Sermon Acts 17:22-31 Proclamation to the Gentiles

Rev. Jeffrey T. Howard

New Covenant Church

Sermon  Acts 17:22-31 Proclamation to the Gentiles

March 21, 2017

I am continuing my sermon series on the Book of Acts.  In the second chapter of Acts, Peter addressed a joyful audience of Jews who had come to Jerusalem to celebrate Pentecost.  He told them that Jesus Christ had been foreseen by the prophets of old.  Many repented and became followers of Jesus.  Then in the seventh chapter of Acts we turned to Stephen whose ministry was born in conflict.  He was called before the religious leaders.  He told them that by killing Jesus they had murdered a prophet just as prophets had been murdered throughout their history.  Both Peter and Stephen spoke to Jewish audiences and used scripture as a foundation to argue that with his resurrection Jesus had fulfilled the prophecies of old and had ushered in something new.

After Stephen’s martyrdom the church in Jerusalem was persecuted.  The church was scattered and pursued by a vicious critic named Saul of Tarsus.   But Jesus got a hold of Saul.  Saul repented and became a masterful Christian speaker and writer.  We know him by his Greek name, Paul.  And today we will accompany Paul as he brings the gospel of Jesus Christ to non-jewish, gentile audience in Athens, Greece.  We will get all this, but first let’s pray.

“Grant unto us, O Lord, to be occupied in the mysteries of thy heavenly wisdom, with true progress in piety, to thy glory and our own edification. Amen.” (John Calvin)

Acts 17:22 Paul then stood up in the meeting of the Areopagus and said: “People of Athens! I see that in every way you are very religious. 23 For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: to an unknown god. So you are ignorant of the very thing you worship—and this is what I am going to proclaim to you.

24 “The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by human hands.25 And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything. Rather, he himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else.26 From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands. 27 God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us. 28 ‘For in him we live and move and have our being.’[a] As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’[b]

29 “Therefore since we are God’s offspring, we should not think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone—an image made by human design and skill. 30 In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent. 31 For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed.He has given proof of this to everyone by raising him from the dead.”

How do we share our faith with those who know little or nothing about what it means to be a Christian?  How do God’s adopted sons and daughters speak the gospel to people for whom words like “grace” and even “sin” may sound like so much gibberish?

When Paul  arrives there, the city is past its heyday as the center of the Western world.  The Athens the apostle visits, however, still excels at philosophy.  It still has two famous schools of philosophy, the Epicureans and the Stoics.  Athens also has the Areopagus, an outcrop of rocks in the center of the city where philosophers gather daily to debate.

Athens’ philosophically savvy citizens sample from a huge buffet of gods and goddesses.  Those meddlesome deities, however, flit in and out of people's’ lives, sometimes helpfully, but often destructively.  What’s more, Athens’ panoply of gods and goddesses can be just as mean and vindictive as any human being.  So the Athenians built many, many shrines, hoping they would appease their fickle gods.

However, by the time Paul visits Athens, this belief in a multitude of different gods is beginning to shrink.  Many Athenians view it all as more myth than religion.  Skepticism is rapidly replacing religion as the chief Athenian virtue.

Doesn’t this sound familiar?  In North America we live and work in a culture that’s skeptical about virtually everything except that which it can scientifically prove.  All values, it insists, are relative, because you can’t prove any of them.

When Paul looks over the similar moral wasteland that is Athens, its splendor doesn’t impress him.  When he looks at famous things like the Parthenon, the Apollo Belvedere and the Elgin Marbles, he simply sees a “city . . . full of idols” (16).  So Paul goes from the synagogue to the Athenian marketplace “reasoning” (17), perhaps arguing with people.

That tactic, however, doesn’t convince everyone.  Some of Athens’ philosophers, after all, call him a “babbler” (18), the Greek word for anyone who didn’t speak Greek.  Essentially they call the apostle a barbarian, a country bumpkin who doesn’t know his right hand from his left.

