April 11, 2021 “Lamb of God Who Takes Away Our Needs” Pastor Hines

 

April 11, 2021

“Lamb of God Who Takes Away Our Needs”

Pastor Hines

 

Here in the book of Acts, we hear from Luke the physician, a personal friend and perhaps convert of the Apostle Paul. Luke is understood to be the author of the Gospel of Luke as well as the author of the book of Acts. Of all the gospel writers, Luke is said to be the only non-Jew. Luke was a gentile, and like us Gentiles two thousand years later, he declares that this Jewish Jesus has risen from the dead. We are beginning to understand that culture does not count more than community. Today, we find ourselves in the twilight of Easter and naturally among many cultures and contexts that differ from ours.

We remember the first Easter as if it were yesterday. Despite the pandemic, our Easters are filled with gorgeous tulips, weather warm enough to wear a new spring outfit, and happy children enjoying festivals organized just for them. The first Easter celebration, no doubt,  had its good times. The book of Acts tells us of the very first Christians and gives us a very dramatic picture of the early church.  There were troubling and even tragic moments, but every generation has them. We often think the first century church differs from us in that it had more power. You may remember hearing stories about their power to heal the sick, raise the dead and drive out demons.

The gospels tell us that when the resurrection was happening, supernatural things happened. A foreboding darkness filled the sky. Most considered it an important spiritual sign that God was watching and God was not pleased. There was a big earthquake that came from Heaven to shake things up. There is even telling of Saints who were raised from the dead, proving once again that it is God who has the last word.  We were not there but, we have probably experienced firsthand some situation that was undeniably mysterious, something that makes us think that there is more to this life than we know. We may not be able to prove or even understand the resurrection, but if we have had a relationship with Jesus at all, if we have seen anything in this world that has shocked or surprised us, we probably have no doubt that with God, anything is possible!

More and more we are understanding that there are things that exist that we cannot see with a naked eye such as radio waves and cyberspace. The things we cannot see are more lasting than the things we can see. Our bodies and our buildings deteriorate day by day, but spiritual things last generation after generation. Smart phones, robots who do surgery, and ships that travel light-years away into space have super intelligence will decay, but God’s love is forever.

Throughout history, Christians have read about the miraculous and powerful things that happened in the New Testament and we thought that God intended the exact same things to happen for real Christians for all times and in the same detail. It has not worked that way. Hope-filled Christians have died picking up poisonous snakes after reading about them in the bible. People have prayed for healing and when it did not happen instantly, they were tormented with guilt after being told the prayers did not work because they lack faith, or worse, God wanted them to suffer because they are not good enough, worthy, or too sinful.

Christians have set up tent meeting services, faking deliverances from demons and pushing and prompting people in prayer lines in order to encourage them to fall out in the spirit. Some do fall, not because of the move of God, but because they have grown weary of loud, repetitive prayers of insistence. And, of course, some do fall under the power of the Holy Spirit.

Church history has shown that we are driven by the desire to have power to take away our misery and the sooner the better. Some folks show up on Sunday morning, saying to themselves, “I am going there because they’ve got the glitz and the glamor of power.” More often than not we fail to realize that power belongs to God. Psalm 62 says ¹¹ One thing God has spoken, two things I have heard: “Power belongs to you, God,¹² and with you, Lord, is unfailing love.” We need to show up for the love of God, with our love for God and be ready to give thanks for WHATEVER power or anything else God has for us.

In the first chapter of Acts, Luke retells a dinner time conversation with Jesus when he says they will receive power, they will be baptized with the Holy Spirit and they will be witnesses. In other words, their words and their lives were soon to reflect the love and power that Jesus showed when he was living on earth, because it was now going to be alive in them. 

Just like humans look for love in all the wrong places, humans look for power in all the wrong places. We wonder if God wants today’s miracles to look the same as they did 2000 years ago. It seems to me that God has given us modern medicine which has brought us miraculous healings of our bodies and greater cures than we have ever known before. We have new hearts, limbs, and lungs. Vision is corrected and surgically restored. Medicines relieve pain, therapeutic counselors get minds back on track and psychiatrists restore brains with prescriptions. It is unfathomable and hardly believable what God has enabled the fields of medical research and science to accomplish for us. We are first hand witnesses of the power of God to bring new life and wellbeing for Americans, and we have cooperated and collaborated and shared that power with the whole world.

