Scripture:  Acts 13:42-52

  Jacob Albright was born to German immigrants in what was the British colony of Pennsylvania   Albright fought for the Pennsylvania militia in the revolution, and after suffering the tragedy of losing multiple children to dysentery he suffered a crisis of faith.  He had been baptized into the Lutheran church, but he did not find much comfort for his grief there.   He eventually found his faith in the holiness movement, specifically in a small Methodist class that met in someone’s home.  This rural Methodist community recognized Albright as an exhorter, today what we would call a lay preacher.  Albright felt called by God to preach the gospel to German speaking immigrants, and he felt an affinity to both the Methodist emphasis on holiness and its organizational structure.  Albright sought permission to fulfill his calling and formally preach and organize German communities into Methodist societies that spoke German.   However, Bishop Francis Asbury and others in Methodist leadership opposed this idea.  They insisted that if Jacob Albright was to continue as a Methodist lay preacher, then he could only preach in English. 

This happened because in 18th century American, especially in Pennsylvania, there was a strong anti-German sentiment.  We can find proof of this, somewhat surprisingly, in the writings of Benajmin Franklin.  Franklin wrote, “Why should Pennsylvania, founded by the English, become a colony of aliens, who will shortly be so numerous as to Germanize us instead of us Anglifying them, and will never adopt our language or customs.”

 It was this cultural bias that influenced the Methodist leadership to tell Albright not to preach in German.  Albright faced a church, bring the gospel to German speaking immigrants or stay Methodist.  Albright chose to preach the gospel, but as he did so he continued to use a very Methodist organizational structure.  After Albright’s death the German faith communities he helped create came together into a new denomination called the Evangelical Association.  The Evangelical Association had its roots in the holiness movement and German communities.  They were not the only ones and by the 1940’s these traditions had merged together in one called the Evangelical United Brethren Church.

As xenophobic fears often are, it turns out that Franklin’s fears of Germanization never came to pass.  Even though the Evangelical United Brethren church had its roots in German communities, it was thoroughly American and English speaking by the middle of the 20th century. The culture differences that led Jacob Albright out of the Methodist Church at the turn of the 19th century had been erased.  So, in 1968 the church that Jacob Albright had inadvertently founded, the Evangelical United Brethen merged with the Methodist Episcopal church to create the United Methodist Church. 

 The way that Jacob Albright was treated and how that treatment was influenced by cultural bias, is a dark spot in our Methodist history.   It is a dark spot that seems to loudly echo this morning’s scripture.  The Jewish leaders in this morning’s scripture let a bias against Paul’s message to the gentiles lead them to opposing the gospel.  Anti-German sentiment of the time led the Methodist leader of 1800 to oppose preaching the good news in German.  The message of the church, the good news of Jesus Christ, it is not just meant for insiders.  It is not just meant for people who fit a certain mold.  It is a message for everyone.  This morning’s scripture should cause us to ask ourselves are we letting something hinder who we share the message with? 

This morning’s scripture comes from Paul’s first missionary journey.  He is in the city of Pisidian Antioch.  This is in what is modern day Turkey, it was a city built up around a crossroads and as such was a trade hub.  We picked up the story right after Paul had delivered his sermon, making the case for Jesus, in the synagogue.  We see in this morning’s scripture what becomes a pattern for Paul’s missionary journeys.  Paul arrives in a city and initially shares the gospel in the synagogue.  While there may be Jewish people who believe the good news, the message inevitably moves beyond to the Gentiles and then there is Jewish opposition to Paul’s message.  While the details are different in each city, this is the common pattern that emerges.  

What is interesting in this instance is that initially Paul did not have any opposition.  Verse 42 states that the people invited them to speak further about these things on the next Sabbath.”  However, buzz about Paul and his message spread throughout the city so that by the next sabbath there was a large crowd, including a lot of gentiles or non-Jews.  This is where the trouble starts.   What was initially a positive reception goes south, when Paul and Barnabas begin sharing the good news with the gentiles.  This morning’s scripture mentions they were jealous.  They were not jealous that Paul got larger crowds than them, they were jealous because Paul’s message was not exclusive and just for them.    Some of the Jewish leaders did not like that Paul’s message was being shared with the gentiles, they did not like that the salvation he preached was not just for them, and they were not comfortable with the idea that the grace of Jesus Christ is for everyone.

Much like the 18th century Methodist leaders, the Jewish leaders of Pisidian Antioch let their own cultural biases get in the way.  While cultural biases certainly still exist today and have the potential trip us up, I doubt any church would purposely exclude anyone on a cultural basis.  We may not insist on excluding certain languages or be jealous that the good new of Jesus applies to a certain people group, but the unfortunate reality is that people still find themselves excluded from Christianity.  There are still insiders and outsiders.  

