Reflections on “Ordinary and Uneducated” Acts 4: 13-22

Another sermon that I had preached the text previously.  Because of that, when I read the text "uneducated and ordinary" jumped out at me because it had been the focus of a previous sermon (and apparently a sermon I enjoyed since I remembered the focus of it years later).  It led to me focusing on the same phrase, although I expanded the sermon quite a bit.  I enjoyed preaching the sermon, which sometimes equates to it being well-received.

As I heard the I John passage read by the liturgist, I realized that the common theme between it and the Acts passage was probably intended to be boldness.  I think that could be a really good sermon as well.  Maybe next time.

“Ordinary and Uneducated”  Acts 4: 13-22; I John 3: 16-24; April 22, 2018, SAPC, Denton

Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John and realized that they were uneducated and ordinary men, they were amazed and recognized them as companions of Jesus. 14 When they saw the man who had been cured standing beside them, they had nothing to say in opposition. 15 So they ordered them to leave the council while they discussed the matter with one another. 16 They said, “What will we do with them? For it is obvious to all who live in Jerusalem that a notable sign has been done through them; we cannot deny it. 17 But to keep it from spreading further among the people, let us warn them to speak no more to anyone in this name.” 18 So they called them and ordered them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. 19 But Peter and John answered them, “Whether it is right in God’s sight to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge; 20 for we cannot keep from speaking about what we have seen and heard.” 21 After threatening them again, they let them go, finding no way to punish them because of the people, for all of them praised God for what had happened. 22 For the man on whom this sign of healing had been performed was more than forty years old.

Introduction:  The authorities are annoyed with Peter and John.

annoyed with their message about Jesus and resurrection.

annoyed that crowds are gathering and giving them attention.

annoyed that they are performing notable sign.

and perhaps what annoys them the most is that when they look at Peter and John, they see uneducated and ordinary men doing these things.

how annoying, if Peter and John are going to speak a message that people want to hear, they should be educated, be great orators, and look the part.  They could not even come up with a realistic argument.  Resurrection.  Everyone knows that’s not true.

How annoying.  if they are going to perform notable signs like healing a the lame man, shouldn’t they have some aura of greatness about them?

how annoying.  if the crowds are going to be attracted to people, they should be attracted to powerful people of authority.  shouldn’t Peter and John have some identifiable characteristics of great leadership.

How annoying - they are just uneducated and ordinary men causing this ruckus.

Move 1:  Careful how we view others.

a.  In the fascinating book Blink, the author describes that intuitive knowledge we have that allows us to make first impressions. 

Sometimes our intuitive knowledge is accurate – 

But, sometimes we make what the author calls “The Warren Harding Error” Warren G. Harding “Many people who looked at Warren Harding saw how extraordinarily handsome and distinguished-looking he was and jumped to the immediate --- and entirely unwarranted – conclusion that he was a man of courage and intelligence and integrity.”

a.  The leaders, priests, authorities who examined Peter and John had something like a Warren G. Harding experience, although in the opposite direction. 

1.  They meet Peter and John and all they see are two men who are uneducated and ordinary.

2.  Hardly a compliment.  Not much of a calling card.

3.  But with that description Peter and John join a long list of people of God who did not give off the best first impressions.

4.  Abraham and Sarah - laughed at the wrong times; doubted God; lied to others when they did not trust God;  Abraham and Sarah - duplicitous and unfaithful

5.  Moses - tried to refuse leadership role; had anger issues; not a very good public speaker.  We might say Moses was unwilling and lacking.

6.  Prophet Amos --  Country bumpkin; liked to talk; stranger from out-of-town; in summary, preachy and backward.

7. Or Jonah – makes up fish stories; runs away from responsibility; sits around and pouts – we might call Jonah irresponsible and pouty.

