From Resurrection To Proclamation, Part 1

God uses ordinary people like you and me to be everyday saints. It only takes a flicker of faith for the Holy Spirit to do her thing. Just the same, it only takes the smallest acts of love to transform a person’s heart.

In the opening scene of Sunset Blvd. William Holden stares blankly at the camera while floating face down in a swimming pool.
 
As a police officer pulls his dead body out of the water, the actor begins to narrate the story of how he wound up there in the first place.

​It’s a classic movie formula that begins at the end then works its way back to reveal the story.
 
The lectionary cycle for Eastertide does something similar with the Acts of the Apostles. Our readings start after Pentecost, when everyone is filled with the Holy Spirit.

Each weekly reading reveals to us how the Christian Church was born on that fateful day.

If this were a film, perhaps it would be called “From Resurrection to Proclamation.” I imagine it to be a big, epic cinematic masterpiece that begins in a busy, crowded marketplace in first century Jerusalem.

​The air is bustling with action. Tented stalls and street peddlers, loud voices vying for our attention. The camera follows a teenager pushing his way through the throngs of people. Then darts down a dark, narrow alleyway where the faint sound of someone shouting echoes off the walls.
 
His heart pumps louder and louder as he nears the end of the dark alleyway. Pushing into the plaza a bright light fills the frame. We cut to a young, charismatic Peter addressing the crowd with intensity and purpose. And this is what he says.

...“Therefore let the entire house of Israel know with certainty that God has made him both Lord and Messiah, this Jesus whom you crucified.”  Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and to the other apostles, “Brothers, what should we do?” Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ so that your sins may be forgiven, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you, for your children, and for all who are far away, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to him.”...                                      Read all of Acts 2: 22-41 here

This is Pentecost Peter who, along with roughly 120 other believers, has just been filled with the Holy Spirit as Jesus promised. The gathered crowd finds itself in an eclectic mix of excitement, joy, and bewilderment. As Scripture tells us, people talk in different languages but understand one another perfectly.
 
When some outsiders notice, they accuse this group of being drunk. Debunking their insult, Peter addresses the onlookers with his bold declaration – setting in place the foundation of the Christian Church and faith.
 
This was not the first time the good news was proclaimed. Last week, a very resurrected Jesus instructed Mary Magdalene to go and tell the disciple about what she has seen. “The one that was dead is now alive. Where there was weeping there is now joy.”
 
Mary’s testimony becomes the blueprint for Peter and the others to build upon. And build they do. Their faithful witness remains the mainstay of our mission and ministry today.
 
Now, let’s go back to the movie where the camera pans over the crowd. It’s full of Jewish pilgrims from all over the place who have gathered together in this holy city. Some have never heard of this Jesus of Nazareth. They didn’t witness any his miracles or teachings.

Others were there at his crucifixion. And perhaps heard rumors about his resurrection. But they didn’t understand what it all meant…at least not yet.

There were also people present who doubted and questioned the whole thing. Some said his body was stolen. And others claimed Jesus was merely the spiritual presence of God and not a physical being.
 
Peter, now filled with the Holy Spirit, addressed these doubters and cynics. He said, “Listen up. This Jesus whom you crucified, is more than just some prophet or a good man. He is the Messiah, the Holy One proclaimed by David and other prophets.”
 
This Christological claim gets people’s attention. Most likely because Peter just made every Jew present culpable in Jesus’ death. Peter then professes, “We are witnesses to this truth that this Jesus we are talking about God has raised up from the dead. Whether you saw him with your own eyes, or you are now hearing the good news for the very first time, everyone here today is now a witness to this truth.”
 
As Peter spoke, the Holy Spirit “pierced their hearts” with his words. Kathleen Bostrom writes, “For the multitudes gathered in that Pentecost crowd, it was like seeing a sunrise for the very first time – not just seeing the sunrise, but feeling the sun's warm, glorious beams break through the chill darkness of night.”
 
Moving around the crowd, the camera stops on a single voice who shouts, “Brothers, tell us what to do.” Peter is quick to answer. “Hear with your heart. Change your life and return to God. Be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Let him be your Lord and receive the joy of Christ and his amazing grace.”
 
