“Peter Heals” Acts 3: 1-10

For the past four months, we have been studying together Bible Stories though the aid of the Narrative Lectionary. Some have been familiar to us. Some less so. But stories matter. Stories stick with us. 

I grew up learning certain Bible Stories through songs in Sunday School. In fact, I went on to teach those same songs in the same Sunday school classes years later. There were lots of songs, but I have to say that the ones that stuck the most weren’t those with the catchiest beat, but rather those that told a compelling story. Like the song that tells the story of Acts 3. Maybe you’ve heard it, Silver and Gold Have I None. Or maybe you don’t remember the title, but can pick up some of the words from memory. 

The song starts out: Peter and John went to pray: they met a lame man on the way.

He asked for alms and held out his palms, and this is what Peter did say. This particular narrative takes place after the power of the Holy Spirit has fell upon the disciples in the upper room and they have went out preaching, boldly, the Good News. At some point in time after that event, Peter and John are on the way to the temple to pray. It’s the middle of the afternoon. It’s hot and dusty, but there is a man who hasn’t been able to walk since he was born who is right outside of the Beautiful Gate of the temple. 

His friends would carry him there every day. People knew him. Sometimes people would drop him a few coins, since this was the only thing that he would have to live off of. Sometimes people would cast their eyes away and keep on walking, ignoring his cries. But this man’s entire existence was dependent upon being at that gate and being shown compassion by people, so that he would have enough money just to eat. 

The man saw Peter and John coming into the temple and he cried out for them to have mercy on him. In other words, help me live!

And Peter stopped and looked right at him. Looked at him. Even when others averted their eyes, Peter saw him. Saw him as a child of God. And commanded that the man look at him in return. 

I recently read a book entitled Talking to Strangers by Malcolm Gladwell. The entire premise of the book is when we get it wrong. When we misjudge people because we think that we are a good judge of character. Because we don’t really know what we are looking for. 

But while we screw up our perception of other people, God does not. And when Peter looked at that unnamed man that day, he saw him. He really saw him. He saw him with the eyes and heart of our Savior. 

The man probably thought at this point he was going to be able to eat today. Maybe he would get enough money for a bit of bread. Or maybe he was embarrassed to have someone look at him that deeply, as if Peter was peering deep within him. Maybe he tried to cast his eyes down out of shame. But there is no way that he expected what came next. 

The song (and the story continues): "Silver and gold have I none, but what I have I give to you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk!” This man was asking for one thing, money so that he could live. Peter offered him something so much more so he could have new life. In fact, Peter didn’t even ask the man if he wanted to be healed, he just took his right hand and pulled him up! Remember this is a man whose friends had to carry him to the temple gate every day and now he is standing for the first time! He was healed in the name of Jesus!

But here’s the thing - it wasn’t just the man who was healed by the power of Jesus that day. In so many ways it was Peter as well. Do you remember just a few short weeks ago the story of Peter. Peter who when told that the disciples would leave Jesus, claimed that he never would. Peter who said he would die with Jesus, only to go on and deny him three times in one night. Now it is that Peter, boldly walking down the streets of Jerusalem, healing people in public by the power of Jesus Christ! What a change in his life as well! He, too, had new power and new life through Christ. 

And how that man’s life was changed. The most familiar part of the song is the ending and it goes like this: He went walking and jumping and praising God, walking and jumping and praising God. "In the name of Jesus Christ  of Nazareth, rise up and walk.” His joy at being healed was uncontainable! 

And people noticed. As people were walking by the temple it is almost as if they had to do a double-take. Whispering, isn’t the man who was lying her yesterday? How can he walk now? Up until this point in Acts all of the signs and wonders had happened away from the temple. Now they are beginning to happen in and around the temple. And the people were filled with wonder and amazement. 

Friends, in some ways it may be hard to put ourselves in the shoes of the man at the temple that day. But maybe in some ways we can identify. Have you ever came to God asking for one thing, only to be offered something completely different, but so much better? Have you ever had God completely come in and change your life?

Maybe it wasn’t making your legs strong so you could jump with joy, but maybe God healed a wound in your life. Or restored relationships. Or something else. What was that experience like for you? What joy did it bring into your life?

Or maybe, its hard for you to identify with the man, but can you see yourself in Peter. Thinking you would act one way, only to be ashamed when you acted another? Have you ever tried to hide from God, only to have God call you to go boldly and proclaim the Gospel in word and deed or sign? Has God ever healed you of your shame? Have you ever felt the power of Jesus change you from the inside out?

