Stirring Up Trouble

Acts 2:1-21



Last week I was talking to a colleague of mine who has stepped in to be the supply preacher for a congregation that is without a regular pastor this summer. Her first sermon there was a last week, which you may know, was Ascension Sunday, the day we remember Jesus ascension into heaven after his resurrection. My friend, Susan, learned as soon as she started at this church that they had scheduled Youth Sunday for this week, June 12, which is Pentecost. The youth, of course, were not forced to follow a specific calendar, so, as she said it, the church had “cancelled Pentecost.”

I wonder at what point in the day the apostles wanted to cancel Pentecost, because I think they probably did, at least at first. As soon as they were gathered all together in one house there came from heaven the sound of a rushing wind. It blew among them violently. This was no spirit, spirit of gentleness. This was a wind storm that came up out of nowhere, and came up right in the middle of the room where they were sitting. It filled the house where they were, and, I bet, it terrified them like the people we have seen in shaky home movies that were shot in the recent tornadoes. This wind was no calm breeze stirring the grasses on a beautiful day; this was the powerful Spirit of God who was stirring up trouble!

The violent wind and the divided tongues of fire that accompanied them were signs both wonderful and terrible at the same time. They were so dramatic that they brought to mind in those who experienced them to prophecy of Joel who spoke of what it would be like when the Lord would come with blood and fire and smoky mist. This was more than a simple puff of the wind and a tiny flickering light. This was enough to be compared to a day when the sun would turn to darkness and the moon to blood. This, this…was trouble.

The Spirit of God descended on the apostles of Jesus, those who were commissioned and sent out to speak for him and minister in his name. The Spirit of God came into their very room and dramatically equipped them for a very important ministry, a very specific ministry. The Spirit of God blew violently among them, knocking the old wind out of them and filling them with a new wind, a new breath, with new words in a new language so that they could go out of that place and speak to anyone and everyone about the grace and love of God in Jesus Christ their Lord. The Spirit of God joined with them that day, so that they could open their circle to include others.

And that’s why people thought they were drunk. The Spirit of God, she can stir up trouble. The reaction from the crowd that witnessed what was going on was mixed. There were Jews from nations all over the known world who could suddenly hear these Galileans speaking in their native tongues. Some were amazed at what they heard, but others were less than impressed. “They’re DRUNK!” they accuse, sneering and mocking the apostles.

They dismissed what they heard, apparently confusing it with babble, nonsense, the slurred, indistinguishable speech of those who have indulged themselves beyond their limit. They disregarded the apostles’ words and uninhibited behavior as those of people who had no control over what they were saying or what they were doing. If they weren’t wishing they had cancelled Pentecost before, I bet they were wishing it now. Moses got the gift of laws on stone tablets on the day they gathered to remember, but the apostles got the gift of trouble.

The gift of the Holy Spirit, the sign of God’s presence in the world that moves God’s people to action and to ministry, apparently, brings trouble. Those who are “blessed” in receiving the Holy Spirit are blessed with this holy trouble. It’s not an easy gift. It’s not a gift you get, you smile at, and you stick on your shelf to look at every once in a while. It’s a gift that is counter-cultural. It’s a gift that demands action. It’s a gift that causes you, forces you, drives you to do something that looks irrational, sloppy, and completely, unabashedly uninhibited. It makes you include others.

Before the Holy Spirit blew through the apostles on the Pentecost after Jesus’ resurrection his followers and his apostles were a relatively homogenous bunch. Sure some were fisherman and at least one was a tax collector. Among the wider circle, those whose names we don’t necessarily know, there were men and women, but for the most part they were the same. They were all from Galilee. They were all Jewish. They all spoke Aramaic. They had the same or at least similar experiences and expectations. They ate their food with the same spices. They played the same games. They wore the same fashions. They valued the same things. They worshiped God the same way. Birds of a feather, they flocked together.

We can’t help it, right? It’s just the way it happens. I like this one kind of music so I naturally gravitate towards others who do, too. I enjoy these kinds of sports so I tend to find others who do, too. I speak this way, value these things, believe those, worship like this, therefore I naturally want to get together with people just like me. It’s not on purpose; it’s just the way it happens. It’s not because I think other ways are wrong; it’s just that those ways don’t appeal to me. They just don’t make me comfortable. I just don’t feel myself, at home, if we’re not doing things the way I’m used to doing them.

But from what I can tell, from the very beginning the Spirit had precious little to do with making the people of God feel comfortable. The Spirit of God led the Israelites around a DESERT. Not so comfortable. The Spirit of God went with people who were exile. Not so comfortable. The Spirit of God brought a baby to an unwed teenage mother. DEFINITELY not comfortable. The Spirit of God has a lot more to do with stretching our understanding of what it means to be the people of God, with leading the people of God into difficult situations, with expanding the circles of our community beyond those who look just like us and speak our same language than making us feel comfortable. The Spirit of God sure can stir up trouble.

For the apostles gathered in a house on Pentecost that meant they spoke new languages to include those who weren’t among their numbers. For us may mean something different. Look around. No really. Look around. Who is missing among our community? Who do we block from being a part of God’s community in this way, even unintentionally? Who can’t hear the good news because we only speak it in the language WE know? Who is left out because we set up spoken or unspoken expectations that bar them from speaking their own language? Who doesn’t even drive, bike, walk , crawl, run, or wheel up to our front doors on Sunday morning because they see our hesitancy or fear in including them? Who do we hesitate to go out and invite in because we fear that our ways will be changed if we let them in?

I see in this church an impulse toward shaking some of these hesitancies. I see the Holy Spirit little by little being allowed to blow through and among us. We may not yet be at gale force winds or anything, but our windows are opening, the breeze is coming through. Our mission with the Bridge for Youth with Disabilities is moving from the fundraising stage to the action stage. Things are getting visible. Our mission can be seen as the land has been leveled, the path has been laid, the garden boxes have been built. Soon our children will be over their working with our Bridge friends to dig in the dirt, work side-by-side and get plants in the ground, speaking the language of growth and cooperation and learning and nurture.

We are also changing the way we work together even within the church, so that we can include as many as possible in our mission and fellowship. It may be a bumpy road at times, but we are opening up opportunities for new people to serve however they are able in our outreach and our fellowship activities. We are learning a new language, a new way to express God’s grace, and new way to include all who are called as disciples and apostles in the name of Christ.

But at the same time, we still have work to do. The neighbors haven’t yet wondered what has gotten into us. People aren’t peering into our windows disbelieving what they’re seeing, hearing a message of love and welcome so dramatic that they think we’re out of minds. There are still times that we cringe when kids are playing on the grass we care for so meticulously. We wonder if the paint that got on the sidewalk will clean up. There are times we get frustrated about doing things a new way. We hesitate speak privately in our friendships and our relationships about God’s grace in Jesus, and don’t even think about doing it publically in our community. We miss opportunities to welcome those who are shunned in society and especially by the Christian community because we are scared to speak a new language and be judged by people watching us.

