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Acts 2:22-47_2010
| 23.10.2010, 18:18 | |
Rev. Davide Cantarella Sunday October 17, 2010 Acts 2:22-47We are in our third week of our journey through the Book of Acts. Journeys like this are fascinating, for they take us to new places where we can see things we have never seen before; our horizons are widened and our understanding is deepened. There is a risk when journeys are long, though. And the risk is that at some point we forget why we started journeying in the first place. So, here is the reminder: we are exploring the Book of Acts because we want to have a clearer idea of what the mission of the Church is. What is the Church? And why does it exist? And we are trying to find the answers to those questions, so that, in turn, we can find the answers to other important questions, such as "What is the mission of this church?” "Why do we exist, and what is our purpose?” Last week we saw that the Church is the result of the work of the Spirit. When the Spirit comes, barriers are destroyed, blown away by a mighty wind. And a new people is created, a people that is the first evidence that God is making all things new. So we continue our journey by looking at the second half of Peter's speech on the Day of Pentecost. As we saw last week, the first part of Peter's speech was focused on explaining that the events the crowd was witnessing - the proclamation of the Gospel in various languages - was not due to drunkenness, but was actually the direct result of the work of the Spirit, as predicted in the Old Testament writings. In the second part of the speech Peter moves on to explain the connection between the day's events and the person of Jesus. Peter says that Jesus was publicly endorsed by God to perform miracles; that his death on the cross was not an accident, but God's very plan, although it was carried out by both Roman and Jewish authorities; that death was not the end of the story, as Jesus was raised from the dead. As you know, not everyone in 1st century Israel believed in the resurrection of the dead. Some people – the Pharisees for instance – did; others did not. In order to make his point more compelling, Peter says that even the resurrection of Jesus was not God's last-minute decision, but part of a plan that was already described in Scriptures. So, he quotes an ancient Psalm: I see that the LORD is always with me. I will not be shaken, for he is right beside me. No wonder my heart is glad, and my tongue shouts his praises! My body rests in hope. For you will not leave my soul among the dead or allow your Holy One to rot in the grave. You have shown me the way of life, and you will fill me with the joy of your presence. Peter says that David, the author of this Psalm, cannot be referring to himself, for his tomb is still visible and no one has heard of him being raised from the dead. So, the words "you will not leave my soul among the dead” must refer to someone else. He must refer then to one of his descendants, the one descendant that will reign on David's throne for ever, i.e. the Messiah. So, according to Peter, the Scriptures say that the Messiah will be raised from the dead. But Peter only knows of one who has been raised from the dead. He himself is a witness of his resurrection. He himself saw the empty tomb and the resurrected Master. So Jesus, the Risen One, is the Messiah. But that's not all. The same Jesus "is exalted to the place of highest honor in heaven, at God’s right hand”, and He has been given the Spirit, and the Spirit has been poured out on Jesus' followers. So Jesus is also Lord. Actually, Peter says it better than anyone else, "So let everyone in Israel know for certain that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, to be both Lord and Messiah!” Now, we are so used to calling Jesus "Lord”and "Messiah” that we run the risk of not seeing how shocking and offensive such statement originally was. In the Roman Empire only one name was associated with the word "Lord” and that name was "Caesar” "Caesar is Lord” was the Empire's motto, the mantra every citizen of the Empire was to recite before the magistrates at least once a year. To say that a criminal, someone who had been crucified as a revolutionary and an enemy of the state, [someone who had been crucified by the representatives of Caesar] was "Lord” is a revolutionary statement. Because if the Crucified Jesus is Lord, if he is the Ruler, then Caesar is not. But that's only half of the story. Because to say that the crucified Jesus is the Messiah is to say that the Jewish authorities and the crowd that cried "Crucify him!” were completely and culpably wrong. If Jesus is the Messiah, then the people of Israel had killed the one they had been waiting for; the one who would deliver them from slavery. The Messiah was their hope; but they had spat on him, beaten him, and had him crucified. And with him, they had crucified all hope of deliverance. By saying that Jesus was both Lord and Messiah, Peter is making a bold statement – a shocking statement, actually. Now, in the presence of such statement one would expect the audience's reaction to be negative. Who of us likes to hear that we are wrong? That all the truths we have ever believed are actually lies? That the chosen people of God have killed their Deliverer? Who of us would like to hear that? But the response of the crowd is surprising. "Brothers, what should we do?” And indeed, this is a question all of us must ask when faced with the truth about Christ. Because if the Crucified carpenter from Nazareth, the homeless enemy of the state killed by both his own people and their ruthless Latin-speaking masters - if he is Lord and Messiah, then this truth raises question as to who we are and how we ought to live in this world. And we all must join Peter's audience and ask the question, "What should we do?” And the answer to this question is multifaceted. It is both general and personal; both common and unique. On the one hand, each of us is invited to repent of our sins and turn to God; to be baptized in the name of Jesus for the forgiveness of sins; and to receive the gift of the Spirit. This is to say that there is a specific path that is expected of all those who embrace the truth that the crucified Jesus is both Lord and Messiah. And this path starts with repentance – a turning around; an open acknowledgment that we were wrong, paired with a desire to get it right. This is what repentance is in general. But repentance