Power belongs to God and before we go to the doctor to whom God has given some wonder working power, we do well to go to God with our praise and thanksgiving. Power belongs to God, so before we go to the politician to whom God has given some political power, we do well to go to God with our praise and thanksgiving. Power belongs to God, and if before we go to the bank in hopes of prospering, we go to God with our praise and thanksgiving, we do well. Power belongs to God and before we go to any relationship, it is good to go to God with gratitude for the one who can lead us in the path that we should go and who loves us with an everlasting love. Power belongs to God. 

The book of Acts tells (11.26) us that the first church was founded in Antioch and it was there that they were first called Christians. Antioch was in ancient Syria. With border changes, the city is now said to be in Turkey, where there might be a museum of ancient Roman and, remotely possible, even artifacts and references to Christianity.

Early Christians met in house churches like so many do today around the world. Even Bethel began as a house church beginning as a Sunday school class before the civil war. Through divine intervention, we are here today. 

The early Christians met in homes, most likely in secret. They met to pray and seek the peace and protection of God from those who crucified Jesus and would likely persecute them because they were his followers. Luke describes these amazing early Christians in verse 32 as having the power of God. It reads, “Now the whole group of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one claimed private ownership of any possessions, but everything they owned was held in common.” If having one heart and soul and sharing possessions is not a miracle, I don’t know what is! Unity is a miracle. Togetherness is a product of Divine intervention. Harmony does a body of Christ good. Oneness is a wonderful thing. Cooperation creates community.  The power of God helps us to be good and to do good. Years ago, I was a social worker in South Philadelphia for United Methodist Neighborhood services. The City paid for 20 teenage counselors to work in my summer camps. Most kids lived in nearby Passyunk Homes Housing Projects.   When the application of one my young men was rejected, I was convinced and convicted to do something. The City caseworker assigned to us was a military veteran known for his stern and sour demeanor. Nevertheless, not totally conscious that God was doing something supernatural, I called the caseworker, let him know I was on my way to his office to complete this young man’s application. I arrived at his desk with my
student. Ever so gently, I instructed him to complete the application while listening to his now soft voice fussing and resisting as if he had no idea what hit him. However, he did exactly what I asked him to do and exactly what he had said he was not going to do. It was as if the Holy Spirit was moving with a special purpose and plan. The task was done and it occurred to me that God had a plan that was bigger than me, bigger than the young man for whom I was advocating and bigger than a hard-nosed military worker. It was a miracle. By the power of God, we were made one heart and one mind in spite of ourselves.

Verse 33 tells us that with great power the apostles gave their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all. Any story of Jesus is powerful. Telling a story of Jesus is powerful and it stirs up the power of God in our lives. Telling what we have experienced when we have walked with Jesus, primes the pump for the Holy Spirit to flow and come gushing out and fulfilling whatever purpose God has in mind. The power of God makes us good and makes us do good.

The early church was united. The early church had a powerful witness of the Holy Spirit working in their lives. They even sold what they had and shared it with others. As a result, verse 34 says “There was not a needy person among them.”  How awesome is it that!! God met the needs of the people through the church and God is still doing so today.

Gospel musician Richard Smallwood wrote a song that is perfect for every Christian Community anytime, especially for communion. It says, ‘Everything you need is at the table where the feast of the Lord is spread. Peace, and love, and healing, salvation, and joy are all at the table prepared for us. Everything we need is at the table.’

All across the globe, the church can be found. We are called to a common table and invited as children of the living God to feast together as one family. At the table we are full and satisfied. When we leave the table, we are able to help and provide for others wherever God leads us. I believe as we go into the world with one heart and a powerful testimony, needs are constantly met until there will not be a needy one among us, I if only for one day. For we are following the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. Surely he has had mercy on us and we can open our hearts to one another. Where he leads us, we find our daily bread, enough to satisfy as well as to share, and by the power of the Holiest Spirit, we do the same the next day, too. Amen.