Community Church Sermons
Fourth Sunday of Easter – April 21, 2002
"Discovering An Awesome Faith”
Acts 2:42-47
There’s an old story about a librarian in the Vatican uncovering a stack of papers that no one had ever known was there. Carbon dating was done, and it was discovered that these papers were the most ancient manuscripts of the Bible, but had never been translated. So an expert translator was brought in. For months, he poured over the brittle papers, taking care not to damage anything. Painstakingly, he translated every word into English. And when he was done translating this earliest copy of the Bible, a look of great horror came over his face.
“What’s the matter?” asked the Vatican librarian.
The man was so shaken, he could not speak. So the librarian brought him into the College of Cardinals. “What’s the matter?” they asked. Still, the man was unable to utter a word. Finally, they brought him to the Pope. “Tell me, my son, what is it that makes you so upset?”
The translator stuttered and stammered…trying to speak. Finally, words came out.
“Holy Father,” he cried in anguish, “the word… is cele-BRATE…with an “R”!!!”
Get it? Celi-BATE, Celi-BRATE? Oh well, it was just a schtick…
Words can make such a difference in how we look at and practice our faith. And its not all that easy to always arrive at the correct interpretation of words. In the ancient Hebrew language in which the Old Testament was written, there are no vowels. Just consonants. As an oral tradition, the vowels were simply understood, but when the language was put to writing, there were only the consonants. And often there are multiple words that use the same consonant structure. So did the Israelites cross the Red Sea….or the Reed Sea? No one can say for sure. Words make a difference.
Not only are we missing vowels in the Old Testament, but in both Testaments, there is no punctuation. So even the Greek of the New Testament can be ambiguous. For instance, did Jesus say to the thief on the cross next to him, “Truly I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise”? Or did Jesus say, “Truly I say to you today, you will be with me in Paradise?” Makes a difference, you know!
Words make a big difference in how we understand and live our faith.
In today’s reading from the Book of Acts, we encounter such an important word. The passage gives us a wonderful snapshot of life in the post-resurrection community. And what a beautiful picture it is! It tells us that, day by day, new people are coming into the church because they are discovering the life and power of the risen Jesus. The church – as small and insignificant as it is at that point in history - is changing peoples’ lives – beginning to change the world!
Now before we go on and talk about the crucial word in this passage that will help us to understand why this early church is so successful in its ability to attract and transform people, we ought to at least acknowledge that a snapshot of the church in our day would not look nearly as good.
Today, in the Western world, many say that Christianity is a declining religion. Day by day, we are not attracting people by the thousands as described in Acts, but we are losing people by the droves. And not only that, but the ability of the church to influence the larger society is becoming less and less. Why, the quintessential illustration of the disempowerment of the Christian Church in our day is being lived out before us as we speak in the standoff at the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem. This is the location where we Christians believe Jesus was born. But the birthplace of Christ has been taken over by others - Israeli Defense Forces on the outside, Palestinian gunmen on the inside. And as these two secular forces collide at the very birthplace of Christianity, there is no apparent Christian presence or voice that can facilitate healing and reconciliation – even right there at the Manger!
But not only on the world stage is our faith becoming less and less influential. It is happening as well in our own lives and in our own homes. How many of us are parents of children who grew up in the church, but who no longer find the church relevant to their lives as adults? How often do we encounter a friend who is going through a difficult time, maybe even walking through the valley of the shadow of death, and feeling as if they have to go it alone, because they have never found a faith that has anything to do with life as it really is? How many people are there in our lives who we wish we could bring into the peace, joy, love, hope, and healing power of Christ, but they have long ago closed that door?
Whatever it was that once
attracted people to this faith, to this Christian community, to this living
Christ, has been greatly diminished, if not lost altogether, here in the
twenty-first century. And I don’t believe it’s because this faith, this
Christian community, and this living Christ have lost their relevance and
power. To the contrary! No, perhaps it is because we have lost the meaning of a
word.
“They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. And FEAR came upon everyone…”
It wasn’t until I was in seminary that I learned that the two English Bibles I grew up with – the King James as well as the Revised Standard Version – give the wrong impression about the meaning of a certain word. Routinely, the translators of these Bibles rendered this word as “fear”. And so I, like many of you, was brought up to FEAR God. Why, Proverbs 1 tells us that the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom. And at the core of the faith in which many of us were nurtured was this idea – that God is to be feared. I think this is why, on that fateful Easter morning years ago, when the pew collapsed in the middle of the service at Adams Square Congregational Church in Worcester, Massachusetts, that whole row of people dressed in their Easter finery did not even dare get up off the floor for FEAR…OF DISTRUPTING THE WORSHIP OF GOD. This is why my childhood friends from another faith tradition could not bring themselves to come with me to play basketball in our church gym - for FEAR…THAT GOD WOULD STRIKE THEM DOWN DEAD for going into another church! This is why, when Sandy and I were at the supermarket that day back in the 1970’s – when I used to wear a clerical collar – that those four little boys who were running up and down the aisles having themselves a whale of a time came screeching to a halt when they spotted me in my collar, and came carefully marching by me like little soldiers, saying, “Good afternoon, Father.” It was FEAR. This is why so many people we know find no other recourse than to run away from God when they’ve made a mistake or committed a sin. They’ve been taught to FEAR God. This is why, when we experience tragedy, that we sometimes find ourselves shaking our fist at God and blaming God for inflicting the circumstance upon us. Because we FEAR God would do something like that. Many of us have been taught since childhood that it is a virtue to FEAR the Lord.
