Wait. . . we are witnesses to these things?

     Our reading from Acts, this the Second Sunday of Easter, actually jumps all the way past Pentecost.  If you have never paid close attention to the stories and the teachings that surround them, such a jump might make little to no sense.  Why are jumping past Pentecost when we just did the Resurrection last week?  Cant the lectionary editors let us just bask in the glory and hope of the Resurrection for the season?  In truth, the lectionary designers are probably more steeped in the teaching that Peter wants to drive home in his famous sermon than we realize.

     Peter begins this sermon after the promised coming of the Holy Spirit.  Now, just to refresh our minds since our Holy Week was disjointed thanks to the pandemic, this is the same Peter who denied knowing Jesus to a serving girl on three occasions.  It is the same Peter who does not know what to think of Mary’s report that someone has taken the body of Jesus.  It is the same Peter who will be in a locked room with the other disciples because He is afraid of the Jews.  All that is to say that Peter has not, up until this point, been super human in his faith.  In fact, I think Peter has been pretty archetypical.  At times he walks on water; at other times, though, he sinks in fear.  When things do not make sense, he is confused.  When given insight by the Holy Spirit, Peter is remarkable.  He is much more like us, I think, than some of us would like to admit about ourselves.

     But here he is, less than two months after he denied to the servant girl that he even knew Jesus, evangelizing the crowds in Jerusalem.  And what a sermon!  Our lectionary editors rightly break it up.  There is no way we could study the whole sermon in a way that did right by Peter’s sermon, were it presented in a single reading.

     Peter begins the famous sermon by teaching the whole crowd, all those gathered in Jerusalem, that they are not drunk, as some have suggested; that what they have all witnessed is the fulfillment of the prophecy of Joel.  God has, in fact, poured out His Spirit on all His people, young and old, male and female, alike.  What the crowds witnessed was that wondrous event.  But then Peter goes on to tell them they have seen and heard of even more glorious works of God, namely the work and person and betrayal and torture and killing and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth, God’s Anointed and the fulfillment of God’s plan of salvation.

     Not unsurprisingly, most everyone in the crowds are unbelieving.  Jesus is dead, except for those pesky rumors regarding the disappearance of His Body.  The Jewish leadership has gone out of its way to make the people think that Jesus’ disciples have stolen His Body.

     Peter, in our section for today, turns his attention in this sermon to the Jewish people.  Keep in mind, this is a section of his grand sermon, but it teaches many of us who preach for a living how to preach effectively.  For example, this little section divides up neatly into three parts.  The first part is Peter’s insistence upon looking at the events of Holy Week, Good Friday, Easter Sunday, and even Jesus’s Ascension as one long event.  None of them make sense apart from the other.  For example, Jesus could not ascend to be with the Father had He not been obedient unto death.  God, I see the nods.  They are all related.  They are also far more important to us today than we realize, but I’ll come back to that in a moment.

     The second part of Peter’s sermon in this section is his claim that Jesus, a descendent of David, has fulfilled the prophecy of David found in Psalm 16.  David, whom everyone of Jewish descent in those days viewed as an anticipatory echo of George Washington or Abraham Lincoln for us, was a typical human.  David sinned, famously.  David disobeyed God repeatedly, even though he repented each and every time.  This is important because when he died, he stayed dead.  His punishment for sin was death.  And, in typical fashion of the dead, his body decayed and returned to dust—they called it corruption.

     Amazingly, though, David prophesied in Psalm 16 about God not letting corruption taint His Anointed One.  David was clearly an anointed one of God—he was, after all, king.  But he was not THE Anointed One, the Messiah or the Christ with capital letters.  Because of David’s prophecy, they know that Jesus’ resurrection was God keeping the promise that he made through the lips and pen of David, a man after His own heart.  Jesus has not been abandoned to the grave!  God has not let His holy One see corruption!

     The third part of Peter’s sermon in this section deals with the simple fact that all who are present are witnesses to these things.  Peter’s audience, presumably, includes some of the Sanhedrin who conspired to betray Jesus to the Romans and to foment the crowd to call for His crucifixion.  Peter’s audience presumable includes some of those who saw Jesus crucified, who stood at the Cross and mocked Him or stood at the Cross hoping God or Elijah would show up to save Him.  Peter’s audience likely includes some Romans.  Gatherings were dangerous in the ANE; they were sometimes a threat to authority.  It is likely those guards who are watching the crowds and keeping the peace as this fisherman preaches and teaches know the men who nailed Jesus to that Cross, who guarded the tomb where He was buried.  It is likely that Peter’s audience includes those who saw the Temple curtain torn in two from top to bottom, those who felt the earth shake at Jesus’ death, those who saw the sun blotted out as Jesus died, those who saw the dead come out of their grave at Jesus’ death, and even those who saw the miracles by which God attested to the work and ministry of Jesus of Nazareth and were, to put it mildly, disappointed that Jesus was not the one, as proved by His death on a tree.  All of that is to say, they were men and women and children like you and like me.  Their experiences of Jesus of Nazareth were varied.  Their hopes regarding Jesus of Nazareth were likewise varied.  But Peter reminds them all within the hearing of their voice that we are all witnesses of Jesus being raised up, elevated to sit at the right hand of God.

