As we approach Easter Sunday, here are the manuscripts of the sermons I have preached at Easter for the past five years. I hope you have a glorious Easter celebration this year!
I’m preaching from Acts 10:34-43 for Easter Sunday, April 12, 2009. I hope you have a wonderful Easter and that the story of Jesus is told in new and powerful ways in every church on Easter Sunday morning. He is risen. He is risen indeed!
He Is The One
Acts 10:34-43 NIV
34Then Peter began to speak: “I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism 35but accepts men from every nation who fear him and do what is right.”
36“You know the message God sent to the people of Israel, telling the good news of peace through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all.
37You know what has happened throughout Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John preached— 38how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and how he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with him.”
39“We are witnesses of everything he did in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They killed him by hanging him on a tree, 40but God raised him from the dead on the third day and caused him to be seen. 41He 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. 42He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one whom God appointed as judge of the living and the dead. 43All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”
A Christmas Story at Easter
Paul Hiebert, the late missiologist and teacher, told this story of an experience he had when he served as a missionary in India:
It was Christmas time, and in the little village in South India where he had gathered with Indian Christians in the modest church there, the villagers had put on a Christmas play, the Christmas story.
The boys dressed as shepherds had come stumbling out onto the the stage, acting drunk. Apparently shepherds in that part of India were notorious for their drinking, and so the villagers howled with laughter at the boys’ comical portrayal of the Biblical story with a local twist.
But then the angels appeared and shepherds and villagers sat in rapt attention at the announcement of the birth of Jesus. Wise men soon appeared, making their way to Herod’s court where they enquired as to the exact location of the birth of the new King of the Jews. Everything seemed to be going according to plan as the play went along.
As the Biblical story came to its conclusion, Hiebert thought the play was ending. But just at that moment, the stage curtain was pulled back to reveal Santa Claus with gifts for everyone! Hiebert was shocked. At first he thought that these new Indian Christians were guilty of syncretism — blending in Christianity with their own myths and ancient beliefs.
But then he realized that the missionaries themselves had brought two stories of Christmas. The first, the Biblical story of Mary and Joseph, and baby Jesus born in a stable in Bethlehem. In that story, the setting was not far from India itself, and the climate was subtropical. Palm trees and deserts formed the landscape, and sheep, goats, shepherds, and wisemen were the characters.
The second story was the story of Saint Nicholas, Santa Claus, the giver of gifts with Mrs. Santa Claus, the elves, and reindeer as the supporting cast. Santa was the giver of gifts, and lived in a climate of snow and ice, where it was always cold and wintry.
Hiebert realized that while the missionaries had brought two stories of Christmas, the villagers in South India had combined them into one great Christmas story of Jesus and shepherds and sheep, along with Santa and reindeer and elves. Both wonderful stories, but each with a very different point.
You might wonder why I’m telling a Christmas story here at Easter. Here’s my point: we have to be careful about how we tell the stories of God. And the Easter story is no exception.
The Story of Spring Is Not The Story of Easter
Of course, Easter has some of the same wonderful folk stories that Christmas has. At Easter time, we look for the Easter bunny with baskets of candy and eggs. We dye eggs multiple colors, hide them from each other, and then make a great game of hunting for these prize eggs outdoors among the rest of nature.
We no longer believe the ancient mythic tales of strange gods and goddesses, and of the rites of spring, or other such nonsense. The Easter bunny and Easter eggs have been given a whole new story — a story of fun, of springtime, of a harmless and exuberant children’s activity. And, that’s exactly as it should be.
But, here today, we know there is a difference in the Easter bunny and in Jesus, just as we know there is a difference in Santa and Jesus. It does not hurt us at all to believe in jolly old men who bring gifts, or to believe that as a sign of spring the Easter bunny distributes eggs just for our amusement and enjoyment. But, we know that one story is not the other, that there is a difference in the Easter story in the Bible and the Easter sale at the mall.
