Proclaiming the Good News to a World Hanging in the Balance - A Sermon
Sermon written and delivered by Hannah Shultz at Fayette Presbyterian Church on April 21, 2024.
Acts 4:5-12
5 The next day their rulers, elders, and scribes assembled in Jerusalem, 6 with Annas the high priest, Caiaphas, John, and Alexander, and all who were of the high-priestly family. 7 When they had made the prisoners stand in their midst, they inquired, “By what power or by what name did you do this?” 8 Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Rulers of the people and elders, 9 if we are being questioned today because of a good deed done to someone who was sick and are being asked how this man has been healed, 10 let it be known to all of you, and to all the people of Israel, that this man is standing before you in good health by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead. 11 This Jesus is ‘the stone that was rejected by you, the builders; it has become the cornerstone.’ 12 “There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among mortals by which we must be saved.”
In the liturgical calendar, we are currently still in the season of Easter. We are rejoicing in the knowledge that God’s love has conquered sin and death and that we too will be resurrected one day. Centuries of Christian tradition have taught us how to observe this season and have left us confident in what we can boldly proclaim. However, the disciples in the passage that we read this morning have a very different experience. Christ has risen, but they are still trying to figure out what this means, and more importantly, how to share the good news.
Acts is written in the early days after Christ’s ascension and chronicles how the disciples begin to build the early church and form their identity as followers of Christ. They are starting to take their ministry from Jerusalem into the rest of the Roman Empire. Throughout this book, we hear story after story about how Peter and Paul are presenting the gospel to individuals and groups. And time and time again, they are met with opposition from the same political forces that, not too long before, crucified Christ. The early church is built in a time defined by the forces of empire: it was a time of uncertainty, of political turmoil, and power struggles. Those in charge are desperately trying to maintain their power and riches, often through oppression and violence.
I think we know a little something about what a world like that looks like. In the United States, we are at the beginning of an election year, where two opposing political forces have already begun a several-month-long battle for victory. War rages on in Russia and Ukraine and in the Middle East. Globally, we face the risks associated with changing weather patterns, sea level rise, and the unequal distribution of resources. Our planet bleeds from the same systems and structures that prioritize money and production over sustainability.
We have cut deep into the earth, extracting oil, coal, and natural gas to power our lives. We have left deep scars in coral reefs at the depths of the sea, caused by increased ocean temperatures, rising levels of carbon dioxide, and pollution. We see the marks of overproduction, consumption, and expansion in the trash that piles in our landfills, in the empty spaces where trees once stood, and in the smog-filled sky. We rely on the natural resources that have been gifted to us and know that we have not always been the best stewards of these resources. Over the last century, we have fallen into a deep reliance on fossil fuels, commercial agriculture, and single-use products. As the planet bleeds from the wounds we have inflicted, we know that we are leaving the deepest scars in the most vulnerable of our communities.
This is a world defined by competition, as the control of money and power widens the inequity gap across the globe. Just like the political powers in the early days after Christ’s crucifixion, those in charge are fighting to maintain a status quo that is unsustainable.
Acts is often looked to as a guide for building a thriving Christian church. But, perhaps more importantly, it teaches us how to proclaim the gospel during a time that is hanging in the balance between crisis and hope. The disciples pave a path forward in the midst of turmoil and remind us that God is here, moving in our midst. They preach and teach about a kingdom that is defined by different values and they demonstrate that there is another way to live in this world.
At the beginning of the passage that we read this morning, we find Peter and John standing before the Sanhedrin. This is a legislative and judicial body formed of local elites—members of the high-priestly families, scribes, and lay elders. They have arrested Peter and John for testifying about Jesus. These are the same religious leaders and political powers that recently crucified Christ, and they are NOT happy that Christ’s disciples are still hanging around proclaiming that he is alive. Peter and John have been arrested for healing the sick, preaching the message of Christ’s resurrection, and generally trying to upset the status quo.
The Sanhedrin are trying to squash this movement before it gets any bigger and start to undermine the authority of Peter and John. Remember, the disciples are fishermen, they are ordinary guys with no religious training or political or family status. So the Sanhedrin bring Peter and John before them and ask, “By what power or by what name do you do this?” By what power do you teach, and preach, and heal?
The questioning of Peter and John’s authority is a mechanism meant to weaken, intimidate, and diminish the power of the disciples. This is a question that is asked a thousand different times throughout history by those who try to silence the voices of their opposition, but John and Peter refuse to be intimidated.
