Day 174 - Will A Good Deed Go Unpunished?

A sermon delivered June 23, 2013 at FirstPresbyterian Church, Soddy-Daisy, TN
Deuteronomy 32:32-39; Acts 3:1-16 , 4:1-21

Are miracles real? We have heard about terrible auto accidents, some inescapable confrontation on war, or violent storms as happened a few weeks back in Oklahoma City where amazingly people walked away unharmed in the face of certain death. I hesitate to use the word miracle to describe those events because God actively participates in our lives not to preserve our human condition or picking who is spared and who is tormented, but in preserving our relationship with God over all things, even death. So I’m not sure it does justice to the power of God to call anything God does a miracle except that.

When we heed Jesus’ instructions about how to prayer (In the Lord's Prayer – thy kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven, that God’s will be done) we may appreciate “miracles” are simply the work of Jesus through the Holy Spirit using the hands, feet and tongue of faithful believers to further God’s kingdom. If as a congregation we look up to a preacher or the session to work a miracle that doubles our numbers or makes us a force for God in the community we will find ourselves disappointed. We are a congregation of believers and when we work and pray together, giving each other spiritual support and penitently listening for the Holy Spirit to guide us, we will fill the community with Good News as Peter and John did.

Look at the way the Holy Spirit worked with Peter and John, the lame man and the gathered crowd. Their experience puts miracles in perspective.  Peter and John as was their custom went to the temple to pray in the mid-afternoon. Just like on many city streets today, they encountered a beggar, whom we might call him a shiftless bum now. The fellow obviously had perfected his routine, he located himself so that the people coming to pray at the temple with a few extra coins in their pocket and a penitent, charitable mood might help him out with a donation.

When Peter and Paul saw this fellow they didn’t ignore him or put him down. They just looked at him convincing the beggar they were about to give him some money. Instead, Peter spoke, “Look as us!”  Peter told him they had no money to give him, but if he wanted to walk, then get up and do it in the name of Jesus of Nazareth.

That is what the man did. He was so amazed he was jumping around praising God for this blessing causing quite a commotion, just like the day of Pentecost. Some gathered around amazed with spiritual understanding and others scoffed. Everyone wondered what Peter and John did.

Peter wanted to be sure the crowd understood what had happened. He told them, “Don’t look at us wondering if the strength of our piety or our personal wizardry healed this man. This was done by this man’s confidence in the healing power of Jesus. The power of God is working here. That is not magic. Peter and John told them they had done only a good deed in the service of the Lord, proclaiming the Good News to this man and he believed. His faith healed him. And 5,000 more joined the ranks of believers.

As is sometimes the case, those in authority did not appreciate controversy, good deeds not withstanding. The leaders of the Temple arrested Peter and John and dragged them to the temple where the sat in jail until the next day when they returned to judge them by demanding the answer the question, “By what power or by what name did you do this?”

Their answer was a sly certainly inspired protest.  I paraphrase: “If you have the nerve to ask us who did this good deed to the lame man, it was the Jesus whom you crucified and as God’s good deed, God raised him from the dead. Jesus who came to us did this good deed. The Lord alone offers you the same miracle of salvation, to be healed of death as God did for Jesus. There is no other miracle except the source of salvation."

The authorities were speechless. They wanted to punish but they acknowledged the people had seen a sign or miracle and decided their only recourse to stop their proclamation was ordering then to stop preaching. Peter and John empowered by the Holy Spirit said, “You decide for yourselves if you think the people should listen to you or to God. For us, we cannot be silenced from proclaiming the Good News of what we have seen and heard.” [Do you recall the voice of Jesus on Palm Sunday (Luke 19:28-40) when the Pharisees objected to the disruption caused by his disciples and followers as he rode into Jerusalem on a donkey? Jesus said, “If I quiet them, even the stones will shout.”]