But this is what Pentecost is about - - letting the Holy Spirit so dramatically cover us, so dangerously fill this room and our lives that we can’t HELP but let people, any people, ALL people, know about God’s love. Pentecost is about reaching out with the languages of the world around us - - the language of children playing on the grass, the language of food for families that are hungry, the language of volunteerism for people who want to serve, the language of accessibility for those who are differently-abled, the language of exuberance for those who interest and excitement can’t be contained. Pentecost is about speaking the message of God’s grace and inclusion in languages that may be new to us to people who may be different from us, which may just be uncomfortable for us. It may even earn us a raised eyebrow from the neighbors who watch us. Are they drunk? Are they serious? Do they really mean what they are doing?

But the Spirit of God, if the Spirit does ANYTHING, the Spirit of God stirs up trouble. The Spirit of God raises more than eyebrows. The Spirit of God raises up missionaries, evangelists, and prophets; servants, disciples, and apostles from among the people of God, even from among us to speak recklessly of God’s power, to dream without inhibitions dreams of God’s justice, to see without blinders visions of God’s welcome. The Spirit of God stirs up trouble, and by the grace of God we should find ourselves right in the middle of it.

Come, Holy Spirit, come!

Are we there yet?

Acts 1:1-11

So, here in Hudson, the schools are getting out this week. I guess that means summer is just about officially here. Thankfully, the weather is cooperating so far. Summer means a lot of things to a lot of people, and to many of us, those with kids and without, it means we’re going to log some miles in our cars. The season of road trips is upon us.

In our family road trips tend to be to one of two place - - back to Nebraska to visit Phil’s family on the farm or down to Iowa for Synod School. The summer trip is usually to Synod School.

Synod School, if you haven’t heard one of my raves about it, is an intergenerational conference put on by the Synod of Lakes and Prairies, our upper Midwest region of the Presbyterian Church (USA). Each year a FANTASTIC speaker is brought in from around the country to lead morning keynote addresses, kids learn and have fun in Vacation Bible School-like classes, and adults can take classes ranging from cake decorating to website design to God in the movies to African drumming to home electrical repair to introduction to the New Testament. Truly if you can think of it, it has probably been taught Synod School, and if it hasn’t, feel free to teach it next year.
Commercial ended.

Anyway, Synod School is often our summer road trip, and I love Synod School. (Could you tell?) I start talking about our trip to Synod School as soon as June rolls in even though it doesn’t happen until the last week of July. (There’s still time to register, if you’re interested.) I get excited about my classes. We usually get a letter from the kids’ teachers. We’re in touch with our roommates for the week and deciding who is going to sleep where with whom. The excitement builds rather dramatically.

When the day of the trip finally comes, we pack up the car early in the morning so that we can change our clothes in the church restrooms and hit the road pretty soon after worship. Dinner is served at 5:00 p.m. on campus in Storm Lake, Iowa, and we like to have a little time to get settled in our room and find our friends. When worship is over and we have said our goodbyes here, eating a little bit more of the fellowship treats than usual so we don’t have to stop for lunch too soon, the kids and I (and Phil if he gets to come) load up in the car and hit road.

I love pulling onto the interstate and knowing we are on our way until, of course, that inevitable question comes. Can you ask it with me? “Are we there yet?”

“Are we there yet?” the disciples asked their risen Lord. “Are we there YET?” OK, so they really asked, “Lord, is this the time when you will restore the kingdom to Israel?” but it means the same thing. They had been hanging on for a long time. They had been called and they followed. They learned and they listened. They were sent out and the taught. They healed and were rebuked. They were mocked and shunned. They had been fed and walked a lot. They had walked a whole heck of a lot, following this Jesus, the Messiah. They had lived through all sorts of preparations and it seemed the time had finally come. “NOW are you going to do it, Jesus? Now will you restore the kingdom?”

The disciples were like my kids in the car. For more than just the three years with Jesus, for all of their conscious lives really, they have been waiting for the Messiah to come and do this one thing - - restore the kingdom to Israel. They had been waiting for the Messiah who would come and set the kingdom of Israel back on top in the eyes of her people, in the eyes of the world. They had been waiting like their parents and grandparents and generations even before had been waiting for the kingdom David sang about in the Psalms, the kingdom of prosperity and power and good fortune, the political kingdom that was a sure sign of God’s favor and presence on earth

They had been with him since he called them to follow, the ones who had dropped their nets, left the tax collectors’ office, walked away from family and friends. They had endured the roller coaster of emotions as they celebrated healings, grumbled about crowds, worried about his arrest, agonized over his crucifixion, and celebrated his resurrection. They had stayed in Jerusalem waiting for the promise of their heavenly parent, thinking, “Surely it’s almost time now.” So when they had come together, of course, they asked him, “Jesus, are we there yet?”

Now, when my kids ask I want to shout, “Yes! Yes! We’re there. We have been waiting for months and months. We have made all our plans. We have washed and packed and loaded. We have worshiped and fellowshipped and changed our clothes. We have used the bathroom one last time and buckled into the carseats. Yes! We’re there. We’re on vacation!”

But apparently that’s not what they mean. So, somehow we are at the same time “there yet” and “not yet there.” We have gotten to the time when the vacation has started. We have come to the day we have all be waiting for, but it is not yet completed. It is, as we like to say in theological language, already and not yet.

That’s Jesus’ final message as he ascends into heaven. “Yes! Yes! We’re there. We have been waiting for months, for years, for centuries, for millennia. We have made all our plans. We have taught and washed and healed. We have worshiped and fellowshipped and served. We have met one last time and the Holy Spirit is one her way. Yes! We’re there. The kingdom is on its way!”

But apparently that’s not what they meant either. He said it as they were listening and watching intently. And as he spoke, he left them. He left them staring up into a cloud asking with their gaze and their frozen feet, “Are we there yet?”

It took some angels to break their gaze and thaw their feet, asking them why they were just standing around. Jesus had given them work to do. With the same certainty that he had called “Come, follow me” he had also just commanded “You will be my witnesses.” He didn’t ask, “Please can you take some more time?” He didn’t suggest “You could be, if you wanted…” And actually this time he didn’t even invite, “Come, be my witnesses.”

Jesus just stated it as the truth. You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and you will be empowered, you will tell my story with your words and with your lives starting right here where you are in Jerusalem, when you move out into Judea, even when you go to the place of your enemies in Samaria, and as far as you can imagine throughout the world. You will be my witnesses.

