Howdy. Well, today we're looking at the Acts
of the Apostles and the Gospel of John and what
it means that the people of God are held together
in Christ even when they are not held together
in agreement. And I have to make sure that I
explain something that in the world there are
two types of people. There are those in the world
who refuse to let any of the food on their plate
touch each other, and then there are normal people.
I'm just saying, what is up? What is going on
here? Why are people so freaked out? The vegetables
touching the meat, touching the bread and the
potatoes, and oh my word, and yes, of course,
I'm just kidding, I'm just teasing. But it's
always so funny because while some people are
always trying so hard to keep the food from touching,
I'm actually the opposite. I actually do everything
I can to mix up everything, every chance I get.
You know how you go to IHOP or Denny's and you
never leave IHOP, IHOPing, I'm just saying. But
you go to IHOP and they give you the pancakes
and they give you the eggs and they are nice
enough to put them on separate plates and I'm
like, don't you dare? And I dump the runny eggs
on top of the pancakes. Because I need to mash
up the runny eggs onto the pancakes with syrup
and preferably maybe add some hash browns on
top. Because I need every bite to have five different
things in it or I am not happy for breakfast.
Or often like those poke bowls. No, not a poke
ball for all the weird Pokemon people in the
world. Those poke bowls where they have the aji
tuna and the rice and the vegetables and everything's
mixed together and delicious and don't even get
me started on Thanksgiving. You've got your cranberry
sauce on top of the turkey, and then the mashed
potatoes and the stuffing have gravy all over
everything, and there's green bean casserole
that somehow gets onto the pumpkin pie. I'm not
sure how it does, but it does, and you have to
eat it together because that's what Thanksgiving
is for. And I love it. I love it so much. Because
while it is good to taste foods on their own,
There's also something even better that happens
when things are brought together. Something new
is created that did not exist before all of the
mixing. But unfortunately, we often do not think
of it this way when it comes to people. When
it comes to people, we tend to prefer things
to stay separated. We prefer sameness. We prefer
predictability. We prefer people whose actions
that we can anticipate and whose thoughts will
never surprise us. We want people who think like
us, organize like us, process like us. But here's
the thing, when there's tension, when there's
a difference, when there's disagreement, we often
assume that means that something is wrong. I'm
pushing in one direction, you're pushing in the
other direction, so therefore something must
be broken. Or if we're just being honest, well,
you must be wrong. But when we come to the book
of Acts, we're stepping into a very different
kind of community. We're stepping into a church
that has already been through quite a bit in
less than two months. was crucified and then
rose from the dead. He appeared to the disciples.
He spent 40 days teaching them and restoring
them to make sense of all the Old Testament.
And then He ascends into heaven and tells them
to wait for the Holy Spirit. And here we are
sitting. The Spirit has not yet come in the fullness
of Pentecost. The disciples are waiting. They're
praying. They're uncertain. They're not even
really sure what they're supposed to do next.
Yes, Thomas heard from Jesus that He is the way,
but that's still hard. And if we're honest though,
even though Jesus said they'd be His witnesses,
they're still a little confusing. But it's understandable,
because when the person who's been leading you
every step along the way is now gone, Even if
they've told you what to do, isn't it amazing
how unsure we still are? Even if before the boss
went on vacation, they told us exactly what to
do, there's still this little part of you that's
like, am I really sure I should be doing this?
But on top of it all, they're still carrying
everything that they've been through. Think about
it. Judas betrayed Jesus. Peter denied him publicly
and painfully. Thomas wrestled with his doubts
very visibly. The disciples got scattered when
Jesus was arrested. The fear was real. The confusion
was real. Rome is still in charge and they thought
it was going to be done. The religious authorities
are still doing what they did. Nothing looks
like it changed. Except one thing though. They
are still together. And that might actually be
the first miracle that, even before Pentecost,
is that those disciples actually stayed with
each other. Because think about everything that
could have broken the group apart. Different
personalities, different fears, different instincts.
You got Peter who's impulsive. He's called the
rock, but let's be honest, he's more like a boulder
being hard -headed and stubborn. And Thomas,
yeah, he's thoughtful, but he's the one who asks
all the questions and slows people down when
they want to move forward. James and John, the
sons of thunder, and they're not exactly known
for building consensus with people. Oh, we want
to sit on your left and your right hands, Jesus.