There is an old story that illustrates this.  The story goes there was a young boy who came from not the best family, and he was from the wrong side of the tracks.  He may have heard a preacher on the TV, or it could have been something else, but something got into him and he wanted to know more about Jesus.  So, one Sunday morning he left and walked across the train tracks and up the hill to the biggest church in town.   This was the kind of church that the phrase “country club church” was created for.   This was the kind of church that the right people went to so they could be seen.  This was the kind of church that took great pride in their stained-glass windows, Mahogany pulpit and silver candle sticks.   The boy walked into the church and sat down near the back.  In a few minutes the head usher came and tapped him on the shoulder and said he needed to move because he was in Mr. and Mrs. So-and-so’s seat.   Once the service started this unchurched boy was lost.  He did not know when to stand, when to sit, and what a hymnal was.  He tried to ask those around him for help but again found the head usher tapping him on the shoulder and telling him not to be a nuisance to others.    The service went on, and the boy got more and more confused and impatient.   Finally, in the middle of the sermon the boy raised his hand and said, “excuse me, can you tell me more about Jesus?”   There was silence, and the head usher stormed over to the boy, practically picked him up, and carried him out of the sanctuary.    The head usher said, “I do not think this is the right place for you” and pointed to the door.  The boy left the church, sat down on the curb and began crying.   A man stopped and asked him “what’s wrong.”  The boy looked up and instantly knew this man was Jesus.   The boy said through sniffles, “They kicked me out of there.”   Jesus smiled and said, “That’s OK, they kicked me out of there years ago.”

The church in the story is obviously a caricature.  Very few churches are stuffy and hostile.  Every church I have ever been in believes with all their heart that they are friendly and welcoming, but many churches do end up communicating to people, “I don’t think this is the right place for you.”  The way this most regularly happens today is by intentionally and unintentionally insisting that church is for the insiders.  It is for the people who are already there.  That is what made the church in the story so hostile to the boy.  There was an assumption that everyone just knew how things were done, and when that poor boy did not conform to that assumption it was not the right place for him. 

 This is an issue that we constantly must be cautious about.  Often one of the reasons why we keep coming to a church is because we are comfortable there.  We tend to like it when something comfortable becomes more comfortable and we tend to bristle when something that we find comfortable gets changed in the even the slightest.  It can be incredibly easy for churches to cater more and more to the insiders at the expense of anyone on the outside. We must be cautious of elevating our comfort, our own way of doing things, above the mission of making disciples and sharing the good news. 

Nashville based Pastor and church consultant wrote about this in one of his books.  He relayed a time that he was hired to consult with a church that was struggling with an aging congregation and shrinking attendance.  As he talked with the leadership he found them to be very resistant to the idea of change, so he eventually asked them , “What are you not willing to change, even if you were 100 percent certain that the change would cause more people to be reached for Christ?”

These church leaders discussed this and they actually created a small list of things they simply felt were out of bounds and that they could not ever imagine changing.  Stevens recorded his response when he wrote, “ I told them ‘the only acceptable answer to that question is nothing.  There can’t be anything you’re not willing to change if it means more people would be reached. . .Otherwise, you’ve forgotten your purpose as a church.” 

We can let our own personal biases and our desire to make things comfortable for ourselves lead us to be resistant to change.  In doing so we end up excluding people.  This is not how it should be.  Churches should not be placed dedicated to keeping the insiders in and the outsiders out.  In fact, it should be the exact opposite.  We should strive to get those inside out and those outside in.  We should strive to get outside our walls, to reach out into our community, and invite people in.  This certainly requires us to be willing to welcome and accept people who may have different backgrounds or perspectives.  It will likely require us to be open to change, and it may even require us to get a little comfortable with not always being comfortable.

Paul always started with the insiders in the synagogue, but it was for everyone.  He was not afraid to reach out to people who were different than he was.  He was not afraid to share the good news of Jesus with people who did not quite fit the mold of who normally attended the synagogue.   Because of that as verse 49 states, “The word of the Lord spread through the whole region.”   In the same way, if we want the world of the Lord to spread throughout the whole region, then we must be willing to take the message of Jesus, the good news of salvation, the freedom of the forgiveness of sins, and the life changing reality of grace from the inside out.

