Today's Sermon: Acts 10:24-35 - No Favorites with God

Acts 10:24       The following day Peter arrived in Caesarea. Cornelius was expecting them and had called together his relatives and close friends.

The more I read about the centurion Cornelius, the more I like him. He’s had an amazing spiritual experience. He’s been sought by God and given a special vision. He’s a man who’s used to power and authority. He understands the need for structure, command, and hierarchy. No one else in Caesarea has been given this divine vision. No one else has been approached by God in such a holy, sacred and powerful manner.

The reason that I really like Cornelius is because of his response to all of this. He could have let it all go to his head. He could have lorded it over the people around him by declaring that he was specially chosen by God. Cornelius could also have kept this deeply personal and profound spiritual experience to himself. The centurion could have convinced himself that he was highly favored by God and kept himself aloof from those around him. But Cornelius didn’t make any of those choices. Instead, he sent for Simon Peter as he was instructed and while he was waiting, he gathered together his relatives and close friends.

His family and friends must have been really important in Cornelius’ life. He goes through this remarkable life changing event. He knows that it comes from God and he feels that something new, something wonderful, something important is about to happen. He wants to share these blessings with the people who are closest to his heart. He doesn’t want all of God’s goodness for himself. He wants his loved ones to experience these blessings too.

So, even before Cornelius hears the Gospel from Peter, he has already begun the process of evangelization. He has reached out to his family and friends so that they may also be attracted to and blessed by God.

This is something that we should all take note of today. We all come to church on Sunday mornings to be forgiven by God for all of our sins; to be cheered and challenged by His word; to be blessed by the presence of His Holy Spirit and to be deeply loved by Jesus Christ. We receive all of these blessings of grace and goodness, holiness and healing, but what about the family members that we’ve left at home? What about the good friends that we love dearly? If we had a heart like Cornelius, we would be inviting them to fellowship and faith all of the time. Why should we be the only ones in our families and circle of friends to be offered salvation? Why are we so fixed upon getting everlasting life for ourselves, that we forget or neglect or reject the opportunities to invite our loved ones to be with us?

Cornelius wanted to get his life absolutely right with God, but he just didn’t want for himself. He wanted all of his loved ones to receive the bounty of blessings that were coming his way. He didn’t see himself as being one of God’s personal favorites. He saw himself as one of God’s joyful servants and he sought to bring his loved ones to that bliss.

Acts 10: 28 He said to them: "You are well aware that it is against our law for a Jew to associate with a Gentile or visit him. But God has shown me that I should not call any man impure or unclean. 

Simon Peter has also had an epiphany. God has changed his heart about who can be chosen by God for salvation. When Peter sees the crowd of folks gathered in Cornelius’ house, he immediately tells them that he is breaking with the traditions of his people. Jews were not supposed to enter into the home of a Gentile. So many impure and unclean objects, people, and practices inside a Gentile home would have polluted any God-fearing Jew for a long time.

But Peter’s vision from God has opened up his heart and mind to new possibilities with God. He is no longer bound to the kosher laws or Jewish ways. Peter is beginning a new ministry to the Gentiles which God has initiated. The Gospel is not just meant to be heard by back-sliding Jews; Christ’s message, which has been laid in Peter’s heart, is for everyone who is willing to hear it whether they be Jewish, Greek, or Roman.

Sometimes I have to drive my daughter Lauren’s car. You know that she’s in Boston studying for her Master’s degree in international social Work at Boston College. Anyway, she couldn’t take her car, so it’s left at our house and every couple of weeks or so, I have to drive it in order to keep it running and the batteries charged. I must admit, I’m really embarrassed to do it because of the hippy type bumper stickers that she has on the car. But there is one that really impresses me, which simply reads: “God Bless every nation.” Lauren is such a global person and a world citizen that she does not say “God Bless America” like her Daddy does. She believes that God’s blessing is not exclusive to our nation and so she prays for the whole world to be blessed.

This is what Peter had to learn from God so long ago. As a Jew, Simon Peter his people and nation were specially chosen, blessed, and embraced by God. He believed in their exclusive access to God and that because they were His Chosen people, they were His favorites on Earth. But through the rooftop vision, Peter was told by God that all people on earth were His. As Peter expressed it to the crowd in Cornelius’ home: God has shown me that I should not call anyone impure or unclean.

Now it could be said by some people that this statement of Peter’s means that everyone is categorically a child of God’s grace, no matter who they are. I would entirely agree with that interpretation. The fact that we are all called by Christ to be part of His worldwide church proves that beyond a doubt. But notice this: this is about who we are as human beings; this is not about what we do as human beings.

God recognizes us as being created beings who are His children; but just because we’re created by God and can claim to be His children does not give us the absolute right to be given salvation. That is not something that we are entitled to because of who we are; that is something sacred that only Christ can give to us when we recognize that we are not just created beings, but also sinful beings who have separated ourselves from God by the wrong choices that we make, the selfish lifestyles that we lead, and the defiant deeds that we do.

Acts 10:34-35 Then Peter began to speak: "I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism but accepts men from every nation who fear him and do what is right.