Other Athenians, however, seem slightly more open-minded, spiritually liberal.  They say, “He seems to be advocating foreign gods” (18).  These people seem to be a lot like some of our contemporaries who are vaguely “spiritual.”

These philosophers invite Paul to speak further at the Areopagus, Athens’ philosophical heart.  It’s the place where many Athenians and tourists spent all their time doing nothing but talking about and listening to the newest ideas.

So does Paul try to soothe the Athenians’ skeptical minds and hearts there?  Or does he condemn their whole religious tradition of a smorgasbord of gods and religions?  After all, this notion of fickle gods and goddesses was the dialectic opposite of the faith of the young Christian church.

Apparently Paul recognizes that denunciation seldom convinces people.  He grasps the fact that he needs some kind of entry into his audience’s thinking.  The apostle realizes that he needs a foothold from which he can open new ways of thinking for his listeners.  So it seems that Paul builds a kind of bridge to his audience.  It’s an example of what some seminaries approvingly like to call “contextualization.”

Paul “contextualizes” his witnessing in Athens’ Areopagus.  He notes that some craftsman had wished to cover all his theological bases.  Not wanting to neglectfully anger a god who had anonymously helped Athens, he had erected a shrine to this “unknown god.”

Pointing to this altar, Paul compliments the Athenians on their spirituality.  He applauds their search for something more meaningful in their lives.  The apostle then, however, notes that he has found the One for whom they’ve been searching.

Paul engages the Athenians in a bit of what we might call “natural theology.”  He points to creation’s beauty and order, suggesting that they point to some kind of higher power.  This higher power, Paul, quoting an Athenian poet, continues, is the Source, the Creator of all humanity.  People can’t, however, insists the apostle, contain such a magnificent God in something they build with their hands.  They can’t even make some kind of image of him.

Let’s think about somehow similarly relating to those who don’t yet know Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.  We might ask ourselves about the unknown gods whom they worship, even if they don’t realize it.

For some people the twentieth century’s two world wars, Holocaust and atomic bomb mortally wounded, if not killed, their god.  So what are the twenty-first century’s surviving “unknown” gods?

For some, it’s just the matter of faith itself.  It doesn’t matter what you believe, many of our contemporaries reason, as long as you really believe in something.  Some of our co-workers, friends and neighbors have made faith itself as the object of their religion.

Another of those unknown gods might be the “spirituality” that is the subject of so many modern conversations.  Though it’s hard to define, spirituality seems to be a vague notion that there’s something intangible beyond us, that material reality isn’t the only reality.  Instead, however, of relating to the living God, people engage in meditation and other relaxation techniques to connect with this higher power.

We understand the longings of people whose gods are unknown.  We, after all, recognize that God created us with those longings.  So when we share our faith, we try to understand those longings even more deeply.  You and I try to build bridges, to form relationships with these people who worship their own gods.

But!!!  To use the bridge analogy, we can build bridges to connect with those who don’t yet believe.  But even our eloquence, even our relationships with them can’t alone convince people to cross that bridge to faith in Jesus Christ.

Look, after all, at what happens to Paul in our text.  After so eloquently relating to things the Athenians understand, he says, “In the past God overlooked such ignorance” (30).  Now, however, God, the apostle adds, has set a day when God will judge us by something higher than our own thinking.  God has proved this just judgment by raising Jesus Christ from the dead.

At this point we can almost hear his audience gasp.  “Whoa!!  You hold on there just a minute, young whippersnapper,” the philosophically savvy Athenians may have snorted.  After all, Paul’s sophisticated Greek audience was right with him while he talked about creation’s beauty and order.  But when his talk turns to this Jesus, a Jew whom people crucified but God raised from the dead, he leaves part of his audience behind.

“When,” after all, “they heard about the resurrection of the dead,” as verse 32 reports, “some sneered.”  Earlier some Athenians had referred to Paul as a country bumpkin.  Now other members of his audience jeer him for talking about a resurrection of the dead.  So, as one biblical scholar notes, one of the greatest speeches in all of the Scriptures ends in mockery.

