05 Easter 2nd Sunday of Easter
My friends, I greet you today in the name of our risen Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Our lesson comes to us from the 4th chapter of Acts beginning with the 32nd verse.
Did you see it? It was almost two weeks ago. It was really very powerful and meaningful. But in the midst of all the excitement, it may have been easy to miss. But did you see it? It was awesome in a very simple kind of way and yet if you were not sitting in the right spot you would have missed it. Did you see it? I’m talking about what happened along side of the Gospel reading on Maundy Thursday night. Did you catch it? While the Gospel was being read, Pastor Hinchey stood up, he walked over here. He put on a towel and then he went to the acolytes and he washed their feet.
It was done quietly. There was no flash or show. There was nothing to draw attention to it. But there it was. And in that moment we have a picture of a servant. In that instant we have a picture of service. We have an example of the life that we are to live here in this place. It was really very cool.
This is what we see in our first reading today. We see a picture of a community of servants. It is really very meaningful and powerful. But if we are not careful it could be easy to miss. But in this picture we see people providing for one another and caring for each other. They are literally giving of their time, their possessions and themselves. They are the servant church. They are the giving church.
OK then, well I guess that means that all of you better go and sell everything that you have and give the money to this church, and Pastors Hinchey, Boos, Koch and myself will see to it that everything is fairly distributed. Right? No. These verses are not telling us to go and sell everything we have. Remember we read Scripture as a whole. There are other parts of scripture that speak of being good stewards and using wisdom with what God has given to us. But what these verses are telling us, is that we are to take care of each other. We are to look out for one another, and when there is a need we are to provide for one another. And this is not limited to money matters, this really is a worldview, a mind set and a life style. This is the life that is lived by a servant. This is the life that is lived by the giving servant.
Rest assured that this is really the best way to live life. It is the most fulfilling way to spend our time here. Because this is what our Lord did. He came to be a servant. Though he is the king of the universe he was not born in a palace, he was born in a stable. He was welcomed by animals. Though he created everything and the earth is his and everything in it, he did not have a home. Though he had thousands of angels waiting to do whatever he asked, he was the one who tied a towel around his waist and washed his disciples’ feet.
Though it would have been appropriate to serve him, he came to serve us. He gave his life in our place. He took the punishment that was warranted by our sins and paid the price in full. And not only did he die for us, but he rose from the grave. He is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia! The life our Lord lived, the example that he set is a life and example of service. The student is not better than the teacher and so we, as his students are to live our lives in the same way that he lived his. All his people are to live this way and this is what we see happening in our reading in Acts. Because he is the Servant. They are the servant church. Because he gave himself. They are the giving church.
Because Jesus died and rose again. Because he paid the price for our sins. Because he restored our relationship with God. Because he has given to you and me salvation and everlasting life. Because Jesus did all these things. And when he does something he always does it right. We don’t have to try to do these things ourselves. That would simply be impossible. But the point is this. If we don’t have to spend our time earning our salvation or trying to make God love us more, then we suddenly have all kinds of free time. Because the work has already been done. So the question is, what do we do with the free time? The answer is simple. We use that time in love and service to others. We use that time to give. Because we are the servant church. We are the giving church.
This doesn’t have to be anything fancy or complicated. This doesn’t require going to seminary or getting some kind of degree. This can be done in the simple things. This can be done in the little things. And more often than not, it can go unnoticed. But it is there.
Did you see it? This time it was just last Sunday. It was really very powerful and meaningful. But in the midst of all the excitement, it was easy to miss. But did you see it? It was truly awesome in a very simple kind of way. And yet, if you were not sitting in the right spot you would have missed it. Did you see it? I’m talking about all the hard work of the people who made the services last week so awesome. The beautiful music that lead the worship is the result of many many hours of hard work on the part of all involved. Then there were also readers and acolytes and assisting ministers. The services came together so beautifully because so many people worked hard to make it happen.
But did you know that we also had incredible usher teams? These guys should have had capes. They scrambled and had 60 extra chairs set up in the narthex allowing room for more people to worship. They thought of recycling the 8 a.m. service bulletins in the 9: 30 service. They greeted and ushered over 300 people for each service.
Then there were the members of the altar guild. They prepared communion cups for more than 1200 communicants with less than fifteen minutes between services. Decorating committees worked hard to make the place look beautiful. These things were no small feats.
There were youth and their families who arrived at 6:30 to begin preparing breakfast and they were here until after 1:00 in the afternoon. They even had to make runs to the grocery store to accommodate all the people who were eating breakfast. And I’m sure there are even more stories that I have missed, and if so I apologize, I have not intentionally left any one out.
These things were done quietly. There was no flash or show. There was nothing to draw attention to themselves. But there they were. And in their work we have a picture of service. We have a picture of servants. We have an example of the life that we are to live here in this place. It’s really very cool. All these people “sacrificed” their Easter morning, and time leading up to it. They gave of themselves so that others could have the kind of wonderful experience that was here that morning. But then again, that is what the servant church does. That is what the giving church does.
There is another part to the picture of the giving church that is painted by this reading in acts. That is the testimony that was given to the resurrection of Jesus. And that testimony is this: he is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia! As the giving church we not only give in our actions, but we give in our words as we share the good news of the resurrection of Jesus. This is news that brings comfort to those who are sad or mourning. This is news that gives hope to those who have none. This is news that gives courage to the faint hearted and strength to the weak. In this news comes great grace. And you and I have the honor and privilege of giving this awesome news to the people in our lives. So that they too can know of God’s love for them in Christ Jesus.
When life is lived in this manner. When we live out lives of service. When we give of ourselves as we see the Christians in acts doing, we are bringing glory to our God. In our service to others we are serving him. In our giving to others we are giving to him. And may you be blessed as you live your life in this way. Amen.