 So may we be willing to share the good news, even if that means someone new ends up sitting in our pew.  May we be willing to share the good news, even if that means we have to be more intentional in reaching outside our walls and engaging the community.  May we be willing to share the good news, even if it means we need to be willing to make changes.  Like the story of Jacob Albright this morning’s scripture is a cautionary tale.  May we not let anything get in the way of sharing the good news of Jesus Christ and may we be willing to share Jesus Christ with the world. 
            

Scripture:  Acts 9:36-43
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Ida Florence Litherland lived down where the Ohio River flows between Indiana and Kentucky.  In her younger days, the early part of the 20th century, this is still when river towns dotted the river’s coast and their primary connection to the rest of the world was the river.  Ida was best known for her short stature and her devout faith.  She was less than five feet tall, and she walked miles every week in all kinds of weather to attend church.   These two facts are probably what made her actions on one particular night so surprising.  While he eventually turned it around and committed to the straight and narrow, early on her husband drank a lot and gambled a lot.  This was a source of friction in their relationship.   One night Ida had hit her breaking point, and she had had enough of her husband being gone all hours of the night drinking and gambling.  So, she grabbed a shotgun, went down to whatever backroom a group of men were gathered in and she cleared the place out.  She shut down all the drinking and gambling on that particular evening.  It must have been quite the sight to see this little woman, wielding a firearm almost half her size, convincing a group of men that the best course of action was to call it a night.  I know this story because Ida Florence Litherland is my great grandmother. 

It is also the only story I really know about my great grandmother.  We all leave a legacy, the influence and stories that live on beyond our earthly lives.  In more subtle ways, the legacy of Ida Florence Litherland continues.  Her deep faith conviction and apparent strong will have most certainly rippled down through generations, but the only story that has been passed down more than a century so that her great, great grandchildren have heard it is the one with the shotgun.  Apparently, we do not always get to control what people remember us by.  

The incident with the shotgun was a little out of character for Ida, but it is the action that created a story that stood the test of time.  This morning’s scripture shows that our actions go a long way to influencing how we are remembered and what kind of legacy we live.  People may not remember what we said, but the will remember what we did.   Tabitha, or Dorcus if you prefer the Greek, left a legacy of so many good deeds and positive actions, that the people she touched were not ready to let her go.   She made a real difference.  If we want to be a difference maker, if we as individuals and as a church, want to be known and remembered as someone who transformed this world into a better place, then Tabitha shows us how to do it.

From a literary standpoint, the focus of this morning’s scripture is supposed to be on Peter.  It comes from the beginning of a section that focuses on Peter’s exploits.  The intention is to show that Peter, being filled with the Holy Spirit, can do the same miraculous things that Jesus did.  Just before this morning’s scripture reading, Peter tells a paralyzed man to pick up his mat and walk just like Jesus did.  In this morning’s scripture, Peter tells Tabitha to get up, much like how Jesus told Lazarus to come out.  Within the greater framework of the book of Acts, that is the main point that is to be taken away.  The apostles are doing the same miraculous work of Jesus as the continue to spread the good news.  However, within the context of the story being told in this morning’s scripture, Tabitha stands out.  She does not show back up again in the scripture; we do not hear anymore about her.  However, just in this small story we get a lot of detail.  She is more than just a background character, a prop to be healed before Peter moves on.  The author of Acts intentionally slows down and gives us a lot of extra details about Tabatha.  Even though she is not the primary focus of this scripture, the author intentionally seems to lift her up as a person to emulate.  

By focusing on what is written about Tabitha we can get a sense of the kind of difference that she made.  Verse 36 tells us that she was always doing good and helping the poor.   While it is not explicitly stated, we get an idea of the kind of good work that she did.   Verse 39 tells us that all the widows were mourning her death, and they showed Peter the clothing that she had made.   In the first century, society, widows were some of the most destitute and impoverished people in society.   If their husband died, then the widow had to rely on their son, but if the widow did not have a son or the son did not fulfill his obligations, then the widow was in very dire straits.   Tabitha cared for and provided for the widows.  Part of her work was clearly making clothes for them.   Yet that must have only been part of it, because the bible does not state that she “did a lot of caring for the widows.”   It states she was “always doing good works and helping the poor.”   The work she did for others and the care she showed the poor was what defined by.  It is these actions that she was known for, and we get the impression that is what she was loved for. She was so loved that the people she made a difference for, fought to make sure death did not get her.

