Last week we learned that the book of Acts plays a key part in the unfolding drama of God’s work to restore his creation through Jesus Christ. As the church today we must, like the disciples in Acts, live faithfully, creatively and glocally. That is to say we must know where we are at in the drama (after Pentecost and before the second coming), creatively speak and act in keeping with where we are, and be mindful that the stage upon which the drama is playing out is global even as we improvise locally.

I was reminded through an email from a congregant that although we are part of what God is up to we also have to remember that we are not at the center of it all; we are not the main characters on stage. This week we engaged Acts 2 and the crucial event of Pentecost. Peter made that congregants point beautifully. Pentecost, as some might suspect, is not about us and our experience of the Spirit as much as it is about Jesus’ exaltation to the right hand of God and expansion of His kingdom. Jesus is at the center of it all.

Scottish Theologian Sinclair Ferguson put it well in his book The Holy Spirit,

[quote name=”Sinclair Ferguson”]”Pentecost, like the visible manifestations of every coronation, is by its very nature sui generis [of its own kind]. It is no more repeatable as an event than is the crucifixion or the resurrection or the ascension of our Lord. It is an event in redemptive history (historia salutis [history of salvation]), and should not be squeezed into the grid of the application of redemption (ordo salutis [order of salvation])….That is not to say that Pentecost has no existential dimension or contemporary relevance. But it does mean that we should no more anticipate a ‘personal Pentecost’ than that we will experience a personal Jordan, wilderness, Gethsemane, or Golgotha. While such language has been popularly employed it is theologically misleading. Pentecost itself is no more repeatable than is the crucifixion, the empty tomb or the ascension.”[/quote]

It is important to remember that Pentecost is about Jesus expanding his kingdom because it helps us to remember that:

1. Jesus is center stage
2. We are not center stage
3. Our experience of the Spirit is secondary to the main event
4. The Spirit is poured out by Jesus so that we might make Christ known
5. Jesus will always remain at the right hand of the Father as King of his expanding Kingdom

The flow of the relationship (covenant) between God and his people is from heaven to earth. Pentecost therefore exemplifies the Biblical priority of God’s grace and descent to us.

As I studied the passage I think that the best way to see Peter’s point in how he ultimately answers the question “What does all this mean?” (2:12). “Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah” (Acts 2:36).

[button url=”http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts%202:14-36&version=ESV” newwindow=”true” color=”red”]Acts 2:14-36[/button]

Questions for Conversation

[box icon=”info”] Peter quotes many Old Testament passages? What about his audience made that a wise choice?[/box]

[box icon=”info”] Much that could have been said about this passage was left out due to time. What did you most want to hear about also? Are there still questions lingering on your fingertips about this passage? Type them out and send them to us.[/box]

[box icon=”info”] Where does it matter in our life as a congregation, your family’s life or yours that Jesus’ being King is what Acts 2 is about? What needs to change as a result? What can you be encouraged about?[/box]

It’s either this or it’s that, but it can’t be both, right? Some things really are life or death, black or white, good or bad, apples or oranges. Dichotomies can be helpful. Dichotomies can also be unhelpful or false. God’s people have been known to make unhelpful distinctions between their “spiritual life” and their “home life”, “social life”, etc. When I recently asked a friend of mine in the Carolina’s what he thought Christians meant by their “spiritual life” he said, “Quiet times, prayer time and Sundays”. Is this really what constitutes Biblical spirituality? Is true spirituality just the private time we have with God? Is spirituality only about those specific times we gather with others to do religious things and focus on the desires of the soul? Or, is spirituality about the body AND the soul? Does it concern the private AND the public life? And finally is spirituality wholly a work of man OR fully the work of God?

[quote name=”” center=”true” float=”right” size=”one-third”] The answer appears in Jesus’ resurrection and ascension as recorded in Luke 24:36-56.[/quote]The answer appears in Jesus’ resurrection and ascension as recorded in Luke 24:36-53. Luke’s record turns us to the answer that true spirituality is physical, public and pneumatic. Christ has bodily risen as the Lord of all creation: True Spirituality is Physical. Just as Jesus is raised flesh and bone, he is about the business of redeeming us body and blood. Christ calls his disciples to preach repentance from sin in all areas of life: True Spirituality is Public. Just as we are to be a part of the movement to call people to pray and read their Bibles we also are to call for proper use of money, excellence in engineering, and justice in warfare. Ascending to the Father Christ will pour out his Spirit upon his disciples: True Spirituality is Pneumatic. Just as the disciples are given understanding regarding their mission they are told to stay put till they are clothed with power. Without the grace of the Spirit of Christ they could do nothing and neither can we.

Here’s the rub: if we see spirituality as only applying to the reasonable soul (Plato), the private world of values and not the public world of facts (Enlightenment), and a work of only man or only God (Pelagius or Hyper-Calvinists) we ultimately fail to grasp the goodness of the gospel. False dichotomies are like Pied Pipers leading us to the wrong places for help. When we don’t see that Christ came to redeem the body we will tend to look to others for that need. If we think that Christ’s authority doesn’t extend to the workplace or our bank accounts we will look to other guides as our ultimate hope. We may even grasp the bodily and global implications of the gospel and yet fail to see how God promises to empower us to live out the implications. Thinking we can accomplish it on our own will only lead to pride; thinking it is completely God will only lead to confusion. Jesus won the promise of the Father for us through his death and resurrection. We have not earned or deserved the forgiveness or power we receive by the Holy Pneuma (Spirit). Yet, by his presence in our lives we are being restored and are a part of God’s work to bring restoration to his good creation.

