Beyond the Empty Tomb

Acts 5:27-32

Easter 2 Year C

April 7, 2013

First and Harmony Presbyterian Churches

The Rev. Dr. Robert Wm Lowry

               

                When the Americans and the Soviets entered the early years of the space race, many battles were fought on many fronts.  Some were public relations battles: Sputnik beat Explorer/Alpha 1 into space, Yuri Gargarin beat John Glenn to be the first man in space.  Others were technical battles: the Soviets got a man walking in space first while the Americans would develop the only vehicle ever to land men on the moon. 

            One practical battle was figuring out a way for the astronauts to write in space.  In 1961 most pens worked on the simple principle that ink would flow down-drawn by gravity- to the nib or the point.  To find a way to make a pen that would reliably write in zero gravity, NASA put a few good engineering minds to the task and in time they came up with a design for a ballpoint pen which would write in the zero-gravity of space. It was a small but important engineering advance.

            Thanks to NASA scientists we now have pens that will write in the vacuum of space.

            And how did the Soviets deal with that same problem?  They used a pencil.

            In our text from acts today, we see two groups facing off in a theological debate- what would in time become a sort of theological space race- over the message of Jesus in the days and years following his resurrection.  The disciples, who have been following Jesus’ command to preach the Good News to the world, are brought before the Sanhedrin.   

            A cursory reading of this text leaves us with an easy out.  The council- the Jews as history would come to call them- admonish the disciples for preaching in the name of Jesus and causing disruptions in daily life. 

            It is easy to take those words of Peter’s, “we must obey God rather than any human authority,” and dress ourselves up as heroes of the faith boldly standing for the gospel of Christ over and against the world.  That sort of self-serving piousness is so very common in the church today.  From legislators who try to mandate faith by forcing children to pray in school to political groups pushing to impose a single narrow moral perspective on the whole of society, the underlying justification for their political actions is this declaration: “we must obey God rather than any human authority.”

            The trouble with such a simplistic reading of this text- of acting as if all that is in the church is of God and all that is outside of the church is merely of human authority- is that it both misses the point of the text and diminishes both God and the world at the same time. 

            Yes, a surface reading of this text leaves the impression that what is at hand is a struggle between the good disciples and the bad Sanhedrin, however like so much of God’s word this is a little more nuanced than that. 

            You see, this is not a debate between the church and the world- the disciples are not brought before a Roman imperial court.  This is an intramural argument in the midst of the early church; a debate between the disciples and others who heard but are not yet ready to fully embrace the message of Jesus.  This is, in other words, not as simple as pious Christians fighting the good fight against secular humanism.  That might work for a sound-bite, but it is not what is happening in this text.

            This is a confrontation over the logic of trust.

            In the wake of the resurrection, the early church was confronted with two realities; first, the one they called the son of God was killed on a cross- this alone was difficult enough to explain but adding to that resurrection and ascension and it gets nearly impossible to make this stuff sound plausible; and second, in the face of a world seemingly relatively unchanged by recent events,  there was a growing sense that perhaps we need to hedge our bets a little on the teachings of Jesus;  maybe caution would be the best policy at this juncture.

            By the logic of Jesus, our trust should be fully in God.  We are called to love God and love neighbor, to do justice and love righteousness, to give drink to the thirsty and food to the hungry, to comfort the grieving and set free the captive.  The logic of Jesus calls on us to trust in the goodness of these things in and of themselves and to live our lives in fulfillment of them.

            The logic of the world- the logic of the Sanhedrin, however, argues that we need to hedge our bets.  Just in case this whole Jesus business is not real, we should be sure that we do not give away too much or show too much compassion; don’t expose yourself too much to the ridicule and anger of the world.  And even if it is real, there has to be more to it than just this.  The logic of the world argues that anything as radical and history altering as the ministry and message of Jesus Christ must be more complicated- more complex- than simply sharing the love of God in the world.

            This confrontation between the disciples and the Sanhedrin is about whether we will put our trust in the world’s tendency to be seduced by complexity or in the straightforward call of Christ.

            I would wager to say that if we were to locate ourselves in this text honestly, we would be tempted to identify with Peter but have to acknowledge that most of us sit on both sides of that debate.

            I certainly try to put my trust in the straightforward promises of God in Jesus Christ- to live into my faith as fully and deeply as I can letting it shape me rather than trying to shape it myself.  I try, I wager you try, I wager most everyone who sits in a pew this morning tries…but still, somewhere in our spirits, there is yet a voice of the Sanhedrin saying, “if it is this simple, it cannot be trusted.” 

             Today, one week after the celebration of the resurrection, with our alleluias still hanging in the air, we are no less confronted with the realities of church life in the early 21^st century than we were two weeks ago when we waved our palms and shouted Hosanna! 

            Across the country resources, membership and other measures of congregational vitality continue to struggle.  We see congregations close their doors because they can no longer afford the large building or the cost of their staff.

            Whether measured by stewardship gifts received, members on the rolls or attendance each Sunday, many if not most, mainline churches are struggling today.  So what can be done about it?  What can be done to reverse these trends?

            A whole cottage industry of church vitality specialists has emerged over the last three decades.  Each has his or her own magic formula- their own Geritol- for the church. 

            Need to get attendance up- here are five easy steps to making church an easier place to be.

            Need to get membership up- here are 10 ideas of things you can offer to make membership more attractive.

            Need to get stewardship up- just tell them that if they give to the church God will prosper them and they will get rich one day.

            There is no shortage of Sanhedrin logic in the church today; no shortage of experts and consultants who will gladly help you navigate the troubles of contemporary church life and the danger strewn waters of the modern congregation. 

            Congregations can spend thousands even tens of thousands of dollars to navigate these complexities when perhaps the best and most basic answer is right there in front of them; the calling of the life of Christ.

            Love God, love neighbor, do justice, love mercy, walk humbly with God.  It is as simple as a pencil and no truer or more faithful path to vitality in the spirit has been or ever will be found. 

            The world may measure us by the number of people in the pews and the size of our bank accounts.  For my part, I think the disciples have a point; we who purport to follow Jesus need to look to a different metric- a different measure of who and what we are.

            You may remember a few years ago the phenomenon of the WWJD- What Would Jesus Do?- marketing campaign.  I think we need a similar slogan this morning- WWDD- What Would the Disciples Do?

            The answer is right here in our text for this morning.  Disciples obey God.  Disciples embrace that calling of God in Christ that is no more complicated than extending the hand of friendship and fellowship. 

            Now that we stand beyond the empty tomb, what are we to do?

            We do what the disciples did. 

            That’s it.

            Nothing more complicated than that.

            It is as easy as a pencil.

            Amen.