Scripture Reading:
Acts 2:22-36
22 "You that are Israelites, listen to what I have to say: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with deeds of power, wonders, and signs that God did through him among you, as you yourselves know-- 23 this man, handed over to you according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of those outside the law. 24 But God raised him up, having freed him from death, because it was impossible for him to be held in its power. 25 For David says concerning him, 'I saw the Lord always before me, for he is at my right hand so that I will not be shaken; 26 therefore my heart was glad, and my tongue rejoiced; moreover my flesh will live in hope. 27 For you will not abandon my soul to Hades, or let your Holy One experience corruption. 28 You have made known to me the ways of life; you will make me full of gladness with your presence.' 29 "Fellow Israelites, I may say to you confidently of our ancestor David that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. 30 Since he was a prophet, he knew that God had sworn with an oath to him that he would put one of his descendants on his throne. 31 Foreseeing this, David spoke of the resurrection of the Messiah, saying, 'He was not abandoned to Hades, nor did his flesh experience corruption.' 32 This Jesus God raised up, and of that all of us are witnesses. 33 Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you both see and hear. 34 For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he himself says, 'The Lord said to my Lord, "Sit at my right hand, 35 until I make your enemies your footstool."' 36 Therefore let the entire house of Israel know with certainty that God has made him both Lord and Messiah, this Jesus whom you crucified.
Sermon Title: "IN ESSENTIALS, UNITY" Sunday, March 23, 2008
PASTOR HUDSON: This passage constitutes
the very first Easter sermon proclaiming the
resurrection of Jesus Christ. It was preached by
Peter to an audience beyond the disciples after
the actual resurrection day itself.
One of the most powerful things that Peter brings
out in his Easter message is that this death of Jesus
Christ was not a death by chance or accident. It was
not something that was done purely because Jesus was a
political rebel or an unpopular character who fell
afoul of the authorities. The Easter message is that
God was involved in this all along. It is referenced
as far back as Genesis.
In Peter's Easter sermon, he gives a pretty good
list of essentials that as believers they held to be
unequivocal. Things that he felt like the audience
that day really needed to hear. So today I've chosen
The title: In Essentials, Unity. It's an old
statement that comes from the lips and the pen of
John Wesley himself where he spoke of the desire to
be gracious towards opinions of conscience, but to hold to
the very essence of those things that are essential.
Peter holds very clearly to an essential, “Jesus
rose again”. In Verse 24, it is affirmed, God raised him from the
dead freeing him from the agony of death. It was
impossible for death to keep its hold on him. God
released him from that death, and Jesus stepped
forward into the light of day, indeed, to reunite with
Mary and the disciples and to spend time with them in
the weeks that followed on numerous occasions,
ultimately including hundreds of people who witnessed
that reality.
The miracles Jesus performed we take for granted
as a part of the story in the ministry of Jesus
Christ, but I would invite us on this Easter Sunday to
refresh our understanding of just how dramatic those
signs and wonders truly were. Peter told the audience
Christ was “accredited by God”, and that the
accreditation was seen in the form of the signs and
miracles that Christ wrought while he lived on this
earth.
When we think of accreditation, we think in terms
of higher standards for persons or institutions.
If we're in academics, we look for an institution that
is accredited by a regional body. If we're in
medicine, there are various kinds of boards and
agencies that supervise and maintain the high
standards of the medical profession. Such things are
very important.
The crowd believed what Peter was saying with
every fiber of their being, now that's an essential.
There was, at a minimum, 120 believers there that saw
Jesus and experienced his post-resurrection reality.
Even down to Thomas, who in his moment of doubting was
given that marvelous opportunity to reach out and
touch the hands and the side of Jesus Christ.
From that moment onward, it became the reality.
They would unite in affirming their belief in Jesus
Christ at the cost of persecution and harassment. In
reading the literature about this, there are
interesting notions about how this was delusional on
their part, that it was a hallucination at the cost of
their life and possible death.
There are even some religions in the world today
that believe when Jesus was crucified he became,
the first human total sacrifice, that giving his
life is where it ended. Total annihilation—end of story. Such is
not the belief of Easter. It's not the belief of the church. The
sacrifice of Christ is mirrored by the image of resurrection.
At the very end of Peter's Easter sermon, at his
closing, suddenly the crowd cries out because they're
pierced in their heart, and they essentially ask the
question: Is there any hope for us? What can we do?
Peter's response was, again, an Easter response:
Repent and be baptized and you will receive the same
experience we have had.
In that simple phrase is wrapped up a marvelous
expression, an invitation to the essentials of
Christianity: Repent with commitment; turn around and
follow Christ. He's talking about a repentance
involving a life-long commitment, not a short period
of time. Like the wedding vows that so many of us are
familiar with, it truly is for better for worse, for
richer for poorer, till death us do part.
Peter does a very good job of telling us what the
Easter essentials are. He has risen. Let us go forth
to follow him with hearts that are full of the Holy
Spirit. In the name of the Father, Son, and the Holy
Spirit, Amen.