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Sunday, April 11, 2004
Rev. Dr. Harold E Kidd
CELEBRATING A SPIRITUAL EASTER
“But God raised him up on
the third day and caused him to be seen.”
Acts
10:40
May the Lord bless our
understanding of these words. We gather this morning on what is considered by
many to be the most important day of
the Christian Faith, the
Resurrection of Jesus from the dominion of death and the grave. Amen.
The words of our text give us narrative concerning the
conversion of one Gentile named Cornelius. The text has a particular importance
because it marks the transition of Salvation being offered only to the Jews.
Through Cornelius’ conversion God opens the door of Salvation to the entire
world’s population in fulfillment of the great commission to go into all the
world and preach his gospel, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son,
and the Holy Spirit. And the missionary direction of the church in the book of
Acts is guided under the direction of primary leaders – Peter, who is sent to
the Jews, and Paul, who is sent to the Gentiles.
The background of this text is that God prepared Peter to preach the message of salvation to Cornelius, whose heart was now ripe for the new birth. Salvation is a divine work. We can’t save anybody; all we do is bear witness to Him who is the Savior. But God works through human vessels to accomplish his will. That’s why the Apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians 5 declares, “Unto us has he committed the ministry of reconciliation.” The love of Christ he declares compels us to witness to our Savior. And can you imagine what would happen if each and everyone of us took seriously the command to be his witness, in the home, on the job, in the barbershop or beauty salon, at the gym, on the
track, wherever the Lord
opens up an opportunity to share this most Holy Faith? Can you imagine what
would happen if each one would reach one? My Lord!
Cornelius, a gentile
centurion, meaning he was a Roman Army officer, was a devout religious man.
Verse 2 of the chapter informs us, “He and his family were devout, and God
fearing; he gave generously to those in need and prayed to God regularly.” In
every way Cornelius was a model of religious respectability and yet he had not
confessed Jesus Christ as his personal savior. Religion will only get one so
far; it is Salvation in Jesus that God desires to give us. Like Cornelius,
there are people today who are religiously devout, who are seeking to please
God, but they have not yet made a confession of faith in Jesus Christ. And the
Word of God tells us in Romans 10:9 that “if you confess with your mouth that
Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God has raised him from the dead,
you shall be saved.” And so, God sent Peter to Cornelius in order to give
Cornelius the knowledge and interpretation of Scriptures about Jesus that would
lead to Cornelius’ conversion. Which says to us, there maybe people we
encounter, who like Cornelius, need us to help them understand the meaning of
scripture, of who Jesus is, that lead to their confession of Jesus as savior
and ultimate conversion.
Be willing to share your
faith with a holy boldness. God wants us to be an evangelistic church, an
inviting church, a church of warm fellowship. Gimmicks won’t do it, but sharing
our faith will.
You see, like Cornelius,
many people know and believe in God in a general way, but God desires that we
get to know him “up close and personal.” Amen. God desires intimate fellowship
with his creation. Amen. And Jesus is the person through whom we can know God
intimately. If we want to see the Father we have to go through by the Son.
Jesus said of himself: “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through
me.” (John 14:6)
Cornelius’ increasing sense
of the insufficiency of his own religious life led him to seek out Peter, whom
an Angel of the Lord directed him to find. And what this says to us is that
this Gospel is not for everyone. Jesus died that all might be saved, but this
Gospel is not for everyone, because you’ve got to want the Lord to come into
your life. Like Cornelius, you’ve got to be seeking that which the world cannot
give.
When Peter and Cornelius
finally came face to face, Jew and Gentile, Peter proceeded to tell the story
which he had already told many times, the story of how Jesus went about doing
good, how God was with him, how our Lord was killed, and how God raised him up
on the third day.
Peter shared the story with
Cornelius how this same Jesus is now the Judge of all humanity. How He rose up
with all power, wherein God hath declared him King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
Peter shared his faith with
someone who was not like him, for Jews customarily did not fellowship with
Gentiles, let alone worship together. To the Jew it was scandalous to even
think of associating with Gentiles. So when Peter in Acts 11 went up to
Jerusalem, he had to explain his actions of why he had preached God’s message
to Cornelius and baptized him, because the Jewish church criticized him for
having gone into the house of an uncircumcised man and eating with him. Prior
to the conversion of Cornelius the Church was typified by Jewish Classicism.
And this raises the
question: Is it possible for the church to want to reach out only to those who
are just like us? Is it possible for the church to have a bias against those
whose backgrounds and ways are different from our own? They don’t have our
income. They don’t have our intellect.
They might bring some change to our present ways of doing ministry and
worship of the Lord.
But has God called the
church to be a class church or a church for the masses, where the Ph. D. can
sit on the same pew with the under-educated. Where the service, voice, and
ideas of those with shallow financial pockets are as welcome to the Lord and
needed as those who have deep financial pockets; where the intellectual and the
non-intellectual are used to teach the Word, because they love the Lord and
have a passion for God's Word? Hallelujah!
Prior to the conversion of
Cornelius the church had not opened its doors to Gentiles, but with the
conversion of Cornelius God changed that and opened the doors of the church for
both Jews and Gentiles. God was making
it clear that the Good News is for everyone. We should not allow any barrier --
language, culture, race, whether it be economics or education -- to keep us
from telling others about the Lord.
When Cornelius heard the
message preached by Peter, in his own life he experienced the joy of Easter.