     It was Jewish burial practice in the first century to bury very quickly.  It was common to bury a body the same day that the person died.   Given that, it is amazing how fast they got Peter there.   Lydda was about 12 miles from Joppa.   Even at a marathon running pace, it would have taken nearly two hours to get there and another two hours to get back.    They really wanted Peter to be present, not so that he could attend the funeral but so that he could prevent it.    Tabitha made such an impact on her community that they did not settle for mourning her.   They were willing to go to any lengths to get her back.   When people gathered after her passing, they did not start sharing condolences, their first thought was how can we fix this.   The impact that Tabitha made was so great that they could not fathom being without her, at least not yet.    She was missed so greatly that God raised the dead.  

The bible records that Tabitha was a believer in Jesus, and it was this faith that motivated her to do good and help the poor.   Tabitha is an example that is worth following.  Tabitha was not an apostle.  There is no record of her doing amazing, supernatural miracles.  There is no record of her going on globe hopping missionary trips or preaching to auditoriums fully of people.   No, what the bible testifies about her faith is that she was always doing good and helping the poor.     Her faith motivated her to actions, which defined her and made a real and lasting impact on those around her.  The people that Tabitha made a difference for knew she was a a Christian by her love.  This morning’s scripture, challenges us by asking, can people same the same about us?

            Bishop Mike Coyner, who was the resident United Methodist Bishop in Indiana from 2004 to 2016, would ask a couple of different questions regularly to get to the same point.  He would ask, “If someone stopped at the closest gas station to your church, and asked for the directions to the church, would the attendant know where the church is?”  The idea behind the question is to ask if the local church is such a fixture in the community that most people in the community know about the church and where to find it.  

            The other questions that he would ask is, “If your church up and closed tomorrow, would the community notice?”  This is convicting question, really gets at the heart of this morning’s scripture.  Tabitha died, and her community noticed.  Her community took drastic actions to change it.   This is because Tabitha was known for her actions, she was known for how she made a difference, she was known by her love.  The church, Trinity UMC, it is not this building.  It is the people, it is us.   So, if we were to disappear tomorrow the reason why the community would miss the church, is because they miss us.  They will miss how we are doing good, how we are helping the poor, and how our actions are making God’s love known.  If we want to be the kind of church that our community would miss, if we want to be the kind of church that is so essential to the life of the community that even a random gas station employee knows where we are, then we have to follow the example of Tabitha and be a difference maker.   

Tabitha made a difference in her community by seeing a need and meeting the need.   She provided clothes for the poor widows.  The reason why Tabitha made such a huge difference is because her actions put her in direct contact with the people she was helping.  In his book Shift 2.0 ministry coach Phil Maynard, points out that churches in general tend to be really good at what he calls missional gestures.  These are doing things like donating to food pantries and doing school supply drives.  These are good actions that do make a difference, but they do not engage with the community around us.  Maynard puts forth that churches need to be more intentional to undertake what he calls ministries of engagement, where the congregation interacts directly with those who are receiving the services.  

This is what Tabitha did.  When she died, people were not going to miss her clothes, they were going to miss her.   The people she served knew she was a Christian by her love, because they knew that she loved them by name.  This is something that all of us can do.  Tabitha found a specific need that she had the skills and passion to meet. We live in a fallen world where there is no shortage of needs, so here is a challenge for you.   When you go home this afternoon make a list of the needs that you are most passionate about or that you feel the most able to meet.   Then, pick one: see that need and meet that need.  It is that simple.  Just do it.  Or better yet, bring it back to your church family so that we can join you and we can all work together at it.   

Identifying and meeting specific needs in our community, country, or world is a good way that we can follow the example of Tabitha.  It is a good way to be a difference maker and be known by our actions.  However, it is not the only way, and it is not even the simplest way.   There is no reason to overthink this.  The easiest way that we can let people know we are Christians by our love, the easiest way that our faith can make a real and lasting difference is just to be kind.  Nashville based pastor Todd Stevens does a great job at defining kindness.   He wrote, “when I take action to help someone deal with a struggle or hurt, I am meeting a need.   Kindness is different because it helps someone who may not be dealing with any sort of crisis.  Kindness is simply doing something that benefits someone else.”  

Kindness is showing the love of God to another person without an agenda.   A life that is defined by kindness is synonymous with a life defined by God’s love.   Even better, kindness, even small acts of kindness, has a lasting impact.  People who are hurting, people who are lonely, people who need to know there is somewhat out there who cares about them: Our beliefs do not matter much to them right now and our words will not make a lasting impact.  What will make a lasting difference our actions done in Christian love.   This  is how we change the world. 

