Acts 2 14, 36-47 2005
Easter 3
Acts 2:14, 36-47
April 10, 2005
“What Shall We Do?”
Scripture: Acts 2:14 Then Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice and addressed the crowd: 36 "Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ." 37 When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, "Brothers, what shall we do?"
Introduction: Many years ago, back when I lived in my parents home with my brother and sister in Ann Arbor, our parents had left us alone for the day. It was during my teenage years, when I no longer spent much time with my brother and sister. I remember it well, mainly because we were enjoying each others company, so much so that we began wrestling around on the sofa, tickling each other and laughing out loud. Then with one wrong move, we landed on the antique coffee table sitting in front of the couch. Our precious parent’s table split in two. Our laughter was replaced by horror at what we had done. Our joy turned to tears. We looked at each other and said, “What shall we do?” There was no way to replace it. “What shall we do?” There was no way that we could fix it, “What shall we do?” There was no way we could get rid of it without our parents knowing, “What shall we do?” We had a sense of helplessness not knowing, “What shall we do?”
The people of Jerusalem had gone about their lives, living as if God wasn’t present. Then they ignorantly did something terrible. They took the precious son of God and crucified him on a cross. In today’s text, Peter reminded the Jews very pointedly, “God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ." When these words struck their hearts, it felt like a dagger. The deed was done. They couldn’t take back the spikes. They couldn’t remove the cross. They couldn’t get rid of the evidence. Now Jesus was Lord and Christ. You can feel the sense of hopelessness as the Jews cried out, “Brothers, what shall we do?”
That’s quite a question, isn’t it? What can I do to make up for putting God’s Son to death - for spitting in His face - for mocking Him - for whipping Him? We might feel the same way over sins that we have committed, there is nothing we can do now to take them back - nothing that can be done to make up for what was done. There was a man who had served over 20 years for a murder that he had committed. He knew that if he could have done anything to make up for his deed, he would have. But the one thing the parents and family wanted was their son back. And so there was nothing that he could do. No matter how many lives he saved, how many people he fed, or how many years he was in prison, he could never do enough to make up for the life of another. The same is true of us and the deeds we have done.
So how did Peter respond? What if Peter had shrugged his shoulders at their question and said, “I don’t know!”? Or worse, what if he had said, “it’s too late. You’re going to hell.” What utter despair the Jews would have gone through! But Peter had a better answer which gave them a bright ray of hope in the midst of their guilty darkness.
How? First of all, Peter told them to repent. The Jews had already been struck with sorrow over what they had done. But repent doesn’t only mean sorrow over sins. It literally means to “change your mind,” to change the direction of ones life. They knew what they had done was wrong. So by telling them to repent - Peter was not only telling them to stop going down the path they were headed - he was pointing them to the new pathway - to the path of heaven. And there is only one way, one path to heaven. Jesus said in John 11, He who believes in me will live. So what Peter was really telling the Jews was to believe in Christ!
The next thing Peter told them to do was to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins. What did Peter mean by telling them to be baptized in the name of Christ? He was pointing them to Jesus - to what Jesus had done - that was the basis - the power of this baptism. Jesus had suffered and died for the sins of the world, and rose three days later as evidence that God accepted Jesus’ sacrifice. The good news was that this forgiveness of Christ could be given to them through baptism. All of their wicked intentions, their crucifixion of Christ - all would be wiped away through the waters of baptism.
That wouldn’t be the only benefit of baptism. God would also give them the gift of the Holy Spirit. What is the gift of the Holy Spirit? God would actually now dwell in their souls - giving them faith - enabling them to believe in Jesus as their Savior and act like believers.
It was a cold winter’s night, way below zero. It was late at night, very late. A friend of mine and I were on our way to his house. We turned off the highway and started off down the dark road towards his house which was still a long ways off. Then it happened, the lights went dim, the motor stopped, and we glided to a stop on the side of the road, surrounded by the cold and the dark. We tried to start the car but nothing happened. We weren’t dressed for the cold so there was no way we cold walk and there was no where to walk to. My friend Brent looked at me and said with exasperation, “What shall we do?” “What shall we do.” Now neither of us had been going to church much and we had never talked about religion, so I think I surprised him with my reply. I said I think we better pray…there was nothing else left to do in our desperate situation. Uncomfortably he bowed his head and I began to pray. As we finished praying and raised our heads we helplessly looked around one more time. This time, off in the distance, almost invisible to our sight we saw a phone booth. It wasn’t long before we had help, a new battery for the car and an engine that roared to life to take us where we needed to go.
