Micah is preaching a series on Acts so instead of following the lectionary I preached on Acts 4:1-22, and the other reading was from the Psalms. The NRSV versions of the texts are linked below. In the service, however, I read from the Inclusive Bible. Unfortunately I forgot to announce the version that I was reading. If you listen to the recording, you will hear the Inclusive Bible text; it will not be a perfect match to the NRSV version linked below. Similarly, the lector read the Psalm from the NIV translation, so there will be some difference there, too.
Come Holy Spirit! Settle into our hearts and minds, and give us courage to be the people you are calling us to be. Amen
TWENTY MONTHS AGO…
My bishop was at the church where I was working and I told him
I’m going to be a mission developer.
He responded without missing a beat (because he’s that kind of guy)…
What mission are you going to develop?
I knew what the seeds looked like but I wasn’t sure what the fruit would be, so I did not answer. But Bishop Tim said “well, at least missions don’t have baggage… at least not for the first six months.”
Now fast forward to February of this year. That same bishop (and his staff) saw the foliage of those seeds from 15 months before, and they funded six months of work to figure out exactly what the fruit might be. I had an idea that I could not shake, a 1/3-time salary, and surprisingly large program budget that I thought I would never be able to spend. God, however, was preparing plenty of ways to use those funds.
The bishop’s office funded the work and let me loose to follow whatever calling there might be. This is, I believe, one of the larger small miracles that have pervaded my life.
Fast forward again to this past week. There is general agreement that the fruit looks like a food pantry expansion in South Durham where community members who have resources like professional skills, money, and in-kind gifts (including garden vegetables) will have an opportunity to walk alongside people who for a wide variety of reasons do not have enough to eat.
There will be opportunities to learn with and about each other in session like the one we are holding today at 2 pm, called “What It’s Like To Be An Atheist.” Chances to listen and get to know each other as people, around food, nourishing each other in all the ways.
I believe it is true that God writes straight with crooked lines, and this path and process has been astonishingly delightful and miraculous. But it was not always easy or smooth.
For example, almost everyone I talked with about my original dream – this annoyingly persistent calling from God – misinterpreted, questioned, or dismissed what I had to say. I got used to comments like
- Oh yeah, I’ve done that (when in fact they had not even listened to what I said – much less understood). I know they did not understand because when I would engage they would always back pedal with something like “oh, I did not know THAT’S what you meant… usually with a tone of accusation that it was my fault they did not understand.
- Another prominent one was “Oh yeah, RIGHT, nobody will ever fund THAT.” (which, of course, they did)
- Or the most recent one: “you are doing it ALL WRONG” – because apparently the women who started the work were not worthy of attention until they connect to a group with some resources, and then all of a sudden folks start to notice – and criticize.
It was often hard and frustrating, because after HOURS and HOURS of prayer and struggle and conversations with people I trust, I simply could not think of things any other way. There was nothing else I could see myself doing.
***
So this week, as the Parktown Food Hub was coming together, and volunteers were showing up, and 80 moving boxes of donated food was brought to our (VERY UNFINISHED) space, and then 12 middle schoolers showed up to sort all that food, I was reading Peter tell the church leaders
Why should I listen to you? Look what God has done!
It made me think. It most definitely made me think.
It made me think of how the critics of my work were juxtaposed against that insistent sense of calling.
It made me think about how the 6 months of funding came at the EXACT time when the community was starving – starving for food or for community or for places to share their hearts.
It made me hear Peter’s words a new way.
I heard Peter say “LOOK, you killed Jesus. But God is more powerful than death. And if God can beat DEATH, then why should I worry about you?? What can YOU do to US?”
And, in fact, the religious leaders ended up asking almost that exact question of themselves: “What will we do with them?”
The leaders did not like it, the did not want it to be true, but they recognized that God had indeed won. In the public opinion, in the Resurrection of Jesus, and now in their power to control Peter and John.
GOD. HAD. WON.
Peter did not even bother to argue. He just said “it’s up to you to decide whether you think God wants me to listen to YOU or to GOD… but my decision is made. I am going to tell everyone that I encounter that
God has won.
***
So where does that leave us today?
Does each of us have a chance to decide to live life as if GOD HAS WON even in the face of a whole bunch of negative cultural messages?
Maybe it’s living a faithful life as a person in a same sex marriage. There are plenty of people who will howl NOOOOO!!!!! But in your struggles, your get-real moments with God, you have found that following God means being the exact person that seems to upset a certain set of folks.
Or maybe you keep feeling that you could really help a child learn to read.
Or you dream of rocking preemie babies in the neonatal ICU
Or you love sitting with people who are struggling with dementia
But the messages of our culture are so loud and strong:
- Not enough time!
- Not enough money!
- Not enough skill
- Not enough… YOU.
How would your response to those dreams differ if your first priority was to remember that in the Resurrection God has won! That God’s win is still totally relevant today? That you are enough, just as you are.
Or maybe… maybe you are weary. Maybe you need a break – sabbath – a day to catch your breath and take care of yourself and reacquaint yourself with God and others. But you are pretty sure you simply can’t. Maybe you think that if you take that break the game would be lost – whatever game it is.
Except here’s the thing: God has won.
I think those rulers and religious leaders were completely taken aback that Peter and John did not bow down to their power (and threat of imprisonment, or possibility of death).
I suspect they wondered where plain old Peter and John got the confidence that seemed to be so independent of what ANYONE thought.
Of course, if you take steps to live out the fact that God has won, you might get that same sort of bewildered response. But it will be ok!!
Because if you are walking the path along which God is leading you – no matter how counterintuitive, or even crazy it seems – it will all work out. Because we know what Peter and John knew:
God. Has. Won.
Amen
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