Paul has spoken to the Athenians about something they can’t naturally even begin to comprehend.  They like to think of themselves as open-minded intellectuals.  Yet the apostle’s audience can’t get beyond what it has experienced and already knows.  It judges his new ideas on the basis of its old ideas.

Here Paul challenges skeptics of all ages to think beyond what some have called “our flattened world.”  Many of our contemporaries believe that only that which we can prove exists.  Since we can only prove that whatever lives eventually dies, talk of resurrection is sheer nonsense to them.

What we have to say to the world, our witnessing, and our confession of Jesus’ name goes beyond our cause-and-effect thinking.  We work hard to relate to, to build bridges with those with whom we share our faith.  Yet you and I must always remember that what we say about Jesus Christ goes beyond common sense.

Our culture tends to caricature Christians as narrow-minded, bigoted ignoramuses who can’t think in complex ways.  That assumption, however, more accurately reflects not the church, but our world.  The gospel, after all, invites us to think about things in a deeper way.

That doesn’t mean that Christianity is irrational, illogical or anti-scientific.  It does mean that our faith doesn’t rely on rationality, logic or scientific proof.  It relies, instead, on God’s revelation of himself to us through his Word and the work of his Holy Spirit.  Only God’s Holy Spirit can graciously convince us of the gospel’s truth.

So as we go out into our world, sharing our faith, just as Jesus calls us to do.  You and I go out into our society confessing Jesus’ name, just as we profess.  Christians build relationships with unbelievers, building bridges of trust and common ground.

Yet we always remember that this opens us up to the same kind of mockery Paul experienced.  Our witnessing always makes us vulnerable to the possibility of experiencing the kind of rejection Jesus endured.

What’s more, even the most eloquent preachers and teachers never rely on our eloquence to draw people to the Lord.  You and I never even rely on the bridges and relationships we build with those who don’t yet believe.  We’re faithful in sharing our faith, but rely on the work of the Holy Spirit to turn our conversations into faith,

I once heard a story about a man named Marv.  By God’s grace and the work of the Spirit, he could eventually turn nearly any ordinary conversation into a discussion of faith.

He always said a key to that was understanding that most people  read three sections of the newspaper first: the comics, the business section and the sports section.  By reading those sections first, my friend could talk to nearly anyone about something that interested him.  That then provided a good bridge to eventually talking with him about the Christian faith.

Let’s pray.  Lord Jesus, every day we encounter people who do not believe.  Many believe faith is foolishness.  Help us to be both courageous and persistent in our witnessing.  And send your Holy Spirit to bring people to faith.  In your precious name we pray.  Amen.

Adapted from:  http://cep.calvinseminary.edu/sermon-starters/easter-6a/?type=old_testament_lectionary#sthash.DQPCQFyo.dpuf

Sermon Acts 7:55-60 Stephen

Rev. Jeffrey T. Howard

New Covenant Church

Sermon  Acts 7:55-60 Stephen

March 14, 2017

I would like to begin this morning by recognizing the mothers in the congregation.  Thank you for raising children to believe in Jesus Christ.  Also thank you to all the children who have joined their mothers in worship today.  I hope that what you see and hear in worship today will bring you closer and closer to God.

I would also like to remember my mother, who raised me and ensure that I was in Sunday school and church every day.  And I remember my grandmother who got down on her knees to pray for me every day.   Neither one would like to see me as a pastor, but I think they may be looking down today.   

Today I will be preaching the fourth in my series of sermons on the first church that the Holy Spirit assembled on the Day of Pentecost, just 50 days after the resurrection of Jesus Christ.  We have already heard the first Christian sermon, preached by Peter, which resulted in the repentance and baptism of 3000 people.  Peter proclaimed with great joy that Jesus’ resurrection from the dead had been foreseen by the prophets of old.  And the new church exhibited great compassion by caring for each other.

Today we will see that first church experienced some growing pains.  Conflicts came into the church through differences in culture that threaten the church’s survival.  Violence erupted among God’s own people.  And an important leader of the church, Stephen, was stoned to death.

