Sermon 31st May 2009
Today, our Associate Vicar, John Itumu, preaches based on the reading from Acts 1:1-8:
Power!
In the period between Easter day and Pentecost we read that Jesus appeared to his disciples many times and spoke about the kingdom of God. v3 It is at one these meetings that they ask:
Acts 1
"Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?" 7His answer to them: "It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. 8But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."
It seems they misunderstood the nature of this kingdom. Of course the word ‘kingdom’ means a territorial sphere – which can be pointed out in a map like the United Kingdom. But the kingdom of God is not a territorial concept! It cannot be mapped. They obviously confused between the kingdom of Israel and the kingdom of God.
Jesus’ answer doesn’t make things any easier…8But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you’ he tell them.
What power is this?
· Is it ‘power to the people’ to take part in a different kind of ‘kingdom restoration’? is it about toppling Roman rule and reclaiming once more the occupied territory
· Or had the restoration of the kingdom of Israel, a priority to them, been replaced by the mission of the world?
Bearing these circumstances, it was easy to misunderstand this word ‘power’
In the two volume Luke- Acts ‘power’ used at least 25 times.
In 20 of those power is associated with miraculous/supernatural acts:
Some examples:
· Birth of Jesus foretold - Luke 1
34"How will this be," Mary asked the angel, "since I am a virgin?"
35The angel answered, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you
· Healing of a paralytic - Luke 5
17One day as he was teaching, Pharisees and teachers of the law, who had come from every village of Galilee and from Judea and Jerusalem, were sitting there. And the power of the Lord was present for him to heal the sick.
· Many people being healed - Luke 6
17He went down with them and stood on a level place. A large crowd of his disciples was there …and people who had come to hear him and to be healed of their diseases. …19and the people all tried to touch him, because power was coming from him and healing them all.
· Peter & John before Sanhedrin - Acts 4
7They had Peter and John brought before them and began to question them: "By what power or what name did you do this?"
· Stephen’s ministry - Acts 6
8Now Stephen, a man full of God's grace and power, did great wonders and miraculous signs among the people. 9Opposition arose… and men began to argue with Stephen, 10but they could not stand up against his wisdom or the Spirit by whom he spoke.
Luke obviously associates power with doing of miraculous signs and supernatural acts. And I am not referring to the pushing of people to the ground that we sometimes see on stage with some fire brand evangelists!
By reading these accounts we can safely conclude that the power the disciples will receive in 1:8 will include performance of miraculous signs and wonders. These signs and wonders would greatly enhance disciples’ witness concerning Christ in Jerusalem – and they badly needed it
There was going to be hard work in Jerusalem with all the post resurrection fear and anxiety. Remember the couple on road to Emmaus who had lamented…we had hoped he was the one who was going to redeem Israel (Lk 24:21)
There was the Sanhedrin to think about, not forgetting the no-nonsense brutal Roman regime.
So what’s their story?
The Holy Spirit comes at Pentecost (Acts 2)
They had been told to wait… do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my father promised (1:4)
And then He came:
With a sound – ‘like the blowing of violent wind’
With a visible sign – ‘what seemed like tongues of fire resting on each one of them’
With speech – they began to speak in other as the Spirit enabled them
Let me say a little more about tongues as someone once said that it is an alien concept to many Anglicans.
These speakers were known to be Galileans who spoke with a heavy accent.
Mt 26:73 – in the incident where Peter disowns Jesus he is accosted by a group who tell him ‘surely you are one of them – your accent gives you away.’
The Galileans were looked down upon by people from Jerusalem as being provincial, even uncultured.
John 1:46 – while Jesus was calling his disciples he calls Philip who in turn finds his friend Nathaniel. Philip says to him, ‘we have found the one Moses wrote about, Jesus of Nazareth…and Nathaniel asks ‘can anything good come from Nazareth? (a town in Galilee)
Come and see!
Jn 7:52 - Jewish leaders debating on authenticity of Jesus tell Nicodemus their colleague (and a secret admirer of Jesus) – Look into it and you will find that a prophet does not come from Galilee
But suddenly these Galilean people could be understood as a sign that all believers would be gathered under the headship of Christ looking forward to that great day when the redeemed company will be drawn from every nation, tribe, people and language…
Some even made fun Acts 2:13 – they’ve had too much wine…
Amazed and perplexed they ask – what does this mean?
