But by the Witnesses
In a church I used to go to there was an older gentleman who would always greet the minister the same way every Sunday morning. Every week before the service it was the same question: “Good morning, Pastor! What news from the Lord this week?” And every week the pastor would laugh and give the same response: “I'll tell you in the sermon.”
The implication in that question is clear. That older gentleman's expectation was that the pastor had a direct line to God, or at least received God's news clearer or sooner than the rest of us.
In some theologies that's an accurate representation of how people see things, especially in denominations with clear hierarchies. The Pope or the bishop or whoever receives God's word – they get the news first – and then it's passed down to the priests and the ministers, and eventually to the churches.
That's not quite how it works with us.
Actually, for most of the historical mainline Protestant denominations, even the more hierarchical ones, that's not how it works. Because we believe that God can choose to give his Word to anyone at any time. In prayers answered, in revelation and understanding, even in dreams and visions.
Not that I'm trying to talk myself out of a job here; there are any number of reasons it's good to have a pastor. But the idea that God talks to us first or more than other people just doesn't hold up.
Because we believe in the priesthood of all believers. That God can choose any one of us to speak to. God doesn't need me or anyone else to act as a middleman.
That's exactly what Peter describes in our reading from Acts this morning, when he tells the Roman centurion, Cornelius, about what happened that first Easter when Jesus rose from the grave.
Peter tells Cornelius, “[Jesus] was not seen by all the people, but by those whom God had already chosen – by us who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead.”
That is, God chose who Jesus appeared to. And those that Jesus appeared to were those first believers. Those witnesses to Christ's life and his death. Those who knew him best. Now, you might say that those first disciples and followers were ordained by God to receive that knowledge, but remember where they came from.
They were not temple priests or teachers of the law. They weren't wealthy or well-connected. They had very little in the way of office or status.
They were fishermen. One was a tax collector. Judas was a thief, though he was out of the picture by the time of the resurrection. Simon was a zealot, which was even less of a profession than being a thief – he was basically a political activist and revolutionary. Some we don't even know what they did or where they came from. Yet these were the people God chose to reveal divine knowledge to. These were the witnesses to God's work in the world.
Which brings me to my question for you today.
What news, what knowledge, what good Word has God shared with you?
I'd venture to say that most of us here, at some point in our lives, has received a nudge from God to do something, to believe something, to share something. I know some of your stories. Some of you have shared your experiences with me, so I know I'm not the only one. Whether God's Word came to you in a dream or as a gut feeling, or whether God spoke to you in words and said, “I want you to know this,” whatever 'this' is.
And if you'll indulge me, I can share one experience I had some 9 or 10 years ago. Some time ago, I shared my first experience, when I after saying a prayer in gratitude I felt a wave of warmth and encouragement and reassurance wash over me. This is my other experience.
When I was a student, finishing my bachelor's degree. And I wasn't sure what to do with myself after graduation. And I was fortunate to have options. I could have kept my job in the real estate office and taken the exams to become an agent. I could have gone back into politics and become a zealot like Simon. I gave some very serious thought to law school. But of all the options, the one I kept coming back to was the church.
And I remember very clearly a dream that I had one night of being in a room – a circular room – with many doors. And the doors were all open and the different paths of my life lay behind each one. And as I approached each door, they started closing, one by one. Until at the end, the one door left open, with a light in it, warm and inviting, was the door to a church. And when I woke up the next morning I felt at peace. Like God's own self was very literally showing me the way to go and what to do.
Now, you can argue about whether that was a vision or a call or an instruction from God, or whether it was just a vivid dream. But I can tell you what it felt like to me. In that it was a clarifying moment that, quite literally, affected the course of my entire life. It was warm. Comforting. Reassuring. And gave me a direction that I knew I needed. I know there are skeptics out there, people who I could share that story with who would diminish it, shrug it off, say I took it too seriously. But I believe that in that vision God made me a witness to his work and was asking something specifically of me. It led me to seminary. It led me to ordination. It led me to this congregation. And I don't think any part of that was a mistake.