The recent riots in Britain may be the birth pangs of a whole generation that neither fears God nor does what is right. Humanism, secularism, and universalism – of people believing what they want, doing what they want and getting what they want – have engulfed the hearts and minds of an entitlement generation that turns to savagery and violence, anarchy and defiance when they don’t get what they want, when they follow their own ways instead of God’s, and when they are truly ignorant of what is right and what is wrong because those who raised them gave them no boundaries, no manners, and no faith.

When Peter talks to Cornelius and his people, he states that God does not show favoritism but accepts people from every nation who fear him and do what is right! Peter does not say God accepts people from every nation. He qualifies his statement with two boundaries that need to be kept. To be accepted by God, we need to fear, revere, be in awe of God and then we need to do what is right.

This is the message of the Gospel to the gentiles. This is the message of Christ to us. We cannot live our own way and expect God to turn a blind eye to what we sinfully do. There is no where in scripture that states that God tolerates sin. If that was the case, then Christ need not have gone to the cross because His crucifixion was demanded of God as the price for our sins. Jesus did not die for us; He died for our sins.

The right thing to do with that information is to humbly realize that we have caused the death of Christ. And in that act of humility, we need to turn away from our sinful choices and turn towards God’s righteousness. If we fail to do this, if we think that we can live like those rioters in Britain with no respect and awe for God, if we believe that we can freely live as we like and not as God wants, then we are no better than those stupid rioters in the UK.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the famous German theologian, who was tortured and executed by the Nazis towards the end of World War II wrote from his secret journal in jail on August 14, 1944 'God does not give us everything we want, but He does fulfill all His promises ... leading us along the best and straightest paths to Himself.' 

Peter may not have wanted to give up on his traditional Judaism, but God led him along a new path.

Cornelius may not have wanted to give up on his original Roman beliefs and lifestyle, but God changed everything for him, his family and friends.

We may not want to give up our worldly ways, our cultural choices, and our free and easy lifestyles, but if we want to be saved from our sins, forgiven our mistakes, and granted everlasting life than we must repent in order to be restored, fear God in order to be found, and do what is right by Christ in order to be redeemed by Him. As always, the choice is left to us.

Prayer

Sunday 7th November, 2010 - Judge for Yourselves - Acts 4:13-22

(Sorry for the lack of sermons. The new construction is affecting my routine. I'll try to post the older sermons later in the year.)

Today's post is the sermon I was going to preach this morning, but had to give cliff notes due to heater being broken...:)

13 When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus. 

Last week, we left Peter in the company of Christ’s religious enemies, boldly declaring (through the presence of the Holy Spirit) that Jesus was the only way to salvation. I challenged all of us to carefully consider what was being said by Peter and to apply that challenge to our own thoughts about Christ.

Today, we get to read the response that Peter received from the Sanhedrin Council, which you could call Jerusalem’s Grand Jury. It was uniquely made up of both members of the religious moralistic right – the Pharisees – and of the progressive academic left – the Sadducees. Both of these opposing groups had come together to face a new foe – the Christians – a radical grass roots movement that was beginning to upset the status quo.

Both sides in the Sanhedrin  were shocked by the simple courage that both Peter and John displayed. These were uncultured and uneducated, unsophisticated and ignorant men. Luke even uses the Greek words ‘agrammatos’ and ‘idee-o-tace’ to describe them, which can be interpreted to mean ‘illiterate idiots’, or as the Scots and some Southerners would say, “Peter and John were a right pair of eejits.”

The Sanhedrin didn’t know what to make of them. On the one hand, they were two coarse and common fishermen from the boonies of Galilee, who were just a comical novelty to the sophisticates of Jerusalem. But on the other hand, a miracle had taken place in which a well-known crippled beggar had been completely healed in the name of a religious rabble-rouser whom they had sent to be crucified by the Romans.

18 Then they called them in again and commanded them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. 

Peter and John were annoying to the temple priests; they were offensive to the self-righteous lawmakers; and they were a potential threat to the recent peace that Jerusalem had experienced after Jesus was killed. The Sanhedrin had to do something quickly and effectively, so they opted for the usual punishment that all reactionary authorities use against radical movements: they threatened Peter and John and censored them from speaking or teaching at all in the name of Jesus.

You know on this day (Nov 7) in 1793, the illustrious leaders of the French Revolution abolished Christianity in their land. They wanted to do away with Christ and set up their own religion where Human Reason, Intellect, and Enlightenment were glorified and worshipped. They tried to replace God entirely by putting their own achievements on pedestals and deifying their own deeds. They even had 2000 churches destroyed and Christian leaders either executed or exiled. But within a decade, their revolution was dead and within a generation, the church was re-established across France.

It seems to be that when Christ and His followers are ridiculed, oppressed, silenced, and censored, then an amazing thing happens: the Church goes underground and begins to grow at an amazing rate. This is what is happening to Christ’s church in China – so many millions of people are becoming Christians annually that within 25 years Communism in China will go the way of that in Europe – it will fail and it will fall – and up from the ruins of a misguided 20^th century idealism, the Christian church will emerge triumphant.

The Sanhedrin thought that they had solved their problem by censoring Peter and John. Little did they know, however, that their troubles had just begun.

