So last week, we heard in the Gospel
of John that all the people were at the portico asking the same question. If
you are the Messiah, just tell us! Stop keeping us in suspense. Jesus may or
may not have gotten a little upset because they asked the same question over
and over again. We discussed one of the things that could have caused this was
doubt and we spoke of how doubt is not always a bad thing.
This morning we are changing things
up a little bit. This morning our reading from Acts has a link to last week’s
Gospel and sermon. It is going to require us to do a little travelling. So,
ready or not, here we go. We have gone through this portico discussion. Just
tell us if you are the Messiah. Jesus then goes into Jerusalem for the
Passover. He has the last supper and all that goes with that; he is ultimately
handed over by Judas to the chief priests and scribes. He is then handed over
to Pilate and Herod. Jesus is then beaten, crucified, and he is raised from the
dead three days later.
Pretty plain and simple right? Well,
for the Reader’s Digest version it sounds plain. BUT there is a lot in there
that is important to this Sunday morning. Throughout all these experiences,
Jesus, like I said last week is not checking to see who is a Jew and who is a
Gentile. In fact, Jesus’ entire ministry is going to the people on the outside
or on the edges of society. Jesus reaches out to everyone he comes into contact
with. He sits with a tax collector who is not well liked within the community.
He touches lepers that to touch them means that you are unclean as well not to
mention what you might catch; He speaks to a woman at the well and tells her
all about herself. Jesus reaches out to all these people and begins the
conversation.
Whether his conversation begins with
words or through a healing, Jesus enters into a relationship with all these
people. He even enters a relationship with a woman who touches his clothes. In
all those cases there is some kind of conversation that goes on. Many of what
Jesus does goes against what the people…the chosen people…understand to be true
and within the law. Jesus reaches out beyond these boundaries BUT he also
reaches within the boundaries of Jew and Gentile. Look at his actions with
Nicodemus. This is an elder of the church who comes to him; and again, there is
conversation.
Now we come to our reading today.
This is the story of Peter going into the world just as Jesus commanded them in
what we call the Great Commission, “Go into the world, baptizing and "Gospelizing" in the name of
the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.” Peter is going into the world to teach everyone
who he comes in contact with about Jesus. He is telling them about his
encounter with the son of the living God. How God has been a part of his life.
He testifies how God called him to go to Joppa and to this particular man’s
house and share the Good News of Jesus Christ.
Peter does what God calls him to do and
what happens? Peter comes back to Jerusalem and the people…the very people who
were witnesses to Jesus and his work in the world start to criticize him. Do
you see the irony in all this; That Jesus reaches out and teaches the disciples
to reach out, when it comes time to do this they sit and wonder, “why did you
do that?” I know that as I read this portion of acts this week, I was
scratching my head wondering why they are criticizing Peter’s actions.
Instead of getting angry with these
people who are complaining, Peter explains his actions. He does not give them a
brief overview of the story, but he tells them “step by step” what happened. He
tells them about his vision and God’s voice helping and guiding him to Joppa.
He tells of the wonderful things that happened when he got there, the message
that the people in the household heard from God, and that he was reminded of
God’s words at Jesus’ baptism. He told this story because these words were important
to share; not only because they were God’s words, but because they were God’s
instructions to tell the story of Jesus, God’s Son. He told the story because
Peter needed to tell the story. He needed to tell it to the very people who
were physical witnesses to the Story of Jesus…God…in the world. He needed to
tell the story to show that Jesus’ work is still being done.
He needed to show that God is working
through so many people. Through Peter’s telling of this story, he is showing
the “people” of Jerusalem that the Gentiles have a story to tell as well. That
God uses us all to do God’s work and to be transformed into God’s people. Peter
shows us how at this time when he arrives and speaks to the family, he is
transformed, from his calling to go to Joppa; and they are transformed when
they welcome him and hear this story of faith and witness.
Peter sums up his journey and his
sharing of his faith story. He says it plain and simple, “Who was I that I
could hinder God?” Peter acknowledges and accepts that he cannot explain the
who, how, and why’s when it comes to God in this world. But what he can explain
is that God is alive through God’s Son, Jesus Christ. He has seen God through
his experiences in his world. He is able to share those experiences, realizing
that God is not to be hidden or something kept secret. The Good News of Jesus
Christ, the love of God is to be shared with everyone who has ears to hear;
because sharing the Good News can transform others as well as ourselves.
Now this is where the piece of paper
that is in your bulletin comes into play. Does everyone have one? At this time,
I am going to ask you to write one word on this paper; no names, just one word.
It is one word that describes your journey of faith. It can be anything from
Happy, Sad, complicated, struggle, challenging, easy, blessed, smooth…pick any
word you want. I am going to ask you to hand them toward the center aisle and
if the ushers could gather those up and bring them down.
That is the where last week’s Gospel and
this week’s reading of Acts comes together. The people of last week want Jesus
to TELL them. This week Peter has to come back and TELLS of his experience and
how God used them. And one of the most wonderful things happens when Peter is
done. The people “were silenced” and then they praised God. They gave thanks to
God for using Peter and for these people being transformed. But at the risk of
reading into this text, they may also be giving thanks to God that God’s word
and God’s works through Jesus Christ meant that more people believed in who
Jesus is; that Jesus is the Son of God.
Last week, I told you that telling your
faith story is difficult, at first. It is hard because it can make someone very
vulnerable to criticism. But the beauty of this exercise is that with this one
word, you have now told your faith story for the first time. You have already
done it once and I want you to listen to some of these words.
My hope and prayer is that telling your
story is something that you feel called to do and something you see as a
blessing and may your story help others to see God at work through you: AMEN
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