Church, our Lord and Savior is at work transforming lives all around us. And like Peter and John we are invited to be part of that healing work in the world. If only we see and respond to the opportunities we are given. Maybe the power of the spirit won’t call us to offer the same thing as Peter and John did that day, but can we stop and see people? Can we see people with the eyes of Christ and respond with his heart of compassion to their needs? What opportunities to proclaim the Gospel are right in front of us that we often overlook? And what one step can we take to help folks come to know the love and power of the Savior?

The truth is so much could have blocked Peter and John from responding that day. If they wouldn’t have seen the man. If they would have kept going. If they thought they didn’t have any money so they couldn’t offer him anything. If Peter would have let his own shame of the past block him from being in the present. But instead, they took the moment and responded. What is Jesus calling us to do by the power of his name and how will we respond? Amen. 

“You Shall Be My Witnesses” Acts 1: 1-14

For the past several years, every Sunday we have gathered and affirmed what we believe as Christians by reciting the Apostle’s Creed. One of the statements that we make, week in and week out about Jesus is - On the third day he rose again; he ascended into heaven, he is seated at the right hand of the Father, and he will come to judge the living and the dead. 

This Sunday we celebrate a very particular part of that statement - that he ascended into heaven. Last week we celebrated Easter, the day when Jesus was raised from the dead. For the next forty days he spent time with his disciples, teaching them, which brings us to this weeks text  - when Jesus was brought back into heaven to sit at the right hand of God. 

For the past several months we have been studying the Gospel of Mark together. We now make what may seem like an odd jump to the Book Acts. Acts continues the story of what happened to the early church after Jesus’s resurrection, starting right off in chapter 1 with his ascension. But what makes this a bit odd is that Acts is linked to the Gospel of Luke, not the Gospel of Mark. Yet, it is a continuation in a lot of ways of all of the Gospel texts, as we move from the first disciples to the first church. 

But I’m getting a little ahead of myself. Last week, following Jesus’s resurrection, he starts to appear to the disciples. Some Gospel accounts have him appearing to individuals, like Mary Magdaline. Others have him showing to most of the disciples in the upper room. Then he comes back to show himself to Thomas at another occasion so he could show him his wounds to prove that yes, he was Jesus and yes, he was alive. He also appeared to the disciples when they were fishing. And during those times when Jesus showed up, he talked to them about the Kingdom of God. 

Its hard to put into words how scared the disciples were when Jesus was killed on Good Friday. They knew that they could be next. So they ran and hid. In Jesus’s reappearing he was able to remind them what all of this was about - not an earthly Kingdom, but the very Kingdom of God. Over those forty days he tried to prepare them for this moment - what was coming next. 

On this particular day, Jesus was breaking bread with the disciples, and started to give them very, very clear directions. Don’t leave Jerusalem. Stay here until you receive the gift that I promised you - the gift of the Advocate, the Holy Spirit. You will be baptized in that Holy Spirit. 

But just like the disciples we saw again and again in the Gospel of Mark, they seemed to miss the point. They didn’t mention at all this baptism of the Holy Spirit or the directions to stay in this place. No, instead, they were drawn back to not understanding the role of the Messiah as they asked Jesus if he is now going to restore the kingdom to Israel. 

Every time I read this scripture passage I am struck by the thought that Jesus is so much kinder than I am. If it was me, I can imagine that I would have had to take a deep sigh. Maybe ask “Really?!… I’ve just spent the last forty days telling you about the Kingdom of God. I’ve showed up and I am instructing you about this mighty act of the Holy Spirit that is about to take place and you are back to asking this question.” It sounds so much like the question they asked in Mark 13, does it not? 

But Jesus doesn’t sigh. He doesn’t call them out. Instead, he just gently reminds them that there are things for them to know and there are things that only God knows. This falls firmly into the second category. 

And Jesus circles right back to what he was trying to tell them in the first place - you are going to receive the power of the Holy Spirit and you will be my witnesses in places that you know, in places you may not know, to the very ends of the earth. 

Then Jesus was exalted by God and taken up into heaven right before their eyes. 

