Background to this sermon: 1. we ordained and installed Ruling Elders and Deacons after the sermon. 2. when I read the Acts passage in Peterson's translation The Message, I was captivated by witnesses backing up other Peter's witness. I thought the passage and the installation might fit together. Too late, I realized that Peter is talking about the prophets, not others, which did not work with my thoughts about ruling elders and deacons backing each other up with their witness.
3. The focus on witness grows out of ongoing reflections on how we can best share the gospel. it ties with some of my thoughts on storytelling. Lillian Daniel has a good book on what it means to be a witness. 4. The Ron Sider story was shared with me by Mark Hess, a ruling elder in the church I served in Troy, OH. Like a blind pig finding an acorn, I realized Sunday morning that the final line of the story tied directly to the sermon title. 5. the allusion to the baptism of Jesus grew out of the fact that it was "Baptism of the Lord" Sunday on the liturgical calendar, and we read the Matthew story of Jesus' baptism.
Reflections: the witness part of the sermon worked well and elicited comments from several members. The connection to ordination did not work very well, although the point about what the ruling elders and deacons say as they serve communion was meaningful. The final story worked well, although it was not integrated into the sermon as well as it should have.
“Backing Him Up” SAPC, January 8, 2017; Acts 10: 34-43; Ordination and Installation of Officers
Acts 10: 34-43 Peter fairly exploded with his good news: “It’s God’s own truth, nothing could be plainer: God plays no favorites! It makes no difference who you are or where you’re from—if you want God and are ready to do as he says, the door is open. The Message he sent to the children of Israel—that through Jesus Christ everything is being put together again—well, he’s doing it everywhere, among everyone.
“You know the story of what happened in Judea. It began in Galilee after John preached a total life-change. Then Jesus arrived from Nazareth, anointed by God with the Holy Spirit, ready for action. He went through the country helping people and healing everyone who was beaten down by the Devil. He was able to do all this because God was with him.
39-43 “And we saw it, saw it all, everything he did in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem where they killed him, hung him from a cross. But in three days God had him up, alive, and out where he could be seen. Not everyone saw him—he wasn’t put on public display. Witnesses had been carefully handpicked by God beforehand—us! We were the ones, there to eat and drink with him after he came back from the dead. He commissioned us to announce this in public, to bear solemn witness that he is in fact the One whom God destined as Judge of the living and dead. But we’re not alone in this. Our witness that he is the means to forgiveness of sins is backed up by the witness of all the prophets.”
Introduction: Imagine you witnessed the baptism of Jesus. Pretty amazing.
Then you try and tell someone what happened.
“Listen to what happened today.
The son of God was baptized by John. (“Really. John baptized him, not the other way around?”)
The heavens opened and a dove flew down. (Really, a dove, just flew down.”)
A voice from the heavens announces “This is my Son…” (Really, now you’re hearing voices?”)
Tough story to sell.
That’s the challenge Peter has. He has seen the resurrected Christ, but how can he share what he has seen in a meaningful way.
At the end of the passage we read in Acts, he describes himself as a witness.
Move 1: A little bit about witnesses in Acts.
a. We remember that the Book of Acts is a sequel to the Gospel of Luke as the author of Luke writes again to Theophilus to share stories of what has happened since Christ has been raised from the dead.
b. The Gospel of Luke finishes with the post-resurrection stories of Jesus meeting disciples on the road to Emmaus and then eating and revealing himself to them once they arrived in Emmaus.
1. Later gathering with other disciples and even ending some broiled fish.
2. Then Christ ascends to heaven.
3. In those stories at the end of Luke, Jesus calls the disciples “witnesses.”
4. If we look to the opening verses of Acts, we again see the call for the disciples to be witnesses.
c. we are reminded that God has called us to be witnesses.
1. Not experts.
2. not perfect followers.
3. Not theologians who have resolved all the issues of Christology.
4. Witnesses.
d. witnesses who share what they have seen and heard.
1. how God has been present for you.
2. How the Holy Spirit has transformed your life.
3. How following Christ has made a difference in your life.
Like Peter, all we can do is witness to what we have seen.
Move 2: We join together as witnesses.
a. We are not alone as we witness to the resurrected Christ.
1. Eugene Peterson translates the last verse of the passage — “Our witness that he is the means to forgiveness of sins is backed up by the witness of all the prophets.”
2. Peter has the sense that his witness to the resurrected Christ joins with the witness of the prophets in times past and connects to the future witness of Christ’s followers.
3. you are not the only witness; I am not the only witness;
3. we back each other up as we witness.
4. together we create a collage of how the resurrected Christ has impacted our lives.
b. Today we ordain and install ruling elders and deacons.
1. they have been elected to lead the congregation - shape our vision for mission, worship, teaching, and pastoral care.
2. But even more than those tasks, they are called to lead us as together we witness to the world that the resurrected Christ is alive.
3. thus, their first act as ruling elders and deacons will be to serve as we celebrate the Lord’sSupper.
4. You will come to the Table to meet the Risen Christ.
5. when you arrive, a newly installed ruling elder or deacon will look you in the eye and say, “this is the body of Christ, broken for you.”
“This is the blood of Christ, shed for you.”
2. A witness to the risen Christ.
c. Their ongoing task is to lead this congregation as we witness to the world about the God who changed our lives.
1. they are the named leadership in this task for the next three years, but it takes all of us being witnesses to the world.
2. The task is great so we need to back each up.
conclusion: Ron Sider — Imagine for a moment this astonishing, imaginary conversation that Jesus might have had with the archangel Gabriel upon his triumphant return to heaven.
"Well, how did it go?" Gabriel asks Jesus. "Did you complete your mission and save the world?"
"Well, yes and no," Jesus replies. "I modeled a godly life for about thirty years. I preached to a few thousand Jews in one corner of the Roman Empire. I died for the sins of the world and promised that those who believe in me will live forever. And I burst from the tomb on the third day to show my circle of 120 frightened followers that my life and story are God's way to save the whole world. Then I gave the Holy Spirit to those 120 and left them to finish the task:'
"You mean," Gabriel asks in amazement, "your whole plan to save the world depends on that ragtag bunch of' fishermen, ex-prostitutes, and tax collectors?"
"That's right," Jesus replies.
"But what if they fail?" Gabriel persists with growing alarm. "What's your backup plan?"
"There is no backup plan," Jesus says quietly. Ron Sider's book, Living Like Jesus.
We are the witnesses Jesus sends into the world.
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