If you are interested in reading more along these lines there are intriguing reads like Creation Regained by Al Wolters, Living at the Crossroads by Goheen and Bartholomew or anything by Christopher J.H. Wright.

[button url=”http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke%2024:36-53&version=ESV” newwindow=”true” color=”red”]Luke 24:36-53[/button]

Questions for Conversation

[box icon=”info”]Which dichotomy do you see as most problematic for you:

• Christianity is about the reasonable soul NOT the physical body
• Christianity is about the private religious life NOT the public life.
• Christianity is about my doing spiritual things for me NOT me being empowered to respond to the resurrected Christ.

[/box]

[box icon=”info”]What is the biggest problem you are facing in life right now? How are you dealing with the problem? Is your way of dealing with it working? How does the resurrection give clues as to how you might better respond?[/box]

We had a great worship service this past Easter Sunday. The sermon was on Luke 24:1-12 where we were encountered by the empty tomb of Christ – a shocking surprise to hearers ancient and present. The apostles who heard the news passed it off as “nonsense” or an “idle tale” (Luke 24:11). Many throughout history have passed the empty tomb off as an idle tale, including Thomas Jefferson. Indeed, he even went so far as to not include the four Gospel’s united resurrection account in his version of the Gospels (although Wikipedia is not the best of sources here is more info on the Jefferson Bible if you are interested http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jefferson_Bible).

Nevertheless, my intent was not so much to bring Jefferson into focus as much as how ending the story of Christ at the burial leaves us looking at a graveyard. Luke wants us to look elsewhere. He wants us to look into Paradise (Luke 23:43) and into the face of Jesus. The way Luke records the story functions like this: as we stare depressed at the graveyard of the Lord Jesus he comes from behind and turns us around to look into his face. Luke, under the inspiration of the Spirit, wants us to look into the face of our living and loving Lord.

Jesus is living – the Living One (24:5). He is no ancient character from history past only to be regarded for his great morals. No! Jesus is alive! He is Risen! [quote name=”Luke 24:5″ center=”true” float=”right” size=”one-third”]Jesus is living – the Living One (24:5). He is no ancient character from history past only to be regarded for his great morals. No! Jesus is alive! He is Risen!
[/quote] We can communicate with him now and he hears our prayers.

Jesus is alive…but that may not bring us repose. I mean, he’s holy and we are sinners. Yet, the heavenly men at the tomb remind the women that Jesus’ love for them included the cross (24:6-7). Christ had told them that this all would come to pass. What seemed to the women to be a senseless act of violence against their innocent Rabbi turned out to be part of God’s loving plan for the Son of Man and his people.

Finally, Jesus is Lord. Nowhere in Luke had Jesus been called “the Lord Jesus” until 24:3. Then, in Luke’s second volume (the Book of Acts) Jesus is called by that title over and over again. Why? Christ has now officially been vindicated in his role as King of Kings and Lord of Lords by his resurrection from the dead (Romans 1:1-4). This is partially what Peter may have been marveling about as he trekked home from the empty tomb (24:12). Peter, who had given up so much for the Jesus movement and seen it all crash days before now had regained hope for the movement based in Jesus’ proven Lordship.

Christian: Jesus is alive today – he hears your prayers. Jesus loves you today – he does not mean you harm in the least. Jesus is Lord today – his movement is alive. Don’t get stuck staring at the graveyard, sin, depravity, and death. The story has moved beyond the grave to the resurrection and Jesus has turned us to look at him our resurrected Lord and Friend.

[button url=”http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke%2024:1-12&version=ESV” newwindow=”true” color=”red”]Luke 24:1-12[/button]

Questions for Conversation

[box icon=”info”]Do people modify the Gospels today? How so?[/box]

[box icon=”info”]How do Christians truncate the Gospel story?[/box]

[box icon=”info”]Have you ever thought that it was proper to dwell on the death of Christ in isolation from his resurrection? Is that possible?[/box]

[box icon=”info”]What would you tell a friend who is not a believer about the resurrection of Jesus if you had one sentence?[/box]

⁴⁴ It was now about noon, and darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon, ⁴⁵ for the sun stopped shining. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two. ⁴⁶ Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” When he had said this, he breathed his last.

⁴⁷ The centurion, seeing what had happened, praised God and said, “Surely this was a righteous man.” ⁴⁸ When all the people who had gathered to witness this sight saw what took place, they beat their breasts and went away. ⁴⁹ But all those who knew him, including the women who had followed him from Galilee, stood at a distance, watching these things.

New International Version (NIV)

Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®

Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.®

¹⁴ And when the hour came, he reclined at table, and the apostles with him. ¹⁵ And he said to them, “I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. ¹⁶ For I tell you I will not eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.” ¹⁷ And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he said, “Take this, and divide it among yourselves. ¹⁸ For I tell you that from now on I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.” ¹⁹ And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” ²⁰ And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood. ²¹ But behold, the hand of him who betrays me is with me on the table. ²² For the Son of Man goes as it has been determined, but woe to that man by whom he is betrayed!” ²³ And they began to question one another, which of them it could be who was going to do this.

English Standard Version (ESV)

The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright ©

 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers.