[Mcgregorpage] McGregorPage #551, Easter 2, 4/15/07

[rmcgregoralbq at aol.com]

Easter 2 – (April 15, 2007)

Acts 5:27-32
Ps 118:14-29 or Ps 150
Rev 1:4-8
John 20:19-31

WELCOMING THE HERO HOME

“This is the day that the Lord has made," is not a celebration of 
another sunrise or another day's life but rather an exultation over the 
king's victory in battle.  The whole city has turned out towel come the 
conquering hero home; a king of a smallish state unlikely to win; a 
king who got passed over in favor of another; a king who, nevertheless, 
by the power of God, has gotten the victory.  It could be David, but it 
could be Jesus.

”Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the LORD."  (Psalm118:26) 
Didn't we just hear that on Palm Sunday?  Wasn't that supposed to be 
the exaltation of Jerusalem?  It fizzled just like the Psalm does.  
Palm Sunday started out fine, but when Jesus got to the Temple --  
nothing, no delegation, no high priest   nothing. And, by the time 
Psalm 118 gets to verse 25, we are back pleading for success.

The real consummation of the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem is 
the scene from Acts where Peter is standing before the high priest and 
the Sanhedrin.  It is as if Jesus and the high priest got their 
calendars mixed up.  Jesus shows up with a procession at the temple, 
and he isn't there.  He shows up to confront what God is doing, and 
Jesus isn't there.  In his place, and with his full authority, is 
Peter.  Peter is no longer the cowering figure in the flickering 
firelight outside the house of the high priest on Good Friday, a man 
with nothing but defeat on his mind.  Now, he is inside the house 
standing before the high priest with nothing but victory on his mind.  
The high priest, for his part, having failed to meet Jesus when he 
could celebrate victory, now must meet him with bitterness and defeat 
as Peter declares, "We must obey God rather than any human authority. 
The God of our ancestors raised up Jesus, whom you had killed by 
hanging him on a tree. God exalted him at his right hand as Leader and 
Savior that he might give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. 
And we are witnesses to these things, and so is the Holy Spirit whom 
God has given to those who obey him." (Acts 5:29-32)

This transformation in Peter is the surest witness to the resurrection 
in the whole story of the early church.  He went from a mindset of 
defeat to a mindset of victory.  He went from being intimidated by 
earthly defeat to being captivated by heavenly victory.  Why? How?  The 
resurrection of Jesus is the answer given and the most plausible 
explanation there is.

We mortal humans are constantly in search of victory thinking. That is 
why we have these endless play offs in sports, so someone can, for a 
fleeting moment, break free form the mind set of defeat, thrust an 
index finger into the air and proclaim, "We're number one!"  Consumer 
confidence even rises briefly, "I'm buying."  But, the world champions 
of 2007 are the dogs of 2008, and the fans are back to pleading with 
God for victory again.

Peter has found something different.  He has experienced a permanent 
change.  It is more than his memory of seeing the risen Lord.  That 
experience recedes into history.  Peter has something that doesn't 
recede, that is more than memory.  He has the witness of God the Holy 
Spirit.  When Jesus breathed the Holy Spirit into him and the rest of 
the disciples, they were transformed.  (John puts this in the final 
discourses, but the historical sequence has to be otherwise.) The 
mindset of defeat was replaced with the mindset of victory.  It was a 
permanent change.  This is the change the risen Lord has for you and 
me.

The conquering hero had to overcome locked doors to receive the welcome 
of the disciples, had to pierce a locked heart to change it from defeat 
thinking to victory thinking.  In prison on Patmos with all the earthly 
signs of defeat, another John welcomes our hero home in a vision of his 
coming on the clouds.  I welcomed the risen Lord home when I heard his 
story proclaimed in the worship service as a child.  By the time I was 
twelve years old Jesus was my hero.  That has not been equal to the 
transformation in Peter yet, however.  I still struggle to keep the 
risen Lord at the center of my thinking and my mind stayed on heavenly 
victory amid earthly defeat.  Where the disciples received the Holy 
Spirit in a rush, I am afraid God the Holy Spirit only seeps into my 
life, but...  Da-yenu, it is enough for me.  To receive the Holy Spirit 
as God pleases is enough for me.


May these thoughts strengthen you.

An Open Letter to Fellow Pastors
>From Roland McGregor, United Methodist Pastor
(an e-mail service)

[See Web Page address below for a Children’s Message coordinated with 
these lections.]

http://www.webspawner.com/users/ChildPage/

Multiple Sermon Starter Essays are available at
http://www.webspawner.com/users/McGregorPage/

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