God's Children Now! - Sermon for 3 Pascha

A Sermon for the 3^rd Sunday in Pascha (RCL B) 4-22-2012

Offered by Nathan Ferrell for Trinity Episcopal Shared Ministry

Texts:              Acts 3:12-19; Psalm 4; 1 John 3:1-7; Luke 24:36b-48

Themes:         repentance, witnessing, boldness, fearlessness
Title:               God’s Children Now

“Repent and turn to God so that your sins may be wiped out” (Acts 3:19).

My dear sisters and brothers: each year during this Paschal season in which we celebrate the victory of Christ over the power of death, we read through the Acts of the Apostles in our Sunday liturgies.

And in these texts, we discover anew the amazing transformation of these ordinary working-class people into preachers and teachers who were bold enough to stand before the rulers of the world and to bear witness to the power of God at work now in Jesus the Messiah.

We know that Peter and all of them were afraid and confused at first.

Our Gospel reading today takes place after the sun has set on that first day of resurrection.

It shows them once more afraid and unsure. But then their minds were opened to understand, and not long after, the power of the Holy Spirit rested upon them.

And when that happened, everything changed! And all of their fear was gone.

This past week was the 100^th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic. I’m sure you heard about this as it was all over the news media. But I doubt that many of you heard the story of John Harper, the Baptist pastor who was on board the Titanic with his daughter on that fateful night in April of 1912. 

Born in 1872, John Harper was a native of Glasgow, Scotland. He began to preach the Gospel in the streets of the city when he was only 17 years old. His education was quite limited, but no one could ever question his passion for calling people to repent and turn to Christ. When he was 24 years old, he planted a new church, which grew to have over 500 members by the time he set sail for America. 

After the iceberg ripped open enormous gashes in the side of the Titanic, and when it became clear that the ship was going to sink, Reverend Harper placed his much-beloved daughter in one of the lifeboats for women and children. He kissed her, promised her that he would see her again one day, and then turned back to the crowds of fearful humanity gathered on the decks.

When the ship began to break into two pieces, many of the passengers jumped off the decks and into the icy, dark waters below. John Harper was one of these people and he was seen swimming frantically to people in the water and leading them to Jesus before they succumbed to hypothermia or drowning. Rev. Harper swam up to one young man who had climbed up on a piece of debris, and he asked him: "Are you saved?" The young man replied that he was not, and after a brief conversation in which it became clear that this young man was not interested in God, Rev. Harper took off his life jacket and threw it to the man and said "Take this: you need it more than I do." Then Rev. Harper
swam away to others close-by.

A few minutes later, Harper saw the young man again and he succeeded in leading this young man to profess trust in Christ.

Of the 1528 people that went into the icy water that night, only six were rescued by the lifeboats.

One of them was this young man floating on the debris with Rev. Harper’s lifejacket.

Four years later, at a survivors meeting in Hamilton, Canada, this young man stood up and in tears recounted how John Harper had led him to Christ; how he had tried to swim back to help other people, yet because of the intense cold, had grown too weak to swim.

His last words before going under in the frigid waters were "Believe on the Name of the Lord Jesus and you will be saved."

Not all of us, my friends, are called to be evangelists like this John Harper. But we are ALL brought into this new life in Christ where we can live – like the apostles, like Reverend Harper – free from the shackles of fear, free from the fear of death.

AND we are ALL called to bear witness – with boldness and sacrifice – to the transforming power of the risen Lord.

What is the transformation that happens when a person is overwhelmed by the grace of God?

What we see in the apostles after the resurrection, what we see in saints like John Harper, is an ability to live without fear! To be in the moment, with no worries about the past and no anxiety about the future. To live boldly in the NOW of God, freely sharing the love of God in Christ without concern about the consequences. 

In our Epistle reading today, we heard this proclaimed in our midst:

“Beloved, we are God’s children now; what we will be has not yet been revealed.” (1 John 3:2).

What amazing insight! We are God’s children NOW – right now. That is what our identity.

What we will be has not yet been revealed. The future remains obscure, hidden from our sight.

Now, of course, we must be practical and plan for the future as best as we are able.

It is our duty to provide for our families in the future as we can.

And yet, the truth is that you and I spend far too much time thinking anxiously about the future, and projecting our imagined fears into the years to come, rather than living boldly in the present. 

Here is another story. A very different story – not a historical one. It is a parable which also presents us with an important truth.

This is an ancient Zen Buddhist story about an old farmer living out in the country.

One day, the old farmers stallion broke through its fence and ran away. His neighbors came by to console him and they said, "Oh, we’re sorry. That's so bad!" The old farmer just shrugged and said "Maybe".

The next day, wanting to eat some of those good oats back at the farm, the stallion returned. And, it brought along three wild fillies – wild female horses. The farmer’s neighbors stopped in and said, "Wow! Such great luck!" The old farmer just shrugged and said "Maybe".

The next day, the farmer's teenage son – his only son – decided to try and break one of these new horses, so that he could ride it. The horse bucked him, and when he fell to the ground, he broke his leg. His neighbors again consoled him and said, "Oh, we’re sorry. What horrible luck!" The old farmer just shrugged and said "Maybe".

And then the next day, the Emperor’s army came through the area in order to round up all of the young men to fight in a new war, where most were likely to die. But because of his broken leg, they did not take the farmer's teenage son. His neighbors congratulated him and said, "What great luck!" The old farmer just shrugged and said "Maybe...."

Do you see, my friends? The truth is that you and I are far too eager to predict the future and to pass judgment upon how things will be because of our new circumstances.

But we project too much, and the truth is that we do not know how our present circumstances will shape our futures. We waste far too much of our precious time thinking and worrying about the future. 

“What we will be has not yet been revealed.” The future is a mystery. But what else is written there?

“Beloved, we are God’s children now!”

Right now, we are God’s children. And truly, THAT is what matters most!

Because the Lord rose from the dead, the apostles walked out of that locked room and they left their fear behind. They walked out into Jerusalem with no concern about the future, with no fear of death, and they spoke with boldness of the power of God available to all people NOW – right now- through the resurrection of the Lord Jesus!

When you and I are able to clear out the clutter in our minds, this is all that matters.

Right now, we are alive in Christ! Right now, the Holy Spirit is empowering us. Right now, God surrounds us with amazing love and grace.  

And right now, there are people in your lives, in your families, in your neighborhood, who are lost because they have no connection with God in their lives.

These are people who have never experienced the joy, the peace, the hope that comes from being connected to Jesus Christ.

May God forbid that we keep this gift to ourselves. May God send us all out to live without fear, and with boldness to bear witness to transforming power of Christ. Amen.