The text is below the video…
Sermon “To The Rescue” Sunday April 26 2020. Alan Neale. Trinity Church, Newport, RI
Our home is situated on a road that leads from the Middletown Fire Department to most of Middletown and, when needed, beyond. Over the past few weeks it has been, sadly, most common to see so-called Rescue Wagons and Ambulances speeding to and fro providing, as I know from personal experience, profound and pertinent rescue.
Acts 2:37 reads “Brothers, what must we do… (and some texts add) to be saved?” Saved – rescued – set free – liberated… all attempts to give authentic dimension to this fundamental Christian and spiritual belief.
Those “rescue wagons” speeding on Turner Road remind me of the multi-faceted, multi-dimensional need we have both individually and corporately to be rescued.
The question is asked in response to a brief sermon the newly empowered Peter preaches to the crowd; it’s not so much an exercise in persuasive debate but rather a proclamation of truth. Peter lays it out very clearly, very simply, very directly. The ones who respond, respond to truth not to slick and superficial oratory. I am reminded of St. Paul’s words writing to the Corinthian church “2 When I came to you… I did not come proclaiming the mystery of God to you in lofty words or wisdom. 2 For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and him crucified. 3 And I came to you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling. 4 My speech and my proclamation were not with plausible words of wisdom, but with a demonstration of the Spirit and of power, 5 so that your faith might rest not on human wisdom but on the power of God.
This humble, earthy, untaught fisherman; this Peter who in fear denied Jesus three times and deserted him at the Cross, this Peter who sat huddled in terror in a locked room for fear of the Jews… this Peter is now declaring the message in front of a crowd so huge that we read “that day three thousand were added to the believers.”
Peter, it seems, has already learned and believed two crucial lessons for ministry, for service, for healthy living.
The first lesson, that the Resurrection was totally caused by the divine action; Jesus was dead, dead, dead… the resurrection that was wrought was an act of creation of Genesis proportion… order is brought to chaos, life is brought to death, purpose is brought to futility. Often when we are most weak, frail and without hope that provides the most fertile ground for God to work resurrection power.
The second lesson, that we should not and need not work as solitary lone rangers in life;
it is not a sign of weakness but rather of strength to call upon God and others for help, comfort, reassurance. And so Peter, who before was marked by a chronic case of “I’ll do it my way” now requests the other disciples to stand with him as he presents the message to the Jerusalem crowd.
In his measured response to the question (Brothers, what must we do?) Peter outlines four stages of conversion. I believe (corroborated by other stories in Acts) that these stages may not always be in order and may often have to be repeated.
1. Repent. Be prepared to turn around and begin again; be prepared to let go of previously held convictions and plans. At this time of pandemic, the ones who remain most healthy are those most willing and able to “begin again”, to think and plan in different ways.
2. Be Baptized. This is both an act of submission (once started, ever to be renewed) to the Lord but also a ready and full acceptance of membership, engagement in the church – the Body of Christ.
3. Have sins forgiven. Oh dear, sin! What do we of the 21st century make of such a word. Decades ago I remember hearing a Sunday School teacher ask her young students the meaning of “sin”; the silence was followed by her question, “What is in the middle of sin?”. You could see their eyes light up and their understanding engage… “I” is in the middle of sin. Whenever I treat the world, family, friends, colleagues as purpose to please and satisfy me… then I am guilty of sin that will lead to estrangement, alienation and disconnection.
Many of us right now are feeling estranged, alienated and disconnected… and find ourselves in need of rescue and liberation. When we refuse to become self-obsessed and reach out to others, then we find freedom.
4. And then… receive the power of the Holy Spirit. Ask for the power of God to live in these strange and weird days; ask for the power of God to witness and testify to Resurrection and Renewal even in and from the grave.
Friends, especially at this time of pandemic, we need search for, discover good news and establish it, welcome it into our hearts and lives… and this we do by reflecting on the Lord and His mighty acts and sharing that hope, faith and light with others.
Lord, I ask what must I do to be rescued and made whole? Keep me hopeful and persistent in this search. Amen