How do we put this miracle into practice? I said that if as a congregation we look for miracles from the preacher or the session to make us a force for God in the community we will find ourselves sorely disappointed. We are a body of believers and when we work and pray together while giving each other spiritual support and penitently listening for guidance by the Holy Spirit, we will fill this community with Good News as Peter and John did.

It may be a little rocky. We see all the joy, praying, fellowship of breaking bread together and teaching by the disciples on that day of Pentecost when they increased their numbers from 120 to 3,000 in one day turned into threat and arrest. But even so, 5,000 more people joined their congregation of believers. (Is there a church in Chattanooga with 8,000 members?) 

First Presbyterian Church of Soddy-Daisy received the message of its mission. Profess our faith and proclaim the power and Lordship of Jesus. If we want to grow in spirit we ought to pray to grow together - understanding that growing together in one spirit is not always having the same idea about what steps we take. Growing together requires each one of us to put our own inner voice and opinion in second place and seriously listen to what the Holy Spirit calls our fellow believers to do.

  Often the direction is too obvious and we ignore it. You probably have heard the old story about a Christian man who lived in some flood-prone city on the Mississippi River.  He had sure faith that the Lord would take care of him always. After a time of unusual rain, the town police cars drove through the streets with bull horns telling everyone to pack and go to higher ground because the river was rising. The man said, “I’m not worried, the Lord will provide.” Then as the water started filling the streets, the Red Cross came through in boats picking up the few folks who were stranded at their homes. The fellow said, “No I’ll wait a while, The Lord will provide.” As the water rose even higher, the man was forced to go into the house and climb out on his roof. The National Guard flew helicopters in to pick up the last people, but the man declined their life-line saying, “The Lord will provide.” Soon the water swept the house off the foundation disintegrating it. The man drowned. At the pearly gates he raised a stink with St. Peter shouting, “What happened? I had faith the Lord would provide but I drowned!”

St. Peter looked at the man and said, “Sir, I do not know what you are thinking but you are awfully ungrateful to be a man of faith. The Lord sent a police car to warn you but you declined. Then the Lord sent a boat to save you and you refused help. Finally the Lord sent the National Guard in a helicopter and you turned them down. Now the Lord is welcoming you into his home for eternal joy and rest and you are objecting to that. Maybe you need a different place to call home?

It is a simple story but I think of it often when I encounter someone down and out, a destitute family or a young person gone astray on alcohol or drugs and now looking for help struggling to straighten out their life and come home. I have come to believe these unexplained encounters may be the voice of the Holy Spirit coming to us when and where we least expect it. Dealing with the unexpected can be a difficult task because we prefer the expected.

We want to be a beacon to the community. I challenge you as a congregation of believers to pray about how to use the power of the Holy Spirit in First Presbyterian Church to become a diamond of Good News in the North County, or even just in Soddy-Daisy, itself.  Look for angels with a message from God in the unexpected things that come our way.

Christianity is a congregational experience. It depends on all of us consenting to a good plan reached by the congregation. When there is fighting or strong disagreement we have to be really sure evil is not at work and we are seeking not the Kingdom of God we pray for in the Lord’s Prayer but another kingdom.

The miracle of the Church, the congregation of believers, will not be measured in numbers of our congregation but by how well we bring the Good News to the people and change lives. We may be challenged by our own ideas and preferences in music and liturgy, or our distaste for change but if we let the Holy Spirit guide us, we will not let those worries blind us to finding effective ways to proclaim the Good News that builds us all up.

The opportunity: This is a sin-sick world full of spiritually hungry people waiting to hear our proclamation. We are blessed to be a congregation of believers with the power to be open, welcoming and respectful of each other in Christian unity. You are good people. The goodness and love of Christian unity gave Peter, John, and all the congregants the spiritual confidence to do God’s work - 8,000 people in a week.  

To do it, listen for the guidance of the Holy Spirit. That sound may be the voice of a child, some one in the congregation with whom you disagree, or maybe someone not even a member of our congregation. Let us not be like the man in the flood, let the Holy Spirit guide each of us so God’s will will be done.  AMEN.