It is sad that the church of Jesus Christ would experience conflicts to this degree.  Jesus had always tried to minimize conflict teaching that when someone strikes our cheek we should turn the other one and if a soldier tells us to walk a mile we should walk two.  But somehow conflict in the first church got out of hand.  We will take a closer look at this, but first let’s pray.

“Grant unto us, O Lord, to be occupied in the mysteries of thy heavenly wisdom, with true progress in piety, to thy glory and our own edification. Amen.” (John Calvin)

Stephen’s ministry began in conflict.  The church, in an effort to help widows in the community, was distributing food.  But some of the Greek speaking widows complained that they were being overlooked in favor of the  Aramaic speaking widows.  Here is what happened.

Acts 6:1-5 In those days when the number of disciples was increasing, the Hellenistic Jews[a] among them complained against the Hebraic Jews because their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food. 2 So the Twelve gathered all the disciples together and said, “It would not be right for us to neglect the ministry of the word of God in order to wait on tables. 3 Brothers and sisters, choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom. We will turn this responsibility over to them, 4 and will give our attention to prayer and the ministry of the word.”

5 This proposal pleased the whole group. They chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit

This shows us that there were cultural conflicts within the church.  Some of the new Christians had adopted Greek culture.  They spoke, dressed and acted like Greeks.  Others tried to hold onto their old Hebrew culture.  They spoke Aramaic and dressed and acted like their ancestors.  These two groups often came into conflict.  So it is not surprising that they would bring this conflict into the church.  Stephen was appointed as a deacon to deal with this problem.  The Apostles had come out of Hebraic culture.  So Stephen and other six other Hellenists were appointed to make sure that the Greek speaking widows were properly treated.

But conflict continued in Stephen’s ministry.  The Holy Spirit gave Stephen extraordinary power to heal and cast out demons.  This helped the church grow, but it also attracted opposition from various groups would would argue with him.  

Acts 6:8-10  8 Now Stephen, a man full of God’s grace and power, performed great wonders and signs among the people.9 Opposition arose, however, from members of the Synagogue of the Freedmen (as it was called)—Jews of Cyrene and Alexandria as well as the provinces of Cilicia and Asia—who began to argue with Stephen. 10 But they could not stand up against the wisdom the Spirit gave him as he spoke.

Stephen, with the help of the Holy Spirit, usually prevailed in these arguments, but his opponents were successful in driving up opposition throughout Jerusalem.  The evil one was doing whatever he could to kill the church before it had a chance to multiply into new churches and spread the gospel throughout the world.

We see this sort of conflict today.  Many Christians are comfortable working in the gifts of the Holy Spirit.  Other Christians are more skeptical about these gifts.  Many Christians do not accept miracles today and doubt the validity of so called works of the Spirit.  But many others experience the work of the Holy Spirit and see miracle in own lives.   What we need in the church is discernment, to know what is of the Holy Spirit and what is not.  With discernment conflict can be minimized.

We these conflict happening in Jerusalem, Stephen was brought in to speak with the Sanhedrin.  They suspected that Stephen was preaching against the God of Israel and Moses, and if so he had to be stopped.  Stephen then connected Jesus to the whole sweep of Israel’s history.  (For more information on this talk with one of our Bethel teachers.)  His point in doing this was to show how God’s people had persecuted God prophets throughout history.  And his conclusion was that just as prophets were persecuted long ago, so too was Jesus crucified by the very people he was talking to.   As you might imagine this made them very angry too.

So here was Stephen, a Hellenistic Jew, who had performed signs and wonders, and had accused the religious authorities of killing a prophet of God.  This made the Jewish leaders very angry.  But this wasn’t enough for them to stone Stephen to death.  What happen next did.

Acts 7:15,55-60 15 All who were sitting in the Sanhedrin looked intently at Stephen, and they saw that his face was like the face of an angel.

55 But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God.  56“ Look,” he said, “   I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.”

57 At this they covered their ears and, yelling at the top of their voices, they all rushed at him, 58 dragged him out of the city and began to stone him. Meanwhile, the witnesses laid their coats at the feet of a young man named Saul.  