Okay, so we aren’t like the villagers in South India who confused two very different stories. But we still must be careful when we tell the story of Easter, because even if we know the story of Easter is not the story of the Easter bunny, we still tell the wrong story sometime.
The Story of Church is not the Story of Easter
One of the stories we tell at Easter is the story of church. And, many people put on their Easter best and come to church on Easter Sunday. That’s a good thing to do. But it’s not the Easter story.
Like many of you, I grew up in the South. And in the South, we have a way of making language mean what we want it to. We say things like, “Ya’ll come to see us,” when we don’t really mean it. And we use phrases to qualify our gossip, like when we say “bless his heart.” That conversation usually goes something like this:
“Did you hear that Billy Smith was out drunk again last night?”
“Well, yes, I did. Bless his heart, he’s not ever going to amount to anything.”
So, the “bless his heart” kind of softens the gossipy part, and makes us sound really concerned for poor old worthless Billy.
Well, we did the same thing with this business of church and faith. I remember as a primary boy, when you walked down the aisle most of the time we called it “joining the church.” Which is exactly what part of that decision was, but not all of it. Somehow, we in the South just couldn’t bring ourselves to say, “He became a Christian today.” Or, “She became a disciple of Jesus today.” No, we talked about the part of that experience that was less difficult. We said, “He joined the church today.”
Now, before you get too concerned, I know we meant to include the full meaning. You joined the church because you had professed faith in Christ, because you had asked Jesus to forgive your sins, because you had repented of all the bad things you had done, even if you were only 6 years old. I know we understood it meant all of that, but mostly all we could say was, “He joined the church.”
The story we were telling then was the story about church. And, here’s how the rest of that story went:
And that was the story about church. We really thought it was the story about being a Christian, but in our Southern culture and minds both of those stories were the same.
I’m reading a fascinating book titled, The Death of Christian Britain. by Callum Brown, who is professor of religious and cultural history at the University of Dundee in the UK. Brown examines the decline of the Christian church in Britain where now less that 7% of the population attends religious services, even though The Church of England is the official state church.
Brown looks at the popular theories for church decline in England. He examines the theory of the “wicked city” which is the theory that urban centers broke ties to family and friends as the population migrated from the rural countryside to the cities during the Industrial Revolution. But Brown actually demonstrates that during the period of manufacturing increase, more people joined churches than ever before.
He also looks at the theory of the Industrial Revolution itself as a contributing factor to the decline of churches, but again the data show that during the 19th and 20th centuries, up to the 1960s, church attendance and participation in Britain actually continued to increase, and at times increased sharply.
Brown concluded that neither the growth of urban centers, nor the rise of manufacturing were the causes of the decline of the church in England.
His conclusion was that the English simply began telling themselves a new story about church. Let me explain. The old story they told themselves about church, as did we in America, is that good people go to church, church is a good influence on growing children, respectable people live according to Christian principles, and that being a church member was a good thing. You were baptized into the church as an infant, confirmed in the church as a pre-adolescent, married in the church as a young adult, and buried by the church when you died. Your life was woven into the fabric of the church.
But some time in the 1960s, during the rise of the Baby Boom generation, a lot of social narratives were being called into question. Women were finding a new place in society, young people were rebelling against their parents and the system, and society was in turmoil. We experienced the same thing here in America, with similar results.
But, in England people began to tell themselves that you can be good and not go to church. You don’t have to be baptized, or confirmed, that life isn’t much different for those who are than for others. That you don’t have to do what the church tells you to do, and you can get along very well without all that religious fuss. And church attendance began a steady decline that is unabated to this day. Part of the point of Brown’s book is that there is a point at which Britain ceases to be Christian at all, and the church becomes totally irrelevant.
So, the story of Easter can’t be the story of the Church, because it’s easy to explain away the need for the institution of church itself.
