“Noisy Faith” (Acts 5:27-32 and Psalm 150)

Charles Stanley wrote: “There is only one secure foundation: a genuine, deep relationship with Jesus Christ, which will carry you through any and all turmoil.  No matter what storms are raging all around, you’ll stand firm if you stand on His love.”

Again, this second Sunday of Easter, I push away from the traditional stories of the season . . . away from the stories of the encounters with the risen Jesus.  Those are the familiar stories . . . the background stories . . . of the whole purpose and reason of the Easter season—that Jesus is alive!  We know those stories of Easter, but what we also need to know is how that Easter story embedded itself in the hearts of those who were Jesus’ followers and has given us the opportunity today to continue our Easter celebration.  We must hear those stories of the early witnesses . . . those who kept the story alive . . . those who kept Jesus alive.

So, we are a little further down the road beyond the resurrection stories.  We are beyond the point of the gift of the Spirit and the day of Pentecost.  The once fearful and hidden followers of Jesus have witnessed the risen Jesus . . . they have received the Spirit . . . and, they have gone out into their world to share the “good news”.  They are out there preaching and teaching the “good news” as it was shared by Jesus himself.  They are out among the people filled with enthusiasm and joy.  They are witnessing . . . sharing the story . . . and, the people are listening.  The people are beginning to believe . . . to become followers of Jesus and his ways.  It is an exciting time.

But, not everyone is excited.  No, there is still that old group of Jesus nemeses’ . . . those religious and politically powerful people who had sought to end Jesus and his movement . . . those who rejoiced in Jesus’ crucifixion and death . . . those who thought that it was all over.  This group does not rejoice in what they are witnessing as the followers of Jesus are growing stronger and stronger each day.  This makes them uncomfortable . . . makes them anxious . . . brings back flashbacks of another time and challenge to the way that things had always been.  This movement was intolerable.

As the powerful often believe, this group decided that the time had come to end it all once and for all.

The followers were arrested . . . they were thrown in jail.  The powerful were throwing down the gauntlet.  But during the night an angel set them free, tells them to go to the temple and preach, and when the day breaks they do as they are told.  Those in power call for the prisoners to be brought to them only to discover that they had been set free and were sharing the “good news” in the temple.  This only made them angrier and they had the followers arrested again.  The arrested were dragged before the Sanhedrin—the highest religious and political court of the Jews.  There the court reminded the followers that they were warned not to teach and preach in the name of Jesus . . . to not propagate the story among the people.  In doing this they were making the status quo . . . those in power . . . look bad.  These guys were fuming.

Peter, who once was the wispiest and whiniest of Jesus’ followers—the biggest flip-flopper of Jesus’ followers—stands before the most powerful court of his time and tells them: “We must obey God rather than men . . . we are witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him.”  Basically this once wimpy follower of Jesus tells those in power . . . those in control . . . that the followers were not going to stop telling the story . . . they were not going to stop telling the story because they were living for a higher cause . . . they were living for the will of God.  Nothing was going to stop them . . . nothing.

Now, of course, one should not look in the face of those in power and tell them off.  The consequences of such actions can be quite dire.  The Sanhedrin was not happy with Peter’s response to their warning . . . actually, they were quite ticked off.  Quickly there was a call to put the followers of Jesus to death . . . but, a Pharisee named Gamaliel speaks to spare their lives.  He suggests that they be flogged . . . taught a lesson . . . and, be released.  That will teach them.  Besides, what harm were these scattered followers of Jesus . . . if it is God’s will then they will succeed and there is nothing anyone can to stop them . . . if they are off on some scheme and new direction that has nothing to do with the will of God; well, they will eventually disappear.  Thus the followers are spared.

Gamaliel’s gamble did not work.  The followers went back out and started right where they had left off . . . they preached and taught the “good news” of Jesus . . . shared the Easter story.  They continued to make noise . . . joyful noise in the face of danger and possible death.

And, we . . . as this generation’s followers of Jesus . . . are called to go and do likewise.  We are called to a noisy faith . . . after all, we have reason to be loud and joyful . . . we have a living Savior.  And, because we have a living Savior we have a foundation . . . a genuine and deep relationship with Jesus that will carry us through any and all turmoil.  No matter what is thrown at us we can stand firm in our faith . . . we can share our faith . . . because we stand on Jesus’ love.

