Readings: Psalm 23, 1 John 3:16-24, John 10:11-18, Acts 4:5-12
Preached at Bridgehampton Presbyterian Church, NY, April 21, 2024
In our bible reading, Peter and John have been hauled before the most important names and dignitaries in town because of their faith in the resurrected Lord Jesus Christ. They are challenged to make clear by what name or by what power the healing of a lame man had taken place – an event that had prompted many to take seriously the message of the gospel – causing the authorities to fear for their seats of power.
Peter, full of the Holy Spirit, speaks boldly to them of how, what had taken place had transpired, because of the power and the name of Jesus Christ – the very same Jesus Christ that they had rejected and condemned to crucifixion, whom God had raised from death.
To these religious leaders, Peter quotes their scriptures, “The stone that was rejected by you – the builders –has become the cornerstone.” That which they had sought to destroy had become the very cornerstone of salvation. So far reaching was the implications of resurrection that Peter goes as far as to proclaim, in verse 12, “There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given amongst mortals by which we must be saved”.
I want to continue this morning, in these Sundays that follow Easter, to look at the life of the emerging church, the first resurrection centered community. A couple of weeks ago we were considering how they were inspired by God to live in deep fellowship with one another, then last week we learnt a little about the healing of the lame man and the sermon that Peter preached following it. This week we observe how these events evoked a negative response amongst those who held the keys of power.
I am not surprised that the ruling powers felt that Peter and John were a threat. Basically, Peter is telling them that everything they had up to that point in their lives been building their futures upon, had been a mistake.
That the cornerstone of the structure of their lives didn’t hold up anymore. You know, if you are on the top floor of a skyscraper and somebody comes along and starts to tell you that the foundations of the building have started to crumble, then I believe you are going to feel threatened!
Johnathon, Alexander, Ciaphas, the High priests, rulers, elders and scribes. These are the people at the top, the big whigs, the cream of the crop, the movers and shakers. These are the power moguls, the city shapers, the ones that the ‘yes men’ said ‘yes’ to. We’re talking the mayor, the pastor of the biggest church in town, the head of the Board of Education, the Chief of Police, the city Fathers and their families who had long had the say of what was what and were seldom challenged.
And here is Peter saying “As high as you may be flying, as hard as you may have worked to get where you are, as secure as your bank balance may be, as religious as you make yourselves out to be, guess what? The goalposts have moved. And you moved them when you rejected Jesus Christ. Seriously bad move, because God has turned the tables on the lot of you, Jesus is alive… and unless you start building your life on the cornerstone of His resurrection love then it’s game over.”
That’s not exactly the words he used, but hopefully you get the feel for the situation that this bible reading presents us with. It’s about power, it’s about naming names, it’s about the things we build our lives upon. It’s about how the resurrection of Jesus Christ shakes the foundations of much that we seem to hold dear and count as significant.
I was conducting a wedding one time, in a small country church. As it was a fairly intimate setting, I had the bright idea of inviting the congregation to offer any advice to the ‘about to be married’ couple. Tell them something they could build their relationship upon. I should have known better. “Any advice for the happy couple as they prepare to say their vows’? “Don’t do it” one grumpy old man shouted out from the back “Don’t do it!’
Maybe the moral of that story is “Never work with children, animals… or grumpy old men.” But reflecting on the experience afterward it reminded me that relationships are hard. Relationships are not easy. Not with each other in a marriage. Not with each other in a church. Not even with God. Relationships need a solid foundation.
Peter had not been looking for an argument when in Jesus name he offered healing to a man sitting at the temple gate. He hadn’t expected to be hauled before a judge for doing so. But now that it had happened, he wasn’t going to just let things go. This was a moment for declaring exactly what he believed and being clear about the grounds of his actions.
One of the biblical truths, that is particularly witnessed to when we baptize people, is that we need to make faith in the living Lord Jesus Christ a cornerstone of our lives. None of us is too old or too young to do that. That’s why in our tradition we baptize infants.