8. Or Mary – awfully young; hears voices in the night; rumor has it she is a bit promiscuous;  we might describe her as young and impressionable

9. Or Peter – not just ordinary and uneducated, but rash, quick-tempered, cannot be counted on in a crisis;  ordinary and uneducated – yes; but also rash and undependable -- yes

c.  Think about the first impressions we might make as disciples of Christ

1.  the Sunday school teacher is always late to class and talks and talks and talks – tardy and boring

9. That man who volunteers with Hearts for Home is out-of-shape and keeps hitting his own fingers with the hammer – fat and clumsy.

9.  The ODB  volunteer hardly smiles and is always running around and clean up spills – grumpy and overbearing.

10.  That young kid who brings his friends to church always shows up late and keeps getting text messages – immature and unfocused.

11.  The people of God too often are, well, people God has chosen who have all the human failings and shortcomings that are easily spotted.

Move 2:  Are Peter and John uneducated and ordinary and uneducated - maybe; but more than that, are they serving God - definitely.

a.  If we go back a few verses from the passage we read in Acts this morning, we are told that Peter was filled with the Holy Spirit.

1.  First time we are told that about Peter.

2.  Gives us a different perspective.

3. I’m not even sure what exactly it means to be filled with the Holy Spirit; we can save that conversation until Pentecost

b.  But, when we read what Peter and John are doing, it occurs to me that being filled with the Holy Spirit might be a way of describing their focus.

1.  their focus on serving Christ and their insistence on sharing the good news.

2.  they understand that what they do is not about them.  

3. it is not about who they are or their talents and abilities as perceived by others; it is about the Risen Christ and what God can do in people’s lives.

4.  the point is not whether Peter and John are educated or uneducated or ordinary or great;;  

3.  the point is their willingness to give themselves over to following Christ in the world.

c.  And, by the way, they are doing a pretty good job of serving Christ.

1.  Look at who is standing next to them — the lame man who now walks.

2.  The religious authorities may label Peter and John as uneducated and ordinary, but their actions reveal the Risen Christ and invite others to new life.

4. notice that when the religious authorities threaten Peter and John and then ordered them not to speak or teach about Jesus, Peter and John sort fo shrug their shoulders and say, “we don’t know whether what we are doing it right; you’re the ones who are the religious authorities; all we know is that we cannot keep from telling people what we have seen and offering people new life.”

3.  Peter and John are defined not by the first impressions, not by their human weaknesses the religious authorities see in them; no, they are defined solely by their desire to serve the Risen Christ.

d.  consider what that means for each of us.

1. Beyond the warning of labeling others, it means that God invites each of us to participate in the revealing of Christ and the transforming of lives.

2. more than an invitation; God sends us into the world, by the power of the Holy Spirit, to serve Christ and tell people what we have seen and heard about the Risen Christ.

Move 3:    I met one of the heroes of my faith journey when I was getting out of seminary.  

Leslie and I had several opportunities to visit with Pastor Nominating committees and visit the communities the churches served.

Two of the visits happened back-to-back over a short period of time.

a.  First visit was to AR – they put us up in a really nice hotel with a view of downtown Little Rock; they wined and dined us, culminating with lunch at a big country club in Little Rock where former President Clinton had been a member while governor of AR; 

The final piece was when the chair of the Nominating Committee took me aside and told me that he always had tickets to the SEC basketball tournament and a seat on his jet if the minister liked basketball – powerful and impressive.

b.  Then, I arrived at the airport in Lexington, KY; I was met by two members of the Nominating Committee, who it became clear were sent because they were the retired members of the committee who had time on their hands;  they wined and dined me for lunch at the buffet at Shoney’s; 

1.  After a visit at the presbytery office, we were ready for the 40 minute drive to Mt. Sterling.

2.  Jack, the older man dressed in khaki work pants and a khaki work shirt that I would later learn was his daily wardrobe as a farmer, mentioned that it was time to drive to Mt. Sterling, but he had a problem.  

3.  This was his nap time and he was going to fall asleep whether he was driving or not.  Then, the older woman says, with shaking hands, she is not comfortable driving someone else’s car.  

4.  After a long pause, realizing there was only one option left, I volunteer to drive.   I climb into the driver’s seat of the old, somewhat rusted Nissan Sentra and begin the drive to Mt. Sterling. 