We are to be a people of noisy faith.  As an Easter people we are a noisy people.

Now, our other reading of scripture this morning . . . Psalm 150.  This is definitely a praise psalm.  It is also the last psalm in the Book of Psalms . . . the climax of the whole book.  Basically it calls for the faithful to praise God for all that God represents and has done.  It calls for that praise to be loud . . . to be noisy.  It calls for blaring trumpets, harps and lyres, shaking tambourines, flutes, strings, clashing cymbals . . . dancing.  Lots of dancing, laughter, and noise.  And, this noise does not have to be organized noise . . . not beautiful like a hymn or praise song . . . it is supposed to be pure, chaotic, joyful, ecstatic noise.  It calls for the faithful to “let everything that has breath praise the Lord.  Praise the Lord.”  In other words, the psalmist tells the faithful that they need to let it all hang out . . . get a little noisy about one’s faith.

In several of the churches that I have served over the years they have held what were called “Psalm 150” services.  These services were opportunities for any one and every one to offer their praise to God in whatever form they wanted.  Mostly it was singing . . . and, not always good singing . . . after all, the emphasis is on making a “joyful noise unto the Lord.”  Yeah, they even allowed me to sing if I wanted to . . . no one wanted to go against the scriptures.

As the followers of Jesus stood before the powerful court of the Sanhedrin . . . these followers who in those days between the death and resurrection seemed to broken, scattered, lost, and defeated . . . as they stood before this powerful court who could crush them with a single word . . . they chose to make a noise.  The story could not be contained . . . could not be crushed . . . no, because it was and still is the greatest story ever told.  They refused to be silent.  They would do the will of God . . . they would share the “good news”.

At the end of the story the followers who had been arrested . . . the followers who had been flogged . . . left the court . . . rejoicing . . . making noise.  The echo of that noise reverberates today in the hearts and souls of those of us who are gathered.  It is our jobs . . . our calls . . . to do the will of God as demonstrated in Jesus.  We are to be a people of noisy faith.  There is nothing to fear because we have a secure foundation that is based on a genuine, deep relationship with Jesus himself . . . based on his love for us.  When we are standing in his love . . . when we are doing the will of God . . . nothing can defeat us.  We are to be a noisy people of faith.  Amen.

“I Will Be Your Witness” (Acts 10:34-43)

Well, we all know why we are gathered here this morning.  We all know the stories of the various encounters . . . the women discovering the empty tomb . . . the appearance with the disciples in an isolated and locked room . . . the encounter along the road . . . and, the revelation as he broke the bread at the fireside.  Jesus is alive.  Jesus is not dead.  And, we are here this morning to celebrate this victory over death and all that it means for us as the followers of Jesus.  It is Easter!

With that being the case, then why in the world did the pastor read a scripture passage that had absolutely nothing to do with the stories of Easter that all of us are so familiar with?  Why are we hearing about some encounter that Peter has at the home of some Gentile—actually a Roman centurion?  Why aren’t we dancing in the aisles, shouting “hosannas”, and getting down with the Easter story we all know and love?

I’ll tell you.

One of the reasons why is because I do not want someone coming up to me after the worship service and saying to be me, “You know, Pastor, every year you preach the same thing.”  And, true, every year pastors and preachers everywhere preach the same thing when it comes to Easter . . . same with Christmas.  It is a familiar story we all know and love . . . it is the crux of our faith; and, we never get tired of it.  But, the story does not end there.  The story does not end with the resurrection of Jesus.  No, the story is just beginning.

One of the ministries . . . or jobs . . . of being a pastor is officiating at funerals.  Over the thirty-some years that I have been a pastor I have officiated at hundreds of funerals.  I have stood before countless people who have gathered to celebrate and remember a loved one.  Together we have lifted up the deceased individual and remembered them.  It is a part of the job of being a minister, and one that I enjoy doing; but, one funeral many years ago, a thought passed through my mind.  It was a simple thought, and one that probably every minister has thought at least once in his or her ministry, but it is one that has stuck in the back reaches of my mind over the years.  Every so often it pops its head up, nudges me, and makes me wonder.