In baptism God gives us the forgiveness of sins. But He also gives us so much more. He gives us His Holy Spirit which energizes our lives and gives them power. He gives his Spirit to those who don’t deserve it. He gives His Spirit to those who are desperate and all alone left out in the cold and in the dark. Like a battery replacement he gives life to those who were dead. “What shall we do?” Repent, be baptized and call upon the name of the Lord. He will help and deliver as He promises. This is His gift and promise to us all.
Peter told the Jews - this is God’s promise for you - and not only for you - but also for your children - for all who are far off. What does all mean? It doesn’t matter who you are, how old you are, what you’ve done - or where you come from! Peter said baptism was for all! Even though the Jews had crucified Christ, their sins could be wiped away through the waters of baptism. Since Jesus died for the sins of the world, there was plenty of forgiveness to go around! Through this simple water God could reconnect them to God! What good news this must have been for the Jews - and such an easy escape! They didn’t have to really do anything. God had provided a simple way to save them and give them a new start in connection with Christ - just through baptism!
This is hard for many people to believe. Many would like to think that baptism just signifies that we are forgiven - that it is a symbolical act of their conversion - of how they made a decision for Christ. They don’t believe that baptism really washes sins away or gives the Holy Spirit. They feel that if we preach that baptism washes away sin - then we are putting faith in the ritual of Baptism instead of Christ. They feel that conversion cannot be worked just by pouring some water over someone.
Finally, it comes down to the fact that they don’t believe what God’s Word says here. God says that baptism is FOR THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS. It actually gives the forgiveness of sins. And this passage also clearly says YOU WILL RECEIVE THE GIFT OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. You can’t get around the clear word of God! And so we believe that baptism washes away sins and gives faith because God promises us this. It isn’t a faith in the water or the ritual. It’s a trust in the promise of God.
”What shall we do then?” How did the people respond? After Peter laid out such an easy course for them, the Holy Spirit worked through that message to give many of them faith. The text goes on, Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day. We are impressed when we read that the Lord added over 3,000 people to His church on that first day of Pentecost. Yet I have heard that on a world scale, the Lord adds more than 3,000 people to His church every day, even right now, on this very day. The miracle of Pentecost is still happening throughout the world. In the mountains of Thailand a church of 100 people continues to grow. It didn’t exist a year ago. But the people heard the message of the gospel and “What did they do?” They believed and were baptized.
But was this the end of it? Did they say, “we were baptized, so we can just live however we want to now?” Of course not. They began to devote themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer, just as those people did on the day of Pentecost. That is why it is so important that we continue to work with them and support them. The day of Pentecost continues and it continues with us as we too devote ourselves to the apostles teachings. The Greek word for “devote yourself” comes from the verb which means “to be strong, endure, to hold tightly onto. What do we hold on tightly to? What did the apostles teach? As our merciful God has washed away our sins, and saved us from the depths of hell, we want to learn more about Him. We know him better as we too gather together. We know Him better through the breaking of breaking of bread, the Lord’s Supper - and prayer.
As the Holy Spirit produced in the early disciples a sense of family, as they shared everything with one another, we too learn each day what it means to be family to each other. We share the common joy of knowing Jesus our Savior. We share the tears of heartache and failure, knowing that God forgives us our sins. We learn to share God’s love with each other as His family.
When compared to this early New Testament church, we have much to be ashamed of - and much to confess. We don’t share our goods like we could. We don’t have the zeal to learn more like we should. These are more than imperfections - these are sins - sins that earn us God’s condemnation. And so we also must cry, “what shall we do?” Thank God that we have the answer to that problem. Jesus has died for our sins as well - and God has given us faith to believe it. “What shall we do.” We confess our sins again, returning to our baptismal grace. We start our lives anew.
Remember, we are still celebrating Easter! Jesus lives! And as long as He lives, we have reason to live as well. We have been baptized - Jesus’ forgiveness has been applied to us. Now through the Holy Spirit living in us, we don’t have to ask, “What shall we do?” We know what we’ll do. We will make every effort to grow in faith, just like the Christians did back in Peter’s time. We will continue to trust in the promises of God, His forgiveness and life given to us through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.