The Story of Heaven Isn’t The Story of Easter
We have often told the story of Easter this way: Jesus died on the cross and was resurrected so that we can all go to heaven when we die. Now, there is truth in that statement, but that is not the story of Easter. Actually, if you read all of the accounts of the Easter story, and of what the disciples experienced on that first Easter morning, there is nothing about going to heaven when you die in those accounts.
There is wonder, and mystery, and sadness, and surprise, and unbelief, and incredulity, but not much talk about heaven or our own death. Now, we have come to understand that a result of the death and resurrection of Christ is our own salvation which includes being in the presence of God eternally, but the story of heaven isn’t the story of Easter, either.
The Story of Easter is the Story of Jesus
In our passage today, Peter is speaking to Cornelius. Cornelius is a Roman centurion who lives in Caesarea. Amazingly, Cornelius, even though he was in the unit known as the Italian Regiment, was a believer in the God of the Jews. He was well-known and respected by the Jewish community. One day in prayer, Cornelius saw an angel who told him to send for a man named Simon, who was also called Peter. The angel told Cornelius Peter was staying in a house in Joppa, about three days’ journey away.
Cornelius dispatched 2 servants and a soldier to bring Peter to Caesarea. As they were approaching the house where Peter was staying, Peter had a vision. A large sheet was let down from heaven filled with all kinds of animals, birds, and reptiles. The voice told Peter, “Get up, Peter. Kill and eat.”
Peter objected that he had never eaten anything unclean. Jewish dietary laws prohibited the consumption of certain animals, or meat prepared in certain ways. But the vision persisted three times.
Then the Spirit told Peter, “There are some men looking for you. Go with them.”
Peter does, and arrives at the house of Cornelius, where he is well-received. Peter then begins to address Cornelius, and he tells him the story of his vision. Then he begins with the passage we read today.
Peter tells this story:
So, Peter tells the story of Jesus. Not the story of the church, or the apostles, or the things that have happened to him. Peter tells this centurion who seeks God, the only story that matters, God’s story, the story of Jesus.
When we tell God’s story, Paul Hiebert says, “We must begin with the King, for it is the King who defines the kingdom. The central message of the gospels is the coming of Jesus Christ as King and Lord over all Creation.”
Hiebert goes on, “In the end Jesus was tried for treason by the Jewish and Roman courts and executed as all insurrectionists were — on a cross. The high court in heaven found Jesus innocent, and Satan and humans wicked. Jesus rose from the dead and ascended to his lawful throne, and cast out the principalities and powers that had opposed him. Ironically, his death, which looked like defeat to humans, was the means by which God wrought salvation for those who turn to him in repentance. In the end, every knee, in heaven and on earth, [and under the earth] will bend before the King.
With the King comes the kingdom. Within the kingdom is the body of Christ, the church. And the mission given to the church is to tell the story of Jesus. Not the story of an institution, not the story of a myth or legend, but of Jesus.
Peter says, “He is the one God appointed…”
The story of Easter is the story of Jesus. It is the story the world needs to hear, and we need to tell. It is the story in which we find our place, for it is our story. It is a story that goes on, it lives because He lives.
Here’s the sermon I’m preaching this Easter from Acts 10:34-43, another lectionary reading for this Easter Sunday. I hope your Easter celebration is glorious! He is risen!
Now We Understand
34 Then Peter began to speak: “I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism 35 but accepts men from every nation who fear him and do what is right. 36 You know the message God sent to the people of Israel, telling the good news of peace through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all. 37 You know what has happened throughout Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John preached— 38 how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and how he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with him.
39 “We are witnesses of everything he did in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They killed him by hanging him on a tree, 40 but God raised him from the dead on the third day and caused him to be seen. 41 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. 42 He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one whom God appointed as judge of the living and the dead. 43 All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”
I’ll Be Glad When You Have Children of Your Own!
I know this is hard to believe, but there were times when I was annoying as a child. As unlikely as this seems, it’s true. And at those times, and usually after I had thoroughly exasperated my very patient mother, she would say something like, “I’ll be glad when you have children of your own, then maybe you’ll understand!”