Matthew is the tax collector who seems to be
pro -government. Simon the zealot seems to be
the anti -government person to come in and overthrow
everything. And even others that are not always
named in detail. But we know that even the introverts
are a major part of what God is doing somehow
all of these crazy people are supposed to work
together and If we were there our instinct might
have been the same We might have been just trying
to figure out. Okay Those of us that seem to
have the same idea. Let's go work together Okay,
and those of you who want to go this other direction.
Okay, go for it and then We would have been trying
to make sure everybody that we're comfortable
with was working together. But Jesus had gathered
people who were not the same. So why should we
consider doing any differently from Him? See,
the first thing in Acts, though, is that they're
not necessarily trying to be in perfect agreement.
They cannot, they will not, eliminate all of
the tensions. But instead, they start with prayer.
Because the center of unity is not with each
other. The center of unity is Jesus. And we see
that tension very clearly even when they're deciding
who will take the place of Judas. See, they're
trying to figure out what to do. The question
even, should they even replace him at all? Should
they be waiting for something else to happen?
They went to the Psalms and they found parts
that looked like, well, we should probably find
someone to take his place. Were those the right
Psalms to use? Did they even know? Did they even
need twelve apostles? What would faithfulness
look like? And then, they do actually find a
way to get it narrowed down to two people. And
then they still can't decide between those two.
There's not some obvious choice. They're praying,
and then they're casting lots. Like throwing
dice. When was the last time that we took a serious
decision and said, let's just roll some dice
and go for it? If we ever tried to do that during
election, I think the US would just be done for
at that point. But we might read it and wonder,
Why it would even be that way? Were both of the
candidates actually equally good? Or was the
group even evenly divided? Or was it that maybe
one of them was really good at one thing and
another was really good at a different thing?
Or maybe there was one group that was a smaller
group, but they were just so loud and vocal that
nobody wanted to upset them. We don't know! But
they were trying with limited understanding to
be faithful with what they had. But the deeper
question was Luke in writing this, was he actually
showing us a perfect church working perfectly,
or was he trying to show us something else? Because
even in the same book, Paul comes up and is shown
to be an apostle. He would describe himself in
1 Corinthians as an apostle untimely born, but
coming out of nowhere that anyone would have
expected. But maybe that's the point. Is that
the book of Acts is not trying to prove that
every decision that the disciples ever made was
always right on track. It was showing something
more important. That Christ was keeping His church
together while imperfect people were trying to
be faithful. And that brings us to something
even deeper because even if the disciples are
trying to figure it all out, The one who is at
the center is the only one who knows Because
Jesus he knew that these things would happen
He knew even before the cross Jesus knew that
Judas would betray him Jesus knew that Peter
would deny him Jesus knew that Thomas would doubt
him He even knew that John would decide to tell
everybody. Hey, I'm faster than Peter in a foot
race. And by the way, I'm the disciple that Jesus
loved Jesus knew it all. But Jesus prays for
them and says, Father, keep them. Keep them so
that they may be one. He does not say, Father,
get them to all stop being so stupid so they'd
finally agree all the time. He doesn't say, Father,
would you please relieve all the tensions and
differences and make sure that they're all the
same. He says protect them. Keep them. hold them
together. Because if you need God to hold people
together, it means they couldn't hold themselves
together already. Even in differences, failures,
and confusion. Remember that story where confusion
happened in the Old Testament with the Tower
of Babel, and humanity is trying to come together
with one purpose and one language and one project,
and they were trying so hard to all be on the
same page, and God looks and says, nope. And
they all begin to collapse. Different languages,
different ideas, different directions. Because
it wasn't about focusing on God, it was focusing
on building a tower that made themselves feel
better about themselves. But you see, we're approaching
Pentecost, and something different is going to
happen. The people are going to be gathered again,
but not just for themselves. They will be gathered
around Christ. And when the Spirit comes, they're
already speaking many languages. But when they
begin to communicate together, notice what happens.
The languages are not erased. They don't all
of a sudden start speaking the same language.
Instead, everyone can start speaking to everyone
where they are. The differences are not erased,
but they become the very means by which the gospel
is able to move forward. Because now the message
of Christ is in every language. Not removing
all the differences as if somehow we have to
all be exactly the same to be together, but rather
that the unity in Christ means we all have the
same Savior, the same hope. Even today, in the
life of the church, we find unity to be so important.
