Sermon for March 27th, 2016

Acts 1:1-11

1In the first book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus did and taught from the beginning 2until the day when he was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. 3After his suffering he presented himself alive to them by many convincing proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God. 4While staying with them, he ordered them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait there for the promise of the Father. “This,” he said, “is what you have heard from me; 5for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”

6So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, is this the time when you will restore the kingdom to Israel?” 7He replied, “It is not for you to know the times or periods that the Father has set by his own authority. 8But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” 9When he had said this, as they were watching, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. 10While he was going and they were gazing up toward heaven, suddenly two men in white robes stood by them. 11They said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up toward heaven? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.”

First Church: Is This the Time?

A Baptist, a Catholic, and a Presbyterian all die in a tragic accident, and are met at the pearly gates by Saint Peter, who tells them they can enter heaven if they can answer one simple question: What is Easter?

The Baptist replies, "Oh, that's easy, it's the holiday in November when everybody gets together, eats turkey, and is thankful..."

"WRONG," replies St. Peter, and turns to the Catholic. What is Easter?

"Is it the holiday in December when we put up a nice tree, exchange presents, and celebrate the birth of Santa Claus?"

"WRONG," replies St. Peter in great disgust. But the Presbyterian just simles, looks St. Pete in the eye, and says:

"Easter is the Christian holiday that coincides with the Jewish celebration of Passover. Jesus and the disciples were eating at the Last Supper, and He was later deceived and turned over to the Romans by Judas, one of the disciples. The Romans took Him to Pontius Pilate, made Him wear a crown of thorns, and He was hung on a cross. He was buried in a nearby cave which was sealed off by a large boulder. Every year the boulder is moved aside so that Jesus can come out, and if He sees his shadow there will be six more weeks of winter."

I'm guessing that the vast majority of you here today are actually quite familiar with the story of Easter, and the resurrection of Jesus Christ. In fact, as I look out at the congregation today, I think it's probably a fair assumption that the vast majority of you are lifelong church-goers, and so you've heard the Easter story dozens of times or more--probably every Easter Sunday stretching back as far as you can remember.

So because we're such an advanced crowd, I'm going to skip forward this year. We're not going to begin with the resurrection of Jesus, but rather what happens in the wake of that resurrection. We ARE going to talk about new life, something at the heart of the Easter story--just not the new life God gave to Jesus, which is where the gospels end. We're going to talk about the new life God gave to the church, and to the people, which is where the book of Acts begins. And we're going to talk about how God continues to give new life to the church and to its people in every generation, including today.

We're going to do this not just today, but throughout the months of April and May as well, as we follow the story of the earliest followers of Jesus in the Book of Acts, and the movement they began, which they called in Greek the ἐκκλησία--literally the "gathering," or as it's usually translated in the Bible, the "Church."

Now, when I arrived here as pastor in 2012, I noticed that members had a curious habit of refering to this congregation as "First Church." That's how we would answer the phones, too: "First Church, may I help you?" Or, "I attend First Church."

I always wondered how the folks at First Baptist Church, or First Christian Church, or Trinity-First Methodist church felt about that. I mean, we were certainly the first Presbyterian church established in El Paso, but not the first church--that honor belongs to the Ysleta mission, which is not only the oldest congregation not only in El Paso, but also in all of Texas.

I suspect that the members of this congregation probably knew that when they called themselves "First Church." I don't think they meant "first" in the chronological sense. "First" can also mean "foremost" in the sense of "best" or "most prominent." And, for much of the 20th century, that was a legitimate claim, if you're counting membership numbers, or influence in the community. Long before the big mega-churches of this century existed, First Presbyterian Church was, throughout the 50s, 60s, 70s, and 80s, the largest church in town, often the wealthiest, and its membership list read like a "Who's Who" in the City of El Paso.

But our numbers today are greatly diminished, and there are plenty of churches who have surpassed us in terms of wealth and influence. Honestly, I'm not sure that being "First" in that sense is all that it's cracked up to be. Over and over again, I hear stories from people in the community who tell me that in those days, when "First Church" was at its height, they did not feel, and could not feel welcome here. Prominence often comes with a price.

In this, I think we have a lot in common with the followers of Jesus in today's scripture passage. When they encounter the resurrected Christ, their very first words, their first question is revealing.

Verse 6: So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, is this the time when you will restore the kingdom to Israel?”

You see, they didn't see themselves as something part of a new movement, but rather as part of a very old one: The Kingdom of Israel. A kingdom that used to be great, powerful, wealthy, and influential. The didn't want a new religion. They wanted Jesus to magically bring back the one they grew up with.

Is this the time, Jesus? We've followed you for three years now, through the wilderness and through the cities, through persecutions and executions. We left our homes and our families...we gave up everything...but now here we are. Here you are, raised from the dead. Is this the time when you'll raise our church from the dead, too? Is this the time when you'll restore our country to the way it used to be? Is this the time when you'll make us great again, too?

These of course, are exactly the sorts of questions we ask all of our would-be-saviors, even today, whether they are religious leaders, business tycoons, or political candidates.

Notice that Jesus does not say, "Yes, now is the time." Nor does he say, "No, now is not the time." Instead, he says, "That's in God's hands, not yours."

But he doesn't leave them completely emptyhanded. He promises them two things: "You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

In other words, there is an amazing future in store for you--but it's not going to look anything like what you were expecting. In fact, your expectations were too small. And you were looking in the wrong direction.

Let's unpack those two promises, as well as the two "course corrections" that Jesus gives his followers, and which, incidentally, are great for us, too.

First, "You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you."

You see, power was exactly what the followers of Jesus wanted. They wanted military power to fight against the Roman Empire and win Israel's independence back again. As mostly poor, undeducated fishermen from the backwoods of Galillee, they also wanted political, economic and religious power to stand up to the Jewish priests in Jerusalem, who controlled access to the Temple, and therefore to God.

But Jesus says to them, in effect, power--real power--doesn't come from strength, or wealth, or status, which in any case are external things. Real power comes from Spirit, which is internal. And not just any spirit, but a holy spirit. When we hear "holy spirit" we think of the third member of the trinity (Father, Son and Holy Spirit) but that doctrine hadn't been invented yet when Acts was written. I think the best way to understand "Holy Spirit" here is a spirit that values what is Holy, what is Sacred, what is set apart from the world.

Second, Jesus promises his followers that "you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."

SPIRIT

ROADS

GENTILES

OUTLOOK Text begins with a look back (in the first book). So will we. Jerusalem --> Judea and Samaria --> the ends of the earth 1st Century Church --> FPC El Paso 1882 --> FPC El Paso 2016 Looking backwards, looking forwards, looking up.