Little did I know that one day I would have children of my own, and I would indeed understand. Or, at least remember that she had wished that moment on me — the moment that you hear your mother’s voice in your head and you know that she saw this coming long ago, and it is sweet vindication of all your parents ever suffered for you. And, you do understand. Because you’ve had an experience, you’ve grown, you’re wiser, you’ve been changed.
Peter Has A Dream
That brings us to our text today, right out of the book of Acts, the book of the history of the early church. Luke, the same guy who wrote the Gospel of Luke, writes the book of Acts with the same kind of insight and precision we found in his gospel account. The Acts of the Apostles, as it is properly called, is the continuation of the story of those early followers of Christ.
Acts chapter 10 focuses on Peter. This is the same Peter who was always speaking when he should have been listening, who vigorously denied that he would deny Christ, and then did so three times before he could catch himself. This is Peter who could be both arrogant and eloquent. Arrogant when he tells Jesus to wash not only his feet, but his whole body. Eloquent when he speaks words that no one had ever spoken to and about Jesus — “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the Living God.”
The setting for this text is not that first Easter Sunday morning when Peter ran to the tomb and was dumbstruck because it was empty. No, we are a few years past that first Easter Sunday, past the empty tomb, past the almost dozen appearances of the risen Christ to Peter and the disciples. We are past the momentous day of Pentecost, 50-days after Passover, when the Holy Spirit fills Peter and speaks through him and every person present hears the gospel in their own language, and 3,000 of them are saved and baptized.
We are now in the early days of the infant church — struggling, persecuted, misunderstood, yet powerful. Peter takes center stage by force of his personality possibly, but more surely by the power of the Spirit in and on his life. He heals people, he raises a child from death, he stands up to the religious and political leaders — all the things that Jesus did, Peter now does himself in demonstration of the continuing power of the Kingdom which Jesus announced and inaugurated. And, still Peter is a Jew, a devout practicing Jew, as are most of the Christians at that point.
Then, one night Peter has a dream. In the dream, a great sheet is let down from heaven, and on that sheet are every kind of animal. Then, as Peter is looking at all the animals, a voice says, “Get up, Peter. Kill and eat.” In other words, you can eat any of these animals before you.
Now, based on Peter’s answer — “You’ve got to be kidding!” (Actually, “Surely not, Lord!”) — Peter thinks he is passing the dietary law test with flying colors. After all, what is Jewish culture noted for if not its dietary laws? We westerners have even picked up on the seriousness with which Jews take culinary restrictions when we exclaim, “That’s not Kosher!” to protest something that doesn’t seem right. Peter was kosher, if anybody was.
But, the Voice says something strange, “Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.” And, as if to make the point, this happens three times — a sheet full of animals, the command for Peter to eat, and again, and one more time.
Cornelius Has a Dream, Too
Now, while Peter ponders what this means, unknown to Peter, Cornelius, a Roman centurion, has also had a dream. Cornelius is a God-fearer, but not a Jew. Jews of the first century looked down on two groups of people — Roman soldiers, and everybody who wasn’t a Jew. Cornelius was both. But Cornelius was a devout man, and in his dream an angel of God, not just a voice, appears to him. The angel tells him his gifts to the poor and his prayers have come before God as a memorial offering. Because of that, the angel tells Cornelius to send for Peter, who is staying at Simon the Tanner’s house in Joppa.
Cornelius calls two servants and a devoted soldier, and sends them to collect Peter and bring him back. This entourage arrives at Simon the Tanner’s house — a Roman soldier with two servants in tow — asking for Peter. The Holy Spirit has to tell Peter that these guys who have come for him are okay, and to go with them. If you’re a Jew, the last person you want to go somewhere with is a Roman soldier, so the Spirit had to tell Peter “It’s okay.”