5.   I stare in the rearview mirror and see jack snoring away.  Was I in a dream, or was this really my introduction to the Nominating Committee.  First impression – old and unremarkable.

Six years later when I left Mt. Sterling, Jack had stood beside me as the elder for my three daughters’ baptisms; he had filled by sermon illustration folder with example after example of what it meant to be a humble, faithful disciple of Christ was;  h

when Leslie and I returned years later to attend his funeral service,  at this death for his memorial service, the minister used the text when Jesus tells Peter that he would be the rock on which the church was built and described how Jack had been the rock on which everyone in the church had depended.

Old and unremarkable – yes;  but when I think of him, I see a witness to the resurrected Christ.

What will people see in you?

Belated reflections on "Is It Time?" April 8, 2018

The week after Easter, and we are were welcoming new members, coming to our Lord's Table, and reaffirming the baptismal covenant in worship.   Lots of liturgy led to a short sermon.  I treated the liturgical pieces as "live" sermon illustrations.  

Mixing water from the river Jordan was really cool.  One of our confirmands saw the pitcher beforehand and asked why we were using lemonade (water discolored by Jordan water) for baptism!  

”Is It Time”   St. Andrew, Denton; 4/8/18; Reaffirmation of Baptismal vows; new members; communion; Easter Sunday; Mark 16: 9-20

Introduction: We read the added part fo the Gospel of Mark. 

Original gospel finished with the empty tomb.  Later writers filled in the things that happened after the empty tomb.

That is our task - to fill in what happens after the empty tomb.

After the glorious worship with music that gave us glimpses of resurrection power; after the celebration of resurrection.  

What do you do after Easter?

Move 1:  Short sermon.  the sermon illustrations the things that follow the sermon, which give us a glimpse of what to do after the resurrection.are the joining of members.

a.  Recognizing new members.

1.  they don’t have to do this.  

1. In Presbyterian fashion, they have already been received into membership by the Session.

2.  We recognize them in part so you can literally recognize them; put faces to names.

3. But mostly, we go through this ritual to remind ourselves of what binds us together - our own professions of faith in jesus Chirst.

4. Be reminded that we join together to be the body of Christ — we are the ones who continue the ongoing work of the Risen Christ.

b.  Speaking of which, you will hear a Minute for Mission inviting you to participate in a  mission project.

1. may not be your thing.

2.Date may not be available - but it reminds us we respond.

c. come to our Lord’s Table.

1. made a decision not to mix resurrection and communion last week.

2.  But the empty tomb speaks directly to the celebration of our Lord’s Supper.

3.  If Christ is not resurrected, the words of initiation are long forgotten words.

4.  This table is where we meet the Risen Christ. 

c.  Reaffirmation of baptismal vows.

1. Water from River Jordan.

2. We are claimed and sent.

Move 2:  it was Easter morning at the church I served in KY.  I had been serving there for a couple of years.  

As I expected, the sanctuary was packed.  Lots of people that were not usually there.  Most of them I knew – either as members of the congregation who did not make it to church very often or people from around the town.

But over on the left side of the sanctuary was a younger man and woman with two young girls.  Presumably husband and wife.   I did not know them, nor did I recognize them.  That caught my attention, I suppose, as well as the fact that their youngest daughter looked just a year or two older than my young child Caitlin.

As they leave, the man introduces himself, his wife and his two daughters to me.  Then, he looks me in the eye and says quite sincerely, “It's time we started going to church. We'll see you next week.”

I said something like, “That will be great.” 

what I really wanted to say was, “Yeah right.”  It had not taken me too Easter services to hear the promises to return, all the while knowing that the next Sunday would arrive as the one of the poorest attended Sundays of the year.  

but, lo and behold, a week later he and his family were there.  

And the week after that, they were there.

And I suspect that over the next four years or so that I served that congregation that family was in worship as many weeks, if not more.

I wish I could say it was the sermon that Easter morning that inspired them to change their Sunday morning habits, but I suspect it was not.  

