Commentary for May 22, 2011
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Acts 7:55-60
The contrast between Stephen — “the first Christian martyr” (if you don’t count Jesus)– and Saul is striking. Stephen is older, more experienced; Saul is a “young man.” Stephen is filled with the Spirit, while Saul is filled with rage and zeal for what he thought was right, like everyone else in the crowd that day. Stephen gets a straight-shot view through to heaven, where he can see Jesus standing at the right hand of God. Saul, of course, has yet to gain his spiritual eyes. He is blind to these details, even as he will become blind on the road to Damascus in just a little while.
Not to be missed are the visual and vocal cues connecting Stephen’s faith in God to that of Christ at his own execution. Stephen commits his spirit to Christ, as Christ had done in commending his spirit to God. Amazingly, Stephen prays– as did Jesus on the cross– a form of the “Father forgive them” prayer.
What kind of example do we have here from this outstanding deacon of the church, as well as from Christ himself? “Do not hold this sin against them,” Stephen prayed. We don’t usually want to let those who have sinned against us off that easily. Like the bumper sticker says, “I don’t get mad — I just get even!”
Psalm 31:1-5, 15-16
This psalm text has connections both to the experience of Stephen (see above) and of Christ. Verse 5 is a poignant prayer: “Into your hand I commit my spirit….” Notice that the rest of the verse indicates a future that can already be claimed as present: “…you have redeemed me, O Lord, faithful God.”
Perhaps a part of living with the kind of vivid faith exemplified by Stephen and Jesus is the realization that God’s promises for the future actually reach to our present reality. As the psalmist says, “My times [past, present, and future] are in your hand….”
1 Peter 2:2-10
Babies are sweet, aren’t they? Bring a newborn baby into any room, and there will be “coos” and “aahs” issued from every direction. We just love to hold them, cuddle them, smell them, and generally “make do” over the little ones!
But babies are a mess, too; let them get hungry, or wet, or dirty and the object of our affections is no longer quite so appealing. We’re soon looking for the momma or the daddy in order to hand them off. Nobody likes dealing with an upset baby!
All the more reason to see Peter’s analogy as an apt description of the necessity of nurturing new Christians in the faith. It is an exciting prospect to receive young members of the faith into our churches, through confirmation or “profession of faith.” We love to “coo and aah” over such events, and everybody in the congregation feels a bit like proud parents. But, then the messy work of growing these young converts sets in.
We might well want to put them aside — perhaps give them to the pastor or the Christian Ed person — or, better yet, the “youth director” — until their spiritual maturity has been accomplished. But, Peter says, it takes the hard work of building one stone at a time in order to see God’s house raised to fullness. “Babes in Christ” don’t automatically turn into “royal priests” overnight or automatically.
It takes a church — the whole church — to raise a Christian in his or her faith.
John 14:1-14
“Do not let your hearts be troubled.” Easy for you to say, Jesus!
We have plenty of trouble all around us, everyday, don’t we? It’s pretty hard for us to see our way through, sometimes, when it seems the effluvia of life just keeps piling higher and higher. The disciples said as much on this day when Jesus sought to bestow on them a bit of the heavenly vision.
Jesus: “I am going to prepare a place for you…and you know the way to that place.”
Thomas: “Lord, we don’t know where you’re going; how can we know the way?”
Philip: “Yeah, Jesus, just show us the Father, then we’ll be satisfied.”
Oh, those crazy disciples — always asking Jesus for a little more of this and a bit more of that. As if Jesus himself might not be able to handle it and ought to just go ahead and call God in!
Of course, as Christ’s followers, all we ultimately get is him — just Jesus. “I am the Way…” he replied to Thomas. “You walk with me and follow me, and you’re going to end up just where you need to go” — that kind of thing. No other roadmaps or directional signs.
I like the way that Eugene Peterson puts it in The Way of Jesus: “To follow Jesus implies that we enter into a way of life that is given character and shape and direction by the one who calls us. To follow Jesus means picking up rhythms and ways of doing things that are often unsaid but always derivative from Jesus, formed by the influence of Jesus. To follow Jesus means that we can’t separate what Jesus is saying from what Jesus is doing and the way that he is doing it. To follow Jesus is as much, or maybe even more, about feet as it is about ears and eyes.” (p. 22).
So — let’s put some feet to it and keep following Jesus!
Sermon
by the Rev. Dr. Delmer L. Chilton
It was Professor Harold Hill, in a hit Broadway musical, who came to the small town of River City, Iowa and famously stated, “Folks, we’ve got trouble, right here in River City…with a capital T that rhymes with P that stands for pool!”
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Trouble — with a capital T— is part of our lives.
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Jesus, speaking to his disciples, begins by saying, “Let not your hearts be troubled.”
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We may think, “That’s easy for you to say, Jesus!”
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We have all sorts of worries pressing on us – jobs, families, illnesses, relationships…
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What does Jesus mean, we shouldn’t be “troubled?”
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Jesus has promised to be with us both now and forever.
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Since we started telling this story of Jesus at the time of his birth, we have emphasized his character as “Emmanuel” – God with us.
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There is no circumstance in our lives, no situation we ever find ourselves in, that God is not there.
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Jesus himself said, “I am with you always, even to the very end of the age.”
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The “end of the age” is the defining limit of this world – whether we approach that limit through death, or whether we are alive on the day that Jesus comes again to bring time on this earth to a close.
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As long as this life lasts, Jesus is with us
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But in this discussion, Jesus told the disciples, “But I’m not just with you now…I’m making plans with God to be with you forever. I am going to prepare a place for you…”
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And what a place it will be!
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I love the old gospel song, “I”ve Got a Mansion, Just Over the Hilltop”
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We always want just a little more from Jesus, don’t we?
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Thomas – remember, he’s the one who got “frozen in his faith” later, after the crucifixion and resurrection – Thomas is always very honest and forthright
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He says, “But we don’t know the way Jesus! We don’t know this place you say you are going!”
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And Philip, another disciple, chimes in: “Yeah…and besides, as much as we like you, Jesus, we really wish you would just show us God. If we could see HIM, then we’d know everything was going to be okay!”
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These boys hadn’t learned much, had they? They’d already forgotten the experience on the Mount of Transfiguration – Jesus, Moses and Elijah having a little chat, Peter scurrying about to build three altars to worship all three men, and the thunderous voice of God saying, “This is my Son – worship HIM!”
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Like the disciples, we all have to be reminded some times: all you get is Jesus.
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Our faith is placed in Christ – and Christ alone.
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We don’t get any other evidence, we don’t get any other option or choice.
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We don’t get any other Savior – and we don’t need one!
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“I am the way…,” Jesus said to Thomas that day. “You believe in God…you can believe in me.”
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Here’s the truth: you live the Jesus life by walking in the Jesus way.
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We are called to follow Jesus…that’s what it means to be a disciple.
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If am going to follow a guide who has promised to take me somewhere, it means that I need to listen to what he says, walk the same way that he walks, and do the same things that he does.
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It wouldn’t make much sense for me to pay a guide to take me to the best fishing hole or the top hunting ground and then to say, “Well, thanks for the advice, but I believe I”ll just try it my way!”
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In the spiritual life – which really can’t be separated from our physical lives or our emotional lives or our intellectual lives – we are following Jesus. He is not only our Savior – he is our guide.
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So…we listen to what he says…we walk the way that he walks…we do the things that he does.
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And that’s how we end up where we need to go…with Jesus!