Chapter Two
The Presbyterian preacher and theologian, Frederick Buechner once wrote, “Here is the world. Beautiful and terrible things will happen. Don’t be afraid.”
Those of us who breathed a sigh of relief at the end of 2020 may be feeling that we exhaled a bit prematurely after what we saw in the first week of 2021. We saw a demonstration in Washington turn into an assault on our legislature and blood in our Capitol. One Capitol police officer, Brian Sicknick from South River, NJ, was killed by the mob after being bludgeoned to death with a fire extinguisher. I’m sure for most of the people there, it was simply a demonstration that got out of hand. But for others, the ones who came prepared, with weapons, body armor, and flex cuffs… well… they knew what they were doing. And what they did shocked and horrified America.
And, I’m sorry to say, I did see a few individuals on my own social media feeds who greeted the tragedy with blame-shifting, with whatabout-ism, with false equivalencies… even some with celebration. And I know that Christ calls each of us into ministries of reconciliation. But if we weren’t already aware, I think Wednesday’s events show us that reconciliation is going to take more than nice words and platitudes. There are deep, dark divisions between us as a people. And we don’t know yet if the Capitol riot was a last hurrah for people who are obviously angry and grieving, and in no small amount of denial, or a sign of things to come.
We will pray for peace. But with peace must come justice.
We will pray for forgiveness. But with forgiveness must come atonement.
We will pray for a renewal of national unity. But with unity must come, if not agreement, then trust, and the confidence that can act in good faith together.
I titled this sermon, “Chapter Two,” because, to me, it feels like we are turning a page as a country. We’re turning the page in a book we haven’t read yet, because we haven’t been down this road before. We don’t know what our future holds. But let’s look at the scripture.
The scripture reading from Acts gives us a glimpse into the early disciples, turning the page to a new chapter in their lives. As Paul travels, he finds some new believers in Ephesus. And he asks them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you were baptized?”
And they’re kind of stunned by the question. “We didn’t even know there was a Holy Spirit.” So we can see their faith is in its infancy.
“Into when then, were you baptized?”
“Into John’s baptism,” they answered.
And we remember John the Baptist baptizing in the River Jordan; a baptism of atonement, of forgiveness, of renewal, and rebirth. But it is only in Jesus that we receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit.
And so Paul baptizes them in the name of Jesus. This is not a re-baptism, or a second baptism, because there is only one baptism. This is their only baptism in the name of Jesus.
And Paul lays hands on them, baptizes them in the name of Jesus, and the Holy Spirit comes down on them.
If the John’s baptism was the first chapter in their book of faith, then their baptism by Paul in the name of Jesus is their second chapter. It’s another step forward for them. It’s another milestone on their journey of faith. It’s them doing one more thing to keep pushing ahead, writing their second chapter, their third, then their fourth, and on and on and on until they get to the end of the book.
Faith is a life-long journey; it’s years and years of the book of our lives being filled with our experiences of God. And that is a book that we don’t write ourselves. It’s shaped by us, it responds to our actions and our passions, but we are not the ones who write the faith in our lives. God does that. And we cannot control it and we cannot stop it, but we also cannot help ourselves from reading it; from examining it; from poring over every word and detail and looking excitedly to what comes next.
And why do we do that? Why are we so certain that we’re going to be rewarded with what we see in chapter two, three, four, five, and so on?
Because we trust the author.
God, who is the author of all of our lives, who rewards us richly with blessings in this life and especially the next. God in Jesus Christ writes a faith into our lives that makes our lives bigger and more important than they ever could be on their own.
The disciples that Paul met… who went from not even knowing their was a Holy Spirit one minute… to having that same Spirit descend on them and manifest in their lives… I don’t think they could have possibly predicted that before it happened. And yet it did. God wrote that into their lives. God made that happen.
I cannot predict the future of our country. I hope that the events of this past week will serve as a wake-up call that we all need to break out of our own echo chambers and talk to each other once in a while. I don’t know how confident I am of that happening. I have hopes and fears and I don’t know what the next 10 days or 10 years are going to look like. But this is the world, where beautiful and terrible things happen.
And I trust God. I know that as we get ready to turn a page in this country, that God will look out for us. Even though I don’t know what the next chapter says. Even though I don’t know what plot twists are in store – and at this point, I’m sure there are plenty. But I know who’s writing our story, and I trust the author. Amen.
Let us pray,
Lord, we seek your steady hand in the uncertainty of our times. Where reckless words have given way to reckless deeds, we ask that you soften tongues and give peace to our hearts. Lord, though we cannot always see the way before us, we trust in your guidance, and pray that you turn all people from dark paths. In the light and mercy of Jesus Christ, we pray. Amen.