19 But Peter and John replied, "Judge for yourselves whether it is right in God's sight to obey you rather than God.

In another Holy Spirit filled statement, Peter pushes back against the pressure and conditions that the Sanhedrin was imposing upon the two fishermen. He boldly and defensively, but not defiantly, informs them to judge for themselves what is right or wrong in the eyes of God about their situation. As for Peter and John, they simply insist that they cannot help speaking about what they have seen and heard. In other words, they know the truth about the miracle and no amount of priestly oppression or clerical censorship will dissuade them from preaching and teaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Every generations of Christian believers since then has had to deal with the same issue. It comes to us in different forms, at different times, through different cultures, and in different circumstances, but the challenge is always the same: will Christianity cave in to societal pressure and seek cultural acceptance, or will it boldly declare the Gospel Truth, even although it may be unpopular?

My friends, the courage of Christianity is found in the faithful lives of ordinary believers who do not give in to peer-pressure, but instead they display divine power in their dedication to Christ. They simply know what is honestly right in a world gone horribly wrong.

Peter and John, by the powerful in-dwelling presence of the Holy Spirit, knew that simple truth on the day they faced the Sanhedrin. On the other hand, the religious leaders had surrendered their hold on God’s truth, in order to appear to be politically correct to the Roman authorities. In their efforts to maintain the status quo and to appease their rulers, they relinquished their divine right to spiritually lead the nation. Peter and John had spoken the truth; they had performed the miracle in Jesus’ Name: they could not deny this, nor could the Sanhedrin…and what was the outcome of their faithfulness to Christ?

V20 All the people were praising God for what had happened! Amen.

Sunday 19 September - Acts 2:29-41 A Good Day's Work

It just seems like yesterday, but I can remember when the Disney movie, “Mary Poppins” was first released in Scotland. I was seven years old at the time and everybody I knew wanted to see Julie Andrews and Dick van Dyke sing and dance and laugh on the big screen. Sadly, I also knew that I wouldn’t get to see it because my Dad was unemployed at the time. In fact, it would be three years later, when my Mom worked as an usherette at a downtown cinema, that I would get to see it for the first time.

The movie was released in Scotland during Easter. To coincide with this, my local Glasgow newspaper had a young actress dress up as Mary Poppins and she went throughout the city subdivisions distributing chocolate Easter eggs. The newspaper even printed where she would be and so on Easter Sunday in 1964, I got up early and quietly left my home to walk about a mile to where Mary Poppins was meant to be. I waited and waited and waited. But Mary Poppins did not come and eventually I went home empty handed and completely dejected. I found out later that Mary Poppins had given away all of her Easter eggs in other subdivisions, so there was no point in coming to where I was. It’s funny, but even today 45 years later when I see parts of the movie on TV, I still remember my disappointment.

The Jewish people had waited for hundreds of years for the Promised Messiah to come into their land and rid them of their enemies. The Christ, the Anointed One, chosen and sent by God, would restore their dignity, their status, and their place at the top of the world as God’s Holy and sacred people. The messiah would solve all of their problems and making them feared and respected by all the nations around them. They waited and waited and waited.

And then their Messiah came, but instead of following Him, they fought with Him. Instead of rejoicing, they rallied against Him. Instead of crowding around Him, they crucified their Messiah. They had missed the moment; they had misunderstood; they had made a major mistake.

When Peter preached to them on the day of Pentecost, he didn’t beat around the bush or mince his words. “This Jesus, whom you crucified, has been made Lord and Christ by God.”

The people in Jerusalem were horrified by what Peter said. They knew that Jesus had been a great teacher, a miracle worker, and a prophet. But now they were being told that the Holy One, whom they had been waiting for across the centuries and generations, had actually been this person Jesus whom they had sent to His death. They had destroyed the One who was meant to deliver them from their enemies. They had falsely accused and executed the Messiah who was meant to embrace and free them.

The terrifying thought that must have crossed their minds was this: if we killed the Holy One who was sent by God, God will be mad at us and will probably destroy our nation. He will give us into the hands of our enemies and everything that we have striven for over the past five hundred years will be gone. (In fact, this actually did happen about 43 years later when the Romans completely Jerusalem and Herod’s Temple). So they asked Peter what they could do to avoid God’s displeasure and wrath.  To which Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the Name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”

That message was not what they wanted to hear. They wanted to be told how many sacrifices at the temple could be made to make them clean. They wanted to be able to repeat many of the psalms in order to be absolved. They wanted to know what religious rituals and temple rites they had to perform to appease God’s wrath and make things better.

Instead, Peter tells them to change their ways and turn their lives around completely. He insists that they ask Jesus, not God or a priest, for forgiveness. And to cap it all, Peter uncompromisingly informs them that they all need to be baptized – in other words to humble themselves and make a public act of contrition, that would identify them with Jesus, in front of the priests who arrested Christ and the Roman authorities who executed Him.

Do you fully understand what Peter is asking them to do? It would be the spiritual equivalent of burning the US flag and giving up our American citizenship in order to say “Sorry” to the rest of the world for our actions. The Jews in Jerusalem believed that they were exempt from this kind of act of repentance and contrition because they made special sacrifices, gave of their tithes, kept religious festivals, read the scriptures, and said their daily prayers. But those traditional rituals were just outward customary practices that showed they were devoted to their religion, but not their Redeemer.