Indeed, it could be argued that that the sooner in life we realize the need for a life foundation built upon the grace of God as it is shown to us in Jesus Christ, and manifested in our hearts through the Holy Spirit, then the better it will be for us and our families and our communities.
There was a hymn we sometimes sing at baptisms that contains the verse “Our children Lord in faith and prayer, We now devote to thee, Let them thy covenant mercies share, And thy salvation see!”
As Christians we believe we are the people of a New Covenant, a covenant that has been brought into existence through the death and the resurrection of Jesus Christ. When we meet around the Lord’s Table we recall Jesus words, “This cup is the New covenant in my blood.’ In the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ we see the source of our salvation, the cornerstone of our faith. .
We are maybe impressed by Peter. “You go boy, challenging all those high and mighty hypocrites, telling them they’ve been building their lives on the wrong foundations, telling them they’ve got to get their lives built on the cornerstone of faith in Jesus Christ, telling them they were wrong to reject Jesus and they needed to wake up to the fact that although in murder they put him down, just three days later and he was back round town.”
We can applaud Peter’s boldness and witness and totally miss out that he’s not just addressing those people all those years ago, his message is flying across the centuries and challenging our lives.
The history of the early church is recorded for us in a book appropriately named “Acts.” A book of action. It was because God acted in the person of Jesus Christ that the early church was born.
It was because God acted in the life of a lame man to affect his healing, that Peter and John found themselves standing before the leaders of Jerusalem.
It was because God acted in the communal life of the early church that they started to share deeply in fellowship with each other and people sat up and took notice and said, “Wow, see how these Christians love one another!”
It was because God acted in the power of the Risen Jesus Christ that time and time again, the disciples could not be thwarted or contained or restrained in their mission to proclaim that Christ is Risen “He is risen indeed.” We read that Peter, “Filled with the Holy Spirit” (verse 8) addressed the rulers of Jerusalem.
Our lives ‘act’ upon what our hearts are full of. A service of worship is an opportunity to open our lives to God that God may fill them. As we allow God’s love to flow in, it should be with the intention of allowing that grace to flow out to others in acts of service and expressions of God’s love towards them.
We commenced our service with words of the 23rd Psalm, describing the Lord as “Our Shepherd.” It is that same ‘Great Shepherd of the Sheep”, that we need to seek to be our cornerstone, to lead us through the darkest valleys and refreshing waters that we travel through.
Let us pray that our lives, may truly be full of “Acts” of God, that we may make the cornerstone of our lives; “Faith in Jesus Christ”. That we will allow the gospel not only to comfort us, but also to confront us about those areas of our lives that are less committed to God’s will than they could or should be.
You see there are many voices around us that will shout out, like that grumpy old man at the wedding, “Don’t do it!” Don’t make that commitment. Don’t follow that religious path. It will lead you nowhere good.
I recall attending a New Year Eve communion service during a visit to my homelands. It was taking place in the seaside town of Llandudno and my friend the Rev Neil Kirkham was conducting a midnight service.
The town was buzzing as the hotel and public bars were busy, as they are on New Years Eve. Some revelers across the road saw us entering the church, and shouted out, ‘Don’t go in there mate, don’t do it, come with us to the pub and have a few drinks.”
Well, we did go into church. And we did have a drink as we celebrated communion. We had a bite to eat in the bread as well. And we nurtured our lives to prepare for the coming year with Jesus Christ as the cornerstone of our lives.
One time Jesus told His listeners a story about the wise man who built his house upon the rock. When the storms came, He stood firm. But the man who built his house upon the sand, saw everything he own destroyed.
Peter cautioned those who accused him of doing something wrong, high and mighty though they may be, to be careful what they built their lives upon. We should take note! There is no greater cornerstone for our lives than faith in the living, loving Jesus Christ. The Lord can be our Shepherd who leads us and guides us, to the clear cool waters and through the darkest, deathly storms.
At least, that’s been my experience, as it was that of the earliest disciples.
To God be the Glory
AMEN!
The Reverend Adrian J. Pratt B.D
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