For better or worse, what we are remembered for, what we are known for our the actions we take.  So may we be known in this community, by our loving actions.  May they know we are Christian by our love.   May this town know that Jesus loves them, because we love them.   May we see the needs and may we meet the needs.  Like Peter and the other apostles in Acts, we have been entrusted with the good news of Jesus Christ.  Like Tabitha, we can make this good news known through our actions.  So may we just do it.  May we take this love of God, and may we pass it on. 
            

               Several years ago, I was invited to the University of Indianapolis to speak at the Student Leadership Academy. This program was a partnership between the university and the Indiana Conference to help young people discover how they can best make a difference in the world.  It turned out that one of the students knew me.  When I was in seminary I served part time at Epworth UMC in Indianapolis as the youth minister, and she was a child in the church.  When I went on to a full-time appointment after graduation, she was seven.  When I came to speak, she was fifteen and one of the teens attending.  When it was my turn to speak, I began by introducing myself.  As part of the introduction, I started to say, “Perhaps the thing I am best known for” and I did not get to finish the sentence, because this girl who I had not seen for half her life shouted out “Star Wars.” 

​Now that is not what I was going to say, but maybe she is right.  Star Wars is probably something have associated with me for most of life at this point.  It is a somewhat earned reputation.  I really do love all things Star Wars.  The reason why is actually very similar to one of the reasons why I love the Bible so much.  In both instances, I am captivated by the story.  With Star Wars I lose myself in a galaxy far, far away, and in the Bible, I find myself in an epic story of a God who loves us too much to give up on us.  I am entertained by stories of space wizards with laser swords and star fighters, but I am transformed by a story of a King who died for me, but the grave could not hold him.  For very different reasons I love the story of Star Wars and the story of the Bible, but every now and then those two stories intersect, and themes are the same.   This morning’s scripture is one of those places where the two stories I love so much intersect. 

The first part of the book of Acts goes to great lengths to establish Saul as the villain of the story.  The book of Acts starts off with the community of Jesus followers growing, but it also has growing tensions with the Jewish religious leaders.  These clashes keep getting more and more volatile until they finally spill into violence with the stoning of Stephen. Saul was complicit in the murder of the first martyr as Acts 7:58 records, “Meanwhile the witnesses laid their coats at the feet of a young man named Saul.” 

From this point a general persecution breaks out among the church in Jerusalem, and Acts tells us that Saul was at the forefront of this, he sought to destroy the church, and had many people arrested.  Saul was not finished yet, because by time we get to this morning’s scripture it records “Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples.”  Saul is the bad guy in the story, he is the ultimate villain seeking to destroy the church once and for all.   Yet, this morning’s scripture throws a curveball.  Saul, the enemy of Christ, comes to follow Christ.   The villain is redeemed.  This morning’s scripture records the conversion of Saul, and the book of Acts begins to shift from focusing on Peter and the other disciples to focusing on Saul-now called Paul- and how God uses him to take the gospel of Jesus Christ to the ends of the earth. 

This morning’s scripture intersects strongly with Star Wars, because in Star Wars the bad guy, the ultimate villain, is Darth Vader.  He very much looks the part: clad all in black, with a red lightsaber, and menacing breathing.   Despite being the bad guy, at the end of Return of the Jedi, when all seems lost for the good guys, Darth Vader turns back to the light.  He is redeemed.   One of the major themes of Star Wars, one of the major storytelling morals it seeks to communicate is that no one is beyond redemption.  In Star Wars, if Darth Vader can turn back to the light, then it’s not too late for anyone.   That is the same point of this morning’s scripture.  If Saul can come to know Jesus, if God can use the person who persecuted the church to share the good news with the gentiles, then there is no one beyond forgiveness and God can use anyone.   This morning’s scripture is proof that when the Spirit moves, it can awaken even the most hardened of hearts.  When the Spirit awakens in the life of someone, then there is nothing that can separate them from the love of God.  

 This is good news!  This is good news for everyone, but it is especially good news for two specific groups of people.  The first are people who think they have somehow angered God past the point of no return.  While these people may not articulate it as such, they believe that because of their actions they have blown their chance with God.  Often feeling this way keeps people away from church.  Over the years there have been times when someone visits the church I am serving for some reason, and they will make a joke like “I am surprised the walls haven’t fallen down” or “don’t stand too close pastor, the lightning bolt might still be coming.”   I know they are trying to joke around and lighten the mood, but often those jokes come from a place of deep hurt.   There are too many people who believe that something they have done is unforgiveable.  They believe they have messed up, and God is done with them.  