I think that you know where this sermon is headed. We are no different from the people in Jerusalem. Peter is preaching to us just as much as he was preaching to the crowd on the Day of Pentecost. If those Jewish people way back then, who were so meticulous about their old time religion and keeping the faith, had to repent and change their lives completely, are we deluding ourselves today in thinking that we are exempt from repentance just because we come to church, say our prayers, sing our songs, and give our offerings?

When the great Reformer John Calvin, the Father of Presbyterianism, was writing about this passage, he urged his readers to make repentance and to seek Christ’s forgiveness each and every day. If church people were willing to do this, Calvin believed that they would become totally addicted to God and not to religious rites or superstitious beliefs.

Finally, we are told from this passage that Peter continually preached to the people for a long time. Luke writes in verse 40: “With many other words he warned them, and he pleaded with them, “Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.”

He could have been preaching to our world, our society, and even to our Western church today. We have so corrupted our beliefs, justified our mistakes, and so brazenly exhibited our sins that we are all in need of being saved from our generation. We are so far from Christ’s Truth that we have lost His Way and are in danger of losing His life. We crucify Christ through our careless ways; we nail Him to the Cross with our neglect of faith; we execute Jesus by embracing the world’s ways instead of Christ’s.

If we truly want our sins to be forgiven, we need to truly repent and change our ways. Half measures and half hearted attempts won’t cut it. It’s all or nothing with God. Almost persuaded, almost repentant, almost turned around won’t do it. Good enough is not good enough; that’ll do just won’t do at all.

In the end, three thousand people accepted what Peter had to say and acted upon his message. In one day, the local congregation in Jerusalem went from 120 souls to over 3000 members and became the first mega-church in history. It was a good day’s work for the Lord.

The question we need to ask ourselves today is this: are we ready to add ourselves to that number? Are we willing to accept Peter’s straightforward and uncompromising message? Will we make repentance and seek Christ’s forgiveness on this day, at this hour, in this holy moment?

Prayer.

Sunday 15 August - Faithful Witnesses - Acts 1:15-26

One of the biggest issues that the Church is facing today is about the authority of the Bible. People question whether or not a holy book which sums up human history in just over six thousand years and took 1500 years to compile is relevant in the 21^st century. Because of this, traditional customs and values are constantly being scrutinized, challenged, and changed. What was good enough for Paul and Silas may be good enough for old time religion but, according to some, it certainly isn’t good enough for modern people.

Today’s passage from Acts deals with similar questions. Luke continues to write about the beginning of the Christian church as an apologetic, an answer, and as an historical and theological reply to those who were asking such questions as:

Where did Peter get his authority to preach? What makes the Gospel different from other religious messages? What really happened to Judas Iscariot and did Jesus make an almighty mistake in choosing him in the first place?

I’ve mentioned to you to look out for and watch what the Holy Spirit does throughout the Book of Acts. In today’s passage, several noteworthy things and teaching moments take place. Luke writes that Peter stood up amongst the Gathering and suggested that they find a successor for Judas. Peter believes that this is necessary to perfect their leadership number of twelve in order to maintain continuity with the twelve tribes of Israel.

Peter also states that Judas’ betrayal of Christ was foretold a thousand years beforehand, through the work of the Holy Spirit inspiring King David as he composed several psalms. This maintains the continuity of the first Christians with their Jewish roots, but it also showed them that the Holy Spirit had been working for centuries in the sacred history of Peter’s people in order to bring about salvation through Christ.

This is very important for us to understand and accept because it deals with the authority of scripture, which is one of our major issues facing our people today. The Holy Spirit actively inspired David to write words in his psalms which became fulfilled prophecies in Christ’s lifetime. The Holy Spirit did this and we need to remember that. As John Calvin wrote five hundred years ago, “Such manner of speeches bring greater reverence to the scriptures… (because) …they were directed by the Holy Spirit.”

This is why I personally think it that questioning the authority of the scriptures is not something to be undertaken lightly, or to glibly cast aside the Bible because of its cultural contexts. The great arrogance and mischief can arise when we question Biblical authority because we are in danger of saying and believing that we know better than the Holy Spirit about the Word of God. And that, my dear friends, was the very first temptation and sin in the Garden of Eden when the serpent tempts Eve beginning with the words “Did God really say…?” (Genesis 3:1)

But why is Peter mentioning Judas at all and why does Luke fill in the details about Judas’ death?

Peter is bringing resolution for himself and the rest of the Gathering. Judas had been with them for three years. Despite his obvious faults, he was still one of them. John Calvin stated that “It is not to be doubted that the disciples did remember Judas with grief and sorrow.” In the midst of all their joy about the Resurrection of Christ, the shadow of Judas’ betrayal and tragedy of his death still affected them. To bring closure to their sorrow, they have to appoint a successor. To find relief from their grief, they have to accept that the Holy Spirit foretold this long ago.

