Just a Rag-Tag Group of Folk Doing Something So New; Sermon on Acts 1:3-8

Rev. George Miller
April 19, 2020
Acts 1:3-8

The pomp of Palm Sunday is over. The pain of Good Friday is gone. The joy of the Resurrection is now here!

Christ is not dead; He is alive!

It is God- giver of the Commandments and the call to do justice- who has raised him!

Christ has been with his followers for 40 days, sharing meals and giving instructions. Now, they are empowered to go out into the world and do all the things they saw Jesus do.

This rag-tag group of disciples, trying to figure out something so new, so different during a time of unrest.

The followers of Jesus are about to do what has never been done before- to be CHURCH, to be the Body of Christ.

At a time when others are worshipping the Roman Emperor as a god; at a time in which others are praying to Zeus,

this rag-tag group of misfits are uniting around a person they call Jesus.

These women and men are gathering in small groups, in private homes.

They’re having potlucks, sharing stories, saying prayers, and recalling the work of Christ-

the one who met them in Galilee, who told them to care for the least of these.

He showed them how to do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with God.

He was the one who said to them, “When you feed the hungry, welcome a stranger, you are doing it for me.”

Think of this rag-tag group of folk, and just how unqualified they were.

Peter, a fisherman who denied Jesus 3 times.

Martha, who always seemed to do too much and had too many worries.

Nathaniel who was found sitting under a tree, so alone.

Before the resurrection none of them seemed to really know what to do.

They never seemed to “get it.”

They often found themselves dealing with their own disbelief and their own namby-pamby infighting.

Yet these are the same folk Christ is entrusting to go about doing God’s work and creating Citizens of Heaven.

Imagine how early church recruitment must have went.

It’s the early 30’s when many are worshipping the temperamental Zeus or think that snakes are the path to righteousness.

Along comes these working-class men and women, many of them still smelling like the fishing boats they came off of,

inviting you to come to their home to have a meal in which you can learn about some guy.

A guy named Jesus who was born illegitimately, slept in a manger, and never got married.

A guy, who at 30 years-old walked around the county, hung out with street people, ate meals with employees of foreign governments.

Oh, and get this- this Jesus spends a lot of his time around the sick, no gloves, no face mask, or social distancing.

He’s touching people with skin diseases, rubbing mud in folks’ eyes, letting women cry all over his feet.

He was given the death penalty, and died feeling utterly alone. Oh, and 3 days later he was resurrected, appearing as different folk to different people.

Does that sound like an invitation you would jump on?

Does it sound like there was any chance at all of this new thing called “church” taking off?

And yet, thanks to the gifts of the Holy Spirit, thanks to the tenacity of God, that is exactly what happened.

Somehow, some way, this rag-tag group of unmanageable men and women become the ones in their city who are known for feeding the hungry and supplying fresh water to the thirsty.

The earliest Christians became known as the ones who stayed behind and cared for the sick when all the followers of Zeus and snakes were too afraid to.

The first members of the church, with no guidebook or Zoom Conference calls, found their own way to visit those in prison and hand out clothes.

At a time in which Rome’s emperor kept saying “Me, Me, Me” the earliest Christians were calling one another “Sister” and “Brother”.

At a time in which citizens were always under the threat of enemy attack, the followers of Christ said “You will find comfort in the Kingdom of God.”

Today we are living in uncertain times, figuring out how to do something so completely different.

We are also a rag-tag group of folk trying to figure out the new norms and ways to be.

Sisters and Brothers in Christ- let us not lose faith, let us not lose sight.

Let us be willing to believe that just as the earliest Christians were able to figure it out, so will we.

It will take patience; it will take asking for and the giving of grace.

It will take doing the work of the Resurrected Christ and welcoming the gifts of the Holy Spirit.

We will get through. We will continue to be Emmanuel.

The challenge is at hand; in faith and strength we’ll stand.

Amen and amen.