Holy Spirit + You = Awesome

Thank you so much for allowing me to be here with you. My name is Brian Wandel. I am a pastoral

intern at Church of the Resurrection, a sister church of yours, as most of you know. It's so

good to be among brothers and sisters in ministry. Our churches have collaborated over many things

over the last eight years or so, as most of you know, and most recently, that will be in two weeks,

many of you will be joining me and my family and a number of other people from Church of the

Resurrection to start a new service, a new community of faith in the Brooklyn neighborhood

at Archbishop Carroll High School. This is really exciting. We had a fantastic meeting this morning

to iron out some details about how things are going to work, and it's going to be a powerful

and exciting thing that happens. So thank you so much that we can do this together. I hope to

connect with as many of you after the service as possible, but this is a good opportunity for you,

Church of the Advent, and I guess myself as a representative of those from Church of the

Resurrection, who are coming together for this work, as we have worked together so much over the years.

Sermon today. We're looking at Acts chapter 5, the passage that was read earlier, Acts chapter 5,

Acts 5 · chapter mention Acts 5 · chapter mention

27 to 32, and the central message of this passage and of this sermon is a powerful one.

We must obey God rather than men. We must obey God rather than men.

That's big, right? That's something you can put on a poster. That's something you can put on a bumper

sticker. That's something that you can remind yourself of at the beginning of each day.

It's something that you can draw a lot from. It's something that makes me think of Martin Luther King

Jr. in April of 1963, sitting in a Birmingham jail, arrested for his attempts to end segregation.

And while he's there, after his arrest, his peers in the city, the white clergy from the city churches,

had written a newspaper article telling him that he needed to stop, that he had gone too far,

that segregation was bad, but come on, this is too much disturbing the peace.

And in response, Martin Luther King wrote his famous letter in which he said, essentially,

we must obey God rather than men. Or, it makes me think of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the German pastor

from the 1930s who stood up to the Nazi evil that was going on in his country. While many of the

Protestants joined with the state church, which was complicit with the Nazi evil, which refused to

criticize it, Dietrich Bonhoeffer led a number, a small group of Christians who started a confessing

church where they said, Christ is Lord, not the Fuhrer, but Christ is Lord. And in April,

April of 1943, Bonhoeffer was arrested in a plot to depose Hitler because he believed strongly enough

that we must obey God rather than men. Or, it makes me think of Martin Luther in the 16th century,

standing up for the gospel that he believed in, for the work that Christ had done, not only in his heart,

but in so many Christians before, which had been stifled by centuries of a decaying, decrepit church

that could no longer care for the souls of many millions of people. And in April, again April,

it's a good month, it's a good month, April of 1521, at the Diet of Worms, in front of an emperor,

in front of the prelates of the church, Martin Luther defended his stand. Here I stand, he said,

I can do no other, so help me God. We must obey God rather than men.

And the encouragement that I want to bring to you today, the encouragement that I want to share

with you, is that the spirit that was in these powerful people, the spirit that was in them

is the spirit that was in Peter and the apostles in this passage that we're reading,

which is the spirit that is in us who trust in the power of Jesus. That is my encouragement. So take

courage. Rally to Christ this night. We must obey God rather than men. Now, that's powerful. That's

high talk. And let me assure you, by day I'm actually a mild-mannered accountant. I stand up giving you the

religious message here, but by day I'm a mild-mannered accountant, and I hope you will spare me some

mathematical eccentricity, which I've worked into my points. So we'll work through this passage to unpack

this powerful statement, we must obey God rather than men. And here's how we're going to look at it.

First, God is greater than the world. Second, I am not greater than the world. And finally, here's the real

algebra. Me plus the Holy Spirit equals awesome. I'm glad I caught you at that third point. You'll pay

attention for the rest of the sermon. I can get into that. So break out your pocket calculators,

and let's look at this passage. Acts 5, 27 to 32. So this is a funny passage because we're cutting right

into the middle of a scene. So let's give a little bit of backdrop. Jesus of Nazareth preached and healed

and went about Israel preaching the kingdom of God, telling people they needed to repent, but also that

there was good news of healing and life for them. Jesus was crucified unjustly and raised from the

dead by the power of God. He showed himself to many people and ascended to the right hand of God the

Father. And after this, the Holy Spirit comes down and falls on the apostles at Pentecost and all the

believers at Pentecost. And suddenly they are empowered for an unbelievably successful ministry,

continuing the work of Jesus in the world, telling people about the kingdom of God, telling them about

the life that God wants to give them, if only they will die to sin. And this is where we come to here.