The Book of Acts is full of stories much like mine. Stories where people share their witness to God's work in their own lives. Where God has shared visions with people; shared healing with people; shared gifts of the Spirit – shared languages and understanding, shared community and faith.
Those gifts; that witness; that real and enduring presence of God in peoples' lives; they didn't stop at the end of the Bible. John didn't write the Book of Revelation and then that was that; God didn't just go away after that and leave us to read about him in a dusty history book.
And I don't know; I know some of your stories. I don't know them all. Maybe you have those one or two events in your life that you can point to and say, “God did this for me. God was at work in my life; God directed me and my family in this particular way.”
And maybe you don't. Maybe you're not sure, and you're wondering – was God present with me in this event, or was it just a strong dream? Or maybe you're still waiting for that God-moment, and until you get it, you just have to take the word of the rest of us.
I believe that whether we know it or not, that God is at work in each of our lives. Sometimes the evidence for that comes in big gestures and bright visions. Other times God works within us in subtler ways. But no matter how God is present with us, we can be assured that He. Is. With. Us.
To the gentleman who asked the question, “What news from the Lord this week?” I would answer him, “Yes, listen to the sermon for what God has told me. But listen also to the voice of God that he has spoken to yourself as well.”
We are all witnesses to the great power of Christ in our lives. We ourselves are living testaments to the knowledge that there is a power greater than ourselves in the world. We know that God guides us, watches over us, and gives us a reason for hope; in this life and the next. To God be the glory. Amen.
Let us pray.
Holy Lord, we give you thanks for the love and care you poured into the world and into your people. We pray that your gifts and grace in our lives may be impossible to miss, and that we may be unashamed to praise you for them. Ease whatever doubts we may have, and make us true and faithful witnesses to your glory. In the holy name of Jesus Christ we pray. Amen.
In a church I used to go to there was an older gentleman who would always greet the minister the same way every Sunday morning. Every week before the service it was the same question: “Good morning, Pastor! What news from the Lord this week?” And every week the pastor would laugh and give the same response: “I'll tell you in the sermon.”
The implication in that question is clear. That older gentleman's expectation was that the pastor had a direct line to God, or at least received God's news clearer or sooner than the rest of us.
In some theologies that's an accurate representation of how people see things, especially in denominations with clear hierarchies. The Pope or the bishop or whoever receives God's word – they get the news first – and then it's passed down to the priests and the ministers, and eventually to the churches.
That's not quite how it works with us.
Actually, for most of the historical mainline Protestant denominations, even the more hierarchical ones, that's not how it works. Because we believe that God can choose to give his Word to anyone at any time. In prayers answered, in revelation and understanding, even in dreams and visions.
Not that I'm trying to talk myself out of a job here; there are any number of reasons it's good to have a pastor. But the idea that God talks to us first or more than other people just doesn't hold up.
Because we believe in the priesthood of all believers. That God can choose any one of us to speak to. God doesn't need me or anyone else to act as a middleman.
That's exactly what Peter describes in our reading from Acts this morning, when he tells the Roman centurion, Cornelius, about what happened that first Easter when Jesus rose from the grave.
Peter tells Cornelius, “[Jesus] was not seen by all the people, but by those whom God had already chosen – by us who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead.”
That is, God chose who Jesus appeared to. And those that Jesus appeared to were those first believers. Those witnesses to Christ's life and his death. Those who knew him best. Now, you might say that those first disciples and followers were ordained by God to receive that knowledge, but remember where they came from.
They were not temple priests or teachers of the law. They weren't wealthy or well-connected. They had very little in the way of office or status.