When Debbie and I made our last trip to China together, we had dinner one night with about a dozen Chinese men and women, most of whom we did not know, and most of whom did not speak English. Our manager, Mr. Lin, explained who everyone was, and pointed out one man in particular. “He is Chinese CIA,” Lin explained, “Very important government man.” So, we all spent the next hour smiling, and nodding, and eating. With the Chinese military intelligence man. Or spy, or whatever he was.
I really didn’t think much more about him, because Chinese men in Shanghai have a tendency to inflate their resumes, so I really didn’t know if this guy was a military intelligence officer or not. But, when the time came for us to go back to the airport, Lin said, “Mr. Military Intelligence will send a car and soldier tomorrow to drive you to the airport.” Now, we had already tried to take pictures of some Chinese soldiers when we visited a Buddhist shrine, and were warned that was not a good idea. So, we didn’t know what to expect. But, sure enough, the next morning, a white minivan, with a fully uniformed, but unarmed, Chinese soldier arrived at the Holiday Inn Crowne Plaza to pick us up and take us to the airport, which was about an hour-and-a-half ride. Lin waved to us as we rode off into the sunrise, Debbie and I thinking we might never be heard from again. So, I can imagine how Peter must have felt when a Roman soldier shows up to take him to a Roman centurion named Cornelius.
Nevertheless, with the Spirit’s assurances, Peter goes, arrives at Cornelius’ home, and Cornelius falls at Peter’s feet, tells him about his dream, and then Peter understands what his own dream meant: God’s people now included people other than Jews.
Now Peter Understands
Then, Peter begins to speak, “I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism, but accepts men from every nation who fear him and do what is right.” Of course, we agree with that statement, but it’s hard for us to comprehend what a big leap this is for Peter. Peter is a Jew. The Messiah was promised to the Jews. The Promised Land was given to the Jews. God’s covenant was with the Jews. The Jews were God’s chosen people. Not the Gentiles, and certainly not a Roman centurion, his servants and friends.
But, Peter now understands. And he understands because God wanted him to understand. God sent the dream to Peter, and to Cornelius at the same time. God had Cornelius’ men arrive just as Peter is pondering his own dream. God wanted Peter to understand because the next step in redeeming the world is to include more people than just Jews.
Peter’s experience with God in a dream and in meeting Cornelius gave him a new perspective. Peter was able to say, “Now I understand.”
Peter Tells The Story
But, God wants Cornelius to understand, too. So, Peter tells the story to Cornelius. He says —
Peter tells Cornelius, “You’ve heard the message God sent to the people of Israel, the message of Jesus who is Lord of all.” This message is no longer just for the Jews, it’s for everybody. The events happened in Israel, but Jesus is Lord of all.
And, if that’s not enough, Peter says, “We’re witnesses of everything he did in the country of the Jews and Jerusalem.” The events of Jesus life and ministry happened there, Peter is saying, but they’re good other places, too. And, Peter goes on that after they killed Jesus, God raised him from the dead and caused him to be seen. Not by everybody, but by us, Peter says. We even ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. And, Jesus himself commanded us to preach to people and say that he is the one whom God has appointed judge of the living and the dead.
Oh, and by the way, all the prophets say that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins. Everyone. Not just the Jews. Everyone.
Cornelius and His Friends Understand Now, Too
Now, this part isn’t in our reading for today, but the story isn’t complete without it. Here’s what Luke says happened next –
Then Peter said, 47“Can anyone keep these people from being baptized with water? They have received the Holy Spirit just as we have.” 48So he ordered that they be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked Peter to stay with them for a few days.
Cornelius and his friends are so moved, so open, that the Holy Spirit comes upon them. They speak in tongues as Peter and the apostles did on Pentecost, and they praise God. The Jews with Peter (the circumcised believers) were astonished because these Gentiles were having the same experiences the Jews had — the Spirit was at work in their lives, too. I like Peter’s reply — “Can anyone keep these people from being baptized with water?” They had already been baptized with the Spirit, so now everyone there understood. God really was the God of the Gentiles, too.