Luke fills in the details about Judas’ death and his gory ending, not because he wanted to shock his readers, but because in Luke’s time there were already rumors surrounding what had actually happened to the traitor. Some misguided Christians, who would later be known as Gnostics, began to think that Judas did not commit suicide but that he nobly sacrificed himself by taking Christ’s place on the cross. Their stories are very similar to what Charles Dickens would write 1800 years later in his famous book “A Tale of Two Cities” where the anti-hero Sydney Carton dies at the guillotine in place of the hero Charles Darnay. No doubts the Gnostics of the past would love to have borrowed Dickens’ words and place them in the mouth of Judas Iscariot as he died on the Cross for Jesus: “It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to, than I have ever known.”

But this never happened, which is why Luke includes the gory details about Judas’ death – a fatal falling to the ground which causes his stomach to burst open and all of his intestines fall out – which happens when someone dies and dangles from a rope for a while and then the noose breaks. (This is also why in England traitors were hung and disemboweled).

This in turn brings us to another question: did Jesus make a mistake in choosing Judas in the first place, or as John Calvin put it: “It seems a strange thing that Judas, who was chosen by Christ for such an excellent ministry, should fall so filthily.”

Did Jesus make a mistake? Well that’s like asking “Did God make a mistake in creating Adam and Eve?” The short answer to both questions is a loud and affirmative “No.”

The mistakes that were made by Judas, Adam, and Eve were all committed through their own free will and subsequently their own foolish choices. Judas fell away, not because he had been compelled to through prophecy, but only by the malice of his own heart. John McArthur, a great contemporary preacher that I admire, has this to say:

“Judas represents the greatest example of wasted opportunity in all of history.”

McArthur also goes on to say: “Although he was counted among the apostles and received his portion in their ministry, Judas was obviously never saved.”

“Judas was obviously never saved.” We all make mistakes and Judas tragically paid the price for his act of betrayal. He couldn’t live with himself or of the fact that he had placed Christ into the hands of His enemies. If Judas had been saved, he might have heeded Christ’s warning to him before the Last Supper. If Judas had been saved, he might have been able to go into hiding and come back to Christ after the Resurrection and plead for forgiveness. Had he been saved and if he had done that, Judas would have been shown mercy by Jesus and fully restored to God’s favor. But Judas was not saved and so he believed that God could not help him, nor could Jesus be gracious to him. And so the tragedy of Judas lies not in the sad fact that he committed suicide, but that he did not give Christ the opportunity to forgive him. He died in his sins, instead of being saved from them.

When Peter talks about the need to find a successor for Judas, he also lays out the conditions and qualifications for such a person. It would have to be someone who was with Jesus from the very beginning and who had seen the Risen Christ. In other words, it had to be someone who had remained a faithful follower of Christ, and an exclusive witness of his Resurrection. This new apostle would have to preach the Gospel and take the exclusive message of the Resurrection to other people. He would have to have been taught personally by Christ and have been an eye witness to the post-resurrection appearances of Christ. In other words, he had to validate his faith with personal accounts of who Jesus was and what actually happened after He rose from the dead.

This brings us to a very important point about sharing the gospel. Many misguided Christians believe that sharing the gospel is about good deeds, kind words, and nice acts of compassion. These are wonderful things to do on behalf of the church, but sharing the gospel is not about how many good deeds we get done in a day. Sharing the gospel has always meant one important thing – it is about telling a dying world full of dying people that Christ still lives! Without the Resurrection, there is no gospel, and without the constant telling of the Resurrection, there will be no salvation. As Paul the apostle once wrote to the church of Corinth, “If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins.”

Finally, a successor is chosen. The Upper Room Gathering of about 120 people selects two candidates and leaves the final choice up to the Holy Spirit using the customary method of applying lots. This is the last occasion in the Bible that lots are used. After the Great Day of Pentecost, lots will no longer be needed because the Holy Spirit will directly guide the apostles and Christ’s church.

The use of lots is not like throwing dice or picking door prizes. The apostles use the lots as a sacred means of giving the final decision over to God. This is not spinning the bottle, the tossing of a coin, or hoping for a win. This is sacred nomination and final affirmation given by the Holy Spirit. Luke tells us that they say together a very special prayer: Then they prayed, "LORD, you know everyone's heart. Show us which of these two you have chosen to take over this apostolic ministry...."

Through the presence of the Holy Spirit, Matthias is chosen, whose name actually means “The gift of the Lord.” We don’t hear anything else about this new apostle in the Bible, but some ancient documents of the early church say that Matthias first preached the gospel throughout Judea and then he went down into Ethiopia and Sudan to preach to cannibals and pagans. He was eventually crucified, so Judas’s successor actually went to the cross for the sake of Jesus and his Gospel.

So what have we learned today? (1) The Holy Spirit has been at work for thousands of years.                   (2) Scripture is inspired by the Holy Spirit, so we should all be wary of believing that we know better than the bible.   (3) If we are open to the Holy Spirit, then He will guide us clearly; but if we become divided, we will end up making bad choices as a Church and will suffer the consequences.

Prayer:        Lord, You know everyone’s heart here today. Show us the way, through the Sacred Presence of the Holy Spirit, that our church should take to fulfill Your ministry and mission in this community. In Your Holy Name, we pray. Amen.