The Presbyterian preacher and theologian, Frederick Buechner once wrote, “Here is the world. Beautiful and terrible things will happen. Don’t be afraid.”
Those of us who breathed a sigh of relief at the end of 2020 may be feeling that we exhaled a bit prematurely after what we saw in the first week of 2021. We saw a demonstration in Washington turn into an assault on our legislature and blood in our Capitol. One Capitol police officer, Brian Sicknick from South River, NJ, was killed by the mob after being bludgeoned to death with a fire extinguisher. I’m sure for most of the people there, it was simply a demonstration that got out of hand. But for others, the ones who came prepared, with weapons, body armor, and flex cuffs… well… they knew what they were doing. And what they did shocked and horrified America.
And, I’m sorry to say, I did see a few individuals on my own social media feeds who greeted the tragedy with blame-shifting, with whatabout-ism, with false equivalencies… even some with celebration. And I know that Christ calls each of us into ministries of reconciliation. But if we weren’t already aware, I think Wednesday’s events show us that reconciliation is going to take more than nice words and platitudes. There are deep, dark divisions between us as a people. And we don’t know yet if the Capitol riot was a last hurrah for people who are obviously angry and grieving, and in no small amount of denial, or a sign of things to come.
We will pray for peace. But with peace must come justice.
We will pray for forgiveness. But with forgiveness must come atonement.
We will pray for a renewal of national unity. But with unity must come, if not agreement, then trust, and the confidence that can act in good faith together.
I titled this sermon, “Chapter Two,” because, to me, it feels like we are turning a page as a country. We’re turning the page in a book we haven’t read yet, because we haven’t been down this road before. We don’t know what our future holds. But let’s look at the scripture.
The scripture reading from Acts gives us a glimpse into the early disciples, turning the page to a new chapter in their lives. As Paul travels, he finds some new believers in Ephesus. And he asks them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you were baptized?”
And they’re kind of stunned by the question. “We didn’t even know there was a Holy Spirit.” So we can see their faith is in its infancy.
“Into when then, were you baptized?”
“Into John’s baptism,” they answered.
And we remember John the Baptist baptizing in the River Jordan; a baptism of atonement, of forgiveness, of renewal, and rebirth. But it is only in Jesus that we receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit.
And so Paul baptizes them in the name of Jesus. This is not a re-baptism, or a second baptism, because there is only one baptism. This is their only baptism in the name of Jesus.
And Paul lays hands on them, baptizes them in the name of Jesus, and the Holy Spirit comes down on them.
If the John’s baptism was the first chapter in their book of faith, then their baptism by Paul in the name of Jesus is their second chapter. It’s another step forward for them. It’s another milestone on their journey of faith. It’s them doing one more thing to keep pushing ahead, writing their second chapter, their third, then their fourth, and on and on and on until they get to the end of the book.
Faith is a life-long journey; it’s years and years of the book of our lives being filled with our experiences of God. And that is a book that we don’t write ourselves. It’s shaped by us, it responds to our actions and our passions, but we are not the ones who write the faith in our lives. God does that. And we cannot control it and we cannot stop it, but we also cannot help ourselves from reading it; from examining it; from poring over every word and detail and looking excitedly to what comes next.
And why do we do that? Why are we so certain that we’re going to be rewarded with what we see in chapter two, three, four, five, and so on?
Because we trust the author.
God, who is the author of all of our lives, who rewards us richly with blessings in this life and especially the next. God in Jesus Christ writes a faith into our lives that makes our lives bigger and more important than they ever could be on their own.
The disciples that Paul met… who went from not even knowing their was a Holy Spirit one minute… to having that same Spirit descend on them and manifest in their lives… I don’t think they could have possibly predicted that before it happened. And yet it did. God wrote that into their lives. God made that happen.
I cannot predict the future of our country. I hope that the events of this past week will serve as a wake-up call that we all need to break out of our own echo chambers and talk to each other once in a while. I don’t know how confident I am of that happening. I have hopes and fears and I don’t know what the next 10 days or 10 years are going to look like. But this is the world, where beautiful and terrible things happen.
And I trust God. I know that as we get ready to turn a page in this country, that God will look out for us. Even though I don’t know what the next chapter says. Even though I don’t know what plot twists are in store – and at this point, I’m sure there are plenty. But I know who’s writing our story, and I trust the author. Amen.
Let us pray,
Lord, we seek your steady hand in the uncertainty of our times. Where reckless words have given way to reckless deeds, we ask that you soften tongues and give peace to our hearts. Lord, though we cannot always see the way before us, we trust in your guidance, and pray that you turn all people from dark paths. In the light and mercy of Jesus Christ, we pray. Amen.