| Acts 10:34-43 "He Lives!" |
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| Written by Rev. Don Lee | |
| Sunday, 23 March 2008 | |
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In the Church, the historic greeting of Easter morning is “Alleluia, Christ is Risen.” The people’s response is, “The Lord is risen, indeed, Alleluia!” Happy Easter! They say, sometimes to move forward, it’s helpful to look back now and again to see where you’ve been. Today’s scripture reading is that kind of backward glance: • The angels have come, and gone. • The soldiers have since left the scene to face the music. • The stone rolled away and left discarded, • The tomb emptied. • Those who came to prepare Jesus’ body, have since returned to tell the others. • Mary has already burst into proclamation, “He is alive, I have seen him! I have seen the Lord!” Just a little context: Today’s reading comes on the heels of a re-visitation; the same angels who appeared to Mary at the tomb now appear to Cornelius, a ranking Centurion, a commander of hundreds (according to Acts 10). Cornelius seems an odd choice for this divine visitation; after all he’s not only a Gentile (a non-Jew), he’s a warrior, and a Roman to boot (a symbol of Imperial domination and the brutal legacy of Caesar’s legionaries). Cornelius’ vision sends him to Peter, whose own angelic vision puts the two on the same page, God’s page, with Peter arguing that Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection subverts our notions about who God is and who God loves. Our reading comes from Acts 10:34-43. I invite you to listen for Good News. Prayer: Oh Holy one who breathes life and light and love into the creation; we invoke your presence and seek your face. Come and live in us. Amen. Starbucks has a new link on its website called, “My Starbucks Idea.” It’s a forum designed to share, discuss and vote on ideas regarding Starbucks, its services and products. Examples in their promotional email? “Massage Chairs with Latte holders…” I’m thinking, “I could live with that!” The other example? Virtual reality coffee tasting! Maybe it’s just me. But somehow drinking coffee with your eyes just doesn’t sound very satisfying! Virtual reality coffee tasting. What does that have to do with our scripture reading? Absolutely nothing….except that’s a pretty good image for how some view the central claim of the Christian faith…that Christ has risen. Sounds pretty impressive but where’s the “Jo?” Peter’s speech in our reading answers the question of the Resurrection this way: “I’m asking you to take my word for it. I’m asking you to believe based on my eye witness account; the testimony of someone who was there…who walked the same Galilean countryside with the man; someone who saw him do things that no normal human being could do, like: • Feed 5000 with 5 loaves of bread. • touch a cripple and heal his legs. • rub mud into a blind person’s eyes giving him his sight back; • reviving a child who was clearly dead, Why, I saw him crucified before thousands, pierced with nails and spear. His crumpled body embalmed and placed in a tomb. • And then suddenly, he was alive again…holes and all! • He spoke to me, told me to care for his sheep (his church). But don’t just take my word for it. A great many of us saw and believed. Better yet, believe the combined witness of all the saints, past and present. Believe because we have all believed, we have all (in our own way) seen the Risen Christ. You see him in how we live, how we love, even how we die.” And then Peter takes his argument up a notch: “Jesus, as the Jewish Messiah, has not only come. Has not only accomplished salvation for Israel, reconciling them with their God, but in fact has accomplished something much greater, something beyond even our wildest imagination.” Vs. 34, “I truly now understand that God shows no partiality…” “We have been too narrow, too nationalistic, too naïve to even see it. A God who has no boundaries, no allegiances, no favoritisms. The God we have come to know as our God is in fact, the God of all people.” Verse 36, “He is Lord of all.” Even those good for nothing brutal terrorists, the Roman legionaries. Verse 43, And everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.’ “Grace is always there for anyone and everyone who will receive it.” Peter is saying, “You who wrestle with the resurrection are asking the wrong questions. Instead of asking, “How could this be?” (Someone dead, rise) instead ought to ask, “How could God love this much? How could God’s grace be so wide, so all encompassing that nothing, not even death can stop that love? Who forgives us before we ask, whose heart has been longing for our return, day one, and runs to greet us refusing even to hear our request apologies. And who refuses to let go? A couple weeks ago after worship, one of our youth a young child run out into the parking lot. I watched her charge out after him, (as his mother shouted his named in panic). She scooped the little boy up into her arms, and walked him back onto the patio, surrendering him to his mother. I was so proud! As this youth walked by me she mumbled, “There, I’ve done my good deed for the day…now I need to go do something bad…” I thought: What a wonderfully human thing to say! We are capable of such compassion and yet we all know we’re not perfect and for every good work or deed we do, there’s bound to be something to offset it. But that doesn’t stop God from loving us or believing in us and our potential to become. Perhaps we will make a little progress; a little less defiance, and a little more compassion; a little less self and little more love; a little less brokenness and a little more healing. And if we stay at it long enough, someday we may discover, we too have been resurrected from death to life, from hate to love, from brokenness to healing, from ruling our own earthly kingdoms to full participants in God’s kingdom of power and love. Someday Christ will fully live in us and we will have experienced resurrection. “I truly understand that the God (of the resurrection) shows no partiality…” We need to hear this message. The whole world is hungry to hear this message. My homeowners association has been canvassing its members via emails about the rise of crime in our neighborhood; youth gang activity has been increasing. Graffiti is being replaced by more destructive vandalism, fights, even gunfire at our local Kroger. I read the emails and wonder if people are asking the right questions. The emails concern stepped up police presence, surveillance systems, gating the neighborhood, even relocation. But the question I keep wrestling with is, “What should the Christian response be to these young people? What would Jesus have us do? The other day I was driving east on Rosemead when I came to an intersection and traffic was stopped in both directions as a handful of youth had piled out of their car and were fighting one another in the middle of the street. Don’t you wonder what it is that is making these young people so angry that they would take to the streets? I keep thinking about those words, “God shows no partiality.” I believe these words mean: God cares. God cares for everyone, even those we don’t care for. What if these children were our own children; our baptized members; our confirmands; members of our youth program? Would we default to the authorities OR instead decide that we need to do something about this? What would Jesus have us do? Here’s what I think. These children are all God’s children and God cares about them; and God wants us to care about them too (to scoop them up into our arms, out of harms way, and into safety net of God’s grace. I want to challenge you as members of Holy Covenant to care about these kids; to enter into holy conversation with one another, with community leaders, with our local law enforcement, and with the youth of this community. We need to be Christ to these young people….With all the resources we have, as a church and as a community, we can make a difference. These kids don’t have to end up as statistics. Why do this? Because we have a biblical mandate; we care because Christ cares! “I truly understand that God (of the resurrection) shows no partiality…” This is not just the world where Jesus died; it is the world where Jesus lives. Christ is in us for each other as we gather to worship, to break bread, baptize and challenge one another to love, justice and peace, as we live out of God’s love in Christ. We live because He lives! As most of you already know, I learned this week that in June I am being appointed to 1st UMC Lewisville. The Bishop and his Cabinet have been in prayerful discernment about who to send to HC and I am sure that announcement will be made within the next week or so. I have truly been honored to serve HC for the last 8 years and look forward in the time remaining to be able to tell you so in person. I know that as you answer God’s call, regardless of who your senior pastor is, God will continue to bless you and your church. Let us pray: Your will be done, O Lord. Amen. |
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