Disciples of the Kingdom: Power Bearing Disciples
VBS Celebration - July 20, 2008
Acts 2:37-47
37 Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and to the other apostles, "Brothers, what should we do?" 38 Peter said to them, "Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ so that your sins may be forgiven; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 For the promise is for you, for your children, and for all who are far away, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to him." 40 And he testified with many other arguments and exhorted them, saying, "Save yourselves from this corrupt generation." 41 So those who welcomed his message were baptized, and that day about three thousand persons were added.
42 They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. 43 Awe came upon everyone, because many wonders and signs were being done by the apostles. 44 All who believed were together and had all things in common; 45 they would sell their possessions and goods and distribute the proceeds to all, as any had need. 46 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, 47 praising God and having the goodwill of all the people. And day by day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved.
For the past month, we've been exploring what it means to be disciples of God's kingdom and for the past week our children have been exploring the amazing power God gives us. And today's scripture shows us that God does indeed empower the disciples of Jesus Christ to do miraculous things. When God's Spirit blows through our lives, ordinary people-like you and me-can do extraordinary things!
Ordinary people doing extraordinary things-that is the miracle that astounds me when I read the 2nd chapter of Acts! Peter, who less than two months before, denied Jesus rather than risk being recognized as a follower stands on the steps of the Temple before God, the priests, the Romans, and everyone and declares Jesus Lord! Uneducated Galileans, who may not have even had a good grasp of Hebrew, speak in foreign languages well enough to be understood! People who once called for Jesus to be crucified are baptized in his name. Men and women, young and old, poor and rich, Jew and Greek, not only prophesy but they do something even harder-they get along, they worship together, and they work together to care for the poor and the needy.
They were awesome! In fact, if you want to do something interesting, read through the book of Acts and underline every time people are amazed, awed, or astonished by what the actions of the followers of Christ. It's no wonder that they were known as those people who were overturning the world!
And that's our job isn't it? We are called to be the city on the hill, God's royal priesthood, whose purpose is to give the world a taste of God's kingdom. We are God's people who are called to live here and now as if we truly believe in God's kingdom where righteous and justice reigns, where walls no longer separate us, where love and forgiveness reigns.
Sadly, the church in the United States is struggling today. And there are lots of opinions on why that is happening. But I think the reason is simply this-we've settled for being less than God has called us to be.
Some of us have settled for being a hospital for sinners and ourselves as the patients. So we spend all our time carefully caring for one another as if there isn't a world full of people clamoring for care outside our doors.
Others of us have settled for being a museum for saints-inviting people in to see us-the saints-acting as if real life doesn't touch us. We work hard to look perfect as if we don't doubt, don't struggle, don't ask questions. And with our smiles plastered on our faces, we look as real to the unchurched as real as a figure in a wax museum.
Still others have become so heavenly minded they are of no earthly good. We talk and sing about the life to come as if this life has no meaning or value. And, heaven forbid (literally), that we do anything to change the sources of suffering in this world. We are so busy waiting for the next life or the return of Jesus, that we ignore the needs of this life. If someone is hungry, we quote a bible verse. If someone is struggling, we tell them it is God's will.
Yet others are so worldly minded, we are no heavenly good. We talk and sing about this life as if it is all the hope we have. We may feed the hungry but we don't worry about the spiritual needs. We act as if we can somehow fix this world on our own despite the fact that humans have proven over and over we aren't capable of fixing it!
Others allow trust in God to simply be a motto. We speak of trusting God while we stockpile food in our pantries, money in our accounts, guns in our cabinets, and working ourselves to death as if our very security depends on our own power.
No wonder those outside the church think they don't need Jesus! No wonder some who are interested in Jesus are not interested in the church!
Basically, it all boils down to this-fear. We fear we won't do it right. We fear we can't be good enough or strong enough. We fear rejection by God and others if they discover the "real" us behind the wax smile. We fear failure. We fear that evil will win and that death will have the victory.
But-and here is the amazing thing!-when God's Spirit gets hold of us, God gives us the power to overcome all those fears. Rather than being enslaved by the world as it is, we are freed to live in a world that is coming to be-God's kingdom!
As disciples of Jesus Christ, God gives us the power to bridge the gap between the broken, sinful world we see around us and the Kingdom of God.
As I've said before: Christian discipleship is not a spectator sport! We aren't called to simply sit here and wait for Christ to return. Instead, God has called and empowered us to live now knowing that Christ is among us. And because Christ is among us, we are empowered to do amazing things - forgive one another, live ethical lives, work for social justice, love the unlovable, mend relationships between people, reach out to the untouchable, give hope-for this life and well as the next-to those in despair.
This week, we shared five lessons with the kids-you've heard four of them already in our spotlight dramas. We talked about how Jesus gives us the power to be thankful, the power to help others, the power to be brave and the power to live eternally (and I would add abundantly now!). And the final day, we discussed the power Jesus gives us to tell others about God.
The early church grew by leaps and bounds because they never ceased to tell others about the God they met in Jesus. They shared the good news with their words but, most importantly, they shared the good news by the changed way in which they lived their lives, bravely, and differently from everyone else.
If you want to share God with others, the best way to do so is to show them a life changed and empowered by God. Better than any number of books or Christian tracks is a life transformed by the love of God. Better than an evangi-cube or a revival is a person whose life has been transformed by the power of Christ and no longer lives in fear. Better than 1000 Beth Moore videos or a 1000 Emmaus Walks are ordinary people empowered to break free of slavery to a broken sinful world to live extraordinary lives as citizens of the Kingdom of God!
This week, we saw some of that awesome power at work. We saw adults dancing like children. We heard children speak spiritual truths like adults as they indicated their desire to be in relationship with this awesome, power-giving God. And who didn't feel the wind of Spirit rush by as they watched these children bid us to "Come to Jesus!" What is keeping us from experiencing this Spirit moving each and every week?
Notice the response of the new Christians in our scripture-it says they devoted themselves to the Apostle's teaching, to worshiping in the temple, to praying and fellowshipping together, and serving others so that they had the good will of all.
Too often we think we can get a shot of God's power and that will keep us immune from sin and death and ensure our ticket to heaven. But the truth is we can't be Christians for a moment and we can't be Christians by ourselves. As our Bishop reminds us, baptism is not a sign of being born again but a sign of being willing to enter into a relationship with God by which we are born again and again and again as we journey with God, learn from his word, serve his world, and gather with his people. And it is when we do those things - pray, worship, study, fellowship, serve-that we make room in our lives for God's Spirit to empower us to do extraordinary things.
What is holding you back from doing extraordinary things for God? Fear? Anxiety? Worry? Guilt? Selfishness? Lack of trust?
Are you willing to open yourself up to God's power, come to Jesus and to be transformed?
And what is holding us-as a community of faith-back from adding daily to those being saved?
What is God calling you to do so we can reach others for Christ?
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