This is simply not true.   There is nothing we can do to make God love us any less.   If there is anyone that deserved to have God make an example of them, it is Saul.   Yet, not only does Saul receive forgiveness, but Jesus also seeks him out.  Jesus meets him where he is at and then arranges for Ananias to care for him.  If Saul, the persecutor of Christ, can be forgiven then there is nothing we can do that can not be forgiven. No one is beyond redemption.   This is the absolute beauty of grace, and the scandal of the cross.  No one, absolutely no one, is beyond forgiveness. There are no exceptions, Jesus died to redeem everyone and cancel out every sin  It does not matter how far one gets from God, it does not matter how many years have passed, it does not matter how big the gulf may seem.  Forgiveness, redemption, and reconciliation with our creator is only one step away.  It only takes turning back to God. 

 The second group of people who most need the good news of this morning’s scripture are people who have been made to feel like that God never wanted them.   This one infuriates me.   It makes me angry because they have been misled by people claiming to follow Jesus.  There are too many people today who have been told by those inside the church that they have no place here.   That this is not for them.  Before he met Jesus on the road to Damascus, this is the very attitude that Saul had.  Saul believed the first Jesus followers were outside the love of God.  He believed that God’s love was not for them, that they were heretics who deserved death.    There is an uncomfortable number of people spread across churches today who have too much in common with pre-conversion Paul.  I know this because there are too many horror stories out there about how people have been hurt by the church.   There are too many people who have been told that they are incompatible with the gospel of Christ, and there are too many people who have been told that just existing as themselves is wrong. 

               Again, this is all simply not true.  Anyone can come to know the all surpassing love of God, and when the Spirit awakens in someone we do not get to sit in judgement and tell them that they are wrong because they do not check all our boxes.  We did not have to meet a certain threshold of good actions before God would accept us.   If that is true for us, then that is true for anyone else.  We should not expect other people to have conform to a standard that we create to be accepted.  The good news that we believe, the good news that we are supposed to proclaim is that God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”  There are no asterisks or exceptions to that good news.  God sent Jesus because God’s love was for everyone.  There are no outsiders to God’s love. 

               The happy ending of the original Star Wars trilogy is that the good guys win, and Darth Vader is redeemed back the light.  The good news of this morning’s scripture is the same.  No one is beyond redemption, and God’s love is for everyone.   Paul himself wrote as much. Years after his conversion experience in this morning’s scripture, and after multiple missionary trips to share Jesus far and wide, Paul wrote a letter to the church in Rome.  In his letter to the Romans, Paul wrote about God’s love.  Paul was not writing about this in theory, he was writing from a place of experience.  He was writing from the perspective of a person’s who life completely changed when Jesus met him on the road to Damascus.  He was writing from the perspective of a person who had deeply wronged Jesus, but still experienced grace and forgiveness.  He was writing from the perspective a person to whom the Spirit had awakened the true nature of God’s love.   In Romans 8:38-39, Paul wrote these words, “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angles nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Friends, may we take this scripture to heart.  If you are here today and you are honestly a little surprised the walls haven’t fallen in yet, then may you know you have nothing to worry about.  Whatever you have done, If you ask  then God will forgive you.   If you have ever been made to feel that God does not want you, then I am so sorry that someone misled you.  God’s love, the grace and new life offered through the death and resurrection is for everyone, and that includes you.  There are no outsides to God’s love, and there is grace enough for everyone. 

If you do consider yourself a follower of Jesus, if you do believe that you are redeemed by grace the may take the scripture to heart as well, and may we live in such a way that communicates to everyone that nothing will separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.   Ananias gives us a good example in this morning’s scripture.  He knew who Paul was, but he was obedient to Christ and accepted Paul anyway.  May we also be quick to accept others, no matter who they are.  Like Ananias was for Paul, may we be quick to accept, quick to offer grace, and quick to invite the Holy Spirit to awaken in their lives. 

One of the core messages of Star Wars is that no one is beyond redemption.  That same message is central to this morning’s scripture, and it is one of the primary truths that all of scripture communicates to us.  May we not be silent, but may we proclaim that good news.  Through how we treat others, through how we invite others, and through how we accept others may our lives testify that we believe there is nothing that can separate us from the love of God.   May we believe that there are no outsiders to God’s love and mean it. In this morning’s scripture Paul turns away from the wrong he was doing and turns to Jesus, the son of God.  May we be willing to tell everyone that if they too repent and believe the gospel, then the Lord will be with you always.  
 