What is that thought?  Well, as the individual who does all the burying . . . all of the officiating over the funerals . . . I wondered, who is going to officiate over my funeral when that day comes? 

One of my favorite Appalachian or bluegrass songs, often credited to the Stanley brothers, is Who Will Sing for Me.  The singer apparently is the individual who sings at all the community funerals.  Someone dies; this is the guy who is singing at the funeral.  One day it dawns on the singer, if I die who will sing at my funeral?  The lyrics are:

Oft I sing for my friends

When death's cold hand I see

When I reach my journey's end

Who will sing one song for me

I wonder (I wonder) who

Will sing (will sing) for me

When I'm called to cross that silent sea

Who will sing for me

When friends shall gather round

And look down on me

Will they turn and walk away

Or will they sing one song for me

The truth is, if I die, someone will officiate at my funeral.  The underlying question or concern is actually a little deeper than that . . . a little more profound . . . maybe even a little selfish.  That underlying question has to do with something I think we all wander into at various points in our lives, and that is: will anyone remember me?

In the movie Shall We Dance, Richard Gere plays a bored, overworked lawyer who one night on the commuter train sees out the window a beautiful dance instructor teaching a dancing class.  Enchanted with the beauty he decides that he wants to meet this woman, so he signs up for dance lessons.  Unfortunately, the dance classes he signs up for are not the ones that this beautiful instructor is teaching; no, he ends up with the older and plainer owner of the dance studio.  Instead of falling in love with the beautiful instructor, he falls in love with dancing.

In the meantime, his wife, played by Susan Sarandon, is bewildered with what is going on.  She knows that their relationship seems to be waning and that he comes home later and later from work.  She assumes the worse, but she loves him . . . she trusts him.  She is in the marriage through thick and thin. 

One evening she is talking to a friend about the importance of marriage . . . about her commitment to marriage and to her husband.  She says:  “We need a witness to our lives. There's a billion people on the planet... I mean, what does any one life really mean? But in a marriage, you're promising to care about everything. The good things, the bad things, the terrible things, the mundane things... all of it, all of the time, every day. You're saying 'Your life will not go unnoticed because I will notice it. Your life will not go un-witnessed because I will be your witness'."

Pretty powerful statement.  One I often share with couples before they get married.  In those words is the promise . . . you will not be forgotten.  “Your life will not go unnoticed because I will notice it.  Your life will not go unwitnessed because I will be your witness.”  You will be remembered.

Peter states: “We are witnesses of everything he did in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem.”  Peter and all the disciples . . . all those who followed Jesus . . . were witnesses to everything that had happened.  They were there to hear the stories, listen to the teaching and preaching . . . to see the miracles.  They were there from the beginning . . . they were witnesses to it all.  Because they were witnesses the life of Jesus . . . the ministry of Jesus . . . the purpose of Jesus . . . will not go unnoticed or unwitnessed because they will be his witness.  They will tell the stories.  They will keep him remembered.  They will keep him alive.

The story we heard this morning in our scripture reading takes place well after the encounters of the risen Jesus . . . by now he has ascended into heaven.  The story we hear takes place after that fateful day in Jerusalem in which the Spirit is delivered and flows through the people . . . the day of Pentecost.  Life is slowly getting back to normal, but the faithful continue to gather, tell the stories, and keep the mission alive . . . to keep Jesus alive.  Among them is Peter.  Peter who is the more-or-less leader of this faithful group . . . who receives an invitation to the home of a Roman centurion who is curious about Jesus and his purpose.

So, Peter goes.  Along the way he has vision of food . . . yeah, food.  Food that Jewish people are not allowed to eat.  In the vision God tells him that food doesn’t determine faith and who is saved.  Thus he enters into the Roman centurion’s home with a new understanding . . . that the message of God is for everyone . . . God accepts everyone.  This is exactly what he tells those who are gathered in the centurion’s house . . . that this love and grace, this gift, is for everyone.  Then he tells the story . . . he tells the story of Jesus.  He is a witness.