Jesus Changes Everything
Into the first century world of power politics, racial division, and ethnic hatred, Jesus came with resurrection power. Some followed him, but they still didn’t understand. Peter was among those, those who wanted to follow Jesus, those who wanted a different world than the world they lived in, those who wanted to know God. But, Peter didn’t understand.
Peter didn’t understand what Jesus was doing when he fed the five thousand. Peter didn’t understand what Jesus did when he spoke calm to the raging storm. Peter didn’t understand how Jesus could tell them where to cast their nets, and then he didn’t understand how they could catch so many fish in the blink of an eye when they had been fishing without any luck all night. Peter didn’t understand when Jesus was arrested, and even though he tried to stay close, Peter denied Jesus. All because he didn’t understand.
Peter didn’t even understand when he ran to the empty tomb that Easter morning. Or when he saw the risen Christ, not once but maybe 11 times. He didn’t understand after Jesus’ ascension, as he and the other apostles waited in a room in Jerusalem because they were afraid for their lives.
But, on the day of Pentecost, when the breath of the Holy Spirit breathed into Peter so that he stood to preach a sermon like no one had ever heard, Peter understood. When tongues of fire appeared on their heads, and the sound of rushing wind filled the place, Peter understood. When 3,000 came to Christ that one day alone, Peter understood. And, when a beggar asked for money, Peter and John could say, “Silver and gold have I none, but what I have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.” And the man lame from birth not only walked, but he jumped up and walked, following them into the Temple and praising God.
Peter understood that the apostles were now carrying on the work of Jesus — healing the sick, raising the dead, challenging the religious leaders, suffering persecution, gathering the flock. All because his experience changed him.
Forgetting What We Know
Now I wish I could tell you that’s the end of the story. That Peter finally understood, and lived in the light of that understanding for the rest of his life. But, not long after that Paul has to confront Peter. Peter eats with the Gentiles when there are no Jews present, but when a delegation comes from the First Baptist Church of Jerusalem, Peter quits eating with the Gentiles for fear of offending the Jews. Peter’s memory is short, and though his experience changed him, his cultural bias betrays him.
We can say we understand because we had an experience. We can say that a break-through came in our lives when God taught us something, or circumstances arrayed themselves in a providential manner so that we had new insight into what God was doing. And we can live that way for a while.
But one day, we’ll slip back into old patterns if we’re not careful. One day we’ll forget the glow of that life-changing experience. One day we’ll find ourselves like Moses — still wearing the veil to cover our faces but without the glory of God on our faces.
And, that’s where Easter comes in. Because we need to come back from the culture of death that still tries to pull us down. Peter said of Jesus, “They killed him, but God raised him up.” In that resurrection is everything we need to live. Because the resurrection of Jesus is the guarantee that the resurrection is coming one day for us, too. That resurrection of Jesus is the assurance that the tentacles of death — despair, hopelessness, faithlessness, inconsistency, failure, and sin — that they are powerless to take and to hold us.
In the resurrection are the miracles of Jesus, the power of Pentecost, the hope for the future, the gates of heaven, the defeat of death, the end of fear, and the promise of tomorrow. We celebrate Easter as though it happened once, long ago. And it did, but it happens each day, each moment, when someone moves from the Kingdom of darkness into the Kingdom of light. When someone dreams a dream that draws them closer to God, when someone hears the Spirit spur them on to a new walk with God.
And so this is Easter, and the refrain was, “He is risen, He is risen, indeed!” And when the power of Easter dawns in our own lives, we can say with Peter, “Now we understand.”
I’m still working on the sermon for Easter Sunday, but here’s the sermon I preached last Easter titled, “Seeing Jesus Again for the First Time.” The text is John 20:1-18. The manuscript is here, and here’s the audio mp3 and the video. Sunday’s coming!
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