It’s the “not yet” part of his answer. Jesus has come. The kingdom has been ushered in, but it’s not yet here. We can see; it’s not yet here, not because Israel isn’t at peace. Not because a political kingdom has borders that are threatened, although don’t be fooled that is exactly what is behind some Evangelical support for their political agenda in the Middle East. We can see that the kingdom of God is not yet here because there is still pain and sadness, war and rumors of war. There is still homelessness and hurting. There is still addiction and arguing. There is still hatred and bigotry, prejudice and hunger.

We’re not there yet. And we’re not going to get there any faster with our feet stuck in the sand and our eyes tilted up there wondering, “When is he going to get around to fixing all of this?” He told us not to worry about when because we have more important things to do. We have work to do. We must get to work being his witnesses, get to work unveiling his kingdom, get to work bringing the places of “not yet” in line with the vision of his kingdom that is already here.

Are we there yet? Yes, we are. We are here, and we have felt and known the love of God. We have seen what Jesus can do in our lives and in the world. We trust in his promise of forgiveness and wholeness and new life.

Are we there yet? Well, not quite, but as his witnesses we can help bring his kingdom one step closer. We must engage our minds, move our feet, open our mouths, and work with our hands and get to work witnessing. We must get to work feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, freeing the captives; remembering the forgotten, encouraging the disheartened, comforting those who mourn; praying for those who mourn, teaching the young, listening to the old. We must be Christ’s witnesses…We ARE Christ’s witnesses here and to the ends of the earth.

Why are we standing around looking up toward heaven? We’ve got somewhere to go!

The Promise and The Call

Acts 1:1-11

A dad I once met had this conversation with his 5 year old son.

“I think I’ve figured it out, Dad,” the boy said. “I think I’ve figured out why Jesus had to go back to God.”

“Really?” the dad questioned. “Why do you think that is?”

“I think Jesus had to go back to heaven, Dad, because it is the best way he could see all of the whole world at the same time.”

This insight may have been helpful for the disciples-turning-apostles who experienced Jesus’ ascension in person. Imagine the emotional and spiritual roller coaster they have been on since Jesus’ final entry into Jerusalem- - even longer if you count the years they spent following Jesus during his ministry.

From the initial excitement of being called by name to follow this charismatic preacher, teacher, and healer. To the painfully slow realization that he is also their Lord and their God. From the pride at being trusted to minister in his name. To the frustration of being rebuked when they just didn’t get it. From the festive entry into the city of Jerusalem for Passover. To the agony of his suffering at the hands of others. From the devastation of putting his body in a tomb. To the confusion and elation of discovering it was empty three days later.

The time of his ascension must have been another hill on the roller coaster the disciples were riding. On the one hand it was a time that provoked great celebration and worship. How glorious for the disciples to see their Lord and master, their Messiah and savior, being lifted up and carried into heaven the only suitable place for their God and king to reside.

On the other hand, now there’s another letdown. It was like he died and left them alone all over again. He had been among them teaching and leading, and now he’s left the earth on which they are stuck with no leader, no teacher, no friend in the deepest sense. The times look, yet again, desperate and foreboding. The crisis of the unknown has hit this body of believers, and the way forward must seem impossible to see. Jesus’ ascension could carry his disciples back down the hill into depths of despair. Their worry and confusion about how they will proceed could easily monopolize their time, their energy, and their life together.

It could, but Jesus tries not to let that happen by leaving them with a unique promise and an important call to action. Knowing he is about to leave the earth and their presence, he orders them to wait in Jerusalem for what has been promised, the power of God, the Spirit of God, that is on the way.

Similarly, our times of confusion and frustration and worry are not solitary confinements. They are not without hope or direction or inspiration. Our times when the way forward seem difficult are also blessed with the knowledge that God’s Spirit is forthcoming, God’s presence is with us, and God’s guidance is never failing. God’s Spirit brings us the power we need to continue on in the life of faith and even just the PROMISE of that power can be enough to bring comfort and ease the anxieties of transition and uncertainty.

The promise and power of which Jesus speaks is the promise and power of the Holy Spirit. Now the Holy Spirit itself is not something NEW that comes to the people of God at this point. The Spirit of God blew over the waters at creation. The Spirit of God was with the Israelites in Egypt, the exodus, and the wilderness. The Spirit of God was on the prophets of God and among the people of God throughout their turbulent history and rocky relationship. The Spirit of God is not new.

What is new is the deliverance of the Spirit of God to this particular group of God’s people for this particular purpose. For the other piece of Jesus’ instruction to the disciples is a call. The narrative from the opening words of the book of Acts tells the disciples this call will take them to “Jerusalem, all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. The first volume of this 2 part story of Jesus and the early church, the gospel according to Luke, though, gives the substance of the witnesses’ expected testimony; it concerns crucifixion and resurrection, repentance and forgiveness. In a nutshell the testimony of the disciples is the wonder wrought by God in Jesus and the effect of that wonder on the world.

This is the call to the earliest church, and it is the call to the church today. It is the call to be witnesses to what we have experienced in the life of faith. It is the call to share what we know to be true about God and God’s love for the world in Jesus Christ. It is a call to reach others where they are, and point to the one who gives us the power, and courage, and mandate to cross unwritten boundaries with the gracious love of God. It is a lofty call, but is a call that comes with a promise.

We are promised the Holy Spirit in order that we will have the power to live as God calls us to live, the power to witness to the unbelievable truth of God’s love for the world. We are promised the Holy Spirit in order that we will discern where we are to carry God’s message. The accounts through Acts that we have heard in the last few weeks should be a comfort in this calling. Everywhere the apostles go to be Christ’s witnesses, it seems that the Holy Spirit beats them there. They are both carried and preceded by the Spirit in their faithful following of Jesus’ command.

This is God’s promise and God’s comfort. Even though the situation around us may change, our calling never changes. Even times budgets may get tight and anxiety may be high, our calling stays the same. And as our calling never changes, neither does the promise of God’s presence and guidance in fulfilling our calling.

Brothers and sisters, even in times the times that feel like an emotional and spiritual roller coaster, we are being called and we are being sent. These are not times to turn fearful, or circle the wagons, or hold ourselves back from the ministries God is placing in front of us. Even in times that feel like they are uncertain, maybe even because the times feel uncertain we must trust in the Spirit that has been promised and step out to follow the call that is placed before us. By the power of God, we will move forward being Christ’s witness not only in our community, but around the world. Hear Jesus’ promise, and praise him in great joy as we discern the Spirit’s leading and call to our church.

In the Spirit's Steps

Acts 16:9-15

We’ve been making our way, these last few weeks, through the accounts of the early church in Acts. As I have prepared for worship I have been asking the Scripture – “How did the early church do it? How were they church together? How did they go about God’s work in the world?”

