| Acts 2:43-47 "Living LaVida Loca!" |
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| Written by Rev. Don Lee | |
| Saturday, 24 May 2008 | |
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I need your help this morning: How would you complete the following, statement? “I want my church to be….” We all have our expectations” about what church ought to be, and ought not to be. Today’s reading from Acts is how I believe Jesus completes the statement, “I want my church to be….” Like a coach who teaches his or her players the fundamentals of the game, the early church gives us a game-plan for how to be a church experiencing Pentecost! Our reading comes from the Book of Acts, chapter 2, verses 43-47. I invite you to stand out of respect for God’s Word: (read Bible) Prayer: Day by Day, Dear Lord, we pray: To see you more clearly, love you more dearly, follow you more nearly, day by day. Amen. What does the Church experiencing Pentecost look like? 1) Signs and Wonders. Vs. 43 Awe came upon everyone, because many wonders and signs were being done by the apostles. What are signs and wonders? In Exodus 7:3, God tells Moses, “But I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and I will multiply my signs and wonders in the land of Egypt.” The signs and wonders of the Exodus were intended to prove to Pharaoh that God was at work in the world (specifically working through Moses to redeem Israel). In Acts 2:22, the Apostle Peter proclaims to the crowds, ‘You that are Israelites, listen to what I have to say: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with deeds of power, wonders, and signs that God did through him among you, as you yourselves know… The things that Jesus did served as evidence that God was “in Jesus” redeeming the world through him. So a good definition of “signs and wonders” is, “those events or activities that demonstrate that not only is God at work in the world, but at work in and through us, Jesus’ church. Luke 7:22 clearly states what some of those “signs and wonders” are: And Jesus answered them, ‘Go and tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, the poor have good news brought to them. Is that what we do: -Heal the sick, -Feed the hungry, -Raise the dead, -Loose people from their demons, -Bring Good News to the poor? Theologian Len Sweet offers a graphic image of how the church’s failure to do signs and wonders affects God. “Would that you were hot or cold, [says God to the church at Laodecia], but because you’re lukewarm (i.e. middle of the road, play-it safe, mediocre) I will “spew” you from my mouth. Sweet says a more literal rendering in the original language is “vomit.” When it comes to the church, “business as usual” turns God’s stomach! So when Jesus says, “I want my church to be…a church of Signs and Wonders,” he means bold, passionate, dangerous! Living “la Vida loca…” (Living the crazy life), that ought to be our motto! We are called to live crazy exciting lives. Signs and Wonders. Secondly, what does the church experiencing Pentecost look like? 2) Justice with Mercy Vs. 44-45, All who believed were together and had all things in common; 45they would sell their possessions and goods and distribute the proceeds* to all, as any had need. The key words here are, “As any had need.” When needs go unmet, it becomes the business of the church! We use the word “need” pretty liberally these days. -“Boss, I really need this promotion,” -“Mom, I really need a new cell phone.” -“Honey, we need a vacation…to Maui!” In the aftermath of the cyclone that hit Burma, two week ago, government officials are now estimating the storm killed 140,000 people. The death toll in China following the earthquake over a week ago? 40,000 dead (32,000 missing). I guarantee you the survivors in Burma and South-west China can tell you what a need is. -Clean water; -Safe refuge, -Food, -A place to bury your loved one. Those are needs. In Acts, the members of the church sold possessions and goods so that individual needs of fellow church members were addressed long before personal wants were catered to! It makes you realize just how far the Church has drifted from Jesus’ spoken, “I want my church to be….” In an email from our missionaries to Maui, Kenya, Jerri Savuto wrote last week about a man who had been in an accident and left a paraplegic. When he was discharged, his family refused to take him in. He died at the Maua hospital last week of what Jeri described as, “a broken heart.” Now I’m sure family members had a valid reason for not opening their home to this man but the fact remains, family deserves better! God’s children deserve better. Take any issue; it doesn’t matter how controversial the topic (war, immigration, the national budget, AIDS), and you will put it in its proper perspective