2010.05.16: Dr. George A. Purnell

			Dr. George A. Purnell May 16, 2010 (Confirmation Sunday) “Waiting for the Rest of the Story” Acts 1:1-11 For six decades Paul Harvey – who died last year at age 90 – was a fixture on the radio. People were drawn to listen to him in part because of his staccato baritone voice, in part because of his folksy vignettes, and in part because of his dramatic use of pauses in spinning stories. He would get his audiences almost hypnotized with the story he was telling. And he would conclude each segment with the words – “and now, you know the rest of the story.” Only then did we realize that the story was the news, told in a way we could relate to and remember. “The rest of the story.” Paul Harvey’s audiences hung on for that trademark phrase. It was unthinkable to change the channel before hearing “the rest of the story.” But he isn’t the only communicator to use this technique to hook an audience. Many television programs are built around a group of characters, with whom we develop a relationship over time. Each episode adds to what happened the week before and introduces new twists that won’t be resolved until next week. So we tune in weekly and even tape episodes we know we will be unable to watch so we won’t get behind in the story. Authors of mystery thrillers and other suspense stories leave us hanging at the end of chapters, tempting us to continue reading to find out what happens. And best selling authors often end their books in ways that make a sequel necessary before we can know the “rest of the story.” Some preachers use sermon series – with each week’s message adding to the theme and introducing new ideas to be embellished the next week – as a method of encouraging weekly attendance by worshippers anxious to hear “the rest of the story.” (Today, of course, we are in the 4th installment of a sermon series on The Power of Encouragement in the New Testament.) Continuing stories – whether television programs or sermon series or book sequels – typically use the first few minutes or pages to remind the audience what has occurred thus far before introducing new elements to the story. The author of Luke/Acts used this method… It is commonly held that these books of the New Testament were penned by the same author. The writing style is virtually identical and the books are addressed to the same person, Theophilus; probably a wealthy patron who commissioned the works. Luke begins: “Since many have undertaken to set down an orderly account of the events that have been fulfilled among us…I too decided, after investigating everything carefully from the very first, to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, so that you may know the truth concerning the things of which you have been informed.” (LK 1:1-4) And as we just heard, Acts begins: “In the first book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus did and taught from the beginning until the day when he was taken up to heaven…” Volume one, the gospel of Luke, ends with Jesus telling the disciples to “stay here in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.” (LK 24:49) And, we read, “while he was blessing them, he withdrew from them and was carried up into heaven. And they…returned to Jerusalem with great joy; and they were continually in the temple blessing God.” (LK 24:51-53) The Book of Acts, volume two of this account, sees the author spend the first 5 verses of this opening chapter summarizing the ending of Luke, reminding his readers where he had ended volume one. Verses 4 and 5 find Jesus repeating what he had told the disciples at the end of Luke: “While staying with them, he ordered them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait there for the promise of the Father.” And, Jesus said: “you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” So the disciples are in between times – in between Easter and Pentecost, between the realized promise of the resurrection and the awaited arrival of the Holy Spirit; between what was and what is to come. Today eleven young men and women will confirm their faith and become full members of the church. This class of eleven has been in between times too. Their story fits squarely into the story of Luke-Acts. In Luke-Acts the disciples were instructed by Jesus to stay in Jerusalem until they would be “clothed with power from on high,” when the Holy Spirit would come upon them “not many days from now.” So they are in a holding pattern. These young people have been in a holding pattern too. They have received instruction from Jen and others over these past weeks. They have been mentored and prayed for by the church. This day has been scheduled for months as the day when they would receive power as full members of Christ’s Holy Church. I remember being the age these young people are. I remember expectantly waiting for the privileges and responsibilities of adulthood. As Jesus told his disciples to be patient and wait, so we tell our children to be patient and wait; that day will come soon enough. And our children become impatient with us, just as the disciples did with Jesus. Verse 6 is the first new information we get today. “Lord,” the disciples ask Jesus, “is this the time when you will restore the kingdom to Israel?” They seem to have misunderstood what Jesus meant when he spoke of receiving power. They wanted Israel restored to her former glory as a power among nations, rather than a land occupied by the Romans, but Jesus was not referring to power in this sense… Jesus responds with an admonition about God’s autonomy, and then gives the disciples his final instructions: “It is not for you to know the times or periods that the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” Jesus then “was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their (disciples) sight.” And, the writer adds, as they “were gazing up toward heaven, suddenly two men in white robes” appeared and asked: “why do you stand looking up toward heaven?” The implication here seems obvious. There is much to do! Don’t just stand here looking up. Go out and tell others about the amazing things you saw and heard in Jesus. You are to be his witnesses, beginning right here in Jerusalem. The balance of the book of Acts tells of the spread of Christian faith in the face of persecution. It is the amazing story of ordinary people…a group of Galilean tradesmen, and a converted Pharisee who had been a persecutor of those who followed Jesus…being empowered by the Holy Spirit to do extraordinary things. They became Jesus’ witnesses, beginning in Jerusalem and spreading throughout Judea, Samaria, into Italy, Turkey, Greece…along Asia Minor and into North Africa… This courageous small band of followers literally gave birth to a faith that is now our faith, and the faith of hundreds of millions the world over. Had Jesus remained with them, these apostles would not have realized their full potential. When Jesus told his disciples that he must die earlier - in the gospel of John – he said: “because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your hearts. Nevertheless I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Advocate will not come to you.” JN 16:6-7) He also said to them: “Very truly, I tell you, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do and, in fact, will do greater works then these because I am going to the Father.” (14:12) Today the wait for these eleven young men and women is over in terms of having the full privileges and responsibilities of membership in the church. With their public confession of faith and their promises to the church in the vows of membership, these young people are no longer members in waiting. Today they become our peers; equal partners in being witnesses for Christ to the ends of the earth, beginning here in Bloomington. To you who are being confirmed today, I want to tell each of you how honored I am to participate in this service. My prayer is that you will continue to grow in the knowledge and love of God as you grow in years. I want to encourage you to be bold in your ongoing search for a faith you can live with…a faith that will lift you in hard times and that will help you keep your feet on the ground in the triumphant times. I hope you will let your faith be challenged, and that you will give yourself permission to change your mind about matters of faith as you see God revealed in new ways over the days of your life. I hope you will always ask questions of faith, and that you will not settle for answers that are someone else’s. And to the rest of us, I encourage us to ask our newest members for their input as together we forge the future of this congregation. They have much to teach us. They will call us to be more than we have settled on believing we can be as a people, if we will hear their voice. They bring a fresh perspective. It is often the newest members who will ask the questions, and take the risks, and refuse to accept the excuses that we have grown comfortable with. St. Paul wrote – “For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then we will see face to face. Now I know only in part; then I will know fully, even as I have been fully known.” And so it is. We will not know the rest of the story in this life. But it is our responsibility to continue the story of faith, to the end that those to come will be reminded of how our episode ended and introduce their new twists to the story as it continues to unfold as history moves forward to that day when we will be able to say – “now we know the rest of the story.” Amen.