Scripture:  Acts 5:27-29

Sixty years ago in March of 1965, the Civil Rights movement turned bloody.  One of the major issues that the civil rights movement was seeking to address was voter suppression of black people.  In Alabama to protest this issue a march on the capitol of Montgomery was organized.  The planned protest march had the protestors crossing over the Edmund Pettus bridge.   Local police and state troopers were blocking the bridge’s exit, and when the peaceful protestors reached the law enforcement officers, the authorities responded with extreme violence.  March 7th, 1965 is remembered as bloody Sunday in the civil rights movement.   Seventeen of the protestors, mostly students, were hospitalized and at least fifty more were treated for lesser injuries.   It was unwarranted savagery motived by the ugliness of racism and it was captured by national media.  The sheer violence displayed by the attackers on the Edmund Pettus bridge shocked most of the country and that shock transformed into greater national support for the civil rights movement.  One of the protestors who helped organize the march, and suffered a fractured skull on the Edmund Pettus bridge, was John Lewis.   Lewis would continue to be a leader in the civil rights movement, and he continued to advocate for equality for all later in life as a congressman.  Lewis once famously said, ““Never be afraid to make some noise and get into good trouble, necessary trouble.”

I think for a lot of us though, the idea of good trouble sounds a lot better on paper than it does in practice because good trouble is still trouble.   For a lot of us getting into trouble is something we work actively against because we have had it ingrained into us that getting in trouble at all is bad.   We are taught from an early age that following the rules is a virtue and that good people do not get into trouble.   Chances are a lot of us have internalized those lessons and might even pride ourselves on being a “rules follower.”   However, when we look at the examples of faith that we are given in the bible we see examples of good trouble all over the place.   Jesus for instance got in a LOT of trouble, he got in trouble to the point of being handed a death sentence, and that trouble was all good.   In this morning’s scripture we see that trouble would follow Jesus’ disciples in the early days of the church.  Peter and John also give us an example to follow.  When it comes to obeying the rules or obeying Jesus, we should always choose Jesus even if that gets us in good trouble. 
This morning’s scripture, which is one of the lectionary readings for today, is one that picks up in the middle of the story.  Reading just this morning’s scripture is kind of like watching just the last fifteen minutes of a TV show, it is kind of possible to figure out what is going on but there is a lot missing.   So here is what you missed. Following the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, the ascension of Jesus into heaven, and the coming of the Holy Spirit- the group of Jesus followers quickly grew from around 150 to 5,000.  This explosive growth made the Jewish religious leaders incredibly nervous as we find in Acts 4:1-2: “The priests and the captain of the temple guard and the Sadducees came up to Peter and John while they were speaking to the people.  They were greatly disturbed because the apostles were teaching people, proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection of the dead.”

               These religious leaders had Peter and John arrested, but they could not agree on any way to charge them with wrongdoing, so they released them but commanded them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus.   Of course, Peter and John promptly choose not to comply with this order.  The continued to heal people and preach about Jesus and the resurrection.   In response, the religious leaders arrest them again.  This time an angel comes and springs them from jail, so that when the authorities come to get Peter and John so they can question them instead of finding them in jail they find them in the temple courts talking about Jesus.  The captain of the temple guard then brings Peter and John before the Sanhedrin in this morning’s scripture. 

               In this morning’s scripture, Peter makes it clear what their motivation was:  “We must obey God rather than human beings!”  Peter and John were witnesses to the resurrection, they were filled with the Holy Spirit and fully convinced that Jesus is God’s messiah.   They were faithfully following the commands of Jesus.  They healed, because Jesus gave them the example of caring for the least of these and having compassion on others.  They preached the good new of Jesus Christ, because Jesus had commissioned them to take gospel to Judea, Samaria, and the ends of the earth.  Their motivation was not to defy the religious leaders or garner a following for themselves, their motivation was to be faithful to God. 

               The religious leaders did not see it that way though.   While Peter and John are ultimately released after this morning’s scripture, the religious leaders first have them flogged.  The traditional Jewish punishment of 40 lashes minus one.  Supposedly this was on the grounds of not honoring the authority of the religious leaders by continuing to talk about Jesus despite being ordered not to.   Peter, John, and the rest of the apostles were faithful to following Jesus, they were faithful to listening to God, and it got them in trouble, but it was good trouble. 