Amen. The Spirit came upon them, meaning they were converted. The Spirit comes
into our hearts at conversion. The Spirit brings conversion. No matter how good
we are, we can’t be saved without the ministry of the Holy Spirit, who is the
agent of conversion, coming to take up residence in the heart. After receiving
the Holy Spirit, Peter baptized Cornelius’ entire household in order to
publicly declare their allegiance to Jesus Christ and their identification with
the Christian Community.
Our theme this morning, Celebrating a Spiritual Easter, is
suggestive of the fact that Easter is more than a day when we remember our
Lord’s Resurrection, but it is the personal experience one has when Jesus
enters his or her life. Amen. Easter is having an encounter with Jesus that
brings Resurrection life. Easter is not a one-time experience, but Jesus comes
repeatedly into our lives to raise us up out of the dull and mundane of living,
he comes to raise us up out of those conditions of circumstance that are dead.
A mother buried several of her sons (4), one funeral after another. I once
asked her, “Alice, you always have a smile how do you do it?” She told me that
if the Lord had not resurrected her mind and heart out of the grave of grief and
despair following losing these sons, it would have killed her. She had an
Easter experience in that God gave her a Spirit of Joy and laughter in the Holy
Spirit. Easter is more than a day, but it is a personal experience with the
Lord.
It’s not about the numbers.
It’s not about how many are on the roll, but it is about the Easter Event. One
of my mentors in Ministry, the late Rev. Dr. H. Eugene Farlough, is quoted from
a statement that shaped his ministry of more than 30 years: “My greatest joy in
ministry is witnessing the Easter event in people’s lives, where they move
through their own brokenness towards spiritual wholeness and health. When this
happens, it confirms that I’m in the place where God can best us me.”
Everything that the church
is and does has been designed by God to
make this happen, where
people can experience the Easter event personally. Just gone through death, but
Easter. Just lost my Job, but
Easter. You are filled with these nervous and anxious thoughts about the
future, but Easter. Was sinking
deep in sin, but Easter. Was
shackled by a heavy burden, cumbered with a load of care, but
Easter. Trouble in the home ... ah, but
then there was Easter. Remember that no
matter how dark and gloomy the circumstance might appear, Easter always follows
Good Friday!
When the Spirit fell upon
Cornelius, the apostles heard them speaking in other languages and praising
God. It was Pentecost all over again. For notice what happened to Cornelius and
his family: The Spirit came, they spoke in other languages, they were baptized,
and they praised God. Hallelujah!
Easter broke out in that house.
We are living in a day in
which you hear of all kinds of breakouts or outbreaks. A few weeks ago there
was the breakout of the SARS virus. We were afraid in Iraq of a chemical
warfare breakout. Years ago it was the AIDS virus. California is one of the
leading states when it comes to the breakout of handgun violence.
What we need in this world
is an Easter Breakout. Hallelujah! Where people like Cornelius are seeking to
get saved from the things that they know are creating their brokenness and
spiritual ill health. That’s what this world needs ... an Easter Breakout.
Hallelujah! Where the Spirit just starts messing with people’s agenda,
transforming gang-bangers into choir boys.
Material girls (I think that was a Madonna song) into women like Dorcas,
whose story is told in Acts 9 vss. 36-42.
Dorcas made an enormous impact on her community by always doing good and
helping the poor.
What we need today in this
world are more men and women like Dorcas, who are not caught up in what kind of
car they are driving, how much gold they can wear, always got to have something
new, the latest fashion, but who have a heart for doing good and helping the
poor.
An Easter Breakout, where
politicians concerned only about re-election are transformed into legislators
who care about “Doing justice, loving mercy, and walking humbly with their
God.” That’s what this world needs … an Easter Breakout!
An Easter Breakout ... where
high-school drop-outs are inspired to go back to school to get an education and
end up becoming Church Deacons, productive citizens, and nurturing-loving
parents who love the Lord. I remember a brother in our community named Harry.
Harry made his living doing odd jobs around the community. You’d see Harry
walking through Cherry Hill with his work tools, hair all matted, clothes that
looked as though they hadn’t been washed in weeks.
Every now and then we’d give
Harry some work, and as Harry worked around the Church, we were building a
friendship with Harry, and in building the friendship the Lord enabled us to
share our faith about the Lord. I would use the Salvation Army approach. I give
you what you ask for, but you’ve got to hear a word from the Lord as well.
Amen.
Silver and Gold have we
none, but in the name of Jesus!
Well, about a year ago I was
talking to the former Clerk of the Session there, and he said, “Harold, you
remember Harry?" I said,
yeah. He said, “You know, Harry showed up
one day, hair cut, clothes clean, walked up the church aisle when the preacher
gave the invitation to receive Christ, said the Lord had brought a change in
his life … and has been coming to church ever since and attending Bible
study." Harry had an Easter event. Hallelujah! An Easter Breakout can
transform a man who is wandering through life, clean him up, set his feet on
solid ground, and give him a new purpose in how he chooses to live.
You can’t buy the Lord’s
Easter in a department store. Bunny
rabbits won’t do it. Chocolates won’t do it. A new wardrobe won’t do it. But
when Jesus enters into the heart, it becomes Easter.
“What a wonderful change in my life has be wrought
since Jesus came into my heart; I have light in my soul, for which long I have
sought, since Jesus came into my heart. Since Jesus came into my heart, since
Jesus came into my heart; floods of joy O’er my soul like the sea billows roll,
since Jesus came into my heart.”