59 While they were stoning him, Stephen prayed, “  Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.”

60 Then he fell on his knees and cried out,  “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.”

When he had said this, he fell asleep.

Stephen’s face was shining with God’s glory just as Moses’ face lit up after approaching God on Mount Sinai.  Stephen obviously had seen God face to face.  As this occurred Stephen saw a vision of the risen Jesus Christ standing at the right hand of God.  This vision has guided the church for 2000 years.  The implication was clear.  By seeing Jesus standing at the right hand of God, he had seen God, and Stephen’s face glowed having come into God’s presence.   This was too much for the religious leaders to handle.  Stephen was saying the Jesus was God.  From the religious leaders perspective this was blasphemy.  But Stephen, filled with the Holy Spirit, knew that his vision was true.  Jesus is God.  

This first proclamation of the foundation of our faith resulted in Stephen’s death.  He was martyred so that the whole world would know who Jesus really is.  Jesus is God.

As a result of all of this official persecution of the church began, led by an angry pharisee named Saul of Tarsus.  The church fled Jerusalem and was scattered.  But faith in Jesus Christ would not die.  New churches were started.  More and more people repented and were baptized.  Even Saul of Tarsus, the great persecutor of the church, encountered Jesus and received the gift of faith.  The first church, founded by the Holy Spirit, flourished as it brought the good news from Jerusalem into all of Judea and Samaria, just as Jesus had commanded them.

And we, 2000 years later, are still part of this spread of this gospel.  We are called, like the first church, to proclaim that Jesus Christ is our Lord and he was resurrected from the dead.  We take this message to new cultures and new lands.  We do this by talking to our neighbors about our faith here in Middleton and by supporting missionaries around the world.

But we must always remember the church will face opposition.  Like the first church the evil one will try to stop us.  There are those in our culture today who would like to see us disappear.  Christians are being persecuted today in various countries and need our prayers.  But the Lord we follow has given the evil one a fatal blow from the cross.  Death has been defeated.   We no longer have anything to fear.  And so with boldness we go into the world proclaiming that Jesus is Lord.  Let’s pray.

Lord Jesus we thank you for looking down upon us from heaven where you sit at God’s right hand.  We thank you for hearing our prayers and interceding for us with your Father.  Bless us with your Spirit so that our faces will glow.  And especially, bless our mothers on this Mother’s Day.  Amen.

Sermon Acts 2:42-47 “A Compassionate Church”

Rev. Jeffrey T. Howard

Sermon Acts 2:42-47  “A Compassionate Church” 

New Covenant Church

May 7, 2017

            This is my third in a series of sermons drawn from the second chapter of the Book of Acts.   The Holy Spirit had come upon the disciples of Jesus enabling them to read scripture with new eyes.  They understood that the prophets of old had been talking about Jesus all along.  They proclaimed this with great joy to a crowd of believers who had assembled in Jerusalem for the festival of Pentecost.  The crowd, who heard Peter’s message, somehow in their own languages, was moved to respond with repentance and baptism.  This resulted in 3000 converts and the birth of the church.

            This first church was a spiritual church because it was formed by the Holy Spirit.  Today we will look at some of the characteristics of a spiritual church, but first let’s pray.

            “Grant unto us, O Lord, to be occupied in the mysteries of thy heavenly wisdom, with true progress in piety, to thy glory and our own edification. Amen.” (John Calvin)

            Let’s begin our look at the first church and see what they did.

Acts 2:42  They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. 

            So the program for the first church was to gather together to listen to the apostle’s teaching.  Eventually they would do this weekly on Sunday mornings, the day of resurrection, before going to work.  They would gather in someone’s home and Peter or one of the other disciples would read from a Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible and explain it as being fulfilled in the work and person of Jesus Christ.  After work on Sunday they would once again gather in someone’s home to eat supper together and remember that Last Supper when Jesus gathered his disciples for a meal just before his death and resurrection.  And so we see from this the beginnings of preaching, teaching, fellowship, and celebrating the sacraments of Communion and Baptism.  These remain the marks of a spirit filled church.  And we are still doing all these things 2000 years later, here at New Covenant.  And so we too are a Spirit filled church.

