MAY 8, 2011  SERMON ARCHIVE

Let us pray. Let the words of my mouth, and the meditations of our hearts, be accep-table in your sight, Oh Lord, our strength and our Redeemer, AMEN.

Acts 2:37-41 "Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, "Men and brethren, what shall we do?" 38 Then Peter said to them, "Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 "For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call." 40 And with many other words he testified and exhorted them, saying, "Be saved from this perverse generation." 41 Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them."

Thus far the text.

It was billed as a "Large Church Conference." Attending were some 500 professional church workers from megachurches throughout the United States and other countries, and the presenters were senior pastors from several very large congregations.

At this particular conference, the presentations covered a wide variety of subjects. However, two dominant themes developed from the presentations. The first was "We must proclaim God's Word clearly, giving straight forward answers to people's seraching questions so that they can be certain of their personal relationship to Jesus Christ"

The second one was, "We must be clear about what it means to join our Church, what prospective and existing members can expect of us, what we expect of them, so that they will understand and appreciate their relationship to the Church itself."

In this reading we have before us, Luke tells us about the first Church formed in Christendom, the Church at Jerusalem. This Church was a so called Mega Church in the best sense of the word, because it gained 3000 members in one day and then continued to grow. Interestingly, those same two themes are evident in Peter's description of the congregation. What should be noted is that this came about because of a question from one of the people, "What shall we do?"

That question is being asked by more people than any other and is important, because those of us who are a part of the Church often do not sense the many questions that others have about what we take for granted.

The visitor to our worship for example, the friend or the neighbor whom you bring with you, the new prospect, the potential transfer, may all have important questions running through their minds. "What does it mean to be a believer or to join this Church? What am I expected to do next? What am I really getting my family and myself into?"

Americans today are often people who claim that they believe in Jesus Christ, but who decline any membership in a Christian church. Although 85 percent of Americans claim such a faith, only 50-60 percent actually belong to any given Congregation, and of that amount approximately half are inactive, no at all close to the Church.

Gallup polls of the last few years have revealed that the major reason for people not attending an organized Congregation is that many Churches no longer give one a sense of the Church playing a spiritual role in the world. In other words, too many Churches today are more worried about institutional issues and financial problems than they are about other more important issues.

On the other side of the coin are the people who desire Church membership, but they do so exclusively or primarily for expressions of human love, acceptance, and recognition, not spirituality. They seek a congregation that will meet their personal and family needs and that will make them feel as if they belong. Many of these people may not even be sure of their own personal salvation and may not know Jesus Christ as their personal Savior and Lord.

Perhaps some of both types of people are here today, in the members of this congregation. We have all harbored some of these feelings at one time or another, at least in part. As a consequence, the question we must all address this morning is this. "Is our witness to one another, to the visitor, the transfer. the child, and our own fellow members, is that witness as clear as it should be." Do we really let others know what the answer to their question, "What shall we do?" is? Do we let them see all the correct answers in their relationship with Jesus Christ and with the Church?

St. Peter, as a spokesman for the Apostles on Pentecost, had addressed the crowd, assuring them that God had accredited Jesus through His works and by raising Him form the dead. But a tragedy had occurred. Israel had killed its own Messiah. In a bold declaration, Peter indicted His nation: ""Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.""

They had cursed Jesus, but Peter calls Him the ineffable Yahweh, a name so Holy that no Jewish person would pronounce it. This is He who spoke to Moses in the burning bush. They had rejected Him as king of the Jews, but Peter tells them that He is more than that, He is king of the Universe. And this was amazing.

Here was Peter, who had previously denied Jesus Christ because of His fear, here was Peter bolding chastizing the people. It was a miracle, but it was not all that surprising, because Peter had come to realize that examining one's personal relationship with Jesus Christ was of utmost importance.

