On the Way to Wonder

Acts 5:1-11

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times” was one of those quotes I kept from high school, Tale of Two Cities.  Today we enter the second “city.”  After the mountain-top of Pentecost, the survival of overnight jail and interrogation by authorities, the new followers are challenged not only by external pressures but also internal drama.  Joseph who becomes known as Barnabas, son of encouragement, sells a field to help the new community.  I bet his gift was met with many thank-you-s.  Ananias and Saphira, a couple in the fellowship, sell a piece of their property also.  Leaders inspire followers but this couple adds a twist.  They turn over money to the fellowship but keep some for themselves.  That may not have been wrong but they lied to Peter about the amount.  It seems that the “city” without is challenging the group’s integrity and the “city” within is challenging their integrity also.  Our faith must not only grow in the face of prejudice but also in face of challenges to our integrity.

         As we ponder how these early believers grew from a group of scared people behind closed doors on Easter evening to become a group that changed the world, integrity must have been an important characteristic God wanted to build into them.  The husband lied first and died on the spot.  The wife came in shortly after and she too lied.  She dropped dead.  We don’t hear these kind of stories today but that does not mean integrity and honesty are not important, to God and to the growth of ourselves and our fellowships.  It is so easy to fudge a little or just forget to tell the whole story.  All the court drama today testify to our desire that government, police, schools, families …. Our leaders be people of integrity.

      Sooooo, how do you measure up?  We want to “protect the innocent” and hyppa reminds us not to gossip about information that is not ours to share but it is still worth spending a couple of moments now asking the Holy Spirit to bring to mind areas where we are challenged and why.  For me if I expect censure, I might slip.  Ouch.  It is a good thing we can confess and seek forgiveness. Blessings as you face challenges without and within today!

This week we pondered Acts 3 and 4 and we saw those followers of Jesus who were so much impacted by Pentecost, the spiritual high that changed lives and the direction of their faith, but are now living the everyday life.  They go to the Temple, as normal, to pray and are met, as normal, by beggars.  They are living in the afterglow but going about life as normal.  But something has changed and they are changing.  They meet the lame beggar with the truth.  They have no silver or gold but they do have faith in Jesus as healer, as crucified and as risen and alive and active in the world-today.  This faith is not a college degree by fishermen but a truth that has become integrated into their lives and actions.  So they reach out to the beggar and he walks!!!  In the Temple!!!

         Religious leaders are flabbergasted and jail Peter and John over night.  Afraid of the crowd and the obvious reality of the healing they release the two with serious warnings.  The new group that is forming is going to clash with authorities and the clouds are beginning to form on the  horizon.  So what do they pray? “Enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness.”

         In 1876 Edwin Hatch of the Church of England wrote the hymn “Breathe on Me Breath of God.”  It was published privately in a pamphlet entitled “Between Doubt and Prayer.”  Dr. Hatch also served for a while as a professor of the classics at Trinity College in Canada.  He was known for his scholarship and lectures in early church history.  The hymn not only refers to the Holy Spirit, the breath of God, brooding over creation but also speaks to the events of Pentecost we have been looking at.  The prayer is that this Holy Spirit would continue working in us and enabling us to share how God has impacted our lives.  It’s a devotional hymn so take a few moments to enjoy this old classic.

Acts 4:32-37

Sharing faith that Jesus heals at the beginning of chapter 3 of Acts, ends with a global statement describing this early fellowship of followers of Jesus.  Sharing faith became the sharing of life resources so no one was in need.  Individually our ability to impact drastic situations is limited.  None of us can do it alone.  But when we start working together, suddenly hope appears.  The news this morning shared the testimony of the impact on Europe of thousands of Ukrainian refugees who have not drained Europe’s resources but been a blessing.

     The chapter ends with the introduction of a man who became known as Barnabas, son of encouragement.  He evidently sold a field and offered the money to the group.  His story does not end here because he becomes a traveling companion of Paul on Paul’s missionary journeys.  But I am intrigued by his nickname, Barnabas.  My husband was called “Twiga” that means giraffe in Swahili because he was the tallest kid in the class, reaching 6 ft. 6 in.  My sister was called Blondie by my father because….she was blonde…a bit obvious.  And I was Curly because I had curly hair.  Usually our pet names are chosen by others because of qualities or characteristics they see in us.

         Perhaps think of one of your nicknames and why it was given or perhaps think about what nickname you would like to be known by if you could.  It’s kind of like picking your epitaph.  I heard a lecture once that you are not ready to live until you are ready to die and so picking what you would like to be known for is a good exercise.  Think about it and commit the matter to God in prayer.