The stories that have demonstrated the answers each week have been dramatic. Peter and the apostles were thrown in jail for teaching about Jesus. Despite the threat of the long arm of the law, they are STILL witnesses to what they have seen. And then there’s Saul, a notorious persecutor of the Christians who is blinded by a vision of Jesus, yet finds his way to faithful Ananias, who follows the Lord’s call to minister to this dangerous enemy of his faith. Then last week Peter is given visions of animals and food descending on a blanket from heaven. He hears the voice of God and has the courage to stand up to his fellow believers with a message of inclusivity beyond their imaging.

Jail. Visions. Voices from heaven. Divinely-inspired dreams. It seems like the folks in the old days had all the fun!

Hear this story about a woman, a good and faithful Christian. She’s a member of her church, the first or second to raise her hand for most jobs. We’ll call her Susan. She worships most Sundays, and has for about a decade. She’s one folks know they can count on not only for committee work or to serve on the session, but for last minute jobs like greeting on Sunday morning, because they know she’ll be there.

But somehow, even with all her activity in the church, Susan feels that something is missing. She somehow senses, and secretly fears, that despite all this church activity, she’s not much different than her friends who don’t attend church at all, the ones who go to yoga or Spinning at the Y on Sunday morning instead of attending any church, the ones who travel with their kids to soccer games or even just sleep in instead.

Susans or Samuels are all around us. Probably they even ARE some of us. They are the faithful who “wonder when their ticket is going to be punched, when they are going to experience the changed life they’ve been promised and expected to experience at church” (Reggie McNeal, The Present Future). They are the faithful, dedicated saints of the church who hear God’s call to the ministries we undertake, but wonder if maybe there isn’t supposed to be a little something more to who we are as the church.

Now hear this story about a few first-century travelers who have set out on a journey. They are on fire as they are led by their tireless tour guide, the Holy Spirit. You know the type. When I was little Disney World was crawling with them. Young men or women from Brazil or Japan or any number of other countries. They had perfected the art of walking backwards holding a small flag of their country high in the air, while smiling for the entire day and leading a herd of tourists from Tomorrowland to Fantasyland to Frontierland. They had energy like no one else in the park and could make standing in a 30 minute bathroom line look like fun. No one in those tour groups ever looked bored. Their guide’s enthusiasm was infectious.

The traveling conditions of our ancient trekkers are tough, funds are tight, and there is frightening opposition to the group they represent in some of the places they plan to visit. Yet despite all this, they set out with conviction and faith. They’ve poured over the map in preparation for the journey and know exactly where they will go and what route they will take, retracing the step one of them has already taken for some of the trip. But then one night, in the middle of their trip, one has a vision, a itinerary changing vision. They believe the vision is calling them to proclaim the Good News in a way different than they had initially thought. Their tour guide has a better plan, so they immediately change their plans and set off in a new direction.

With faith and dedication and a commitment to sharing the message, story and life of Jesus Christ with others, they continue on a completely different journey than they planned without really knowing what they might encounter along the way. The plan to check up on some previously planted “new church developments” has turned into something altogether different as they make their way to a new continent with their message about Jesus.

What faith. What dedication. What a commitment to sharing the life of Jesus Christ with others.

Contrasting the stories of modern-day followers like Susan to early church followers like Paul, we see a marked difference. Jesus’ early followers were alive with the fire of the Holy Spirit, whereas many of us today seem to lack that fire, passion, and conviction. We claim that the world is a different place; our responsibilities keep us tied down. At the Synod meeting I attended recently someone lamented being constrained by our polity. I’ll be the first to admit that the Presbyterian way sometimes seems slow and closed off, but I think we’re passing the buck if we blame all our frustrations on an organizational structure.

Perhaps the real difference is that followers of Jesus in the early church were clear about what they were called to do, whereas today many of our traditional, mainline churches lack that clarity. Followers in the early church were clear that they were to proclaim the Good News of Jesus Christ, as we heard in today’s reading. How Paul and his cohorts accomplished this purpose can be instructive to us if we seek to reclaim and increase a passionate, fiery faith.

In the middle of their journey, Paul saw a vision. Now, Paul has had experience with visions before, remember. In his former life he was struck blind by a vision of the resurrected Christ asking him why he was killing Christ’s people. Paying attention to visions has made him a new man, a man of faith, a man with a calling from God, passionate about what he has seen and experienced, passionate enough to want to share it with the world. Again and again in Acts, Paul’s passion spring directly from his willingness to listen for and act on God’s word. If we are to rediscover the fire of the early Christians, we, too, must be willing to listen and act on God’s word.

Do we take the time to talk AND listen to God through regular prayer and silent Holy listening? If and when we sense that God is leading us in a certain direction, do we test out that direction, seeking affirmation from church, family, friends and other trusted sources? We sometimes tease about our Presbyterian polity, but this is the point of it! To gather people of faith to discern the leading of God’s Spirit around particular areas of ministry, and then to test what we have discerned against the understanding of the Spirit-led community? If it what we have seen or dreamed does indeed seem to be God’s gentle hand acting in our lives and our discernment is affirmed, are we bold enough to act, or do we let fear, complacency, routine, or something else stand in the way?

We must listen for, trust in, and act on God’s Spirit in our lives and in our midst if we are to reignite a fire in our faith.

Another way Paul proclaimed the Good News of Jesus Christ was by going to where the people were. “On the Sabbath day we went outside the gate by the river, where we supposed there was a place of prayer, and we sat down and spoke to the women who had gathered there.” They did not stay in a synagogue, or put up a new sign outside the synagogue and wait for people to come. Rather, they went out to where the people were.

If we are to rediscover the fire of the early Christians, we too must reach outside of our established church. We cannot just open our doors and wait for people to come in. We cannot simply mow the lawn or make a new sign and wait. Instead, we must look at the needs of the people in the community, the places where there is hurt, where there is need for support and loving community, where there is spiritual longing, and reach out to address it. It is our responsibility as people of God. It is where our tour guide is leading us.

Sometimes it’s more comfortable to stay in here, though. In here, we know what to expect. We know our friends; we know our fellow travelers on the way. In here, we can have control over the culture, the traditions, the rules, and the expectations. Out there, it’s all changing and changing faster than we can imagine. The culture is decreasingly “religious,” but increasingly “spiritual,” and frankly we don’t know how to address that. It’s more comfortable to keep our ways and trust what we know, but searching out the unknown ways to proclaim Christ’s message and share his love beyond our church building is mandatory. In doing this, we will find the fire of faith rekindled.