Peter rises to the occasion and begins to explain it all, beginning with the prophecy of Joel that pointed to this day. In that the first meeting, 3000 were added to their number! Talk about power!
The good news was now spreading a like bush fire. In Acts 4:4 the miraculous healing of man lame from birth causes conversions to rise to 5000! Imagine what would happen if we had just one conversion every week!
Clearly there was a power at work!
That was not all. Acts 5:1-11 records the supernatural demise of Ananias and Sapphira.
Let’s read on from Acts 5:14
14Nevertheless, more and more men and women believed in the Lord and were added to their number. 15As a result, people brought the sick into the streets and laid them on beds and mats so that at least Peter's shadow might fall on some of them as he passed by…
Even Peter’s shadow had power; the same Peter, the Galilean fisherman found by Jesus, who had denied our Lord three times.
Out of Jerusalem into Judea and Samaria the signs and wonders followed them.
This power had its difficult moments too…
Acts 8
A man called Simon was so impressed that he offered Peter and John some money to buy some of this power to give him ability to lay hand s on people with instant results!
The words of Jesus had come true.
You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you
They had already exceeded their own expectations – Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth
That is why we are here today. We are part of that great wonderful legacy; this is the story of our faith. The Holy Spirit is associated with new beginnings. He is transformational. He is the power to do and be what has not been possible before now. His presence in our lives does not leave us the way we are. Things change!
He brings new attitudes in all areas of our lives – be it our relationships, finances, personal lives – bringing order out of formlessness and emptiness,
He helps us finding meaning in life. He is the power by which we will find forgiveness, he breathes new life into a dying relationship, and He can release in us the gift of generosity.
There is a nice little summary worth memorizing in Galatians 5:22 where the apostle Paul the fruits of the spirit as - love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Do you miss any of these, from time to time? How well are we doing in this area?
For a worshipping community/church it may be new ways of worship, even a greater openness and expectation of the ‘supernatural’ during the services etc. Do we come together like today with an expectation that God will do a new thing, even the supernatural? Church meetings were one of key places where the extraordinary happened! And friends this was their story which is now ours and which we must carry on faithfully. They prayed expectantly that God would act in power – and he did! The good news is that this power is ours too. It costs you nothing. You only need ask. It is the power that will break the strongholds in our lives. Let us now ask for that power in prayer…
Power!
In the period between Easter day and Pentecost we read that Jesus appeared to his disciples many times and spoke about the kingdom of God. v3 It is at one these meetings that they ask:
Acts 1
"Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?" 7His answer to them: "It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. 8But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."
It seems they misunderstood the nature of this kingdom. Of course the word ‘kingdom’ means a territorial sphere – which can be pointed out in a map like the United Kingdom. But the kingdom of God is not a territorial concept! It cannot be mapped. They obviously confused between the kingdom of Israel and the kingdom of God.
Jesus’ answer doesn’t make things any easier…8But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you’ he tell them.
What power is this?
· Is it ‘power to the people’ to take part in a different kind of ‘kingdom restoration’? is it about toppling Roman rule and reclaiming once more the occupied territory
· Or had the restoration of the kingdom of Israel, a priority to them, been replaced by the mission of the world?
Bearing these circumstances, it was easy to misunderstand this word ‘power’
In the two volume Luke- Acts ‘power’ used at least 25 times.
In 20 of those power is associated with miraculous/supernatural acts:
Some examples:
· Birth of Jesus foretold - Luke 1
34"How will this be," Mary asked the angel, "since I am a virgin?"
35The angel answered, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you
· Healing of a paralytic - Luke 5
17One day as he was teaching, Pharisees and teachers of the law, who had come from every village of Galilee and from Judea and Jerusalem, were sitting there. And the power of the Lord was present for him to heal the sick.
· Many people being healed - Luke 6
17He went down with them and stood on a level place. A large crowd of his disciples was there …and people who had come to hear him and to be healed of their diseases. …19and the people all tried to touch him, because power was coming from him and healing them all.
· Peter & John before Sanhedrin - Acts 4
7They had Peter and John brought before them and began to question them: "By what power or what name did you do this?"
· Stephen’s ministry - Acts 6
8Now Stephen, a man full of God's grace and power, did great wonders and miraculous signs among the people. 9Opposition arose… and men began to argue with Stephen, 10but they could not stand up against his wisdom or the Spirit by whom he spoke.
Luke obviously associates power with doing of miraculous signs and supernatural acts. And I am not referring to the pushing of people to the ground that we sometimes see on stage with some fire brand evangelists!