Acts 4:23-31

Back with friends who the day before had bid them farewell as they headed to the Temple, Peter and John report-in on their adventure.  They spare no details and tell of the conflict with the authorities and their night in jail.  Being a follower of Jesus was not a politically correct stance back then as often it is not here today.  The group gathers together and prays.  They comfort themselves that the unfolding of events can be seen predicted in Scripture and so is not surprising.  But listen to their prayer request, “enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness.”  In the face of persecution, they pray for boldness of integrity and faith.  They did not ask for protection.  They asked for boldness.  The result of that prayer was that the faith community grew in faith, in experiencing signs and wonders, and in generosity with each other.

         So what is our prayer?  Are we praying for boldness to speak our truth about our experience of Jesus?  I fear the pressure today is towards tolerance and not to offend someone who disagrees with us.  I looked up synonyms for bold and found words like daring, brave, valiant, fearless, courageous, unafraid, adventuresome, spirited, positive, confident plus more.

         Let’s take a minute now to pick just three of these synonyms and write a sentence of what faith described by the word would look like.  For example, I might write, “Being brave would mean sharing when I’m afraid I’ll be laughed at or rejected and when I am afraid I will loose social status.”  Give it a try with a couple words and then pray for what you would like to receive today.  Blessings as you reflect.  May we be brave and not scared!

Acts 4:1-22

A man lame from birth suddenly starts to walk, leaps and praises God, right in the middle of the Temple!  I bet that was a scene.  Faith moved a mountain and the authorities were confounded.  They threw Peter and John in prison for the night and had a meeting the next morning. Peter and John did not back down under question and were very clear that the miracle was done by Jesus and the establishment had refused to believe in Jesus and crucified him.  “What are we going to do with these men?” the leaders lament.   Stories of faith seen by people, force us to re-examine our own faith.

         I remember in my youth, our group first played on a guitar praise songs during worship.  Until then only the piano and organ were considered appropriate.  The pastor’s wife stomped out as we sang.  New and different does not necessarily mean wrong or heretical.  How do we decide?  The Temple leaders did not go to Scripture or prophesy but it seems they were afraid of the people.  Public opinion is seldom a good indicator of truth.  Popularity does not make right.  How do you gauge truth so that you keep growing?

     One way to evaluate is to see if the reasoning is consistent with the over arching theme of Scripture.  Picking a verse here and there and stringing them together in an argument often ends up being divisive as seen by our various Christian traditions and denominations that all think they are right.  I find it interesting that Peter goes to the source of the healing, Acts 4:10-12,

“  this man is standing before you in good health by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead. ¹¹ This Jesus is ‘the stone that was rejected by you, the builders;
    it has become the cornerstone.’¹² “There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among mortals by which we must be saved.””

Peter gives credit to the name of Jesus and not to himself and his own faith.  He accurately identifies the source of power, God.

         So how do you evaluate truth and grow spiritually?  Public opinion? Or can you identify the hand of God?  Perhaps our prayer today is to ask God to open our eyes that we can recognize him working in our world.  Remove prejudice and confront us about areas of blindness that prevents us from growing.  Speak Lord, we listen!

Acts 3:11-26

After Pentecost Peter and John were walking in the Temple going to pray and were met by a crippled beggar.  The man wanted money but Peter and John shared what they had, faith that Jesus could heal.  The man was healed and praised God.  Peter turned preacher again, turning to the crowd and asked them, “Why does this surprise you?”  Peter then is able to draw the line through recent historical events, the life-crucifixion-resurrection of Jesus and connect the dots with the crowd’s lack of belief.  The ability to connect the dots in historical events is the stuff of the evening news programs.  We are still trying to connect the dots on Covid, on January 6, or the thinking behind Ukraine.  I believe we often will hear, “history will tell if…” because as history unfolds we gain better perspective and understanding on whether we made the right decision today.  History will tell if so and so was a good president.  In fact history speaks to the truth of the Bible!

         Peter puts the healing of the cripple man in the broader context of religious history and prophecy about Jesus.  Spiritual growth, I suspect is being able to see our situation in the bigger plan.  Joseph says to his brothers who out of jealousy sold him into slavery in Egypt, when they are finally reunited.  He is able to say to them, “you meant it for evil but God meant it for good.”  Hebrews 12:15 warns, “See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God, that no root of bitterness springs up and causes trouble and through it many become defiled.”  It is hard to grow spiritually and be at peace if our hearts are chained to some past situation that we have thought about so long that the offense has grown into a relationship breaker.  Take time to sit quietly and ask God to bring to mind any situation you may need to put in a better perspective and repent or forgive.  Perhaps you cannot deal with the actual person but you can repent of your part and ask God to connect the dots for you.  He holds the big picture.  Blessings.