After all this great success, the apostles are unjustly arrested, just like Jesus was unjustly

crucified. And they're brought here before the Sanhedrin or the council, the ruling people of the

city, made up of the religious rulers and the political rulers, who came together and said,

they accused them. And this is where we get to the passage. The high priest then questioned them,

saying, and here's the accusation, we strictly charged you not to teach in this name. Yet here

you have filled Jerusalem with this teaching. Pretty open and shut case. Don't do X, you did X.

How could you not be more wrong? You have brought public disorder. Here we, the guardians of public order,

charge you. We said, do not do it. And here you did it. There is a case here that makes a lot of sense

by law. Intellectually, by the head, if someone is tempted to give into this and say, this is too much

for me, there is something that you could satisfy yourself intellectually and said, ah, that's right.

They said not to teach, and here we taught. There was a disobedience.

But there was something more going on with the council who rejects this message. They go on and

they say, and you intend to bring this man's blood upon us. So they reject this teaching because

you don't do X and here you have done it. But they also know that their own hearts are in grave danger

by what the apostles are doing. Let me give you an analogy, an example,

from everyday life that you and I may share. Say you go out with your co-workers

for a happy hour, and you are out, and you are talking with your co-workers

and getting drinks, and your co-workers go on, and they are talking terrible things about your boss.

And they talk about how this boss has treated them poorly, but then they go on, and they talk about

how this boss is not cleanly, how this boss has done various things inappropriately in certain

relationships. They just go on and on and talk about things that may or may not be true about your boss.

And in that moment, you'll be tempted to be on the inside or to be on the outside.

And you'll be tempted to add something to that conversation

or to not be part of what's going on. And in that moment, you'll have a question about obeying God

rather than men. And on the intellectual side, you could say to yourself, this has been a bad man.

I can follow along. There is something to hang your hat on if you want to give in. But on the heart

side, there is also a deeper aspect there. You know that your co-workers will not like it if you

rain on their parade. You know that your co-workers may feel hurt or may reject you if you take a stand.

All right. We've started with something grand here. Martin Luther, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the pages of a

world history textbook. And here I am taking it small. However, I think you can understand this.

Certainly, people like Martin Luther King did not just say, we must obey God rather than men

when he was in a jail. He had gotten to that place because he was doing this day in and day out.

And this is what I hope we can learn together today. All right. The response of Peter in the passage here.

Peter and the apostles answer, we must obey God rather than men. And then he teases it out

in three ways here. And here's the first way. He says, the God of our fathers raised Jesus,

whom you killed by hanging on a tree. The God of our fathers raised Jesus, whom you killed by hanging

on a tree. There was an ancient Jewish tradition going way back to the beginning of the Hebrew Bible,

back toward the beginning, that had said that if a person is hanged on a tree, which is implicitly a

lawbreaker, someone who is being executed, that person becomes a kind of curse. Why? Because when

their body comes down and falls on the ground, if you do not bury it quickly enough, it literally

pollutes the ground in a certain way because it is so bad and so accursed. It is bringing something so

bad among the people. So Peter is saying, first of all, you have tried to lay this heavy curse

on Jesus. But not only that, you are the ones who have killed him. Now, did the high priest,

did the council actually kill Jesus? Could they be convicted? Because an accusation is going back

against them now. No, no, they didn't really do it. It was the Roman soldiers. They just, they sent him

in a certain direction. They knew what was going on, but they were not the killers. Now, in our language,

as in many others, there are many words for something like killing. If you want to say kill,

you can say something like murder or slay or execute. I'm sorry for being a little over the top here,

but you could even go further. And the word that Peter and the apostles use here is a little more

intense. It's something more like, you laid your hands upon him. Your fingerprints are on that man.

His blood is under your fingernails. The accusation is that intense. How is it now? How is it that they

could be so complicit that it is as if their very hands were the ones nailing Jesus to the cross?

How is it? Now, what's underlying Peter's thought here, as he says this, is a deeper system the Bible

testifies to. And there is a system that it talks about of behaviors, a system of bad to morally

questionable behaviors that work together, that all work together in kind of a crazy knot. And they work

together to exclude and to put down and to injure, to dehumanize, and sometimes to kill.

And if you're someone who wants to trust in God, you will be constantly asked to rationalize

and use this system, this system of behaviors that among us all works together. You'll be asked to

use it when it benefits you. Inflict pain, but avoid blame. Inflict pain, but avoid blame.

