Sermon from Sunday May 14, 2017

Living in rural Kansas you know what dark is.  With night driving, you absolutely understand the use of headlights, high beam and regular.  In Salina I can go the entire length of 9^th and mistakenly have my lights off.  I can see to get home and other drivers may or may not signal me.  B-town is a bit different.  I need my headlights and drive  a quarter mile out of town and I can’t find my way without headlights.  Nor can I always see the next intersection or obstacle even with my head lights.  It just how night driving is.

Anne Lamont is a prolific writer.  She wrote a book called, Bird by Bird: Some Thoughts on Writing and Life.

There is a quote,

“Writing a novel is like driving a car at night.  You can only see as far as your headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way.”

You might recall that the book of Acts begins in that first chapter with Jesus instructing them that they would be his witnesses “in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

The book of Acts is about the spreading of that witness.  Yet the roads to the end of the earth are not illuminate all at once.

It is a good thought for the church, from the times in Acts.  Maybe more importantly, it is good for the church today to remember.

The church is doing well.  Last week we shared the story of Philip sharing the story of Jesus love with an Ethiopian Enuch, resulting in his baptism.  In the intervening chapters, there is more sharing, more people learning of Jesus, more work and witness of the Holy Spirit.

Paul and Barnabas are sharing the news with the church in Antioch.  Antioch is Gentiles and they are receiving the Good News.  Then in Chapter 15 we hear some others from Judea come to Antioch.  They say that The Gentile Christians must be circumcised in order to be saved.

This would have been a Jewish Christian experience.  They would have been circumcised according to Jewish law, and they would have been following the Jewish law although not perfectly.  Then they would have experienced God saving news of Jesus Christ.  This would have been normal.  This would have been the first Christian experience.

But now Gentiles are being saved, Gentiles who may or may not be circumcised.  For some I am sure the question was, or response was: But we have never done it that way before.  But the deeper questions was: Is the saving work of Christ effective for those who are not Jews and who never became law–observant?  Could Jesus be the Jewish Messiah and yet bring salvation apart from the Law?

In verse 2 it says the question too “no small dissension and debate” in Antioch.  This was not an easy question.

I don’t know if you have noticed, but the church is facing some not easy questions some 200 years later.  Listen and see if our hearts can pick up some hints about the process of being with hard questions.

The Process…

The conversations need to broaden. The church is local and it is always more than local.  The church at Antioch sends some of its leaders  and “some of the others” to Jerusalem.  We need a bigger conversation.

Standard divisions are examined.  “We” and “them” defines two groups but when you get to know each other….They begin to become more we and them is just not as much them anymore.  We hear Peter saying this in verse 8 and 9.

We and them become us.

The testimony of experience counts.  Barnabas and Paul give an account of signs and wonders in their ministry.  The Holy Spirit is at work in other places and with other people….umh…uncircumcised people.

Experience is confirmed by the testimony of Scripture.  When James finally speaks he addresses that even the prophets knew that God would use the Gentiles in God’s Kingdom.

What the Church Decides…

The church decides that God’s mercy is being extended to the Gentiles by God’s work.  Some would say—God is doing a new thing.  Rather God is doing what God has always done, showing mercy and creating a people for God’s self where none existed before.

We are the church on the way to the ends of the earth…

That is our instructions from Jesus….witness, share, love to the ends of the earth.

We the church can only see as far as the headlights light…..

and that alright.  We still know where we are going and we will get there.

We need to understand the sources of our light.  With our witness and our faith lives, that is our witness, we need some headlights.  Not actual car headlights but we need to understand our sources of light….that will illumine our way.

Scripture

Conversation/ Reason

Experience

Conversation/Reason

Tradition

Conversation/Reason

Sermon from May 7, 2017

This is a most  interesting story.  It really is a laugh-out-loud story.  The cast of characters are delightful and it is a welcome relief from the previous weeks tensions.  We have skipped last weeks story of the stoning of Stephen.  The young church is struggling with taking itself pretty serious.  After Stephen’s stoning the disciples scattered from Jerusalem.   Internal conflicts within the church often take life and scatter the believers.  On the other hand that didn’t stop the church then or now.  God’s amazingly wild  grace can not be easily tamed.  So today’s story is a welcome relief from too much serious drama.

Philip had been preaching and teaching people about the Messiah to them.  He cast out spirits and healed people.  It says earlier in the chapter—so there was great joy in that city.  It doesn’t say less sinners, more church goers, more money given, louder or better singers; it says people had joy.

Then the story just gets funny.  Philip was waiting tables-seeing that food was distributed to the widows and the poor when God sends an angel to him that says leave the city and go south on that wilderness road.  Really God-I am busy her, plus I am doing well in Samaria.  I don’t want to go out to the middle of nowhere!  Maybe it is God who laughs.

But he goes.

Funny thing, there was a eunuch, Ethiopian who was traveling in a chariot.

The story tells us he had been to Jerusalem for worship.  Interesting that he, being a enuch, would not have participated fully in temple worship.  Enuchs many times served queens.  The story tells us that he was the chief treasurer for Queen Candace.  So he is in his chariot reading a scroll with the scripture from Isaiah 53 on it.  As the custom he would have been reading it aloud.

Funny thing, the spirit tells Phillip-go over to the chariot and join it.  When Philip hear the man reading the scripture-he asked, do you understand what you are reading?

The man replies-how can I, unless someone guides me?

Philip joins him in the chariot and the man asks,

“About whom, may I ask you, does the prophet say this, about himself or someone else?”

Philip explains the scripture and shares the good news about Jesus.

Then the funniest thing-Stop the chariot-what is to prevent me from being baptized?

They go to the water, Philip baptizes him.

When they come up out of the water the spirit snatches Philip away.

Philip ends up some 60 miles away spreading the good news.

That’s it, that the story and I think we should laugh and laugh and laugh.

Then we should laugh at ourselves because this little story from the Book of Acts is not as strange as it first seems.

Ok a few of the details are!

Folks, angels are inviting us out of our safe churches and homes all the time.

We meet people on the Wilderness Road every day.  Those people, at least some of them would love to know more about the good news of Jesus.

And always…always the Holy Spirit will bring us to the waters of baptism and renewal.  Anytime we are willing and listening to be moved.

This is what God does!  God is up to these funny stories every day.  Sometimes we notice.

I guess I can only speak for myself…

But sometimes I take myself and the Church way to seriously I need to come back to this story and let Philip teach me.

Philip gets up and goes, gets in and shares, gets out and baptizes and then poof, is snatched away.

Who feels trained to talk about scriptures and Jesus…Philip didn’t let training stop him.

Who feels they don’t have the church authority or an official call to minister-Philip didn’t let that stop him.

Philip’s discipleship is measured by something else-not official status-but his discipleship is measured in joy.  The eunuch-he went on his way rejoicing.  The measure is joy.

I ask us how much joy have we left in our wake this week?

But I laugh-this story is an inspiration and it is joy.

Our challenge is set before us.  I want you to leave laughing today.  I wish for you awareness.  Be aware of what bold thing are you willing to try when the Spirit nudges you. Keep watch for the chariots going through town.  Be the good news someone needs to hear.  Be filled with laughter and joy for all you meet.