has a personal dimension. Peter's audience had to repent of the fact that they had not recognized the Messiah and had actually put him to death. They had to acknowledge that their being Jews did not mean they owned the truth. What is it that we need to repent of? What is the truth we have missed? What is the lie we have believed and built our lives on? Maybe the lie that we can live the way we want and it does not matter to God. Or the lie that we are good people become we go to church. Or the lie that if I can get a little better job, or a little more money, or a little better apartment, or another set of clothes, I will finally be happy and no longer feel that void that torments me. What is it that we have missed in our life? What is it that blinds us to the things that God wants to do in us? Whatever it is, if the crucified Jesus is Lord and Messiah - if the center of the Universe is a wandering homeless man who gave himself to the least and died the rotten death of a criminal, then all our false ideas about respectability, power, prestige, wealth, and even truth must be re-analyzed in the light of Jesus. Because, friends, the gift of the Spirit – this amazing outpouring of divine power – was not poured on the disciples when they were expecting a mighty warrior-Messiah; was not poured on the disciples when they were fighting with each other as to who was to sit at the right hand, and who was to sit at the left hand of Jesus. And it wasn't even poured on the disciples when they were sent in pairs and had a successful campaign of healing and exorcism. Because the gift and the power of the Spirit is not for those who worship human power, position, or success. The gift of the Spirit is for those who understand that salvation and transformation are the results of God making himself nothing. As Shane Claiborne says, "the message of Christ from the manger to the cross is that the world is conquered through weakness, through leastness, through struggle--not from the top, but from the bottom.” If we want to see the power of God in our midst – in our life and in this church – we must abandon the false ideas of power, prestige and respectability and live as the servant of the crucified Lord. Now, that's easy to say – but it's actually difficult to know what that means in real life. It would really be nice to have a picture of this, so that we could look at it and follow the example. Well, here is the picture for us: All the believers devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, and to fellowship, and to sharing in meals (including the Lord’s Supper), and to prayer. A deep sense of awe came over them all, and the apostles performed many miraculous signs and wonders. And all the believers met together in one place and shared everything they had. They sold their property and possessions and shared the money with those in need. They worshipped together at the Temple each day, met in homes for the Lord’s Supper, and shared their meals with great joy and generosity— all the while praising God and enjoying the goodwill of all the people. And each day the Lord added to their fellowship those who were being saved. We see here that the life of the early church was marked by four elements: devotion to the teachings of the apostles, fellowship, common meals, and prayer. In the early church being a follower of the crucified Jesus did not mean showing up for a meeting once a week. It meant being a family. It wasn't about finding solace for an hour; it was about sharing life. And this sincere sharing of life is what attracted and transformed people. The early church did not have a program, but rather modeled a way of living that incarnated the reign of God. "That reign did not spread through organizational establishments or structural systems. It spread through touch, through breath, through life. It spread through people who discovered love.” (Shane Claiborne) A love that says, "I want to share what I have with you - my time, my food, my possessions, my spiritual life, my strengths, and even my weaknesses. Because my life does not belong to me. It is a gift to be shared with others.” To be followers of the crucified Lord and Messiah means living as gifts to be shared with the world. It means living generously, without closing the eyes to the needs of my brothers. It means seeking a Kingdom in which I pray both for God to provide for the needs of the world, and for myself to be the answer to that prayer. It means being a people who intentionally seeks to live life together – at one table, studying, seeking, laughing, crying, praying. It means having a sense of awe, that feeling that God is at work among us, that He is up to something - something good. It means believing that He is indeed restoring all things, and He's beginning with us. Today, as you know, is a special day. And we celebrate it with a common meal. Today we are going to feel a little like the early Christians of long ago. We are going to be sitting around a table like one big family. And we are going to love it. And do you know why we are going to love it? Because we were created for moments like this. And moments like this don't need to be special occasions we celebrate once a year, or so. And yes, I know, we are busy. And yes, I know, we have jobs, and families, and studies, and all the other things that fill our days and weeks. But don't you think, as individuals and as a church, that we can do a better job at sharing life together? And if sharing life together is the essence of the Church, then don't we have an obligation to do a better job at this, if we truly want to be the Church? As we journey through Acts and we ask the question, "What does it mean to be the Church?” we have come to a stop today, in which we are finding some answers. Being the Church means living as gifts to the world. It means sharing what we have; sharing who we are; it means sharing life. It means abandoning all false ideas about power, position, and respectability, and making sure my brother does not go hungry, or is not crushed by debt while I've got money sitting in the bank. It means being a people sitting at the table, studying, seeking, laughing, crying, and praying. Chances are, if we seek to live like that, in the power of the Spirit that has been poured on us, we will be the evidence that God is making all things new. And then we will begin to see the things and the miracles that right now we can only dream about. | |
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