            So let’s turn now to what was happening in this first church when they gathered together.

⁴³ Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. 

            So, we see that these apostles were filled with the Holy Spirit and able to continue to do what Jesus did, healing the sick and casting out demons.   There are those who think that miracles ended long ago.  But I have seen prayers answered.  I have seen the Holy Spirit do some amazing things that just can’t be explained.  So I think the Holy Spirit is still here to empower us.  And that is good news, because we can pray for miracles when we need them with the expectation that God still performs miracles in our day.

            As the followers of Jesus Christ continued to meet in the first church, they were moved to respond.  And here is what they did.

⁴⁴ All the believers were together and had everything in common. ⁴⁵ They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. ⁴⁶ Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, ⁴⁷ praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.

            The members of the first church were moved to care for each other and the people in their community.  They had compassion for the poor, the needy, the widow and the orphan, and gave generously to care for them.  They became a compassionate church.  And this led directly to the growth of the church.

            Today is Compassion Sunday, and you have heard about the children being cared for by Compassion International.  I urge you, like the first church, to be compassionate and care, out of your resources, for at-risk children around the world. 

            Over sixty years ago, the Reverend Everett Swanson went to South Korea to minister to U.S. troops fighting the Korean War.  As he did his work in Korea, he became increasingly concerned about children, orphaned and abandoned, as a result of the war.  One day he saw a worker scoop up what looked like a pile of rags and put it in the back of a truck.  When he looked closer he realized that these were not rags, but the frozen bodies of Korean children who had died overnight on the streets.  Rev. Swanson was moved to act.  He established a Christian orphanage in Korea and funded it with a unique appeal to American Christians to sponsor individual children providing them with Bible based education, food, clothing and shelter for just a few dollars a month.  Compassion International was born and continues to this day.  (https://www.compassion.com/history.htm)

            I urge you to support the work of Compassion International.  Sponsor a child who needs to know that someone cares.  Help to provide at-risk kids with Christian education, food, clothing and shelter.  God has blessed you richly.  Christ told you to love your neighbor.  The Holy Spirit empowers us to be a compassionate church.   So with compassion, sponsor a child who needs your love.

            Let’s pray.  Father in heaven, like the first church we hear the Word of God read and proclaimed and we break bread together.  And bless us with compassionate hearts so that we may care for others in need.  This we pray in the name of Jesus Christ.  Amen.  

Sermon – Acts 2:14, 36-41 Repentance and Baptism

Rev. Jeffrey T. Howard

Sermon – Acts 2:14, 36-41 Repentance and Baptism

New Covenant Church

April 30, 2017

    Last week we went to the Book of Acts to hear Peter’s preach the first Christian sermon.  The occasion was the coming of the Holy Spirit.  The Spirit opened their eyes to understand that the prophets in their holy scripture had predicted what they had seen and heard from Jesus.  They realized that King David had said that his descendant would rise from the dead.  Jesus did this proving that he was the Messiah and leading us to eternal life.  And David had said that his descendant would rule from the right hand of God.  Jesus ascended to that position and rules as our Lord.  This understanding of who Jesus is was a gift of the Holy Spirit to those who knew or knew about Jesus and had meditated on God word.  This understanding is also offered to us as we worship, pray, and read scripture.  Jesus becomes our Messiah and Lord.  

When the people heard Peter’s message it was so powerful they knew that they needed to respond.  But in what way?  What is the proper response when we hear this good news?  We will get to this, but first let’s pray.

    “Grant unto us, O Lord, to be occupied in the mysteries of thy heavenly wisdom, with true progress in piety, to thy glory and our own edification. Amen.” (John Calvin)

    On the Day of Pentecost the disciples of Jesus were in a upper room.  The Holy Spirit came upon them to open their eyes to understand that scripture had foretold the events of Jesus’ life they had witnessed.  This caused them to experience great joy.  Others saw them and asked what had happened.  So Peter began to speak showing them that the Prophet Joel and King David had both prophesied concerning Jesus.  This filled the crowd with joy and the desire to respond in some meaning way.  Here is what Peter told them to do.