when you ask the “God question,” “God, what do you want?” As Christians, we do not have our “game on” until we ask the God question. “God, what do you want?” And folks, it is the Church’s failure to raise this question that is destroying our witness as Jesus’ Church! This month’s Time Magazine featured a short obituary for Criminal Investigator, turned Journalist Robert Greene. A reporter and editor for Newsday, he was described as a formidable opponent to crooked businessmen and politicians, ultimately earning two Pulitzer Prizes in the process. But what caught my attention was a quote by former Suffolk County Police commissioner, who said of Greene, “He was not only respected, he was feared.” If you stand for justice, you will not only be respected, you will be feared by those who see in you a threat to their way of life. My prayer for you is that you will be so committed to justice you will not only be respected, you will be feared by those who prey on the innocent! The flip side of Justice is Mercy. “Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.” (says Jesus in Luke 6:36) Mercy arises out of the awareness of our shared humanity; the realization that we are all flawed, failed human beings (what Archbishop Desmond Tutu called Ubunto). Perish the thought that any of us get judged by the same standard we so often apply to others! I often wonder if we are aware that when we pray the Lord’s Prayer, we are asking God, demanding even, that God forgive treat us the same way we treat others. A commitment to justice without mercy will leave us God-poor. Justice with mercy. And finally, What does the church experiencing Pentecost look like? 3) Generous 24/7 worship. Vs. 46-47 Day by day, as they spent much time together in the temple, they broke bread at home and ate their food with glad and generous hearts, 47praising God and having the goodwill of all the people. In a sentence, the narrative summarizes the early church’s commitment to its worship life. This statement is not simply saying the members of the early church worshipped. Rather it claims that for the members of the early church, worship became a way of life! Do you and I practice, Generous 24/7 Worship? And folks I say this with all the love of Jesus: -This sanctuary is not an OR! -Nor this preacher, a Cardiac Surgeon! -Nor Sunday worship, Open Heart! If you come into this room and have not spent the week opening your heart up to God, you will leave the way you came…with a heart condition! The person experiencing Pentecost has allowed their love of Christ to infect every area of their life, and I mean every area. I love how over the last few weeks, from Confirmation Sunday, to the Children’s Musical, to Senior Sunday last week, our children have been teaching us how to worship; with wonder, amazement, and joy! I think we get this worship thing all turned around! We may show up on Sunday to be reminded of the fundamentals of the game: -Live generously, -Love gratuitously, -Forgive freely, -When you see someone suffering, realize that God has you there to do something about it. But the real play of Worship takes place out there, in the trenches and battlefields of you day-to-day. I want to give you an exercise to do this week that I believe will help you experience generous 24/7 worship. I am going to ask you to take every opportunity to pray for peace. I say this because I believe God wants us to pray for peace and because I think as of late, it has become unfashionable, even (in the mind of some), unpatriotic, as if praying for peace somehow dishonors the sacrifice of our men and women in Iraq. Actually I believe it is our failure to pray for peace that dishonors those men and women fighting to bring about a world where our children and our children will not only not live in fear, but someday, live in peace. Peace is not a threat to national security and we ought to be praying for it every chance we get. Jesus has a Game Plan for His Church: -Signs and Wonders; -Justice and mercy, -Generous 24/7 worship. That’s the church experiencing Pentecost! And the end result of this was, “…day by day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved.” In the movie Friday Night Lights, coach Gary Gaines of the Odessa Panthers sends his team out onto the field with the following benediction. He says, If any of you have any question about what’s expected of you “out there” then don’t walk through those doors. If there’s any question of what to do or how to do it, don’t go out there.” There’s dead silence. Convinced of his team’s resolve, coach Gaines barks, “So let’s take care of it!” Any of you have any question of what’s expected of you out there? No? Then, let’s take care of it! And let the people say, “AMEN!” |
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