Maybe it was hearing the story of Christ's resurrection and desiring to connect to the power of the living Christ.

I never did find out the rest of the story.  

I did ask him a few times.  In fact, on our move to TX from OH, Leslie and I stopped for worship in KY.  I saw him and  asked him again.  

He always has the same smile and the same answer, “it was time.” 

Conclusion:  Christ is Risen.  Now is the time.

Reflections on "Staring and Waiting" Acts 3: 1-16

Sermon went ok. I had preached this text a few weeks ago, and the whole sermon focused on the waiting part aspect, but with a little bit different approach.  This time as I studied the text, I was really interested in the staring going on in the text, so the sermon started from that perspective.  But, the waiting part still seemed important, so I worked it so both parts could fit in the sermon.  Not sure if it felt more like two sermons or if the two sections flowed together.

The sermon preparations reminded me why I do not use weekly lectionary commentaries where the theme of the sermon is laid out for the preacher.  once I read the commentaries theme, that's all I see, much like this week I had waiting on my mind, so it had to be part of the sermon.  Perhaps I could have expanded the staring section and made it the whole sermon.

“Staring and Waiting” SAPC, Denton; April 15, 2018; Acts 3: 1-16

11 While he clung to Peter and John, all the people ran together to them in the portico called Solomon’s Portico, utterly astonished. 12 When Peter saw it, he addressed the people, “You Israelites,[b] why do you wonder at this, or why do you stare at us, as though by our own power or piety we had made him walk? 13 The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, the God of our ancestors has glorified his servant[c] Jesus, whom you handed over and rejected in the presence of Pilate, though he had decided to release him. 14 But you rejected the Holy and Righteous One and asked to have a murderer given to you, 15 and you killed the Author of life, whom God raised from the dead. To this we are witnesses. 16 And by faith in his name, his name itself has made this man strong, whom you see and know; and the faith that is through Jesus[d] has given him this perfect health in the presence of all of you.

introduction:  Lots of staring and waiting going on in this story.

What it means to be Easter people, to be an Easter church.

Move 1:  First, the staring.

a.  Peter stares at the man.  John stares at the man.

1. probably not the first two people to stare at the man laying daily at the Beautiful Gate on the way to and from the Temple in Jerusalem.

1.  the man had been lame from birth.

2.  his friends bought him daily to lie there and ask for alms.

3.  Sounds like a pretty good place to wait - people are going in the gate to the Temple and coming out from the Temple.  Maybe they were in the mood to take pity on him and give him a coin or two.

4. I suspect that many people who walked through those gates stared at him.

5.  We teach our kids not to stare at others.

“Don’t stare.  It will make the person uncomfortable,” we tell them.

6.  Maybe it makes us uncomfortable.

7. if we avoid eye contact, maybe we do not make the person feel bad.  But, if we avoid eye contact, maybe we avoid  a feeling of responsibility? 

8. Peter and John stare.  No avoiding the man.

b.  Then, Peter commands the man to stare at him.

1.  the lame man stares back

2. Surely this exchange of stares will be worth a little bit of silver or gold.

3.  Peter surprises him - no silver, no gold; but, he reaches down, takes the man’s right hand, and in the name of Jesus Christ, he helps heals the man and lifts him up to walk. 

c.  The tex may not tell us explicitly, but w know lots of staring going on now.

1. Everyone who see the mans stares at him.  They are astonished.  how can the lame man be walking?

2. When they are done staring at the lame man who can now walk, they stare at Peter and john.

3.  Peter calls them on it.  “Why do you stare at us?”  

“Do you think it is by our power or our piety we made him walk?”

It is not what we did.  It is what God has done through Christ.

4.  the point is not Peter and John; the point is Jesus Christ and the amazing things that are done in his name.

d.  A clue for us as Easter people, as the Easter Church.

1. It is not about what we can do.  It is about what God is doing.

2.  The Easter story  is not a story that begins with God raising Christ from the dead and then moves on to what we can do because of our talents, or gifts, or desires.