You would think after three years seeing Jesus teach and heal and perform miracles, and certainly after seeing Jesus appear to them after the resurrection, the disciples wouldn’t be amazed by the power of God anymore. But they are dumbfounded. All they can do is keep looking up at the sky. That is until two angels show up and ask them why in the world they are looking up 

With that the disciples went forth to live into the instructions that Jesus had given them - staying in Jerusalem and waiting for the coming of the Holy Spirit - though that is a different Bible story for a different day. What is important for today is what they did as they waited, they gathered together and they prayed. Constantly. 

The joy that we experienced last week with Easter is not the end of the story. It wasn’t the end of the story for Jesus and his disciples. And it was just the beginning of the story of the early Church that has a direct line to us being gathered in this place today. But that doesn’t make today’s text about the Ascension any easier to understand. But the resurrection and the ascension are deeply connected because they both proclaim the power of God. 

And they both contain Good News for you and for me and for all people. The Good News that Jesus came from God, but also the Good News that Jesus returns to God and sits at his right hand! Why is that Good News? Because Jesus has went to prepare a place for us. The question for us, here and now is what are we going to do in the meantime? How are we going to spend our precious time here on earth?

Jesus told his disciples long ago that they were going to be his witnesses to the very ends of the earth. And so much of the Book of Acts tells the story of how that took place. But brothers and sisters, that is still the work of the church here and now today. Not just pastors. Not just missionaries. Every single one of us who bears the name of Christian in our lives. 

It seems so incredibly daunting, that we like the disciples could spend a lot of time looking up at the sky, just waiting for Jesus to come back, because that seems so much easier. But Jesus tells us to look out - to see the world with his eyes of compassion and then to go forth and be witnesses to the Good News. 

Whenever someone joins a local United Methodist Church a vow is made to support the church with your prayers, presence, gifts, and service. Then, not too long ago, something was added to the vow - to support the church with your witness. Being a witness is a vital part of who we are as disciples.

But in order to be bearers of that witness in the world, in order to spread the Word, we need to be prepared. Jesus told the disciples to go to Jerusalem and wait for the coming of the Holy Spirit, but they did not wait by ideally. They gathered and they prayed. 

Friends, what would happen if we, as disciples, as Easter-people, truly prayed. What would happen if we gathered, realizing this time and call of Christ in our lives in a gift. What power of the Spirit is just waiting to be unleashed if God’s people prayed? 

The truth is that we are called to be people of power and purpose. Only that power isn’t ours, its that Holy Spirit. And that purpose isn’t our personal agenda - its the work that Christ has given us. How are we going to live in this present moment to be people who witness for Christ? How are we going to carry forth the work of Christ? Amen. 

Resurrection! Mark 16: 1-8

When we cry together “Christ is Risen, indeed!” What exactly are we proclaiming? We are harkening back to today’s Gospel text after a trying Holy Week. 

Jesus was killed right before the Sabbath, which meant that his followers had to quickly put his body in the tomb and come back to care for it later. So, when the Sabbath was over, the same women who had stood by Jesus at the cross, and the same women who had watched where they had laid his body, came back to give him a proper burial. 

I wonder, as they were approaching the tomb, if they were thinking of the woman who not that long ago anointed Jesus with expensive perfume and her tears? Did they recall Jesus’s words to his disciples, “But you will not always have me.  She did what she could. She poured perfume on my body beforehand to prepare for my burial.” Or in the haze of their deep grief, were they simply going step by step to the tomb? 

At one point someone remembered the stone. The stone that the Roman government had put in front of the tomb to prevent anyone from coming to steal Jesus’s body and claim that he had risen. The stone that may prevent them from doing this one final kind act for their master and lord. 

But when they arrived at the tomb, they found that the stone had already been rolled away. One less thing to worry about. They entered into the tomb and were struck with terror. Because they were not alone in the tomb. A man dressed in a white robe was already there. 

Of course, he said the words “Don’t be alarmed”. Words that harkened back to the announcement of Jesus’s birth long ago. Words that they had heard again and again as they traveled with the disciples. But they were still afraid as the man told them about their task - saying that they had come look for Jesus, but he is risen! Look for yourselves! He isn’t here. 

This is not what the women had been expecting at all. All they wanted to do was go and give Jesus a proper burial. While the rest of the world moved on, getting back to normal after what had happened on the cross that day, their lives had been changed. But now they were in completely amazement. This they don’t even know how to process. 

The man dressed in white wasn’t finished though. He told them to take a message to the disciples and Peter that Jesus was going on ahead of them to Galilee. They will see him there. 

