SUNDAY'S SERMON
“Persecution”
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Rev. Thomas E. Myers
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May 4, 2008
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Acts
1:6-14 6 So
when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, is this the time
when you will restore the kingdom to Israel?” 7 He
replied, “It is not for you to know the times or periods that the Father
has set by his own authority. 8 But you will receive power
when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in
Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” 9 When
he had said this, as they were watching, he was lifted up, and a cloud
took him out of their sight. 10 While he was going and
they were gazing up toward heaven, suddenly two men in white robes stood
by them. 11 They said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand
looking up toward heaven? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into
heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.” 12 Then
they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near
Jerusalem, a Sabbath day’s journey away. 13 When they
had entered the city, they went to the room upstairs where they were
staying, Peter, and John, and James, and Andrew, Philip and Thomas,
Bartholomew and Matthew, James son of Alphaeus, and Simon the Zealot, and
Judas son of a James. 14 All these were constantly
devoting themselves to prayer, together with certain women, including Mary
the mother of Jesus, as well as his brothers. “Persecution” We
have been living, you and I, in the period after Easter, the great 50
days. Today's
lesson from Acts comes appropriately at the end of the Easter season for
the church. Yet, it is not a text about ending, but one of beginning. We
are at the very beginning of the book of Acts. Often, at the beginning of
any story, the thoughtful author gives us a sort of preview of the story
to come. We are soon to enter the season of the ministry and mission
of the followers of Jesus, the Season of Pentecost. The
disciples are to tell what they have seen and heard of Christ in Jerusalem
(the base for the early Jesus movement), into Judea, Samaria and to the
very end of the earth. Remember,
it has only been 50 days since they were hiding away in fear for their
lives. And here, now, they
were being sent out on a great mission. And
what are they to teach? Well
it is not a lesson on patriotism, not a lesson on supporting the
infrastructure of power. It
is not a lesson on how to be perfect in the law without threat to anyone.
They are told to stop gazing up into heaven and to start being
witnesses to the teachings of Jesus.
They are encouraged to put their fear aside and not be intimidated
by violence or threats of violence. They
are to take Jesus’ teachings to the far corners of the world.
The
great theologian Karl Barth was fond of saying that the difference between
a Christian and a non-Christian is mainly a "noetic difference,"
the difference between someone who knows and someone who does not yet know
that Jesus Christ is Lord. The
State isn’t Lord, corporations are not the all powerful, wealth is not
our savior. Those who
threaten and intimidate with violence are not powerful in God’s eyes.
We are people of God’s Realm and God’s Way. It is not a way that relies on the false security of
intimidation and violence. And
it’s not a way that neglects or ignores the poor.
We know that God’s will is more powerful than the way of the
oppressor, more loving and peaceful than the peace of Rome established by
force. The very nature of God’s peace is non-violent and
inclusive. Peace established
by force is an illusion. An
economy built upon the backs of the poor through violent means, as Rev.
Jeremiah Wright once said, will have the chicken return to roost.
Violence breeds violence. Non-Christians
are not necessarily worse people than Christians. Non-Christians are
simply people who do not yet know. They
do not understand why a Christian’s allegiance to God’s Realm would
get in the way of someone’s patriotic duty.
We don’t put our trust in government officials, weapons, or a
strong military. We put our
trust in God. There is a
“noetic difference” at work in the life of Christian discipleship.
Our trust is in God’s Grace and God’s love that includes all
people, especially the neglected and forgotten. Our forefather’s understood the role of the church.
They understood that the separation of church and state not only
protects the state but it also protects the church, so that the church
will have the freedom and the ability to perform our biblically mandated
prophetic duty. Our prophetic
duty is inherently and biblically political.
The scriptures speak out plainly against government leaders who
neglect the poor. God gives
the blessing and God can take it away.
The prophetic voice of the church, as we speak against injustice,
makes us by nature political, though not partisan.
We are called to witness for God’s Realm, to stand against
injustice and the atrocities perpetuated by both the left and the right,
republican and democrat, foreign or domestic. We
pray that God’s blessing will rest upon the mantle of our leaders and
that God will bless them and that they will respond justly.
This is by far the better way. Unfortunately, the political powers
and the media are not well versed in the important role of the prophet. So when Rev. Jeremiah Wright (with an emphasis on Jeremiah)
of the United Church of Christ, spoke out against the abuses of our
governmental powers over the poor in other countries, he was accused of
being unpatriotic, misguided, and anti-American. Funny
thing, when I think of someone who is patriotic, Jesus is not on the list. Jesus was prophetic. We
are not primarily called to be patriotic, we are called to be prophetic,
to be witnesses. Our
General Conference last week passed a petition that will change our
membership vows. New members
now will be asked if they will support the United Methodist Church with
their prayers, their presence, their gifts, their service, and if they
will be witnesses to the
teachings and way of Jesus. Do
you remember the story of the blind man whom Jesus healed in the Gospel of
John? After he healed him, Jesus' critics came and tried to discredit the
blind man's witness. "Are
you really sure that Jesus healed you? Haven't you gotten a bit overly
emotional?" they asked. But the man who for the first time could
see witnessed to what had happened to him.
"One thing I do know. That though I was blind, now I see"
(Jn 9:25). It’s a
“noetic difference.” The
lessons and stories of Jesus, our experience of the Spirit through prayer
and service, are the experiences that open our hearts to the possibilities
of God. It is a path that
refuses to be silenced. Acts
2:42 says, "They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and
fellowship." They gathered together. They retold the story. They
reiterated among one another what had happened, then they scattered to
tell the whole world. They
became witnesses to God’s truth. Some
people think that the church should be silent, but this we know for
certain, it is not possible to be a faithful Christian without witnessing
for justice. To do otherwise falls short of our calling.
To do otherwise fades at the threat of persecution.
To do otherwise is to give in to intimidation.
To do otherwise neglects our call to witness to the Way of Jesus. The
gospel is not some primitive means of finding spiritual meaning in life,
it is not an opiate so the government can control us, nor is its purpose
to talk about the world in a mythic way to keep us from witnessing to
God’s truth. We
are witnesses, in word and in deed, to a greater way.
This is the mission of the church. proclaimed in Judea, Samaria,
and even unto the ends of the earth.
There is no earthly force, no organized power, no ill formulated
law, no intimidation, no act of violence, nor persecution that can stop
it. Thanks be to God. |
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