Lastly, when Paul proclaimed the Good News of Jesus Christ he didn’t limit who was to be reached. The vision that brought Paul to Macedonia was a vision of a man who asked him to come over and help. Yet, as the story develops, he finds something different, “a certain woman named Lydia, a worshiper of God. … The Lord opened her heart to listen eagerly to what was said by Paul.”

If we are to once again become on fire with the gospel message, we must not limit God by defining the people we are called to reach. We can seek the unexpected person who might be longing for the transformative message of Christ’s love, and risk sharing the gospel message. We must be open to the idea that the Spirit may take us to unexpected people in unexpected place. She may pull us into relationship with people who are sitting outside the gates, outside the church, outside the usual relationships and organizations of society. Following the steps of the Spirit may bring our journey to places we never imagined to go, meeting people we never imagined to know.

With whom might God be calling us to share our faith?

Let’s return to Susan, the woman with whom we began with, who was feeling as if she wasn’t growing and changing despite her church activities, despite her commitment, despite her faith. I imagine Susan could be any of us; Susan could be many of us. Story after story, study after study, tells us there are people like Susan in many congregations, people who aren’t experiencing the spiritual transformation for which they hoped. As one Christian missiologist observed, “They came to us seeking God, and we gave them church instead.”

Many congregations, despite their best intentions, seem to have lost focus and give those seeking Jesus a slate of church activities rather than avenues for spiritual growth that can be truly transformational. In our visioning process this is exactly what we are trying to avoid. We have a whole slew of church activities out there on the walls and it would be easy to let that process simply re-organize the things we have always done. Yet that is not the point. The point is to discern what steps the Spirit is calling us to make. The point is to discover our areas of passion and commitment. The point is to try together, as a congregation, to get a vision for what God is doing in our midst and calling us to do in our community, in our world!

Our church, like Christian communities of faith throughout all time and space, exists to proclaim the Good News of Jesus Christ, to share God’s love that is forgiving, accepting, healing, and free. We, as people who are a part of this specific and global community of faith, must ensure that our activities are in alignment with this purpose and in step with the Spirit’s leading. By refocusing on this, we can transform the smoldering embers of faith into brilliantly burning flames.

The FAT Church

The passage we will hear today centers around one of the most common debates in the early church. Do you have to be Jewish first to be a Christian? The very first believers in Jesus were, like him, faithful Jewish men and women. What they believed about what was happening they believed through Jewish eyes, Jewish hearts, and the Jewish faith. They didn’t think of themselves as pioneers of a new faith, just a continuation of a very ancient one.

However, when the news of what had happened began to travel outside of Jewish territories and when people began to actually BELIEVE what they heard, the folks back in Judea, started to ask, “What does it take to be a follower of Jesus?” Many of them believed that to be a follower of Jesus, one must become a Jew, meaning one must submit himself or herself to ALL of the Jewish faith, not just the parts about Jesus. They expected Gentile converts to begin to keep the seventh day as a Sabbath (as well as gather with other believers in Jesus on Sunday morning for resurrection celebrations), to keep the food laws that prohibited the eating of unclean animals, even for men to submit themselves to circumcision as a sign of inclusion in God’s covenant with Abraham. You can imagine some of these didn’t go over so well with newcomers to the faith.

Listen now to how Peter responded to the questions of his community of faith in Jerusalem (and their reaction) after spending time ministering among the Gentiles.

Acts 11:1-18

The early church wasn’t as rosy as we sometimes like to think, especially as we are faced by the contemporary controversies of the church and wonder why we can’t just go back to the old days when people just believed in Jesus and didn’t worry about the rest. This question about who a real Christian is was just as difficult as similar, yet more contemporary questions during the Reformation about who receives God’s grace, questions in this country in the 1800s about slaves being real people in God’s eyes, questions in the last 100 years about women being called to offices of the church, the question today about the ordination of homosexuals. So yet another question remains to be asked, “Why should this VERY post-Easter church in 2010 turn to the account of that BARELY post-Easter church of the 1st century for ‘advice’ when they seem to be as messed up then as we are now?” What does this account tell us about being the resurrection church?

First I think we learn that the resurrection church is made up of human beings. It was made up of humans 2000 years ago when it was first coming into being. It has been made up of human beings throughout our rocky history. It is STILL made up of human beings as we debate in our denomination, as in others, about the role and interpretation of Scripture and how that is applied in our current culture.

I have seen a bumper sticker (admittedly not my usual source for sermon support material) that says this, “Christians aren’t perfect, just forgiven.” The church is not perfect. It never has been. The church 2000 years ago was made up of imperfect human beings just as when we look around the church today we see the exact same composition - - imperfect human beings trying our best with what we’ve got to live the life of faith as we understand it, as we experience it, as we have been given it, and as we see it growing and changing right before our very eyes. Ultimately, we don’t look to the early church for insight because of who they are. We look to them because of what God has done with them. We look to them because somehow through these completely imperfect human beings, Jewish and Gentile alike, the church did grow.

The church did figure out how to reflect the resurrection life of Jesus inside itself and to the world. The church did realize, as Peter said, “The Holy Spirit fell upon them just as it had upon us at the beginning.” The church, I might say, was FAT. Of course, I don’t mean heavy or overweight, unhealthy or at risk of heart disease. FAT is an acronym I first learned in high school in a discipleship group of which I was a part. We used it in that setting to talk about individual disciples and followers of Jesus, but I like it as much, if not more, as a guide for the community of Jesus’ followers who somehow have to work TOGETHER to do more for God’s mission than any one of us could ever do alone. So, FAT is what I think the early church was that helped them be the ones through whom the Spirit worked in the world, particularly in this account, the established, Jewish portion of the early church.

First they were FAITHFUL. They may have been faithful to a fault, but they were faithful to what they knew and believed. They knew that for them following Jesus was one and the same as being faithful Jews. They knew this meant bringing their infant sons for circumcision. They knew this meant avoiding certain foods or food combinations. They knew this meant honoring particular holy days and celebrations. They were knowledgeable about their tradition and faithful to God whom they knew through this tradition. They were faithful to God who had saved their people from the Egyptians through Moses, from the Philistines through David, from the Persians through Esther, from their imperfect selves through Jesus of Nazareth. They may seem argumentative and exclusive to us right now, but let’s not forget that it was their faithfulness that instilled in them such strong feelings, such worry about changes to “the way things have always been.”

However, if faithfulness to their tradition and their long-held beliefs was all that the early Jewish church possessed we very likely would not be here today. In addition to being faithful, the early church was also AVAILABLE. I don’t mean that they all had gobs and gobs of free time. Many of us would be in trouble if that was the key to a vital and Spirit-led church. Free time isn’t the only thing availability is about.