Study Resources

Links

John Macarthur’s Bible Study page: “Grace to You”

http://www.gty.org/

Apostle Matthias Information

http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/10066a.htm

Home Study and Personal Reflections    

1.       What made Peter suggest that the Upper Room group needed to choose a successor to Judas??

2.       What do you think about Luke’s account of Judas’ death? What makes us feel sorry for Judas?

3.       How much of a priority is Christ in our lives? Do we ever allow other things to take His place?

4.       Where does the authority of the Bible come from? Why should this make us cautious about criticizing the Scriptures?

Sunday 8 August - All in the Family - Acts 1:10-14

Acts 1:10-14

A couple of years ago, when Evelyn and I took our youngest daughter Lauren to the airport to start her journey and mission trip to Tanzania, Africa, we waited with her up until the last possible second. We stood in line with Lauren to make sure that her tickets and luggage were validated. We walked her up to the security gate and hugged her just before she got into line. We watched her go through the security system and saw that she picked up her carryon bag and shoes. She then turned the corner and disappeared out of view. We just didn’t want to let go of her physically or emotionally until she was totally out of sight. And before the terrible events of 9/11, we once would have waited until the flight took off and watched the plane until it went up into the clouds.

The disciples felt the same thing. They peered intently at the sky until their eyes were sore. They didn’t want to lose sight of Jesus. They wanted Him to always be there. They didn’t want to give Him up emotionally because once He was gone from view, then the responsibility of His Mission and God’s kingdom would firmly be placed upon their shoulders.

Perhaps they were also hoping that Christ would change His mind, turn around, and head back down to Earth. If that was the case, then they were quickly given a reality check by the two angels who suddenly appeared beside them.

"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."

This was the first lesson that the disciples were given without Jesus being present after the Resurrection. This also became crucial to their ministries and mission, their preaching and message. Christ would return, suddenly and surprisingly. No amount of wishing would bring Him back before His appointed return, but when it did happen it would occur swiftly and suddenly, without words or warnings.

So this shaped their discipleship of Christ. They were to live their lives appropriately as Christ’s followers and in the strong belief that Jesus would return at any time.

Two thousand years have almost passed since that day of the Ascension and we have perhaps grown complacent about Christ’s Second Coming, but let’s seriously remember this: we are now two thousand years nearer to His imminent return than these first disciples ever were – should that in itself not make us more careful and circumspect about how we live our Christian lives? We are, time-wise, nearer to Christ’s Second Coming than any generation before us, so instead of being complacent, shouldn’t we be even more prepared?

I find it interesting to note that John Calvin, the great reformer, uses this passage to support his argument against the transubstantiation doctrine of the Roman Catholic Church. They believe that the bread and wine in Communion actually becomes the real body and blood of Jesus Christ. John Calvin argued that because Christ ascended into Heaven, and would not return to Earth until God’s appointed time, His actual body and blood could never be present with us. If that was the case, then it would mean that Jesus had broken His promise and disobeyed God; it would also mean that the two angels lied. For Calvin, Christ’s Spirit is present with us in the preaching of the Word and the celebrating of the sacraments, but Jesus’ physical presence won’t ever be experienced on Earth again until He finally returns at the Second Coming.

Talking about returning, the disciples eventually walk away from the Mount of Olives and head back into Jerusalem. This is a very brave thing to do – they are headed back into the heart of enemy territory where Christ Himself had been arrested, tortured, and executed. At any given moment an informer, guard, or even a priest could have recognized them as Christ’s followers.

We are told from Luke that the distance was a Sabbath Day’s walk, which meant that it was only three quarters of a mile of a journey. They head upstairs to a large guest room which may have been the same Upper Room where Christ shared their Last supper together before His crucifixion. This location would help them to keep emotionally connected to Christ, in much the same way that we all feel when we visit a family home, a past workplace, or even an old church that we used to go to. In that room, they had shared Christ’s last moments of teaching and giving. As they broke bread together and prayed there, they must have re-experienced that holy and sacred time.

This is why I think it’s important to bring our families to church on a regular basis. We need to give them a sanctuary, a trysting place, a holy place of worship and prayer in their lives. It’s really important for them to feel spiritually loved and embraced by God in His House. And it’s especially important for our new college students and school leavers. They need somewhere to come back to and belong, to pray in and worship, especially during crucial times and major issues in their young lives. If it was good and healthy enough for the first disciples to return to the upper room, it’s also good for all of us to return to those holy and sacred places that have impacted our lives with the presence of Christ.

Luke mentions the names of the eleven disciples who return to the Upper Room. At one point, ten of them, excluding young John, had run away from Christ when He was being crucified. Now they all return together, obeying Christ’s last command to wait in Jerusalem. They did not know what was going to occur, but they also did not question Christ’s command.

For at least ten days, they would have met together in the room with some of Christ’s own family. This would have brought about some interesting group dynamics and an intense therapy session for all of them.

Think about it for a moment; Christ is gone, so the old wounds amongst them may have opened up. There was John and James, the ambitious sons of thunder who went to Jesus in secret and asked for favorable places of prominence in Christ’s Coming kingdom. They even caused an argument within the group about who was the greatest among them. Now with Jesus gone up into heaven, the old argument could have quickly resurfaced.