“He was not seen by all the people, but by witnesses whom God had already chosen—by us who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead.  He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one who God appointed as judge of the living and the dead.  All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”

Peter is a witness.  He is a witness to the Easter story.  He is a witness to Jesus.  Nothing will be forgotten . . . nothing will go unwitnessed.

Thus it is for us . . . the followers of Jesus.  We are called upon to be witness of the love and grace of Jesus . . . the love and grace of God . . . through the story of Jesus . . . through the power of Easter.  Yes, as we gather this morning to celebrate and remember, we are called out from our celebrating to be witnesses to the greatest story ever told . . . we are called to share the “Good News”.  Easter is not a stagnant story . . . once told and never shared.

No, we are here this morning because someone, somewhere, shared the story . . . someone witnessed.  And, if the body of Christ is to survive and thrive into the future, we must become witnesses of the story of Jesus in our lives . . . we must share it with other.  We must tell the story.  That is the hope that carries us through each day into the future . . . ever closer to the Kingdom of God.  We must be witnesses.

Now, I assure you that when I die someone will officiate at my funeral. Yet, none of us ever want to be forgotten.  That singer who worried about who would sing at his funeral . . . well, he had hope.  He had hope that someone would sing for him when he died.  The last verse of the song goes:

So I'll sing til the end

Contented I will be

Assured that some friends

Will sing one song for me

On this Easter Sunday we celebrate a living Christ . . . he lives!  He lives with us and in us . . . in relationship with us.  Each of our stories of the encountered Jesus are powerful stories . . . stories of faith, stories of love, and stories of grace.  We stand as witnesses to the story.  It is up to us to share those stories.  Up to us to proclaim to Jesus: “Your life will not go unnoticed because I will notice it. Your life will not go un-witnessed because I will be your witness.”

We are called to be witnesses on this Easter Sunday.  That is why we are not hearing the familiar stories of Easter . . . we know them.  The time has come to share them.  The time has come to step up and be witnesses.  Amen.

“In the Silence, the Stones Shout” (Luke 19:28-40)

The celebration of Passover was the reason the people swarmed to Jerusalem . . . including Jesus and his disciples.  Passover, the celebration of Israel’s escape from oppression through the grace and guidance of God . . . Passover, the “mark” of Israel as God’s people . . . Passover, the slow start of a national identity.  Passover was the central most important religious and nationalistic holiday of the Jewish people.  It was a big deal and the people came streaming into Jerusalem to celebrate this historical and spiritual event.  Jerusalem was swamped with pilgrims from all directions . . . it was a noisy and exciting time . . . it was a powder keg waiting to be lit.

And, the Romans knew it.

As Jesus is making his entrance with a small, but grand, parade on one end of Jerusalem, on the other end of Jerusalem there is another parade taking place.  It is a parade of power and strength . . . a parade to remind the people who is in control.  Pilate and his army of soldiers march through the streets of Jerusalem . . . not so much for adoration or cheers, but to remind the people that they are still in control . . . that they still had the power . . . and, that they were not afraid to use it if there was any inkling from the people to stray away from their subservient role in the story.  Theirs was a parade that many more witnessed than the small, winding parade of Jesus into the city of Jerusalem.

Jesus’ parade was a small, but noisy blip on the screen . . . noisy enough to get the attention of some Pharisees who witness his entrance.  Knowing the volatile situation . . . a major religious holiday . . . a nationalistic holiday . . . and, the frustration of a people under oppressive and violent rule . . . the Pharisees implore Jesus to tell his disciples to knock off the nonsense.

Now I imagine that it seems a little strange that Jesus’ enemies would be asking him to stop before it was too late . . . to stop before he got himself arrested; but, these men really did not care one iota about Jesus.  As far as they were concerned they would love it if Jesus would get arrested and be killed—that would solve all of their problems.  Yet, at the same time, they are not stupid.  They know the mindset of the Romans.  The Romans would swoop in with violence and start killing anyone and everyone—including Jesus—to make their point.  A lot of people could be killed . . . including them; so, they asked Jesus to tell his disciples to turn it down a few notches.