They were fishermen. One was a tax collector. Judas was a thief, though he was out of the picture by the time of the resurrection. Simon was a zealot, which was even less of a profession than being a thief – he was basically a political activist and revolutionary. Some we don't even know what they did or where they came from. Yet these were the people God chose to reveal divine knowledge to. These were the witnesses to God's work in the world.
Which brings me to my question for you today.
What news, what knowledge, what good Word has God shared with you?
I'd venture to say that most of us here, at some point in our lives, has received a nudge from God to do something, to believe something, to share something. I know some of your stories. Some of you have shared your experiences with me, so I know I'm not the only one. Whether God's Word came to you in a dream or as a gut feeling, or whether God spoke to you in words and said, “I want you to know this,” whatever 'this' is.
And if you'll indulge me, I can share one experience I had some 9 or 10 years ago. Some time ago, I shared my first experience, when I after saying a prayer in gratitude I felt a wave of warmth and encouragement and reassurance wash over me. This is my other experience.
When I was a student, finishing my bachelor's degree. And I wasn't sure what to do with myself after graduation. And I was fortunate to have options. I could have kept my job in the real estate office and taken the exams to become an agent. I could have gone back into politics and become a zealot like Simon. I gave some very serious thought to law school. But of all the options, the one I kept coming back to was the church.
And I remember very clearly a dream that I had one night of being in a room – a circular room – with many doors. And the doors were all open and the different paths of my life lay behind each one. And as I approached each door, they started closing, one by one. Until at the end, the one door left open, with a light in it, warm and inviting, was the door to a church. And when I woke up the next morning I felt at peace. Like God's own self was very literally showing me the way to go and what to do.
Now, you can argue about whether that was a vision or a call or an instruction from God, or whether it was just a vivid dream. But I can tell you what it felt like to me. In that it was a clarifying moment that, quite literally, affected the course of my entire life. It was warm. Comforting. Reassuring. And gave me a direction that I knew I needed. I know there are skeptics out there, people who I could share that story with who would diminish it, shrug it off, say I took it too seriously. But I believe that in that vision God made me a witness to his work and was asking something specifically of me. It led me to seminary. It led me to ordination. It led me to this congregation. And I don't think any part of that was a mistake.
The Book of Acts is full of stories much like mine. Stories where people share their witness to God's work in their own lives. Where God has shared visions with people; shared healing with people; shared gifts of the Spirit – shared languages and understanding, shared community and faith.
Those gifts; that witness; that real and enduring presence of God in peoples' lives; they didn't stop at the end of the Bible. John didn't write the Book of Revelation and then that was that; God didn't just go away after that and leave us to read about him in a dusty history book.
And I don't know; I know some of your stories. I don't know them all. Maybe you have those one or two events in your life that you can point to and say, “God did this for me. God was at work in my life; God directed me and my family in this particular way.”
And maybe you don't. Maybe you're not sure, and you're wondering – was God present with me in this event, or was it just a strong dream? Or maybe you're still waiting for that God-moment, and until you get it, you just have to take the word of the rest of us.
I believe that whether we know it or not, that God is at work in each of our lives. Sometimes the evidence for that comes in big gestures and bright visions. Other times God works within us in subtler ways. But no matter how God is present with us, we can be assured that He. Is. With. Us.
To the gentleman who asked the question, “What news from the Lord this week?” I would answer him, “Yes, listen to the sermon for what God has told me. But listen also to the voice of God that he has spoken to yourself as well.”
We are all witnesses to the great power of Christ in our lives. We ourselves are living testaments to the knowledge that there is a power greater than ourselves in the world. We know that God guides us, watches over us, and gives us a reason for hope; in this life and the next. To God be the glory. Amen.
Let us pray.
Holy Lord, we give you thanks for the love and care you poured into the world and into your people. We pray that your gifts and grace in our lives may be impossible to miss, and that we may be unashamed to praise you for them. Ease whatever doubts we may have, and make us true and faithful witnesses to your glory. In the holy name of Jesus Christ we pray. Amen.