And then there was Peter, who had proudly declared that he would have laid down his life for Christ, and yet he had been scared off by a mere girl, a serving maid outside the Sanhedrin.

Added to the mix, were Jesus’ own family members – his mother and his brothers. From the gospel passage that we read this morning (Mark 3:20-21, 31-35) we know that before His Resurrection that they didn’t fully support Christ’s ministry. At one point, they thought that He was crazy and anxiously sought to bring Him back home before He did Himself any damage.

So you have all these people, followers and family with major dysfunctions and they are gathered together, almost like a funeral party, to mourn Christ’s absence and grieve His disappearance.

But something almighty has changed them…and that change has occurred through the Resurrection. They have seen Christ alive after being dead, and so their lives will never be the same again. There is no ‘greatest’ amongst them because Christ’s greatness cannot be equaled. There is no denial amongst them, because they have seen Jesus with their own eyes and heard Him speak with their own ears. And there is no fear of craziness or insanity in Christ, because He has proved to them who He actually is – the Savior of the world and the Everlasting Son of God.

And so this time in the Upper Room becomes a sacred moment of peace and reconciliation, humility and fellowship, recommitment and restoration. They all joined together in constant prayer – praising God for what had occurred and communicating with Christ’s Spirit. They could not see Him or touch Him, but through focused and determined prayer, they could feel His presence with them as they spiritually connected to Him. They were beginning to become a family of faith. They were beginning to become what we would one day call ‘church.’

So to sum up, what have we learned from this passage today?

Firstly, that Christ will one day swiftly, surprisingly, and suddenly return, therefore we should live each day as Christians who expect His imminent arrival.

Secondly, that Christ invites and brings together failures of all kinds to become His followers, and that we each have a holy and human need for sacred gathering places.

And finally, that to become church, we need to constantly pray together, worship together, and just be together, so that we may experience fellowship as a true family of faith.

Prayer:        Lord Jesus, thank You for returning to Heaven so that Your Church could be established and that we, two thousand years later, may be given the opportunity of being restored to God through the forgiveness of our sins. Help us to become a loving family of faith, a compassionate congregation, and a community church of disciples and followers, servants and messengers. In Your Holy Name, we humbly and thankfully pray. Amen.

Home Study and Personal Reflections    

1.       Why do you think that Jesus returned to Heaven and did not stay on earth to be with His disciples and family?

2.       How can we live our lives each day as if we are anticipating Christ’s imminent return? How will that belief affect our everyday choices?

3.       Where are the sacred places in our own lives? In what ways do we experience Christ and faith there?

4.       How can we make our church more effective at making us followers of Christ and a true family of faith?

Other Resources                              

Mount of Olives

http://tinyurl.com/ydcefhb

Ascension of Jesus

http://tinyurl.com/5w4zfm

Being the Church 2 by William Loader

http://tinyurl.com/26sh3tl

Kids Pages –Jesus Ascends

http://tinyurl.com/2feg26j

Sunday 25 July - Where Are We Going? - John 6:60-69

I think that if the great patriotic writer of the American Revolution Thomas Paine were alive today and if he was a church member of a mainstream denomination, he might be inspired to write something like this:

“We are living in times that try the souls of loyal church people. The irregular attender and the nominal Christian will, in this present crisis, shrink from service of God’s Kingdom, but whoever stands by Christ now, deserves the love and thanks of future generations. Heresy, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What grace we obtain too cheaply, we will esteem too lightly: it is only sacrifice and cost that gives everything its value. Heaven knows how to put a proper price upon its goods; so it would be strange indeed if so celestial an article as the BIBLE should not be highly rated.”

My friends, for some time now, I have been deeply troubled with the theological divisions that our national church is currently experiencing. I have wrestled with its present policies and latest decisions with regard to ordination and marriage. I have tried to be open to the bidding of the Holy Spirit and constantly prayed for guidance for what to do and say. I am at a loss because I feel that we are at a significant crossroads which may lead us either to greater glory or take us down a path which ends in a blind alley.

As I personally struggle with this, I wonder why God has blessed our wee church with all of this expansion and renewal. In the midst of both an economic and theological crisis we, as a congregation, have undertaken one of the biggest building projects in our history. We have been led to do this as an act of faith and I wonder what lies ahead for Erin church. It’s as if God is preparing us for a time when all of these issues will be resolved, therefore I believe He’s making us ready for what is yet to be revealed.

Today’s Gospel passage (John 6:60-69) is about a significant turning point in Christ’s ministry. His teaching is being questioned by His very own followers and at the end of the day, only a faithful remnant will remain of His Galilean entourage. His team will be divided and the number of his disciples will fall dramatically. Complaints will be made that Christ’s demands are too hard to live by or accept. The summer disciples and fair-weather followers will abandon Jesus, leaving him to even question and doubt the loyalty of the Chosen Twelve.

This is not a passage that many church people remember. We tend to think that Jesus was like a divine Pied Piper who went from town to town accumulating followers and disciples, so that when He at last came to Jerusalem, thousands of people were with Him. But here we get a picture of something entirely different. We have perhaps hundreds of people abandoning Christ because His demands for conforming to His Way were just too much for the crowds to endure.