Acts 3:1-10

After Pentecost the followers of Jesus were still part of Judaism, going to the Temple to worship and pray.  But somehow things were different.  The following kids song tells the story of Peter and John going to the Temple and meeting a cripple begging for money.  Their response is classic.  “Silver and gold have I none, but such as I have, give I thee.  In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk.”

         Looking through the lens of faith formation, what do we learn about how these early followers are growing in faith?  Our faith challenges are no different today.  Perhaps we are not going to the Temple but we are exiting the freeway and see the person with a sign begging for money.  We may need to deal with that child caught in addiction, asking yet again for assistance to pay the rent.  We won’t mention the unending stream of ads asking for just one little gift to help them meet that wonderful goal of theirs.  The demand always is bigger than our perceived sense of resources and we feel guilty as we weigh all the needs calling out to us.

         One of my favorite stories is about living in a famine relief camp in northern Kenya for four years and being down to my last cup of sugar I had squirreled away for my son’s birthday cake.  Of course my friend came to the door asking if I had sugar.  People there survived by begging.  I battled my conscience as I could not lie to her.  I admitted that I had a cup of sugar I was willing to give half to her but before I could finish the sentence she  shhhhed me and said to come to her hut as she had gotten some and would share with me!!!  She, the refugee, remembered me and thought of my need and believed me.  That was a big lesson for me.

         Peter responds to the beggar, “such as I have” he would share.  He did not have silver or gold but he did have faith. He had walked with Jesus and seen Jesus heal many people.  We cannot always give the person asking just what they want.  We may not have it nor may it be wise but we always have something we can share – if only a smile or a glass of water.  Let us pray today for a generous heart that can identify what resources we have that can help others and that we can share with love.  The man wanted silver or gold and got the ability to walk.  The result was praise.  May we bring joy to someone today.  Blessings. 

History of Hymns: “Shine, Jesus, Shine”

(This week we went from Pentecost to Trinity Sunday and we looked at the deep affect Pentecost had on the birth of the Christian church.  This song was electric in the 90s and speaks to me of Pentecost.  I share an article on the history of the hymn that I found. umcdiscipleship.org/resources/history-of-hymns-shine-jesus-shine)

“Shine, Jesus, Shine”
Graham Kendrick
The Faith We Sing, No. 2173

Few Christian songs composed just 20 years ago have had such an immediate impact on congregational singing as Graham Kendrick’s “Shine, Jesus, Shine” (also known as “Lord, the light of your love is shining”).

Graham Kendrick (b. 1950), a native of Blisworth, Northamptonshire, England, now resides in Kent. The son of a Baptist pastor, he began writing songs in the early 1970s and today is one of the most prolific British Christian singer-songwriters and worship leaders.

Initially trained as a teacher, he began his career as a singer/songwriter in 1972. He now has over 30 albums and 400 songs to his credit, and his songs are sung throughout the world in many languages.

“Shine, Jesus, Shine” has been a song of hope at noteworthy events such as the 1996 Dunblane memorial service for 16 students and teacher who were tragically killed, and the Tasmania massacre memorial service for the 40 people killed by a lone gunman, also in 1996.
Other large gatherings that used the song include the Billy Graham crusades to the largest ever open-air mass in 1995 in Manila, where Pope John Paul II is said to have “swung his cane in time to the music.”

Mr. Kendrick says of the song’s origin: “Bearing in mind the worldwide popularity of this song, perhaps the most surprising thing about the writing of it is the ordinariness of the circumstances.

“I had been thinking for some time about the holiness of God, and how that as a community of believers and as individuals, His desire is for us to live continually in his presence. My longing for revival in the churches and spiritual awakening in the nation was growing, but also a recognition that we cannot stand in God’s presence without ‘clean hands and a pure heart.’ So I wrote the three verses and ‘road tested’ it in my home church. Though there was clearly merit to the song, it seemed incomplete, so as I was unable at the time to take it any further, I put it back in the file.

“Several months later I was asked to submit new songs for a conference song book, and as I reviewed this three-verse song, I realized that it needed a chorus. I remember standing in my music room with guitar slung round my neck trying different approaches. The line ‘Shine, Jesus, Shine’ came to mind, and within about half an hour I had finished the chorus, all but some ‘polishing.’ Though I felt an excitement in my spirit at the time, I had no inkling at all that it would become so widely used. There were other songs I rated more highly at the time that most people have never heard of!”