Galilee, that place where it had all began. The place where Jesus had called the disciples from the shoreline. The place where Jesus had taught, and brought healing, and performed miracles. Now the disciples were to go back there and have this encounter with Jesus.

But at the same time, Galilee is also a place of the unknown. It’s a place of different people, with a variety of accents, customs, and mannerisms. Is that really the safest place to go at a time like this?

The women left the tomb. But they didn’t do what the angel said, because they were afraid.

It’s not a very satisfying ending, is it? We want more! What happened? How did the disciples know to go and meet Jesus? What happened next? The early church also struggled with this particular Gospel’s account of the resurrection, so much so that they tacked on an additional ending to answer some of the questions they and we have. 

But today I just want to stick with this original text. Because there is something about the unknown that speaks to us today as well, is there not? There is something about the terror, amazement and fear the women felt that we can understand in the world we live in today. How are we supposed to go back to the place where it all began when we know where it ends? How are we supposed to go back and encounter Jesus in the place where people are different then us? How is this Good News?

Maybe, just maybe, the unsatisfying ending is in and of itself part of the Good News, my friends. What do I mean by that? I mean this. The Good News that we find in Mark, chapter 16 is two-fold. First, what the women thought was the ending, wasn’t. That horrible thing that they experienced on Friday, watching Jesus die and having his body placed in the tomb. That wasn’t the end of Jesus’s story. In the words of Pastor Adam Hamilton, “the worst thing, is not the last thing.” Death did not have the final victory. For Jesus is Risen. That’s part of the reason we come together today and proclaim that “Christ is Risen Indeed!” 

But Mark 16 reminds us that this isn’t the end of the disciples story as well. It’s not the end of the Church’s story. It’s not the end of yours or my story either. We want a nice ending with all of the pieces tied up for us, but that’s not how it works. That’s not how the Good News works, my friends, because it keeps going. We are still part of that Good News today. The ending is still being written. It’s still in process. People are still hearing and proclaiming the Good News right here and around the world. 

The story did not end with Jesus’s death. But the story is also not over yet because God is still at work. We also mean that when we proclaim “Christ is risen indeed!”

The question, then, is how are we living into the Gospel? How are we being part of what has yet to be written? 

Maybe for some of us, the idea of being part of carrying forth the Good News terrifies us like did the women so long ago. What did the women have to fear? Everything. Absolutely everything. They had watched Jesus died. They had returned to care for him and were met by an angel/ stranger who told them that Jesus was risen and told them to go back and tell the disciples to go to a place and a people they may not understand what has happened. 

If they were honest, they didn’t understand what was happening either. It was simply too much to process.

Sometimes, we too have fears. Fears that people won’t understand. Fears of rejection. Fears that people are going to ask us questions that we don’t have answers for. So we flee the sight of the empty tomb. 

But for others of us, maybe the idea that we are invited to be part carrying for the Good News amazes us. Maybe we are asking, “Are you sure you want to use me Lord? Do you know who I am? Do you know what I’ve done?” To which Jesus replies, yes. Now go. We may not fully understand all the ins and outs of proclaiming “Christ is Risen indeed but we are humbled that Jesus is inviting us to be part of this Kingdom work before us. 

And maybe for others what we feel is joy. Joy to go forth. Joy to keep going forth no matter what. Joy because the resurrection has changed us and now we can be part of sharing that with the world! When we proclaim that “Christ is Risen!” We are also saying that Christ saved me. Christ took what my life once was and raised it from the ashes and made it into something new. And you so desperately want that for other people.

No matter what we may be feeling, we are part of the story, Church. The Gospel keeps going on. So, I ask you again, how are we being part of what has yet to be written? Because God is still at work, in and through us, in this world today. Amen. 

“Triumphal Entry” Mark 11: 1-11

         Today is the start of what is called in the Christian tradition, Holy Week. Between now and next Sunday, Jesus will enter Jerusalem to the waves of palm branches, share his final meal with his disciples, be captured, put on trial, beaten, and sentenced to death all before we gather together to celebrate Easter. It is hard to capture all of that in one sermon, so I want to invite you to our services throughout this week, especially on Maundy Thursday and Good Friday, which will both be online on our Facebook page. Come and hear the story of Jesus that ties together the triumphal entry of this week and the triumphal resurrection of next week. 