I think that the common crowd wanted Christ’s miracles of restoration without His message of repentance. They wanted to live and make their own choices, instead of choosing Christ and live His life.

And that is precisely what is wrong with the mainstream church today. We want cheap grace without a godly commitment. We want prosperous lifestyles instead of living to please God. We want the church to reflect our culture and see to our needs, instead of reflecting Christ’s teaching and asking what does God need of us?

It is indeed a hard teaching and very difficult to be a Christian, but then again the symbol of our faith is a Cross, so who said it was ever going to be easy?

On 25 July, 1814 the Battle of Lundy’s Lane took place near Niagara Falls on Canadian soil. It was one of the bloodiest battles fought between British and American forces during the War of 1812.

No one actually won the battle and both sides were exhausted and depleted by the unusual amount of hand to hand fighting that took place. Most of the casualties, however, occurred through friendly fire. There was so much confusion on the battlefield that troops from either side were constantly firing at their own units. Leadership and strategy were ineffective from the command structure in both the British and Americans forces. At the end of the day, as the generals and commanders ordered retreat from both sides of the battlefield, it was obvious that there were no winners and that the real losers were all of the men who were killed or wounded in action at the heart of the battle.

This is one of my greatest fears for mainstream Christianity and in particular our own denomination. The antagonists on both sides of the theological divide are rupturing the whole church and it’s the people in the middle who are having their faith killed. As conservatives and progressives scramble to gain footholds and control of the national Church, a lot of church members are becoming disillusioned and spiritually wounded. The heresy that exists on both sides of the issues is killing and contaminating the ordinary simplistic faith of many people in the pews.

And of course, the media is having a field day by sensationalizing the whole process and not truly reporting what actually took place or what decisions have been made.

We need to rediscover leadership in the church and that is why I’m proposing that we study the Book of Acts together Sunday after Sunday for the next two years.

Why the Book of Acts? Well it’s all about the Early Church which was constantly led by the Holy Spirit. Time and time again in this wonderful book, we can read about the Holy Spirit inspiring ordinary people to do extraordinary things for Christ. In fact, I call the Book of Acts the “Gospel of the Holy Spirit” because the good news is that we as Christians are not left alone to work out what we should be doing in the world, we have a Counselor, Comforter, Advocate, and Guide who will actively help us be Christ’s church in our community.

My hope over the next two years is that we become so focused on what the Holy Spirit did for the New Testament Church in the past that we will be able to see where the Holy Spirit is leading Christ’s church into the future. If we do that then we will not be caught in the current theological crossfire, but instead Erin will emerge as a church that is intentionally led by the Holy Spirit and will become a resurgent missional community of the Presbyterian Church in this area.

So, starting next Sunday, we begin a new journey of Erin’s faith-life by experiencing the Book of Acts together. And at the end of the process, I believe that a new Holy Spirit inspired and Christ centered church will emerge and we will know that this is why God has called us to build in the midst of such troubling times that try all our souls.

At the end of the day, when many of Christ’s followers had abandoned Him, Jesus was left with the Twelve. In a very tense moment and a crucial crossroads for Christ, He dares to ask the Twelve if they will also go away. Even although Jesus is the almighty Son of God and has the whole power of the universe at His disposal, He cannot compel the disciples to continue to follow Him. They must make their own choices and do it of their own free will. The whole salvation of the world hangs in the balance.

And then the Big Fisherman speaks the words that every Christian should have written on their hearts: “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life?”

And that, my dear friends, is why we are all here. Schisms and divisions, heresies and hypocrisies will damage, disturb, and diminish the Church until Christ returns, but the Gospel will always prevail. As long as people are born, live, and die we will always be looking for everlasting life. And to whom will we go? To Jesus Christ our Lord, for He alone has the words of eternal life.

So where are we going? We are going on a journey that is led by the Holy Spirit. And where will journey end? With Jesus, in Eternity; for only He can get us there.

Prayer:        Lord Jesus, we are all heartbroken for the divisions that damage Your church and we ask for forgiveness for our part in the process. We pray that You will allow us the Living and Sacred Presence of Your Holy Spirit in our church. We ask that You will teach us the lessons of the First Christians and lead us onward to a new journey of faith. In Your Holy Name, we fervently pray. Amen.

Questions for Home Study and Personal Reflection

1.       What teachings of Jesus do you personally find hard to accept?

2.       What kind of life does the Spirit give to you?

3.       What must Jesus have felt when many of his disciples no longer followed Him? Does this event surprise you?

4.       What are the words of eternal life that Peter says that Christ has? How do you apply those words to your own life?

Other Useful Links

Lectionary Bible Study:

http://www.lectionarystudies.com/studyg/sunday21bg.html

One Family Outreach Study

http://onefamilyoutreach.com/bible/John/jn_06_59-69.html

Catholic Word Study

http://www.word-sunday.com/Files/b/21-b/A-21-b.html

Seattle Sermons: Stumbling Blocks

http://www.sermonsfromseattle.com/series_b_stumbling_blocks.htm

Kids Activity

http://www.grassroots.com.au/Kidschurch/BdesertJesus.htm