3. the story of resurrection is about the God who raises Jesus from the dead and then sends people like us into the world to empowered to participate in what the Risen Christ is doing in our midst and witness to the Risen Christ.

4.  if people stare at us because of what we have done or said, we need to be like deflector shields - deflects their stares away from us toward Christ.

5.  Giving new life and new hope in the name of Jesus Christ may cause people to stare, but when they do, we need to point beyond ourselves to the God of resurrection.

Move 2:  the story is about waiting as well.

a. this day for the lame man begins just like many days before.

1. The lame man waits for people to come and get him to take him to the Beautiful gate.

2.  The lame man waits all day propped up outside the gate.

3. he waits and hope for some alms. 

4.  He waits for whomever will give him whatever, and he waits to be taken from place to place.

4.  His life is defined by these endless days of waiting.

b.  We know about waiting.

1.  Think of how many times we wait in life.

2.  most of us could tell a story or two about waiting.

3.  Or waiting for something in our lives to change or happen.

“I was waiting in line at the grocery store, and ….”

“I have been waiting to hear about that job application….”

c.  From a Christian perspective, we know about waiting.

1.   In some ways we are defined by it.

2. We move through each day waiting and hoping that God is going to sort things out one day.

3. We celebrate the Lord’s Supper and proclaim Christ’s resurrection until he comes again.

4. We may have lost the sense of urgency the early church had as they waited, but still we live and wait for God to be at work.

c.   We also know that we are called to be at work while we wait.

1.  peter and John would have been like the rest of the early church that believed Jesus would return again in the near future.

2. But they were not sitting around waiting - they were out among the people, healing and telling them about Jesus Christ. 

  3. In fact, the Risen Christ gives the disciples tasks to do while they for him to come again. 

4.  From the Great commission in Matthew to Christ’s famous command in John, “Feed my sheep,” the followers of Christ are called to work.

5.  Immediately following the healing of the lame man, Peter begins preaching to the crowds about Christ’s death and resurrection.

d.  our story as Easter people and the Easter church is about waiting for the next resurrection moment.

1.  Every once in awhile our waiting is interrupted.

1.  this particular day, the lame man’s waiting for a miracle comes to an end.

2.  In an instance, at Peter’s command, his waiting ends.

3.  Peter and John could not give him silver or gold, but in the name of Christ, they could heal him.

4. his daily waiting has been interrupted with a clear example of God’s power to resurrect.  

5.  That is our life as Easter people - waiting and working until that next moment resurrection moment when God transforms the moment and gives new life.

5. When I lived in KY, there was a cave-in at one of the mines in Eastern KY. 

Hundreds of tons of rock and coal burying Joe and four other workers in the cave.

Help immediately arrived from all over.  They began to dig feverishly, working in shifts around the clock to get through to those buried in the mine.

The work was hard, but the worst of it was the all the waiting.  Everyone had to wait…. rescuers who could only move as fast as they could and still be safe…. the media who covered the story, waiting for the next piece of news to report…. the people who watched the news, waiting for the next news break to interrupt their regularly scheduled shows…. Families of those trapped, waiting for news of loved ones…workers trapped waiting deep inside the mine.

They had enough oxygen to last awhile so they could breath.  At first they had the lights on their helmets to see, but after about 8 hours the batteries began to wear down.  The light began to fade. Soon they were in total darkness.

So they waited in the dark.  

After they were rescued, one of the men who had been rescued from the cave said that the hardest thing was waiting for the return of the light.  He said all he could think about was anticipation of the light.  Just to be able to see light.  His eyes filled with tears as he recalled what it felt like when he had first seen the light.  He said:  “It felt like I was in a grave, and when the light broke in, it invited me back to life.”

6.  Easter is one of those glorious moments when we see the light.

7. Then, we wait and work until the next resurrection moment.

conclusion:  We are Easter people and part of the Easter church.  We work and wait not for what we can do, but for those moments when the God of resurrection is revealed and we can point to God and say, “In the name of Jesus Christ.”

Amen.