By reading these accounts we can safely conclude that the power the disciples will receive in 1:8 will include performance of miraculous signs and wonders. These signs and wonders would greatly enhance disciples’ witness concerning Christ in Jerusalem – and they badly needed it
There was going to be hard work in Jerusalem with all the post resurrection fear and anxiety. Remember the couple on road to Emmaus who had lamented…we had hoped he was the one who was going to redeem Israel (Lk 24:21)
There was the Sanhedrin to think about, not forgetting the no-nonsense brutal Roman regime.
So what’s their story?
The Holy Spirit comes at Pentecost (Acts 2)
They had been told to wait… do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my father promised (1:4)
And then He came:
With a sound – ‘like the blowing of violent wind’
With a visible sign – ‘what seemed like tongues of fire resting on each one of them’
With speech – they began to speak in other as the Spirit enabled them
Let me say a little more about tongues as someone once said that it is an alien concept to many Anglicans.
These speakers were known to be Galileans who spoke with a heavy accent.
Mt 26:73 – in the incident where Peter disowns Jesus he is accosted by a group who tell him ‘surely you are one of them – your accent gives you away.’
The Galileans were looked down upon by people from Jerusalem as being provincial, even uncultured.
John 1:46 – while Jesus was calling his disciples he calls Philip who in turn finds his friend Nathaniel. Philip says to him, ‘we have found the one Moses wrote about, Jesus of Nazareth…and Nathaniel asks ‘can anything good come from Nazareth? (a town in Galilee)
Come and see!
Jn 7:52 - Jewish leaders debating on authenticity of Jesus tell Nicodemus their colleague (and a secret admirer of Jesus) – Look into it and you will find that a prophet does not come from Galilee
But suddenly these Galilean people could be understood as a sign that all believers would be gathered under the headship of Christ looking forward to that great day when the redeemed company will be drawn from every nation, tribe, people and language…
Some even made fun Acts 2:13 – they’ve had too much wine…
Amazed and perplexed they ask – what does this mean?
Peter rises to the occasion and begins to explain it all, beginning with the prophecy of Joel that pointed to this day. In that the first meeting, 3000 were added to their number! Talk about power!
The good news was now spreading a like bush fire. In Acts 4:4 the miraculous healing of man lame from birth causes conversions to rise to 5000! Imagine what would happen if we had just one conversion every week!
Clearly there was a power at work!
That was not all. Acts 5:1-11 records the supernatural demise of Ananias and Sapphira.
Let’s read on from Acts 5:14
14Nevertheless, more and more men and women believed in the Lord and were added to their number. 15As a result, people brought the sick into the streets and laid them on beds and mats so that at least Peter's shadow might fall on some of them as he passed by…
Even Peter’s shadow had power; the same Peter, the Galilean fisherman found by Jesus, who had denied our Lord three times.
Out of Jerusalem into Judea and Samaria the signs and wonders followed them.
This power had its difficult moments too…
Acts 8
A man called Simon was so impressed that he offered Peter and John some money to buy some of this power to give him ability to lay hand s on people with instant results!
The words of Jesus had come true.
You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you
They had already exceeded their own expectations – Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth
That is why we are here today. We are part of that great wonderful legacy; this is the story of our faith. The Holy Spirit is associated with new beginnings. He is transformational. He is the power to do and be what has not been possible before now. His presence in our lives does not leave us the way we are. Things change!
He brings new attitudes in all areas of our lives – be it our relationships, finances, personal lives – bringing order out of formlessness and emptiness,
He helps us finding meaning in life. He is the power by which we will find forgiveness, he breathes new life into a dying relationship, and He can release in us the gift of generosity.
There is a nice little summary worth memorizing in Galatians 5:22 where the apostle Paul the fruits of the spirit as - love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Do you miss any of these, from time to time? How well are we doing in this area?
For a worshipping community/church it may be new ways of worship, even a greater openness and expectation of the ‘supernatural’ during the services etc. Do we come together like today with an expectation that God will do a new thing, even the supernatural? Church meetings were one of key places where the extraordinary happened! And friends this was their story which is now ours and which we must carry on faithfully. They prayed expectantly that God would act in power – and he did! The good news is that this power is ours too. It costs you nothing. You only need ask. It is the power that will break the strongholds in our lives. Let us now ask for that power in prayer…
posted by Parish Administrator at 1:59 pm
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