Peter, for example, was available to the Holy Spirit before he ever gave up any of his time. He was praying, opening himself to communication with God and not just talking to God, listing his own prayers of thanksgiving, worry, desire, or even praise. He was waiting and listening for God. He was open and available to the possibility that God might have something to say to him. Likewise, so were his brothers and sisters in faith when they came to hear his report. They may have come, it seems with contention on their hearts, but they were open and available to hear what Peter had to say. They didn’t fight back with ready-made arguments and h slogans to counter what he said. The early church sat and heard what he said, and even kept silence to truly understand what was happening before they responded. They were available and ready for God, who just might be doing a new thing in their midst.

Lastly, the church was TEACHABLE. We see it in Peter individually as he comes back to share his story with his own change of attitude and belief, but we also see it in the whole church itself. The climax of the story is their teachability (I know that’s not a word, but I need it to be one). The climax of the story is when the apostles and believers who were in Judea, who had heard (with great suspicion) of these Gentile converts, who had been so faithful to the traditions they had always known, who had believed that God’s word was exclusively for them, who had felt the special anointing of the Spirit, who had understood themselves to be chosen by God for this unique revelation - - the climax of the story is when THESE apostles and believers broke their shocked silence and praised God, saying, “Then God has given even to the Gentiles the repentance that leads to life.”

They have heard and even out of their brokenness, even out of their intense faithfulness to tradition, actually BECAUSE of their faithfulness in God who works in unexpected ways through unanticipated people, because of their availability to the unpredictable Spirit, because of their willingness to be taught and changed, they are led forward in faith to the future. This is why we look to the early church. This is why their experiences and struggles are recorded in Scripture and shared among us as we look to forge our own way in a culture that is changing and challenging. This is why accounts of their birth and growth have been given to us by the living Spirit of God and the church before us – because their example shows us the way forward for our own Easter church today.

May we have the same wisdom and courage in our time to be the faithful, available, and teachable people of God that they were in theirs.

Get Up and Go!

The second lesson this morning continues our Easter journey in Acts. These are the accounts of the very earliest church, the men and women who were closest to Jesus during his ministry and those who had experiences with him just after the resurrection. They were preaching and teaching and forming communities of faith with the reality of the resurrection at the front of their minds. Everything they did they did because they believed that Jesus had risen, that death would not win. This Easter we’re going to look particularly at how they formed those first churches – what they valued, what they emphasized, what they knew was important to pass on, and how they lived their faith in God our Savior. From their experiences we can ask ourselves - -What does it mean for us to be a resurrection community? What does it mean for us to an Easter church?

Our Scripture passage this morning is likely a familiar one for many of you. Actually, even if you’re like me and have a hard time citing chapter and verse, you will likely recognize the experience. Acts 9:1-20 contains the story we often call the conversion of Saul, whose name is later changed to Paul – the Paul who went on to become the writer of a number of the letters in the New Testament.

In his days as Saul, he was a fierce persecutor of Christians, or followers of the Way. In fact his first appearance in the New Testament is when he participates in the stoning of Stephen, one of the original seven deacons. However, after Saul’s conversion or calling on the road to Damascus, he is a new man, changed forever in his orientation toward God known in Jesus Christ.

All that said, as you listen to this Scripture today, I ask you to listen for something possibly new. Listen to the story told not only of Saul, but also of a man in Damascus named Ananias. Listen now for a Word from God:

Acts 9:1-20A few years ago I attended a retreat for Presbyterian pastors. To open the retreat the 12 or so of us who were there were asked to go around the circle and tell our “call stories”, the story of our life and faith that brought us to ministry in the first place. The retreat leader planned one hour for this activity – giving each of us five minutes to tell our story. Well, this activity ended up stretching into something like 2 ½ or 3 hours.

The leader’s first mistake was thinking 12 preachers could each restrict themselves to only five minutes – clearly an unrealistic hope. But, secondly I think he was expecting some stories like Saul’s. I could tell that story in just five minutes. It doesn’t take long to tell why you decided to follow God if at some point in your life you have seen a flash of light from heaven, heard the voice of Jesus, been blind for three days, and then had scales fall from your eyes as a stranger speaks a message to you from God. That’s a pretty clear message from God about what you’re supposed to do with your life.

However, it takes a little longer to tell the story of a person’s experience with God when that story begins with an infant baptism, continues through the nurture of Sunday School, includes confirmation in the teen years, maybe twists and turns away from God in the later teens and parts of adulthood, before one comes to realize God’s presence or call. That’s not a five minute story – that’s a life story. That’s the kind of journey, I’m guessing, more of us are traveling. It’s a journey that, I think, relates more to the story of Ananias than it does to Saul.

We don’t get much information about Ananias in this passage. We know that he’s living in Damascus, and that he is a disciple. That’s about it. My assumption is that Ananias isn’t an extremely remarkable man, otherwise we would probably hear those remarks. But, we aren’t told that he is a great leader in the synagogue or the community. We don’t know that he is well-respected, or that he is rich, or that he is perceived to be any closer to God than anyone else. We just know that he is a disciple. I imagine him to be a faithful man, but not an extraordinary man in terms of his power or prestige.

Yet God decided to use Ananias. God decided to call Ananias to service. Notice, though, that Ananias didn’t get the luxury of a blinding experience like Saul did. He didn’t get Saul’s flash of light and voice from heaven. Ananias got what I think is a much more difficult call from God, but maybe the kind we’re more likely to run into in our own lives. It was a call that came in a vision – maybe a dream in the night while he was fast asleep, or maybe it was a conversation or thought process in his head while he worked, not really even knowing at first whether it was his own thoughts or God’s voice that he heard. However he heard it, the message that came was this, “Get up and go!”

Being a part of the Way, being a disciple of Christ, isn’t just about believing something we’re told. It isn’t about saying yes to the right questions or being able to recite the correct creed or statement. Being a follower of Jesus isn’t even just about living a certain way, according to a certain set of rules or standards. At some point in every believers’ life of faith, and very possibly at many different points in that life, God is going to come calling. Answering that call requires some sort of specific action.

“Get up and go!” God says to Ananias. Actually, it’s the same thing he said to Paul in his call, too, “Get up, and enter the city.” Get up and go do something. Rarely does God come calling and say, “Have a seat; relax. Don’t bother to do anything for me today.” No, God’s calls come expecting action, and often some sort of specific action. Sometimes they are large, this-is-what-I-want-you-to-do-with-the-rest-of-your-life actions, but sometimes they are smaller, this-is-what-I-want-you-to-do-right-now actions. The smaller ones aren’t always as small as they seem though. God has a way of using our simple actions and activities in much bigger ways.