Because as much as this system hurts you, you can also use it. It is available to you. And the Bible

has a name for this system. The Bible calls this the world. The world is what this is called. If you

read some part of the pages in the Bible before and has said something negative about the world,

perhaps you've had it in your mind that the God of the Bible does not like trees or cities or parks.

In fact, let me assure you today, and you don't have to take my word for it, many could talk about this,

and we can talk later, that the Bible has wonderful things to say about trees and parks and cities. But

when it talks about the world, it is talking about a system of behaviors. For myself, I scoff.

I avoid blame. I roll my eyes at my wife or my children. Sorry, Casey. I create just enough distance

to make them hurt and to disburden myself of responsibility. Inflict pain, avoid blame.

And it's at this point, when we see this in the world system, we must say that God is greater than

the world. The work of God is greater than the world system. And so we must obey God rather than men,

because God is greater than the world. When will we give up the usefulness of spite and jabbing little

remarks? When will we give that up? Here's what the text says. The God of our fathers raised Jesus,

whom you killed by hanging on a tree. The very one that you tried to make a curse is the one

that has been exalted by God as Jesus. When the risen Jesus exposes the world, when the risen Jesus

exposes our little jabs and spite and world behaviors as unjust curses. Unjust curses.

This is what motivated Martin Luther King to say, segregation is not only politically and economically

and sociologically unsound. It is morally wrong and sinful. It is an unjust curse placed upon people.

The world system avoids blame and inflicts pain. But God has raised Jesus to take away blame and to

heal pain. And so we must obey God rather than men, because God is greater than the world through the

resurrection of Jesus. So that's the first angle that we have here. Let's go on. Peter had said,

we must obey God rather than men. He goes on here. He says, God exalted him as leader and savior to give

repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. So we had just said that God the father raised Jesus from

death to show that God's blessing is greater than killing. God's blessing is greater than gossip and a

manipulative system. How is it greater? Well, that is what we're getting into here. How is it greater?

God exalted him as leader and savior to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. To all who are stuck

in this system, to you and I who get stuck in these behavioral patterns that all work together,

there is a way out. There is a way out and it is repentance and forgiveness. Because I am constantly

invited into this one-upmanship, this hiding and blame avoidance. And at this point, we must say,

I am not greater than the world. This is the essence of repentance. I am not greater than the world.

I am part of the problem.

This is where Dietrich Bonhoeffer, when he was opposing

the German state church that was going along with the Nazi regime, hoping, even the good people

in there, hoping to outlast it, outlast the evil in some way,

Bonhoeffer resisted and said,

If you board the wrong train, it is no use running along the corridor in the opposite direction.

You will never make it. But for us, the work of Jesus has given us a train that shows up right at

our stop to take the right direction.

And the only thing that we can do

to get on that train,

the only thing that we can bring,

the only thing that we can say for ourselves

is,

Most merciful God,

we confess that we have sinned against you

in thought, word, and deed

by what we have done

and by what we have left undone.

We have not loved you with our whole hearts.

We have not loved our neighbors as ourselves.

We are truly sorry

and we humbly repent.

For the sake of your Son, Jesus Christ,

have mercy on us and forgive us

that we may delight in your will

and walk in your ways.

Why? Because I am not greater than the world.

We'll continue on here.

Here's our third point.

This is what you've been waiting for.

Why must we obey God rather than men?

Here's the third point.

Because we are witnesses to these things.

The apostles go on.

We are witnesses to these things.

What thing is the resurrection

and ascension of Jesus?

And so is the Holy Spirit

whom God has given to those who obey him.

And obey here is basically like

listen or follow.

To those who will be the Jesus followers,

the Holy Spirit is given.

There is a question

that maybe has entered some of your minds.

Peter and the apostles,

we had a gospel reading

from the book of John

where people who saw Jesus rose from the dead

came around

and they eventually not only believed,

but again, we get to this passage in Acts,

and they are filled with power.

And you might think to yourself,

I could do that if I saw that.

But you know what?

I didn't.

And this is hard for me to believe.

It's hard for me to take this much courage

and something that is so distant

and so difficult to prove.

And I hear that.

That is an important thought.

Let me give an analogy here

from a venerable textbook of psychology,

the Disney Pixar movie Inside Out.

Those of you with children under five or six

may have seen it,

or maybe you are an amateur personality theorist.

Either way, the way the movie works

is that there is a girl

that the movie follows around

and abstracts out what's going on in her head.

And as she goes through her life,

she experiences things,

and when she experiences something,

a memory forms.

