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Fourth Sunday of Easter Acts 2:42:47
The folks who select the lectionary have presented what initially appears to be an unrelated collection of texts this morning. We have Psalm 23, which we’ve heard several times recently. We have the reading from Acts, with its idyllic description of the early Christian community. We have 1 Peter’s plea to endure suffering as Christ suffered. And, we have John’s enigmatic metaphor of sheep, their shepherd, a gate, and a gatekeeper. But as I was reading and reflecting on the texts, a thread began to emerge. A strong community grounded in following Jesus is able to endure suffering. A word about historical context may help here. All three - Acts, 1 Peter, and John – are generally believed to have been written relatively late, probably in 90-100 CE. By then, the church had gone through several waves of persecution by Rome, the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple, the forced separation from the synagogue, and was consolidating itself as a separate entity in the face of more persecution ahead. The texts taken together offer strength and encouragement in that situation. Let’s look at each one. Strong community Some sixty years after the events it recalls, the reading describes the worship and common life of the new church in the immediate aftermath of Pentecost. The worship life is strikingly similar to ours - devoted to teaching, fellowship, breaking of bread (likely a reference to the Eucharist), and prayer. And the community life involves sharing possessions so that no one in need, breaking bread in their homes (again, likely the Eucharist, but in the context of a common meal as they “ate their food with glad and generous hearts”). This life together began to build the strong bonds that would carry the church through the difficult years ahead, enabling it to survive persecution and martyrdom. Indeed, the next story in Acts is that of Peter and John being arrested at the Temple after healing a man “lame from birth,” “in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth.” So, as the church two generations later was enduring the might of Rome, a look back would help in strengthening it to carry on. Grounded in Jesus In one of the few parables in the gospel of John, Jesus tells the story of a shepherd who enters the sheepfold by the gate, calls his sheep by name, and they follow him because they know his voice, while they will not follow a stranger whose voice they do not know. In his interpretation, he identifies himself as the gate by which the sheep go in and out to pasture and as the good shepherd. I won’t even try to unpack that. The point is that when we are faced with strangers – voices that call to us in the name of nationalism, ideology, political party, whatever – we should not know their voices. We follow the one whose voice we know, who called to us and we responded. We follow him because we know that the good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. Able to endure suffering The lectionary epistle readings in the Easter season are selectively taken from 1 Peter. The commentary notes that the general theme of the entire, short letter is to provide encouragement in the face of imminent persecution. With the example of Jesus, who suffered for us, we may be called to suffer as we follow in his steps. There are allusions to Matthew 5:10 – “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven,” and Isaiah 53 - “all we like sheep have gone astray,” yet “he was wounded for our transgressions” and “by his bruises we are healed.” The conclusion ties it to the gospel, by reminding us that by following him, we have “returned to the shepherd.” In that context, and building on Yoder, some see this passage as a call for nonviolent love toward abusing enemies. And that love is nurtured and formed by the Christian community, following in the way of Jesus. It makes sense to me, and many examples come to mind. The Believers Church Commentary notes that this was a formative text for many early Anabaptists, particularly verse 21 which links current suffering to the suffering of Christ whose example we are called to follow. In letters, testimonies, and disputations, 1 Peter 2:21 is frequently cited. It says: “Their minds and hearts were nourished by this and other NT scriptures. Their theology and ethics were shaped by these texts. Their arguments with their adversaries were buttressed by an appeal to these texts. When they suffered imprisonment and martyrdom, these passages emboldened and sustained them.” Some have found echoes of these passages in Martin Luther King’s sermons on nonviolence based on following Jesus, in particular Strength to Love - the suffering love that endures hatred without retaliation. The civil rights movement and King’s leadership would not have been possible without its grounding in the black church. It is not simply because it was a convenient place to meet that every major march or rally, especially those like Selma where the risk of suffering was high, began with a church service the evening before. The singing, praying and preaching were what enabled those young men and women to go out the next morning to face the dogs, hoses, and clubs with unbelievable courage. There are other examples of a strong community grounded in following Jesus able to endure suffering that come to mind. The Confessing Church in 1930s Germany was able to resist the Nazification of the church for that reason. The base communities in Central America in the 1980s were able to ensure through persecution and martyrdom for that reason. I think of the Mennonite Church in Ethiopia during the Mengistu dictatorship and the current Mennonite Church in Colombia. I think of the churches in various African countries – Congo, Zimbabwe, and others. I think of the churches in Vietnam and China. But what does it mean for us? I’m going to do something different this morning. One of the traditions of our Sojourners chapels is that following the message, there is a time to respond – to offer thoughts or questions. It is also something I have come to appreciate in several other churches – that understanding the Scripture is a task of the community, not just the preacher. That dialogue is more important than monologue. So rather than my coming up with a conclusion on what I think these texts and the theme I’ve drawn from them mean for us today, I’d like to have a short time where we reflect on that question together. In our relatively affluent lives in middle class, 21st century U.S., what does being called to endure suffering mean? Not the suffering of illness, depression, disappointment, or the other things that are part of every person’s life; the suffering that comes from being a community of followers of Jesus suffering simply for that reason. Can we relate to that at all? Green Pastures (Traditional) Troubles and trials often betray those Those who have strayed were sought by the Master Going up home to live in green pastures We will not heed the voice of the stranger Going up home to live in green pastures
(Emmy Lou Harris, Dolly Parton, Ricky Skaggs)
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