Do you shrink away from exposing the way your family members, your friends, your relatives and your aquaintances profane or disregard what God calls Holy and Good in His Son. Do you fail to witness to one another the sin that all get so easily caught up in. By not witnessing to others around you, you assist in delaying their response to Jesus Christ. You allow them to remain in a state where they feel that they may have nothing to examine in themselves

The people's response to St. Peter's preaching was one of remorse over what they had done. Luke, the physician, the writer of the Book of Acts, describes the surgery St. Peter performed through the use of the Law of God, Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart,

They had pierced Jesus on Good Friday, now their hearts were pierced with guilt. They had nailed Jesus Christ to the cross. Now, their hearts had felt the sting of the nails. Their response was more than hurt feelings. Their response was more than feeling a little guilty. Now, they were crushed, helpless to help themselves.

And this is important to note. You are all on the road to spiritual well being only when your sin, your profane ways, your failures to obey, are diagnosed through the law of God. Only when you see no recourse but to turn fully and completely to God and to depend on Him will a new and better life begin for you. Only when you too are "cut to the quick" can you truly begin to be the kind of people that God wants you to be.

Peter's words make this all that much clearer. It is not enough for you to feel remourse. It is not enough because although you may regret the past, when it comes down to it, you continue to wallow in the very same things you regret doing. As a consequence, you experience no new life at all. "Repent" Peter says. "Turn around and stop doing what you are doing." Real repentance involves not just remorse, but a total change of heart and life from the past to the will of God.

"Be Baptized" Peter says. In this way you can receive God's gift of forgiveness of sins. Be cleansed totally, he says, regardless of who you are or what you have been. You who are stricken by guilt, we can give you no comfort except God's forgiveness and that is all that you need.

Baptism is not merely a rite of invitation into the Church or merely a symbol of your remorse over your sins, as some claim. This would give no comfort to St. Peter's hearers nor to us. In Holy Baptism, our sins are literally "sent away." In Psalm 103:12 we read, "As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us." And in Micah 7:19 we read, "He will again have compassion on us, And will subdue our iniquities. You will cast all our sins Into the depths of the sea."

The people of Peter's day also received "the Gift of the Holy Spirit" who was already working in them through the preaching of Law and Gospel and creating faith. Now He would enter through Holy Baptism as well, putting the believers in a state of living communion with God. These are the gifts of God which He promised. These gifts are Jesus’s resurrection, new life for all people through the waters of Baptism, the making of new people through the work of the Holy Spirit. And these gifts are for everyone.

Little did Peter and the others know just how big the job really was, for the evangelism and mission work of the Church was just beginning. The work continues today among all of us as we speak with the same new boldness that Peter displayed in the face of so much danger as he preached about baptism, repentance, and the Holy Spirit. It is also very clear that when God calls us to Himself through Jesus Christ, He also calls us to one another, to have a personal relationship with the Church. That's what Luke tells us in the text for today. The 3000 were added to the existing 120 disciples.

Now, we don't know how the disciples administered such a large Church. But we do read in the text of six points that tell us how they acted, what they did to be successful. First of all, they devoted themselves to the Apostles Teachings. Secondly, they devoted themselves to fellowship. Thirdly, they were committed to the breaking of bread. Fourthly, they constantly prayed. The apostles and others also shared everything they had. Finally, the apostles were committed to witnessing.

Are these what you and I are about? Is this what we are communicating to the visitor, the transfer, the child who walks through our door? What we are means much more than what we say. God, who called us through His grace into the Church, will through these activities bless our membership and help us grow as a Church.

As the first Christian Church responded to God's call to be in a new relationship with Jesus Christ and fellow believers, four things occurred. They had "glad and sincere hearts", they praised God, they enjoyed the "favor of the people", and the Lord added to their number daily.

The cycle continues today. As our world often asks of us, "What shall we do?" may our clear answers from God's Word about our relationship to Jesus Christ and about our Church Membership shine forth to draw others powerfully to their Lord and to His body of believers. May we be such a Church! And we can be, because Christ Is Risen. He is Risen Indeed.