It looks in the movie

like a crystal bowling ball that comes down.

And it forms a memory that is deposited in her.

And it's something that can be projected out

onto her mind she can see later on.

And the really important memories

are the core memories.

And those are the ones that are really saved.

And they're not just important

because you remember a core memory

again and again.

They're really important

because they form the basis for personality.

In the movie, they call them

the islands of personality.

And so the girl has these core memories

of playing hockey,

and that forms a part of her personality

that identifies with hockey

or with fun or family.

And this is the analogy.

That for those who would receive it,

for those who would ask for it,

the Holy Spirit,

God's Holy Spirit,

imports into us

a core memory

that we did not previously have.

God's Holy Spirit will import into us

a core memory

of Jesus' resurrection and ascension

that we did not previously have

because the Holy Spirit, too,

was a witness to those things

many years ago.

And so the Holy Spirit

will give to us

faith and repentance

and courage

so that

we can obey God

rather than men.

This is how Martin Luther put it

back in the Reformation.

Before we can enjoy

Jesus' work for us,

the Holy Spirit comes

and communicates it

to the heart,

enabling us to believe

and say,

I, too,

am one who shall have

the blessing.

Again,

Martin Luther said,

before we can enjoy

Jesus' work for us,

the Holy Spirit comes

and communicates it

to the heart,

enabling us to believe

and say,

I, too,

am one who shall have

the blessing.

Because the Holy Spirit

is able

to import

that core memory

of Jesus' death

and resurrection

and ascension,

his work for us

to form a new part

of our own personality,

to have courage

and trust

in Jesus.

And with this new

core memory

in place,

Martin Luther

could stand

and so can you and I

and say

that we must obey God

rather than men

because

me

plus

the Holy Spirit

equals awesome.

It really is amazing

because what we are

talking about here

is not just

a system

of doctrines.

What we are talking

about here

is not just something

that we do together

and we kind of

convince each other of.

If you are here

and you are

unsure

of all of this,

all of this stuff,

these songs,

if you are unsure

of these songs

that other people

around you are singing

and all of this stuff

that we are doing,

if you don't know

what you think

about all of that,

let me encourage you

that if you want

out

of the world system

of jabbing

behaviors

that are constantly

tying together

in a knot

that you cannot

get out of,

if you admit

that only God,

only God's blessing

is greater

than that world system,

then you will do

more than just

make a decision.

You will do more

than attend church

on Sundays.

You will do more

in these things.

You will get

God's Holy Spirit.

This is part of

the essence

of our faith,

that it is God's

Holy Spirit

who will come

to us.

And if you do believe,

let me remind you

that you can say

that we must obey

God rather than men

because God's Holy Spirit

has come in you.

Please,

let me encourage you

of that.

And we have this,

we have this as

a witness within ourselves,

a core memory

that we remember,

but God

in his wonderful plan

has placed

that core memory

not only

in our own heads,

but in many other

places as well.

These passages

that we're reading,

this is also

a place

where the core memory

of the Holy Spirit

resides,

the core memory

of Jesus' death

and resurrection.

A foundation

for our personality

in Jesus

to have faith

and courage

is in these pages

and it is also

in places

like the Eucharist

that we will come toward

in a few minutes.

Listen to the words.

When you receive it,

think of what you are doing

and receive it

as a testimony

to what Jesus

has done.

Or,

it is simply

us together,

we who have decided

we are not

greater than the world

and we need Jesus.

This,

this is the same

core memory

that we all share together.

It is the same

Holy Spirit.

and so we can

have God

through and with

each other

and we can have

courage

through and with

each other.

So,

you know,

perhaps we should

modify this point

that we

plus the Holy Spirit

equals

awesome.

It really is

amazing.

So,

so please,

let me,

let me encourage you,

you who have joined me

here today,

let me encourage you

that the Holy Spirit

that was in Peter

and the apostles

is the same

Holy Spirit

who is in

Martin Luther King

and Dietrich Bonhoeffer

and Martin Luther

back at the Reformation

who is the same

Holy Spirit

who is in us.

It is the same.

Let me encourage you,

after all,

it is April,

which is a good month

to obey God

rather than men.

Please pray with me.

Oh God of power

and strength

and courage,

you have done

what is necessary.

You have done

what is necessary

to pull us out

of behaviors

that trap us

and hurt us

and you have brought us

the repentance,

the train

that is necessary

to get us back

to the right place.

Fill us anew

with your Holy Spirit

so that we can have

courage

in you.

Amen.