Agreeing to prepare or serve supper at Grace Place taking a shift sorting and distributing food at the Food Shelf may be a specific call that uses a few hours of your time, but your presence shows the love of Christ that may last someone else a lifetime. Or maybe through that kind of service your eyes are opened to the needs of others that go beyond one meal or groceries in the pantry for now and point to systemic problems in our community you can help change. Teaching a workshop rotation class, helping out with the summer day camp, or being involved in a new ministry to “tweens,” our 4th and 5th graders, may be the way God calls you to serve. It requires some time and a commitment to a new action, but answering the call means nurturing children of God, and growing the community of faith. Taking care of our labyrinth that serves our church and community, sharing your faith story in worship with others, preparing a meal for our church family that feeds us physically and spiritually, befriending and mentoring newcomers to our congregation - - these are all specific calls to action to which God may be calling you.

Faith in God can’t be a stationary thing. It does not allow a stagnant, inactive life. If there is one thing the disciples learned from the resurrection it’s that Christ is still active in the world. His disciples as close as the twelve from Galilee and those as far away as Damascus all seemed to know that the resurrection was a call to active faithful living. Even DEATH could not stop Jesus from loving all of God’s children. Even the cross could not keep him from being with the world he came to serve, the disciples he came to feed and teach, the sick he came to heal, the captives he came to release. Christ’s ministries, like Christ himself live on and they need active leaders and today’s disciples to carry them out. Faith in the resurrected Christ requires us to be an active Easter church in God’s world; it requires us to change our individual ways of living in general, yes, but also to answer specific calls, be a part of particular jobs and assignments that God sets before us.

When God calls us to get up and go, it means that we might end up doing something we never expected. Imagine how ridiculous God’s call must have sounded at first to Ananias. He knows this man Saul, and how he goes around binding up and killing people who follow Christ. Ananias knows walking into that house into the same room as Saul is practically the kiss of death. He challenges God, and tries to talk his way out of God’s idea.

But the Lord persists, and in that persistence, the Lord provides a promise. Saul, the Lord promises, is an instrument in God’s plan, a vessel God has chosen to carry God’s name to the world. In other words, the Lord is already active in this plan set before Ananias. As unbelievable as it is, Ananias doesn’t need to go into this task thinking he’s alone or being pushed out on a limb. It doesn’t all depend on his ability or talent or strength or confidence. God is calling Ananias into a situation and a mission where God is already present.

That promise is the same to us today. God never calls us somewhere that God isn’t present already. Wherever we are called to go in God’s name, God already is. God calls us to add our gifts, attitudes, talents, and energy to the work God has already begun. We aren’t the ones beginning the work of the kingdom, but we are called to be witnesses to God’s love for the world as we are a part of that work. We may be called into difficult and even dangerous situations, but we aren’t called into them alone.

Sure Ananias is supposed to go to this house and find Saul, the notorious persecutor, but Ananias is not going alone. God has already gone before him to that house, God is already active in the plan, and God will accompany him on the adventure. And so Ananias gets up and goes. He puts his life of faith into action not simply by incorporating new behaviors or changing some habits. He very physically and very purposefully follows a specific call from God to do something different. He goes with the promise that God is already present where he is headed. He becomes a part of the work God is doing in Saul. He becomes a very important part of Saul’s conversion as he witnesses to Jesus’ healing power and the power of the Holy Spirit. He becomes a part of Saul’s ministry as Paul that stretches throughout the known world of their time.

When God calls you to get up and go, and I promise you, in some way, shape, or form, God is calling each and every one of us and this congregation as a whole to get up and go, the promise in that calling is that we are not being sent out as a lone ranger to carry the full responsibility and risk of that calling. Wherever you are told to get up and go, in your work, in your family, in your friendships, in your relationship with your enemies, in your interests, or in whole new directions, you are called to service with the living God who is already at work in your calling.

The first Easter church got up and went. It is my prayer that so will we.

Who's the Boss?

This Easter season we are going to spend some time in the book of Acts, or more fully, the Acts of the Apostles. These are the accounts of the very earliest church, the actions and activities of those men and women who were closest to Jesus and his resurrection and those who had experiences with him after the resurrections.

Through their experiences we will try to discern some of the marks of resurrection communities. In light of what had JUST HAPPENED, in light of their experience of Jesus who died and rose again to bring forgiveness and new life, what did they do and value as people of faith? What did they emphasize in their ministry and how did they respond to Jesus’ promise of the power of the Holy Spirit and command to be his “witnesses in Jerusalem, all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

Our series of encounters with the early church over the next several weeks will give us insight into how these first apostles interpreted and enacted the resurrection in their life together. What did it mean and what does it mean now to be an Easter church?

Acts 5:27-32

Peter and the apostles were becoming regulars in the Jerusalem county court system. Their names were appearing pretty regularly in the police blotter section of the local newspaper. It was almost impossible NOT to notice how often they were running into the authorities, and most people were probably wondering just why they didn’t lay low for a while. If they would just let the dust settle a bit, the air clear a tad, this would all just blow over and Peter and the rest of them could just fade into the crowd again. They didn’t have to make it so hard on themselves by constantly rubbing their teaching and the name of Jesus in the faces of the temple leaders. This was the third arrest and trial for some of them in what had to have been just the first few months since Jesus’ death and resurrection.

What had gotten into these men? One almost has to assume they were either brave or stupid. Either courageous or clueless. They knew they were wanted men so soon after the death of Jesus and then the disappearance of his body. They knew Jerusalem was buzzing with rumors and questions about what had happened, and was anyone going to do anything about it. Yet, they weren’t exactly doing their part to stay out of the limelight. In fact, they seemed to be doing everything they could to get back into it.

Stupidity seems out of the question. There were enough of them, one would hope, for SOMEONE to have the smarts to realize they were in a virtually powerless minority in Jerusalem. Even as they added to their numbers daily, the opposition still had the religious hierarchy, local leadership, and ear of the Roman government on its side. Their cluelessness would have had to have been of such astronomical proportions it’s impossible to believe they persisted because they just didn’t know what they were up against.

It had to have been their bravery. It had to have been their courage and their confidence in their message. It had to have been, Scripture tells us at the first trial, the power of the Holy Spirit that filled them. It wasn’t their outstanding education, the authorities are quick to point out. It wasn’t the armies that backed them up. It was the Holy Spirit, promised to them by Jesus before he made his ascension to heaven. It was the Holy Spirit, given to them in an upper room with the wind and fire of God. It was the Holy Spirit, constantly with them as they healed and taught and received believers into their community, that gave them the boldness they needed to stand up against the authorities in Jerusalem, authorities that had to face head on to follow Jesus’ command to be his witnesses first in Jerusalem, before spreading out to “all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

Going against the established authority is never easy. The large scale examples of civil disobedience in India that countered colonialism, South Africa that struggled against apartheid, and the United States that supported the Civil Rights Movement highlight this in a monumental way. Yet even on a much smaller scale we know this to be true. Swimming upstream is never easy. Ignoring or purposely contradicting conventional wisdom, society norms, and the cultural myths we all seem to live under may not change laws, but on the individual or even community level the struggle feel like one is trying to move mountains.