Acts 2:14 Then Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice and addressed the crowd: “Fellow Jews and all of you who live in Jerusalem, let me explain this to you; listen carefully to what I say. Your sons and daughters will prophesy,

36 “Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah.”

37 When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?”

38 Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.”

40 With many other words he warned them; and he pleaded with them, “Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.” 41 Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day.

    The proper response to a proclamation of the goods news that Jesus is our Lord and Messiah, according to the Apostle Peter is to repent and be baptized.  Let’s look at these.

    Repentance is often confused with another word, obedience.  Obedience means that we learn what Jesus wants us to do through reading scripture and prayer and we do it.  Obedience is important, but before this occurs something else must happen.  And this something else is called repentance.

According to Peter repentance is when we go from crucifying Jesus to worshiping him as our Messiah and Lord.  The people he was speaking to had been part of a nation whose religious leadership had conspired with the Romans to crucify Jesus.  But I don’t think that Peter is talking crucifixion in this literal sense.   Rather he speaking figuratively.  People crucify Jesus by ignoring him and thinking that he really just doesn’t matter.  You hear this all the time from people who don’t go to church.  They see no reason at all to come to church because for them Jesus is irrelevant.  This is the attitude of someone who has crucified Jesus in their own lives.  Repentance would mean that these people change from not thinking about Jesus to embracing him as Messiah and Lord.  When seen this way repentance is a big thing. It is a complete reorientation of your life.  Without repentance your lead your life without Jesus in it.  After repentance you fully embrace Jesus as your Lord and receive the promise of eternal life from your Messiah.

    Repentance is not something we can do by ourselves.  Someone sitting in Starbucks this morning with a cup of coffee and a newspaper is unlikely to suddenly accept Jesus as their Lord and Messiah and have a burning desire to join us in church.  This could happen, but usually it doesn’t happen this way.  What does happen, most of the time, is like this.  A person without Jesus meets someone who has repented and now has Jesus as the most important things in his or her life.  The follower of Jesus tell this person his testimony of what Jesus has done for them.  Then the follower of Jesus invites this unrepentant person to church or a Bible study or a prayer group or something like that.  As the unrepentant person hears the word of God read and proclaimed and studied and prayed over something happens.  The Holy Spirit acts upon this person’s heart and brings him into a relationship with Jesus.  And repentance occurs.  

    So when you meet someone who doesn’t have Jesus in their lives just talk with them.  Be open and truthful about what Jesus has done for you.  And invite this person to worship or a Bible study so that they can encounter Jesus for themselves.  At this church we have worship and Christian education opportunities every Sunday morning.  And this week I will be starting Bible studies every Tuesday morning and Thursday night.   All you have to do is to come yourselves and invite people to come with you who need to encounter Jesus for themselves.   We will let the Holy Spirit take it from there.

We can see all this happening in the earlier reading from Luke.  Two people who had known and followed Jesus had seen Jesus crucified and were now returning home to a life without Jesus.  But they were remembering what Jesus said and did.  And they came to realize that Jesus was right there with them.  When you invite people to worship, or a prayer group or a Bible study the Holy Spirit will lift them up into a encounter with Jesus.  And with that experience repentance begins and a new person begins to follow Jesus as Messiah and Lord.

As you can see repentance is very different from obedience, but they are related.  With repentance someone who does not have Jesus in her life changes into someone who follows Jesus.  And when someone begins following Jesus they experience a strong desire to obey him.  So evangelism is never about telling people that they must obey Jesus.  If you tell people that they will ignore you and never find Jesus.  But if you invite people to know more about Jesus, then the Holy Spirit will lead them through repentance into obedience.  Repentance, accepting Jesus into your lives, always precedes obedience of Jesus’ commands.  Obedience is always a response to the blessings we receive from a relationship with Jesus.