     Now, sitting here in 21^st century Nashville, via computers and phones and whatever electronic devices some 2000 years later and 9000 miles away, how can God mean for us to hear Peter’s sermon?  How can we be witnesses to God’s raising up and elevation of Jesus when we were not there to see it?

     I began this homily with a reminder of Peter’s teaching.  We cannot, according to Peter, upon whom Christ built His Church, separate the events of Holy Week, of Good Friday, of Holy Saturday, of Easter Sunday, of the Ascension, or even of Pentecost from each other.  None can be viewed truly independent of one another.  The betrayal of the Apostles and disciples, and their resulting restoration and conviction make no sense, absent an encounter with the Risen Jesus.  Until Jesus has died and satisfied the justice of God, who cannot just ignore sin, the Holy Spirit cannot come and dwell with us.  Until Jesus has Ascended to the Father, the Spirit must abide with the Father and the Son rather than empower all His sons and daughter, the members of the mystical body we call the Church!  God’s demonstrated ability to redeem all things is not perceivable by us absent Holy Saturday!  Christ was not sleeping.  Jesus was not, to use the famous words of Miracle Max, mostly dead.  He was all dead!  And yet, still God was able to raise Him!

     Our ability to witness to the life and person of Jesus was dependent upon all these events, all these miracles surrounding the end of Jesus’ earthly ministry.  You know this, even if you have forgotten it.  When we come to the fount for baptism, into what are we baptized?  I know, we are all muted, so I have to say it allowed for us to hear, but we are baptized into His Death so that we may raised with Him in His eternal glory.  How is all that accomplished?  Right!  Through the events of Holy Week and Easter and Ascension and Pentecost.  How do we receive power to become heirs and children of God?  Exactly, through all those events.  You and I are no different that Peter and those who lived through those times.  We are recipients of the same pledge, the same promise.

     Sitting at home in your pajamas today you may want to argue a bit.  But Brian, I’ve never SEEN the Risen Jesus.  How can I testify to its truth?  First, remember Jesus’ teaching from the Gospel today.  We are blessed when we believe despite not seeing.  Our doubts do not discredit us; nor do our doubts separate us from the love and mercy of Jesus.  He knows how hard this is.

     BUT . . .

     Have you ever accomplished something to God’s glory that was far above and beyond your knowledge, your expertise, your strength, or your understanding?  How as that done, do you think?  You received the promised Holy Spirit.  And you could only receive that Spirit how?  If Jesus did what He had to do and you believed.  Put more simply, we receive the power of the Holy Spirit today because Jesus was victorious 2000 years ago in Jerusalem!

     I wish we were together and could go longer, even into coffee minute.  Think about the food pantry.  As a body of believers, as a parish, we give money and a part of our gifts, tithes, and offerings go to support that pantry.  Hilary buys groceries for folks from the money you give.  Our budget is, by no means, particularly large.  There are lots of churches up and down Franklin Pike with bigger budgets than our own.  Heck, there are lots of Episcopal churches with bigger budgets than our own in this town.  And yet, in an imitation of loaves and fishes, what are we doing at a time of pandemic?  We are feeding those who have lost their jobs.  We, Adventers, many of whom argued with the priest a couple years ago that we just did not have enough hungry people in our area in need, are giving food freely, in imitation of our Lord and those saints who have come before us, that, in satisfying their physical hunger, they might ask us for the balm to their spiritual hunger.  When the world around is shutting down, treating one another as competitors for resources, running scared of death, we are feeding; we are praying.  And it is noticed.

     Last month, we fed almost 1300 individuals with only 3000 pounds of groceries.  How?  Restaurant and restaurant suppliers have called asking if we can get the food to the hungry.  Other churches have asked if they can give us food to give to the hungry.  People walking their dogs, teaching their kids to ride bikes, just enjoying the open space, have seen the work and been inspired to give to help their neighbors.  We know!  We absolutely know that is the power of the Holy Spirit working in and through us!  We know who we are.  We know who we were, absent the grace and mercy of our Lord Christ.  And so we know this work was not something that we would have championed absent that meeting with the Risen Lord Christ.  We may not know Him as well as Mary or Peter, but we know Him.  Better still, He knows us!  And He has promised, when we gather in His Name, He will be in the midst of us and be glorified.  Brothers and sisters, politicians and news crews are showing up, asking us how and why and can they help spread the word.  We could not have done all this.  We are still, 9000 miles away and 2000 years later, witnesses to Him and His saving, loving grace!  Pray that our witness might draw others into His saving embrace.

In Christ’s Peace,

Brian†