Stanza one focuses on the light “shining in the midst of the darkness” and Christ as the “Light of the World” (John 8:12). This Light “set[s] us free by the truth…” (John 8:32).

Stanza two reflects on coming before the “awesome presence” of Christ, where “the shadows [turn] into your radiance.” Christ’s brightness “consume[s] all my darkness.” The final stanza focuses on how Christ’s brightness may be reflected in our lives as “our faces display your likeness.”

Charles Wesley’s famous hymn, “Love divine, all loves excelling,” is fleetingly paraphrased as Christ’s brightness is “ever changing [us] from glory to glory” as we mirror him. The third stanza concludes with a petition: “May our lives tell your story.”

Mr. Kendrick’s efforts have been recognized in many ways, including a Dove Award (1995) and an honorary doctorate of divinity from Brunel University (2000) in West London.

“Shine, Jesus, Shine” was voted tenth in a 2005 survey of the United Kingdom’s favorite hymns by the BBC’s Songs of Praise program.

Dr. Hawn is professor of sacred music at Perkins School of Theology.

Acts 2:42-47

Luke now gives his friend Theophilus, a bird’s eye summary of those early Christians.  After the mountain-top experience of Pentecost we get a peek at Christianity at its best.  Some churches today try to duplicate this model but I read it as a summary before we now enter into the challenges that faced early Christians, and ourselves.  One of the complicating truths is that we at some point come down from the emotional highs of spiritual experiences to applications in real life.  We will see trials and challenges begin to unfold as we go through Acts. 

         Lest I sound sour, though, let me look at those early characteristics of faith we hope to grow into.  Those first Christians fellowshipped together, ate together and prayed together.  Wonders were performed and there was communal ownership of goods.  They were generous with each other.  They lived a life of praise and many more people came to believe.  To me it speaks of community where we have identity and belonging and are valued.

         Interestingly, very similar stories are coming out about the Christians experiencing the horrors of war in Ukraine.  Generosity, sharing, prayer, music, and a sense of being together in the struggle characterize trauma.  Perhaps support groups pick up this flavor without faith.  For Christians, faith will be core to the story. 

         So the question is how do I measure up in my relationships with my communities I participate in.  Reflect on your level of fellowship – a habit or lifegiving?, of communion – tradition or soul cleansing? Of prayer – occasional or personal? And of generosity – skimming the surplus or meaningful?  We all need to take a moment and take an inventory of our faith life.  Perhaps we need to tweak something or maybe we have allowed the business of life to slow down spiritual discipline.  Pray for a moment and see what God brings to mind.  Blessings.

Acts 2:37-41

Pentecost started “suddenly” with an experience that let people know they were standing on holy ground: violent winds, tongues of fire on heads, and people speaking languages they had never known and others hearing a message in their own heart language.  All extraordinary.  We realize we have come into the presence of the Holy.  Then we see an expression of gifts formerly undeveloped, Peter steps forward as a preacher, explaining Jewish history and putting the recent events in perspective.  The one God worshipped by the Jews was also the Jesus who lived among them, living the character of God, claiming to be God but who was crucified by them to fulfill prophecy.  Pentecost was the Holy Spirit was appearing as prophesied centuries before.  This whole scenario seems like one of those crisis moments when people make choices.

         “Suddenly” events of life appear in a new light that challenges my actions and understanding. The truth given me demands a response.  For Peter this meant not denial but telling the crowds the truth as he understood it.  When people asked him if he was a follower the night of the trial, he denied and fled.  Now he steps forward and preaches.  For many in the crowd this meant dealing with their guilt over participating in the crucifixion.  Others were called into praise. 

         Not all of us are called to be preachers like Peter nor is our pastor necessarily gifted like Peter but we are blessed with God’s word that speaks to us.  Sometimes we are challenged to use our gifts in new ways and sometimes we are convicted about our misuse of our gifts.  Sometimes the Spirit moves us to praise or to prayer but it is hard to be neutral in the presence of God.

     So let’s spend a moment listening to the Spirit speaking to our hearts today.  It could be conviction about mouth-in-motion but it could also be we need to be quiet to hear the whisper of love and desire to be more involved in our lives, developing our talents.  Spend a moment centering yourself in God’s Word.  Perhaps like in the passage, our prayer today is, “ what shall we do? (v.37)”  Blessings.