When a person hears the word of God in worship, prayer and Bible study they receive that gift of repentance from the Holy Spirit and are blessed with a relationship with Jesus.  What then would be an appropriate response to all of this?  How should we respond when the Holy Spirit brings us to Jesus?  Well, the appropriate response is Baptism.  In Baptism, according to Peter, we receive forgiveness of sin and the Holy Spirit.  These are wonderful gifts. Let’s look at each of these.

Some people who are developing a new relationship with Jesus may be concerned about what they did or did not do before Jesus came into their lives.  The good news is that there is nothing to worry about.  When you repent and accept Jesus into your lives Jesus will forgive all that you did.  You relationship with Jesus always begins with a fresh start.  This is symbolically represented in Baptism by passing under the water.  This passage means, figuratively, that you have drowned to sin and emerged from the waters to new life.  This forgiveness and new life is so beneficial to us that we respond in gratitude with obedience.  It also means that no one has to clean up their lives before coming to Jesus.  Jesus will forgive what you have done and in your new life you will have ample opportunities for obedience.  So there is nothing to worry about.  Just repent, accept Jesus into your life and everything else will be taken care of.

Baptism is also a sign of our reception of the Holy Spirit.  If we have repented and accept Jesus in our lives then we know that the Holy Spirit with us.  Repentance would not be possible without the Holy Spirit.  So as you develop a relationship with Jesus the Holy Spirit is there is nurture and guide you.  You will experience the Holy Spirit as scripture is read and proclaimed and studied and prayed upon.  The Holy Spirit will help you to understand what scripture is saying and how to apply it to your lives.  So don’t ever let someone tell you that you don’t have the Holy Spirit because you sing hymns, or because you don’t speak in tongues.  You do have the Holy Spirit if you have the gift of faith and have repented accepting Jesus into your lives.  When we are baptized we are reminded of Jesus’ baptism with the Holy Spirit coming upon him as dove from heaven.  Likewise in Baptism we too receive the Holy Spirit and all the gifts the Holy Spirit brings.

Peter wants us to know that children should also be baptized.  The reason for this is simple.  If God places a child in a family with repentant parents then we can be assured that God will also give repentance to that child.  And so we baptize infants into a church and a family that promises to nurture them in the faith.  And we ask those children when they grow up to confirm their baptisms with a public profession of their faith.

Baptism is only the beginning of new life in Jesus Christ.  With Jesus in your life as Messiah and Lord, with all your sins forgiven, and with the Holy Spirit empowering you there is no limit what you can do to advance the kingdom of God.  And remember that you are baptized into a church, a community of the faithful.  This allows you to be nurtured in the word of God, and serve God’s kingdom with others.  This is the best way to do it.

I was baptized as an infant.  Both of my parents were repentant believers with relationship with Jesus.  They brought me for baptism in the church they attended and then saw to it that I attended church and Sunday school every week until I turned 18.  Like many people I was rebellious and turned away from Jesus and the church.  But Jesus still loved me.  The Holy Spirit still nurtured me. And when my mother died and I need more comfort and strength I went back to church.  There as I was nurtured in the word of God I became closer and closer to Jesus.  And eventually Jesus revealed his true calling on my life to be a pastor.   As a pastor I love nurturing you in the word of God through the liturgy and sermon I prepare each week and through the Bible studies I lead.  I enjoy watching you as Jesus grabs hold of you and reveals the ministry he is calling each you to do.  So let me help you discern where Jesus leading you.

So, if you do not currently have a relationship with Jesus I urge you to come to church and learn as much about the Bible and Jesus as you can.  Through this you will be given the gift of repentance and you will begin to experience the fruits of a relationship with Jesus.  As you grow in this relationship you will desire to be obedient to Jesus, study his word, pray and worship.  All of this is available right here at New Covenant Church.  Let’s pray.

Father in Heaven we ask this day for the gift of repentance for all who have excluded Jesus from their lives.  Help us to be part of your work through our worship, Bible studies, and everything we do as church.  Help us to grow in faith as your Spirit nurtures us in your word.  All this we pray in the name of your son, our Messiah and Lord, Jesus. Amen.