have asked you to pray for. It’s probably about some type of restoration. We want the Lord to put back together something in our lives or our nation or the world that has become disordered, broken, or lost. And why wouldn’t we? The gospel accounts show him to be more than capable and there’s certainly plenty of work to be done. Opportunities for restoration are everywhere.

Here’s the thing. I think these opportunities are ours as much as, or maybe even more than they are opportunities for Jesus. What if you and I are the ones that God, by the Holy Spirit must use to restore the kingdom? 

Here’s why I’m asking all these questions. The apostles expect Jesus to restore the kingdom and they want to know if now is the time. “Lord, is this the time when you will restore the kingdom to Israel?” Jesus, however, doesn’t answer their question. Instead, he moves the focus from himself back to them. He says, “You will receive power.” “You will be my witnesses.” Maybe he’s really saying to us, “You will be the agents of restoration through the Holy Spirit.”

That’s what God said through the prophet Isaiah, “You shall be called the repairer of the breach, the restorer of streets to live in.”  

Have you ever thought of yourself as having the ability and responsibility to restore the kingdom? Think about it Church. We are salt. We are light. It’s our work to give existence to the kingdom in this time and place. Jesus said, “Truly, I tell you the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do and, in fact, will do greater works than these.” Do you have conviction enough to believe this?

And yet, how often do we stand around like the apostles “gazing up toward heaven”? What are we looking for? What are we waiting for?

“Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up toward heaven?” the two men in white ask the apostles. I don’t think they are asking for an answer or an explanation. They’re telling us there is somewhere else to be looking. 

What if instead of looking up toward heaven we focused on what is happening down here on earth? We’re so good at spiritualizing the kingdom and speaking Christianese, but, “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven” is a call to action. Do we really mean that? How much do we want it? And what are we willing to do about it? In 1776 50 men signed a document hand written by Thomas Jefferson and it cost them their possessions, their blood, and some their very lives.

The apostles watched as Jesus was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. Jesus’ withdrawal from our view opens a space in which we can, through the Holy Spirit, translate God into an action, make the kingdom a verb instead of a noun.

The kingdom will be restored only in our relationships with one another through the giftings of the Holy Spirit.

The kingdom isn’t a thing. It’s a deliberate action in the concrete circumstances of our lives. And it depends on us.

The kingdom comes, is actually here, is really real, whenever we seek to find the lost, heal the broken, feed the hungry, release prisoners, teach the nations, bring Christ to all and make music in the heart.

The kingdom is not a reward for these works; the kingdom is these works. Wherever these works are happening, there is the kingdom. And wherever they are not happening the kingdom has been overthrown. The kingdom is about what we do and how we live. It’s what life looks like when we respond to what God is calling for. It comes every time you and I give existence to the insistence asking, of God. “Will you be the repairer of the breach? Will you be an agent of restoration?” 

So, tell me, what are you seeing and what are you hearing these days? What’s the insistence before you today? You don’t have to do everything, but you can do something. We all can.

Is this the time when you and I will restore the kingdom, or will we just stand around looking up toward heaven?

Charlie Kirk was known as the “happy warrior.” He debated morality and stood for Christ without apology, confident in his cause, and willing to test it anywhere, any time in the open square. He was like this generation’s Apostle Paul. They mocked him, tried to cancel him, sought to dehumanize him. Undeterred, his reach widened, his impact deepened, his message sharpened. He turned a young generation toward critical thinking and hearts to the Lord.

Thomas Paine once wrote:

The harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly; it is dearness only that gives everything its value. I love the man that can smile in trouble, that can gather strength from distress and grow brave by reflection…he whose heart is firm, and whose conscience approves his conduct, will pursue his principles unto death.

Those words call Charlie Kirk to mind. Rest in peace cultural warrior and servant of the living God.

Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord.

This is the Word of the Lord for the day.

Amen.