In recent months there have been efforts to change our cultural vocabulary, to remove the “R” word, a word formerly used to describe people with developmental disabilities, from its now common use as an insult or description of something thought to be ridiculous. Peg Gagnon, who we know as the director of the Bridge for Youth with Disabilities, made a public plea for support in this effort through the local newspaper. Others in our community and around the country have spoken out to try to change what has been accepted as normal, but is recognized by many as offensive, harmful for public discourse, and just plain wrong in the human family.
Other movements such as the fair trade movement, in which we participate as a congregation with fair trade coffee, exist to try to resist the public urge to save my own money even at the expense of someone else’s loss further down the supply chain. Going “green” has become a popular marketing term, but real, lasting participation in the attempt to reduce our impact on the beauty and complexity of God’s creation is a lot harder to accomplish in a culture that values quick, easy, disposable products and the “new and improved” over the “old and good enough. Trying to live life ordered after an authority different from the one in power is never easy, even if it’s ultimately beneficial, and those who attempt to do so, to keep themselves on track, have to keep asking themselves the question “Who’s the boss?”

“Who’s the boss?” Peter and John asked the first time they were arrested and brought before the leaders in Jerusalem. Was it the religious authorities? Was it the occupying government? Was it tradition that claimed healing could only happen in a certain way, by a certain name? Who’s the boss? To whose authority should they defer?

“Who’s the boss?” the apostles had to ask themselves as they decided whether or not to continue this ministry of witness and proclamation. Do we follow the rules and save ourselves? Do we continue to teach as Jesus told us we would do? “Who’s the boss?” they had to decide when they were released from prison in the middle of the night by an angel. Do we go home and go to bed or do we follow the command and put ourselves right in the thick of things, right in the temple teaching with every free minute and every ounce of energy we have? Who is the boss?

Peter speaks for them all when they are confronted for a third time. Peter answers for them all the question that has been following them for months. Who is the boss? Who are they going to obey? “We must obey God rather than any human authority,” he declares for the apostles. We must follow a command that comes from beyond human laws, human tradition, and human reason. We hear the word from Jesus, we have seen the authority of God, and it stands far above the authority of anyone on earth. Bravely, courageously, Peter declares that the apostles stand under a different authority, one that flies in the face of all conventional wisdom and common understanding of how the world operates, and then he shows them all exactly how as he shares with them the gospel he knows.

First, “God of our ancestors raised Jesus.” God who has existed long before any humans alive now is in charge. God who has ruled the universe before these temple leaders were appointed or born into their positions, God who has seen empires rise and fall, conquer and be conquered, build themselves on greed and power only to be destroyed from the inside out by the same, this God is our authority. Our authority is the one who has been faithful even when we are not. The authority we obey is not based on the power of the sword, the threat of physical punishment, or fear of incarceration. It is not decreed by law or convention or coercion. The authority we obey is eternal and unseen, but trustworthy and steadfast. It may seem unbelievable that we would do all of this, risk our freedom on earth, but we have seen for generations upon generations that God is in charge, God is faithful still, and God is our ultimate authority in life and in death.

Second, in Jesus is given repentance. It sounds ridiculous. Repentance is a gift? Turning around, literally turning ones back on an old way of life. Running from what we know and have known is supposed to be some kind of joy? Besides, everyone knows a troublemaker is a trouble maker. Everyone knows there’s no way to change that kind of life, that kind of person. Everyone knows that you must lie down in the bed you make, and once you’ve made it, there’s no real way to change it. No matter how hard someone tries, we are told again and again, they will never break the cycle in which they live.

Yet Peter says his authority gives repentance. Peter says the gift of God is the chance for new life. Peter says that in Jesus is a way to start over, get a clean slate, turn in the right direction and begin the journey again, putting one foot in front of the other walking in the way of God instead of the way of the world. Peter says this comes from obeying the authority of God instead of the authority of the world.

Third, from God we also receive the forgiveness of sins. Revenge may be the predominant human way to respond to pain inflicted, but it’s not God’s way. An eye for an eye isn’t the way to operate anymore. There isn’t “closure” in seeing someone else suffer just because we also have suffered. Guilt should not be our motivation for anything, because by the grace of God, in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, we created beings find our forgiveness from our Creator. We are set free from our offenses. We are liberated from that which ties us down and prevents us from living lives of compassion and peace. When the world says we deserve nothing but the pain we get, God gives forgiveness instead. When the world says we should lord our power over those who have hurt us, the gospel Peter preaches says we should forgive instead.

And lastly, but most importantly because it is the source of all the rest, “God of our ancestors RAISED JESUS!” We go back to the beginning of Peter’s short sermon to hear the most important piece of it all. God who has been faithful and eternal when everything else is fleeting, God who turns lives around, God who forgives and calls us to do the same, this God is our authority for all life on earth and in heaven, because THIS God has done the impossible. The world says death is the end. The world says that keeping our hearts beating is the answer to everything, because once they stop it is all over. The world says there is nothing more than the years we spend alive on this earth, but God is the authority the apostles choose because in God they have seen this wisdom defeated.

“God of our ancestors RAISED JESUS!” Peter insists, and because of this God gets their loyalty; God gets their obedience. God gets their life’s work because God raised Jesus from the dead. God overcame the most certain belief that the world has ever tried to hold onto, that death is the end, that death has the last say, that death is the final authority. In Jesus, God looked that supposed authority in the face and defied it. For that reason, the first among all the rest, for that reason, in God alone the apostles will put their trust. God alone will they obey.

The Easter church, the people of Jesus in those earliest days of faith in him, saw no one and nothing else worthy of their obedience, but God. Conventional wisdom had flown out the window. The norms of society had been turned on their heads. The undercurrent of cultural opinion could no longer pull the apostles along, because God in Jesus had shown another way – another way of treating people, another way of loving, another way of living and worshiping as the people and the community God created us to be.

The Easter church, God’s resurrection communities then and now, exists to obey God, not the world around us. We exist to be witnesses to the good news of life that can change direction, sins that can be forgiven, faithfulness that can outlast generations, and life that goes on beyond death. We exist to share this good news through our words the give hope and our actions that show love and justice that others may find the peace, grace, and joy by our witness. All that we do and all that we say, the way we worship God, the way we treat one another, the way we serve others should show our obedience to God who showers us with grace the world says no one deserves, love the world says no one can return, and mercy the world says will never exist. Then we will be the church of Easter. Then we’ll be showing them who’s the boss!