Filled with the Holy Spirit, Peter, again, testifies to the power and name of Christ. Jesus is the cornerstone, the source of our salvation. The one that you have crucified is the one who gives us power. He reminds us that spiritual authority is the result of the Holy Spirit working in and through us. There are no credentials required. It is through the power of the Spirit and in the name of Christ, that the disciples are gathering and teaching.
Peter, John, and the other disciples are forming a community that is founded on Christ and Christ’s teachings. Christ shows us how to live differently in the world and the disciples are forming a new church and teaching people what it means to be Christian.
Today, the church continues to be a place where we learn who we are and how to live in this world as followers of Christ. Scripture and stories from our tradition remind us of our role as peace-makers, justice-seekers, and earth-keepers.
In Genesis 1, we learn that God loves the earth that God creates. God’s first act is to create the heavens and the earth. God sweeps over the void and brings about light and life, declaring it very good. Out of the chaos, God forms order and beauty. Then, God creates first light, then sky, sea and dry ground, and vegetation in all forms. God creates the sun and the moon, the stars, sea life and birds, large and small animals. And after everything God says it is good. God blesses the goodness of the earth six times before he even creates humans. God spends the longest time with the rest of Creation. This is a God who takes joy and delights in what he has created.
Then, God creates humans. And the first words that God speaks to us are not about our relationship with each other or our relationship with God. They are actually about our relationship with Creation. God says, “Let us make humans in our image, according to our likeness, and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over the cattle and over all the wild animals of the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.” Our role is that of caretaker. We are called to share in God’s responsibility to the earth and to delight in and care for it as God does. And, as Paul proclaims the power of the Holy Spirit, we are reminded of one of God’s first acts in the second creation account. Made from the dust and dirt of the earth, God fills us with God’s breath of life, and places us in the garden, and tells us to care for it. Caring for and sustaining the earth has always been part of God’s vision for humanity.
And, it’s never been just about caring for the garden, either. In the Old Testament social and ecological justice are intertwined in such a way that, when the command to love one another is broken, both people and the land suffer. When we forget these lessons, the prophets come and teach us about power—the dangers of living in unjust economic and political systems—and our responsibilities toward the most vulnerable in our communities. Jesus reminds us that we are called to be radical truthtellers and bold peacemakers. He shows us that this requires a kind of peacemaking that flips the script—that puts the first last, accepts the outcast and marginalized, and uproots social conventions.
Jesus, and the disciples that form the early church, show us how to be bold leaders in a world that may reject us.
Peter and John are preaching an unpopular, and even dangerous, message. But, even in the face of opposition, they don’t back down. They are loud. They are relentless. They are annoying. They go into the streets, and into neighboring towns, and up to strangers, and they teach and heal and start gathering people. They question authorities, provoke religious leaders, and upset social norms. Peter and John know that what they say matters - words carry enormous power to do good and to sway people to come along with you. They are fighting for the right to speak so that they can influence what happens in the public square.
These early Christian communities were hated by many because they laid bare the world’s brokenness. They showed people how this empire-thirsty world did not care about them. And yet, in the midst of this sorrow and grief, they also offered hope. They remind us that Christ taught us a different way to live. Christ washed his disciples’ feet, told us to care for the least of those in our communities, ate dinner with the social outcast, and turned a few loaves and fish into a feast for the whole community.
Peter and John follow in Christ’s footsteps and begin to organize a movement that offers hope to a world desperately looking for something to hold on to. And the Holy Spirit continues to move in and through us today as we build thriving, rebellious, Christian communities. We know that even when those who oppose us try to silence us, we cannot stay quiet. We don’t need a religious title, or a certain degree, or any specific experience to bear witness. It is through our identity in Christ that we are empowered to show others a different way of living.
We do this when we refuse single-use bottles and plastic bags at the grocery store, when we put solar panels on our homes and churches, and when we walk, bike, or take public transportation. We follow in the footsteps of the early apostles when we hold those in power responsible for their decisions and when we advocate to our elected officials for just policies that will better protect climate-impacted communities. We proclaim hope when we plant seeds in church gardens to grow food for our neighbors and when we plant trees on our properties to reduce the effects of heat and pollution.
Today and everyday, may we take lessons from the apostles about how to be faithful in proclaiming good news to a world that is broken. For we know how this story eventually ends. We are promised a New Creation where both the earth and all its inhabitants will thrive. This is a future where life is abundant, where creation lives in harmony, where the land flourishes, the waters are overflowing, the trees bring forth fruit and provide shade, and justice reigns for ALL of God’s people. This passage helps remind us who we are and who God is. Our first vocation was that of earthkeeper and we are now called back to the garden to restore creation to its original goodness. In a complex and challenging world, may we boldly lead the way, in the confidence of Christ who is the cornerstone.