But, it is too late.

“I tell you,” he replied, “if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.”

Jesus understands the climate he is entering . . . he understands the climate of the people he is preaching and teaching to . . . he understands the faith and religious part of the climate . . . and, he understands the political climate.  Think of our annual celebration of the birth of our nation . . . the Fourth of July.  Think about what that day means . . . what that day stands for . . . what it is that we are celebrating.  Think of the war that was fought in order for us to be even celebrating that day.  The Fourth of July is our day in which we remember and celebrate our freedom from oppression.  It is a day that is filled with religious and patriotic fervor . . . the single most important day in our lives as a nation and in our identity as a people.  That was . . . and still is . . . what Passover was to the children of God—the Hebrew people.

The only difference between then and now is that these were a people who were still oppressed . . . still under the rule of another people who ruled with an iron fist.  True, the Romans allowed them to observe their holiday, but to observe it quietly and without the potential incident of revolt and revolution.  Thus Pilate’s parade through the streets of Jerusalem with his army.

There comes a time when enough is enough . . . a time when the frustration becomes more than one can bear . . . a time when one is sick and tired of being sick and tired under the weight of those things that oppresses life.  A time when the silence can no long hold back the anguish and pain . . . a time when it must shout out and let the world know.  Jesus understood this.  Such was the time in the lives of the children of God . . . in the lives of the Hebrew people.  They could no longer be silent.  If they had tried, even the stones would have shouted out.  Is that not what Jesus said?  The frustration and the pain, even if they tried to hold it in, would leak out.

It was too late.  The people had to be heard.  God had to be heard.  And, so, Jesus did nothing to stop his parade.  The people shouted.  The people waved palms.  They threw their cloaks upon the ground.  They welcomed what they saw as their hope in a time of great oppression and pain.  They let it all out.  Nothing was going to stop them now.

For a moment I want to point out something in our day and time that reminds me of this time in the life of Jesus.  I want us to consider the climate of our nation as we are in the thick of the presidential election cycle.  It has been a strange and wild journey as we inch our way ever closer to picking the two candidates that will face off to determine who will be our next president.  Strange and wild because we have seen a candidate arise that is not like any candidate we have ever seen before . . . a candidate who has risen up out of the frustration of a people who feel oppressed and forgotten in our so-called political system.  They have raised their voices in their frustration in difficult times, and they have embraced this individual despite the fact that much of what he promises can and should never come to pass.  But, he is not the only one, both sides are tapping into this frustration to garner the votes necessary to be the next president of the United States.

But it is not this candidate . . . or any candidate . . . that I want to point out.  What I want to point out is that the stones are shouting out.  They are crying out in their frustration and their pain.  They want to be heard.  They want to be acknowledged.  They want to take their place at the table.  They want to be empowered to be a part of the process of ruling themselves.  No matter who wins, the silence will be broken forever.

And, nothing can stop it.

Palm Sunday is a significant day in the life of the faithful.  For those of us who are followers of Jesus, it represents the beginning of the end . . . it represents the prelude to the “gift” . . . to the “hope” . . . and, to the promise of restoration of our relationships with God and one another.  And, through it all, Jesus shows us the way.  It is the day that the silence of the oppressed is broken and the mighty cry of hope rang out.

In the end, the Romans did exactly what the Pharisees feared and hoped for . . . they arrested Jesus, tried him, and crucified him upon a cross.  As far as everyone in power was concerned, it was over . . . finished . . . done.  The prophet . . . the trouble-maker . . . was silenced.  His faithful disbanded and scattered across the landscape.  It was over.

Jesus said, “I tell you, if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.”

It was not even close to being over . . . and, it still isn’t today.

Wherever there is oppression, the stones shall shout.  Whether that oppression is of a whole group of people or of an individual . . . the stones shall shout.  Whether that oppression is of the religious type or nationalistic or political type . . . the stones shall shout.  The stones will shout until the Kingdom of God is realized . . . until it is acknowledge . . . until it is lived.  That is the will of God . . . the desire of Jesus . . . and, the hope of all us who follow Jesus.  In the silence, the stones will shout.

It is never over until God declares it to be over.  Amen.