Cele-BRATE, the translator discovered much to his surprise! And much to my surprise, I learned that the word fear does not mean to be afraid. No, the word fear in the Bible means to be in AWE! To be AWESTRUCK by God’s beauty and power and glory and love! And so in good Bible translations today we read in Acts 2 that “They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. And AWE came upon everyone….!
Those early Christians had…an AWE-SOME
faith!
What about you? Do you have a FEARSOME, or an AWESOME faith? It makes a world of difference, you know!
The people of that day long ago were being introduced to a God unlike any other they’d ever met! He was an AWESOME God! A God whose arms were always open to sinners, and who could welcome and forgive the worst of us. A God who thought people are beautiful and worth loving! A God who would sacrifice his own self-interest to improve the lot of human beings. This AWESOME God brought healing to the broken, food to the hungry, friendship to the lonely, justice to the poor. This was a God who hears and answers the prayers of everyone who calls on his name in truth, who sometimes intervenes in peoples’ lives with incomprehensible acts of mercy and grace, who loves people who ask questions and seek deeper understanding, who is patient and kind toward us, and who never gives up on us even when we give up on Him.
AWESOME!
And this God’s indescribable AWESOMENESS was embodied in the life of this little community – this little church – of Christ followers. Like their Lord, they lived AWESOME LIVES! Forgiving people. Thinking of others – even the lowest of people - as beautiful and worth loving. They were a people who gladly and generously sacrificed their own self-interest to lift others up. They worked hard at healing the broken, feeding the hungry, befriending the lonely, bringing justice to the poor. They were a people of prayer, who believed in God’s power to intervene in the world, and who often intervened themselves in peoples’ lives with acts of mercy and grace. They encouraged searchers to ask their questions, and were patient and kind. They never gave up on anybody!
And when the people of that day heard about such an AWESOME God, and experienced such AWESOME living by that little community of people, they responded with curiosity, and hope, and joy! They’d never seen anything like THAT before! They wanted to know this AWESOME God for themselves!
Oh, I believe that the way to lead others to Christ, is by rediscovering and living an AWESOME faith!
But its not easy. There are two hurdles that stand in the way of this AWESOMENESS for many of us. One is the FEAR-centered faith of fundamentalism that has permeated American Christianity over the course of the last century. In this system, FEAR is actually used as a tool to extract obedience to God. People are invited to come to Christ not because Christ is beautiful and they are loved, but because they are evil and will go to hell if they don’t. Children are scared and manipulated – not gently and lovingly nurtured - into making faith decisions. Those who are outside the faith because of some inability to believe, or because of a sinful lifestyle, or because they belong to a different religious tradition are judged and ostracized, rather than loved and welcomed and engaged in dialogue. In this system, the world is seen in stark terms of good and evil, and those who do not share so-called Christian values (meaning fundamentalist values) are numbered among the enemy. People who practice such a FEARSOME faith are quite content to simply write off most of humanity as headed straight for hell in a handbasket. And it really doesn’t matter to them, so long as THE RIGHTEOUS go to heaven.
Thankfully, Acts 2 does not describe
the early Christians as practicing this kind of FEAR-BASED faith. And to the
extent that FEAR has affected your and my Christian
worldview, we need to ask God to deliver us from FEAR and lead us into AWE.
The second hurdle that stands in the way of discovering an AWESOME faith is the kind of secular humanism that accompanies liberal theology. Here is a FEARSOME faith of another kind – one that cannot bring itself to believe that God’s love is big enough and powerful enough to defy the boundaries of scientific understanding. It is a FEAR that renders people unable to believe that God actually intervenes in our lives today with personal and specific acts of mercy and love. This is the kind of faith that hears about peoples’ answered prayers, and healing miracles, and daily interventions of God in our world, and desperately tries to explain them away. This is the kind of faith that is afraid to ask God for a miracle for FEAR of it not happening. And to the extent that you and I have been shackled by this FEARFUL skepticism, we need to ask God to set us free to believe in miracles again!
Those early Christians sure did! They had a faith that stood in AWE OF GOD, AND HIS LOVE, AND HIS POWER, AND HIS DEVOTION TO HUMANITY!
And they practiced that faith.
They devoted themselves to the apostles teaching…and to fellowship with each other…to breaking bread together…and praying for each other…many signs and wonders were done…they were together and held things in common…they sold their possessions and distributed the proceeds to those who had need… they were glad…they were generous…they praised God…they earned the good will of ALL- of ALL - the people.
That’s what Acts tells us they did.
Are you willing to rediscover and live an AWESOME faith?
It begins by opening your life every day to God’s awesome goodness and love. Letting God touch you. Enjoying God’s blessing. Seeking God’s will. Marveling at God’s wonder in worship and praise. And then it continues by your going out and sharing that goodness and love with others.
May you discover this AWESOME God! And may you go this week and live an AWESOME faith!