This week I want to focus on that triumphal entry. Jesus is preparing to take his final journey across the threshold of Jerusalem. But before entering through the gates he sent two disciples ahead with instructions to untie a colt that they will find in the village that has never been ridden. If anyone questions them about it, they are supposed to say that the Lord needs it. 

Right off the bat in Mark 11, we are reminded of the mystery of God’s ways. We don’t know anything about this colt or its owner. How Jesus knows that it will be there. Why the people would let it be used with just those simple words. Yet, it took place, just like Jesus said it would. 

The disciples brought the colt to Jesus and piled it high with their coats before he sat on it. Then as the colt made its way through the streets into Jerusalem, the crowds through down their coats and branches while they shouted “Hosanna!”

If we take it at face value, it seems like a moving scene. Until we remember that the people around Jesus are literally crying “Save!” In a time when Rome thought it was in control. In fact, this event happens right before the Jewish celebration of Passover. One of the holiest days of the year. And who showed up in Jerusalem for this event? The Roman Gov. But not because it is a high holy day, but to control the crowd so they don’t get too rowdy on this day of remembering the Jewish liberation from Egypt. Even in the midst of a religious celebration, the government made sure that everyone remembered who was in charge. 

That assertion of control the Roman government saw as the way of peace. In fact it was called Pax Romana, the peace that existed between different nations under control of the Roman Empire. But that peace existed because of what Rome was willing to do. Which made it not very peaceful at all. 

And in the backdrop of all of that political unrest, here comes Jesus riding this colt, peacefully mirroring in a way the horse that a Roman ruler would ride through town when they returned from a battle they had won. People are throwing down coats and branches as a sign of respect and palm branches were being waved as a sign of victory. All while people are crying the word for “Save Us”. It looked like Jesus was coming to overthrow the Roman Empire. 

Which in a way, Jesus was. But not the way that everyone expected. We’ve mentioned again and again over the last several weeks how the crowds (and even the disciples) thought that Jesus was coming to claim political power and liberate the people from Roman rule. 

And Jesus did comes to bring liberation, but not in the way everyone thought as they were waving those palm branches and crying “Hosanna!” That day. See, Jesus’s way of peace was completely different than Pax Romana. He came to bring God’s message and God’s justice. And while Rome accomplished “peace” through shedding blood, Jesus would shed his own blood by the end of the week in order to liberate people from their sins. 

The crowd had their own expectations that day as Jesus entered on that colt. They were singing this song, part of Psalm 118, that was often sung as people entered the temple in Jerusalem, especially during the festival of Passover. Their minds were filled with thoughts of what had been done in the past, bringing them out of Egypt, as well as this Messiah that God said he was going to send, and whom they thought would bring peace through conquest, like what they saw Rome doing to them. 

They had their hopes and expectations tied up in the idea of the Messiah being a political power. Which is exactly the threat that Rome would have seen Jesus as that day. Yet, by the end of the week, the crowd would turn on Jesus and their expectations would not be met. 

Which leads us to ask, what really is triumphal about this entry? The people let their expectations make it into something that Jesus did not intend. It certainly fulfilled the prophecy found in Zechariah. But all the while, Jesus was trying to give a message of peace that the people didn’t want to hear. 

This entry is only triumphal in so far as it is connected to next week by everything in between. It is only triumphal in so far as we claim the powerful message that Jesus shed his own blood for us. You and me. While we were yet far from God. This entry is only triumphal in so far as we claim the Kingdom of God for what it truly is instead of what we simply hope for it to be. 

See, friends, we can be like the crowds that day. We too can put our hope in expectations instead of our hope in Jesus. Do you catch the difference? When it is simply about what we expect, that’s about us. That’s about what we want, what we desire, what we think is best. And I don’t know about you, but there are times I am wrong. When what I think is best isn’t actually best at all. 

Think about what would have happened if the crowds would have had their way that day? If Jesus would have been a Messiah that over threw Rome. That would have possibly been good for the people in that day and time. Bringing them freedom. But what Jesus gave was so much greater. His gift stretched across time and generations to bring freedom from sin to anyone who wants to claim him as the Messiah. Jesus wasn’t just coming for one generation in a particular geographic place. He was coming to show his love for the whole world.

Instead of placing our expectations on Jesus, what would happen if we simply journeyed with him? If we walked with him through all of this week to see and experience what he gave for us. What would happen if we set aside what we already think we know and come to the cross with Jesus for the first time? What hope is waiting for us there. And how would it reshape the triumphal Good News that we proclaim? Amen.