The crowd surges in a loud, riotous roar. From this one impromptu sermon, we are told three thousand people were baptized that day. The power of testimony. From Peter’s public proclamation, the Church and her faith was established.
 

watch the message here

Now, in the movie, we follow the crowd from the city to the Jordan River where the sheer number of new believers seems to stop the flow of water.

With hearts aglow, these pilgrim people return to their homes in Egypt, Mesopotamia, Crete, Arabia, and all over the Roman empire, carrying the message of Christ with them to their communities.
 
The opening credits roll over a montage of men and women, Jews and Gentiles, rich and poor, free and enslaved all having their heart awoken to the good news. The reason for this is simple. God’s redemptive love knows no boundary. It can’t be contained to a city or confined to a building. And most certainly cannot be kept in the hearts of the faithful either.
 
Instead, the gospel is meant be shared as freely and as liberally as Jesus gave it. As we learned during Lent, Jesus took twelve ordinary people and created a community formed and fashioned for God’s kingdom. He taught the Twelve a way to live in perfect sync with God and others. A community were offenders are dealt forgiveness; hatred is greeted with kindness; and everyone’s needs are met.
 
The Twelve, along with a few hundred extras, rise above their fears, faults, and foibles to become the next incarnation of God’s love. As the Body of Christ, we too are called to manifest God’s love with our hearts and hands, proclaiming what we know to be true – through word and deed - that Jesus is both Lord and Christ.
 
Yet, this has become a stumbling block for us lately. The Christian church has become so divisive that it’s hard for us to proclaim the good news and not to sound hypocritical. One group believes this. The other the opposite. It’s funny how we air our disagreements in public, but not our faith. (And we wonder why less people are showing up.)
​
What’s stopping you from speaking your faith, or living it out authentically in public? Is it the lack of words? Or the lack of faith?  
 
When I was a kid in school, it wasn’t uncommon for someone stand up in chapel, like Peter, and share their personal testimony of how they came to know Christ.
 
But most of us weren’t comfortable enough to stand in front of their peers to read a book report muchless share something as intimate as a belief. That’s okay. As the great Meister Eckhart once said, “Go and preach the gospel, using words only when necessary.”
 
Even Peter will eventually abandon the pulpit to go out into world, sharing the good news like Jesus did; by loving God, loving others, and serving both. This is how the first church lived out the gospel. Their way would go on to inspire others to do the same.
 
St. Francis of Assisi who would abandon his family fortune to care for the poor. Mother Teresa who proclaimed the gospel by loving those the world had left for dead. Dr. King, who fought for equality and freedom for all of God’s children.
 
Today we have saints like Fr. Greg Boyle, the founder of Homeboy Industries. By standing in God’s faithful and redemptive love, Boyle has pierced the hardest of hearts – transforming the lives of thousands of gang-members around Los Angeles.
 
Then there are everyday folks like Kevin Crowell, who shows up every Monday morning to hand out bags of food at the North Hollywood Interfaith Food Pantry. And Julie Garcia, who makes Christ come alive in her nursing home by faithfully practicing little acts of kindness to the other residents.
 
Like I always say, God uses ordinary people like you and me to be everyday saints. It only takes a flicker of faith for the Holy Spirit to do her thing. Just the same, it only takes the smallest acts of love to transform a person’s heart.

In one of the last lessons, Jesus gave his disciples this simple rule to live by. He told them, “They will know you belong to me by the way you love one another.” Love is still the best way to proclaim Jesus as Lord and Christ.
 
After the opening credits and montage of people having their lives transformed, the movie settles in a great room in a private home where many have gathered for a spectacular feast. We cut on a teary-eyed Roman soldier removing his sword from his sheath. He hands it to Peter and falls to his knees for mercy.
 
Bending down to help the soldier up, Peter welcomes his adversary in a loving embrace. He shows this broken man, in the best way he knows how, what the resurrection was all about. “The one who was dead is now alive. Where there was weeping there is now joy.”
 
In this sacred space, between mercy and grace, the church begins to take shape.
 
 
Work Cited
Bostrom, Kathleen. Feasting on the Word Year A, Vol 2. Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 2010.