Next week, during our late service, we're going
to be having the Spanish -speaking congregation
and the Vietnamese congregation coming over here,
and we're going to be worshipping together. And
I promise you, it is going to be weird and difficult.
It will be awkward, and you will wonder how people
even understand each other. But it will also
be amazing and beautiful. because it will be
the Word of God in all these languages. And that's
the truth about what God keeps doing is bringing
people together not in spite of the differences,
but with all of the perspectives, instincts,
and experiences that we all have. And maybe we
still come to it with our own wounds as well.
Because pressure may be difficult. And the difference
is they may cause arguments, they may cause fights,
they may cause all sorts of struggles, but that
does not mean that there's always something wrong.
It means the reality of being human beings together.
And this is how Christ the cornerstone is also
the keystone in the arch of the church. Whenever
you go under an archway and you see all those
stones together, they're not held together with
glue. They are not always even exactly the same
if you look at some of the old ones. They're
not always even perfectly matched. But somehow
those stones hold together because they press
against the others. If it were not for the pressure
of them all together, gravity would pull it all
down. But the shape of the arch redirects all
the pressure not just outward, but also upward
to the keystone, the one in the middle that carries
the weight of everything. The structure holds
not because all of the stones are great on their
own, but because the pressure keeps being held
at the one in the center. Each stone feels pressure
differently, but all of that pressure still comes
back to the middle. And that is what Christ does
for the church. He is our foundation, and He
is the center that holds us when the pressure
is real. When the differences are real. When
the struggles are real. Because at the end of
the day, the church does not survive because
we've found a way to always agree. The church
survives because of the one who rose again from
death. The one who did not survive. brings life
so that we do. He is the one still interceding.
And when Christ is at the center, even our understanding
of what we even think glory is, even that changes.
Because the glory of God is the cross. The glory
of God comes at times of betrayal. The glory
of God comes when no one seems to have it all
figured out except Christ Himself. Because glory
is revealed in sacrifice. Glory is revealed in
self -giving love. And that changes how we see
one another. Because we are not competition in
the midst of disagreement for the love of God.
We are brothers and sisters learning how to follow
Christ together. So before we finish our time,
I'd like to leave you with with five ideas of
things I'd like for you to consider this week.
I'd like for you to consider these when you feel
the pressure, when you feel the arguments, when
you feel the frustration. Number one, slow down
before you correct somebody. When you feel like
someone is on the wrong track, slow down long
enough to actually say back to them what you
thought you heard from them. Not trying to win,
but make sure that you even understood them in
the first place. Because it turns out that when
we actually speak back what someone else thinks,
it actually creates empathy inside of us. Is
there something I am missing in what they are
trying to say? Number two. Before you start spouting
off, write down what your position honestly is.
Take a look at what you're saying, something
you strongly believe, and write it out. And ask
yourself, if I were wrong, what harm would happen
if I would never question myself? Not because
you should not have convictions, but because
convictions should always be matched with humility.
Number three. Remember the last time you were
corrected well. When was the last time somebody
stopped you, challenged you, made you pause,
and you were grateful that they did? Because
not only is that question, if you can't remember
a time, that may be something to consider, but
also that shapes how we should treat others.
Number four, notice when the distance is forming.
Ask yourself, if our disagreements are slowly
causing us to ignore each other, would I ever
even notice early enough to change direction?
Because division doesn't start when we're angry.
Division starts when we no longer hear from one
another. Number five, choose curiosity over certainty
when it comes to people. Because when you disagree
with someone, make it a habit to ask one question
before you assume what their motives are. Instead
of saying what's wrong with them, maybe ask what
experiences might have led them to see things
this way. Because curiosity keeps the door open
when our certainty would close it. Because the
church does not stand when we are all the same.
It stands only because Christ is at the center.
And when Christ is at the center, it changes
how we see one another. Because we realize the
church never will rest on our ideas alone. It
only rests on what He has done alone. So with
our differences, may they not become division.
May they not become dismissing one another. May
they not be the things that cause us to lose
love, compassion, and understanding. But rather,
may they be the very things that draw us closer
as brothers and sisters learning how to follow
Christ together because it is not by my will
and not by yours, but only by His Spirit, says
the Lord. Thanks be to God.