We were witnesses to these things

Acts 5

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Christ has risen!

Last Sunday was such a great service, wasn’t it? The sun was shining, it was warm, everyone was dressed to a T (I saw some white gloves out there; you know its Easter when the white gloves are out), and we had 106 people worshipping together! That was the largest crowd I’ve ever seen in this sanctuary. It was truly wonderful. The hope that God has given us was alive in this space.

By everyone gathered here – young and old, tall and short, Black and White – the hope of Christ was visible. We saw it. We felt it. We greeted it. We hugged it. The hope was our close friend; spouse; our children; our parents; and our visitors that we had never met before.

Just the sheer number of babies in this sanctuary on Sunday was enough hope for me.

Easter is a celebration of Christ’s resurrection. It is also a reminder that we, the church, are the body of Christ.

The little girl in the children’s sermon last Sunday got this right away. After Judi was done telling the story of the empty tomb, the girl asked, “Is that the end? What happens next?” Judi answered, “This, today, is what happens next! The story continues today!” Christ’s story is playing out in our own story.

There was no denying that last week: as the body of Christ, we were live witnesses, seeing Jesus in our midst as his resurrection played out before our very eyes.

[Pause]

Did anyone notice the weather on Monday though? The sunniness and warmness of Easter Sunday was followed by a gloomy and cold Monday. The happy jubilation of worship was met with a drab return to the daily grind.

I found myself asking God, “Now what? What are we supposed to do?”

How does the joyfulness and hope that we saw on Easter Sunday translate to our everyday lives?

How do we see the hope of Christ’s resurrected body among us when it is not so obvious?

[Pause]

Our passage today makes me think about the grey and gloomy Monday we had this week.

Our passage is from the book of Acts, which is a story about the first Christian community and how it grew and spread through of the love of God and the guidance of the Holy Spirit to become the body of Christ. The story of the early church is the story of how God moves through us, in us, and beside us today. It is the story of the visible body of Christ and the hope of resurrection that we saw last Sunday here in Duquesne.

The journey from the early Church to our gathering here today, however, has not always been filled with sunshine and warmness.

The scene of our passage is set in a courtroom of the Temple. Peter and the apostles have been brought before the high priest and the Council because they have been teaching the gospel throughout Jerusalem. This is the second time that this is happening; the first time, they were thrown in jail only to escape and go back to teaching about Christ.

Like Jesus, they were creating unrest within Jerusalem to the point that they were put on trial. Their convictions were so strong that they saw the hope of Christ in everyone and acted upon that hope no matter the consequences.

They saw the Good News when it wasn’t obvious. They saw the good news even in a dingy jail cell and a tense courtroom.

Peter, in front of the high priest and the Council, can’t help but share the gospel. When asked why they disobeyed the Council’s orders, Peter answers,

“We must obey God rather than humans. The God of our fathers raised Jesus, whom you killed by hanging him on a tree. God exalted him at his right hand as Leader and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins.”

Peter knows exactly where his authority lies: not in the Council, but in the sovereignty of God.

He knows exactly where he came from: The God of his ancestors resurrected the human Christ from death, which led him to teach the message of his Leader and Savior. Notice how Peter describes this. The hope of Christ’s exaltation is coupled with a gruesome account of Jesus’ death. He uses imagery of lynching – hanging on a tree – to describe the event that took place on Good Friday. For Peter, the good news of resurrection is not without a memory of the suffering and death of Jesus.

And Peter knows exactly where he is going. He says,

“We are witnesses to these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him.”

We are witnesses to these things. Peter’s identity, the identity of the church, is tied to Christ’s story. Their teachings and actions are all based upon being a witness to the Good News and hope of the resurrection.

They were witnesses to the point of trial, when the foreboding Council was threatening their livelihoods. They were witnesses when seeing Christ wasn’t so clear.

They understood the full meaning of what it is to be a witness.

[Pause]

Peter and the apostles not only visibly witnessed the miracle of Easter; they continued to witness the resurrected Christ in what they proclaimed and in what they did.

This is the fullest understanding of what it is to be a witness.

They not only saw, but they spoke and acted.

They did not stop with the empty tomb; they taught the Word and moved with the Holy Spirit.

They grew the early church to 5,000 members before they were confronted by the high priests.

They were agents of transformation in their hometown of Jerusalem at a time when it was difficult and the political powers were against them.

Seeing the resurrection was only the beginning. Witnessing the awesome reality of Christ’s exaltation could only be followed by proclamation and action.

We could all see the body of Christ alive in this sanctuary last Sunday. We visibly witnessed the resurrection through the 106 people gathered in this space. We saw the hope in all of the babies. We saw the hope in our closest family members. We saw the hope in the many visitors.

But, how do we witness the resurrection through what we say? Through what we do?

How do we witness the resurrection not only on Easter Sunday, but on the grey and gloomy Monday?

Our identity as the body of Christ carries with us in all that we say and do. Through our saying and doing, we become visible signs to others that the hope of Easter is here and now.

Like Peter and the apostles, we become a sounding board to God’s Word and a beacon of Christ’s light.

So…as a congregation, how are we being witnesses to the hope of Christ? How do we see, proclaim, and do God’s work in our hometown?

[Pause]

Almost a year ago, when I was looking for churches that would take me in and help me learn about ministry, this congregation was immediately attractive to me because of your motto:

“We are a diverse congregation united as one in Jesus Christ”

Right off the bat, I knew that you all carried the Easter message deep within your identity. I knew that you were made-up of many different types of people, that you were open to the Holy Spirit, and that despite the differences (or maybe because of the differences) you all were united together as the body of Christ.

I grew a deeper sense of your identity once I talked with Judi for the first time and she told me your story.

About twenty years ago, First Presbyterian of Duquesne made a decision to be more authentic witnesses. You all were open to the Holy Spirit and saw the Holy Spirit working within other people in the Duquesne.

You invited visitors in and were hospitable.

Visitors, you made the decision to come in and were vulnerable with a new group of people.

Everyone saw Christ through people who did not look like them. You spoke Good News to each other when it was tough. You moved with each other in vibrant ministry.

Today we are a strong, diverse, and tight-knit congregation even though national statistics and finances tell us that we shouldn’t be around anymore.

[Pause]

Yet…there’s still room to grow. And I don’t mean just the number of people in the pews every Sunday. Growth in this church means more than that.

It means being like Peter and the apostles and transforming your hometown by witnessing the resurrection in all that you do.

It means seeing Christ in the suffering and pain that’s in the neighborhood.

It means building stronger relationships outside of the walls of the church so that every resident in Duquesne will know that First Presbyterian cares.

They will know that First Presbyterian sees Christ, speaks the Good News, and acts with resurrection hope within a community that desperately needs it.

Easter Sunday, in all of its joy, sunshine, and warmness was not the stopping point. It was the beginning point. It was the point where we go out from this sanctuary and witness, truly witness, the risen Christ in ourselves and in our community.