               Now we can easily say that in hindsight.  Looking back now, especially from the perspective of faith, it is easy for us to say that Peter and John were clearly in the right and that the religious leaders were in the wrong.  However, I am not sure that it was all that clear to those living in Jerusalem during this time.  The religious leaders they were the leaders, they were the ones who knew the Law of Moses, they were the rule enforces, and the good Jewish people of the time sought to follow the rules.  Clearly many responded to the good news proclaimed by the apostles, but there were also those who took the side of the religious leaders.  There were also who probably tried to stake a claim in the middle.   These people in the middle would have likely appreciated the good work and healings the apostles were doing but wondered why they had to always make such a disruptive scene.  They probably asked questions like “can they just heal people without always mentioning Jesus? “

The religious leaders wanted the disciples to stay quiet for a lot of reasons.  For one it made them look bad and undermined their authority.  It also threatened to upset the status quo and potentially bring about interference from the Roman Empire.  Despite that, the disciples would not be quiet.  The good news of Jesus Christ, the life changing news of the resurrection, was too important to be quiet about.  It had the potential to make too much of a difference for them to keep it to themselves.  One of the takeaways we see in this scripture is anything that is truly important, any action that will make a positive change in the world, any step of faith that will transform the world into a more loving and kind place will always, always be met with opposition. This was true for the disciples, and it continues to be true.  The message of this scripture is clear.  Obedience to God, Sharing the good news through our words and actions, treating others with kindness in the name of Jesus is always worth doing. 

 Even in a place like the United States which has religious freedom, it is still possible that faithfully following Jesus can lead to trouble.  In response to growing issues of homelessness over the past several years, two things have happened.  Churches and Christian groups have risen to the occasion to provide food and shelter to those who have none.  This is out of love and a desire to be obedient to following Jesus.  The other thing that has happened is that cities have passed ordinances, and some states have passed laws that essentially make it a crime to be homeless.  Some places have taken a different approach and instead they have passed overly restrictive laws to prohibit people or organizations from providing help to the homeless in hopes that the homeless will just leave the community. 

This is what happened in Santa Ana California, where the city went after a Christian organization that grew out of ecumenical efforts between churches called Micah’s Way. Micah’s Way provides food to homeless individuals, and the city kept passing more restrictive ordinances to stop them.  This eventually led to a court case, where the justice department intervened in 2023, and the organization was able to continue feeding people because they were doing so out of religious conviction and protected by the first amendment.  A similar court case in Texas reached a similar decision in March of 2023.  Despite that, Christians seeking to serve the least of these can still find opposition. 
This is happening right now in Ohio.  Bryan Ohio does not have social services to provide for a homeless population, and whenever there is life threatening cold conditions a church opens its doors so that people do not freeze.  Unfortunately, this church has found itself repeatedly targeted by local officials, and the pastor has even faced criminal charges for providing a place for people to escape the cold.  On the grounds of religious liberty, this case is currently working its way through the courts.  

Just like the original disciples got in trouble for being obedient to God, disciples still get in trouble for being obedient to God.   There are no doubt some who might say that Christians should be more concerned with talking about Jesus, then feeding people or providing shelter.  South African Episcopal Bishop Desmund Tutu certainly heard that criticism regularly.  He put a lot of energy and effort in providing for those who were in need and advocating for social change.   When he was told he should just focus on the gospel he responded by saying, “ I preach the Gospel, period. The gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ is concerned for the whole person. When people were hungry, Jesus didn’t say, “Now is that political or social?” He said, “I feed you.” Because the good news to a hungry person is bread.”

This morning’s scripture is not meant to give us license to ignore the rules we do not like, but it does remind us that ultimately our highest priority is to follow Jesus.   This morning’s scripture is a reminder that following Jesus is not always easy.  It will sometimes require us to take risks and it will sometimes get us into good trouble.  This morning’s scripture urges us, despite the potential for trouble, to be obedient to God.   Being obedient God means that we share the good news of Jesus Christ, we share the good news of the resurrection.  Sometimes we share this good news with our words and proclaiming Jesus saves, but other times we share this good news with our actions- because the good news to a hungry person is bread.   

if we take seriously following Jesus, then we are going to get to a place where we have compassion and love for those around us.  Loving others means sharing the good news of salvation with them certainly, but it also means serving them.  It means ensuring their needs are met, that they are safe, and they are cared for.  If we take seriously following Jesus it will lead us to love the least of these.  It will lead us to advocating for the people who have no else sticking up for them, it will lead us to speaking out for those who feel they have no voice, and it will lead to us serving those who have been systematically under-served.   If we take seriously following Jesus then we will engage in acts of kindness in his name, and those acts have the absolute potential to transform this world into a more kind, loving, and just place. 
So may we proclaim the good news.  May we be obedient to God by following the example of Jesus of loving the least of these and having compassion for all.  May we do this, even if it gets us into some trouble- because it is good trouble.   Like Peter and John, may we fearlessly share the good news about how Jesus has won the victory.