EASTER 4A 2008 Acts 2:42-47; Ps 23; 1 Peter 2:19-25; John 10:1-10 “Awe and wonder came upon everyone, because many wonders and signs were being done by the apostles.” How often have we heard such things said about any church community recently? The early accounts of Christian communal life contained in the Acts of the Apostles beg the question, what ever happened? Even taking into account that this passage from Acts 2 is a shameless bit of self-promotion by a self-appointed Christian historian now known as Luke, it has become a motivation for the kind of witness that is promoted as necessary for church growth. Signs and wonders will confirm the truth and draw them in. And apparently it does. Latter day Christian apostles have set themselves up in ministries of miraculous testimonies – the worst of sinners thrown to the ground in conviction; healings of all manner of ailments and diseases by the touch and prayers of a healer; and magnificent careers blossoming from the humblest of origins. “And day by day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved.” Even the secular world has taken a page out of the same manual. Miraculous works of modern day “spiritual” gurus draw millions in to the fold. Albeit the works take different forms, but are still in the realm of life altering awareness and healing. And with such possibilities available in a secular world freed from religiosity and confusing church language, perhaps the reasons to follow Christ as the way are less compelling. Better perhaps to have a flesh and blood leader accessible through the world-wide web and whose formula for living is clearly set out in the pages of Oprah’s pick of the month. Obviously, this is more than sufficient for a majority of our culture today. There are many who have indeed found “the Secret” to successfully adopting an attitude that has enabled transitions and changes and a happier life by allegiance to such leaders. We gather in sparsely attended religious services while millions have tuned in this week to hear Oprah’s latest project and will invest millions in buying the literature to support it and we must wonder: What has happened? What is it that Jesus has left to offer this world by way of signs and wonders? What testimony does our life together as Christian community speak that would be so attractive as to “add to the number day by day those who are being saved”? Quite jokingly at one gathering in this space during the week, a friend from the larger community pointed out that the peeling paint on the south wall bears a striking resemblance to a dancing figure. Ought we to declare the miracle of the dancing Jesus and open up this place for the pilgrimage and fountains of offerings that are likely to follow? Ought we to be searching for the miracles and signs of wonder that titillate the needs of a spiritually desiccated culture? When examined a little more closely, the life of the early followers of Jesus as described in the Acts of the Apostles is really not what we might call, at the tale end of modernist culture, wonders and signs. Our definition of wonders and signs tends to be those events that break the laws of science or that seem mysteriously powerful and magical to our ordinary existence. The life that was turning heads according to the Acts of the Apostles’ is described as follows: “All who believed were together and had all things in common; they would sell their possessions and goods and distribute the proceeds to all, as any had need. Day by day, as they spent much time together in the temple, they broke bread at home and ate their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having the goodwill of all the people.” There aren’t any flashing lights or pumped up music here. It sounds like these people had a way of living their regular daily lives that was attractive to others. There seems to be a sense of common ground, a willingness to respond to others’ needs and above all a pervasive joy and gladness and gratitude that was just present in the ongoing routines of eating, living, meeting together. Perhaps in a world where survival of the fittest was routine, competition was the order of the day, and a gnawing anxiety about survival could be seen on the majority of faces, this was a wonder. Acts of kindness, generosity and joyful living were signs. Perhaps individuals who sensed the immanence of their being swallowed up by the angry and often violent forces of their society and culture witnessed here the testimony of a new humanity in the making and the opportunity to be saved from inevitability. In his pastoral images of the sheepfold Jesus has clearly distinguished himself from those who would gather others in for the sake of their own reputation and success: “Whoever enters by me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and destroy. I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.” Jesus’ life and ministry and ultimately his death and resurrection were a gift for the sake of a new humanity that might be freed to live life beyond fear, endless competition, and enslavement to circumstances. Jesus has not come to sell books, or offer a magic solution to life, or even to set his followers up in competition with those who followed another way. Jesus simply offers a way to live our lives with abundance – to embrace life and its events with others by our side rather than struggling against it in the isolation of fear and competition. This would indeed be a wonder: a new humanity. Those who would identify Christianity and the following of Jesus with signs and wonders in the modern sense, with power and success, are bound to be frequently disappointed. The church in its attempts to offer such things to the world has in the end proved to be somewhat of a failure. All but the very few Christian communities can in truth compete with what the modern secular world can offer in these lines, equipped as they are with PR machines, the ear of the media and the sophistication of the modern electronic world. Perhaps one the greatest mistakes of the Church has been the attempt to copy and compete with those who offer signs and wonders, power and success as a ticket to green pastures. Perhaps that is what happened as over time the attraction of gatherings of followers of Jesus for the world began to fade. Perhaps after all this is not what Jesus or we as followers of Jesus most have to give to the world. Recognizing in the world that is watching us, the world that was eagerly watching the early followers of Jesus, we may find that we have the potential to hold up signs and wonders that are even more necessary and attractive to the world: a world where survival of the fittest is routine, competition is the order of the day, and a gnawing anxiety about survival can be seen on the majority of faces. A sense of common ground, a willingness to respond to others’ needs and above all a pervasive joy and gladness and gratitude that is present in the ongoing routines of eating, living, meeting together is a sign of wonder – a hope in the present world. . Perhaps individuals who sense the immanence of their being swallowed up by the angry and often violent forces of society and culture may witness here the testimony of a new humanity in the making and the opportunity to be saved from inevitability. It may not bring book sales and is not likely to reap us the millions to give us a comfortable living, luxurious surroundings and a future secured; but it may be truer to the heart and living presence of Jesus – both gate of the sheepfold and shepherd of the sheep - than anything else that has been tried before. |
