Honoring Jesus
Acts 3:12-19[1]
It seems to me that “honor” is one of those words that has lost
some ground in our society. To be sure, there are places where honor still
plays a role, like the military. And Scouts pledge on a weekly basis “on their
honor” to do their best. But the scandals that have rocked our society in
recent history have diminished the honor we attribute to our leaders and those
who serve our country. After Watergate, Iran-Contra, Whitewater, Tailhook, and
others, the honor with which we esteem leaders even at the highest levels in
our society has seriously eroded. The fact that many of our leaders are to be
addressed as “honorable” may stick in our throats when we try to say it.
On the other hand, there are aspects of our life where honor
still plays a role. We seek to honor our parents, especially when they get
older and need help. We honor those who retire from positions after many years
of faithful service. Around here, we honor those who have served our church
faithfully for many decades. We also have a tradition of honoring those who
work behind the scenes with little public recognition with our annual “Church
Mouse” award. Of course, there are also other community leaders that we respect
and honor for their integrity, their devotion, and their passion for their
work. It’s a joy to be able to hold those who serve and lead in our communities
in honor.
I find it interesting that the story of the early church in Acts
is recounted in a way that essentially honors Jesus as the source, the
inspiration, and the driving force behind everything they did. Many of the
amazing things that they did they attributed to the power of Jesus’ name. In
our lesson for today, Peter says it this way: “by faith in [Jesus’] name, his
name itself has made this man strong, whom you see and know; and the faith that
is through Jesus has given him this perfect health in the presence of all of
you” (Acts 3:16). When the people tried to honor the Apostles for their
astounding deeds of mercy, they consistently pointed the crowds to Jesus.
It may be difficult to understand this theme, but I think
essentially they were talking about the fact that, as our lesson for today puts
it, “the God of our ancestors has glorified his servant Jesus” (Acts 3:13). Again,
the idea of “glorifying” someone is not all that common in our world today. If
we use the concept at all, it has a negative connotation, as in someone who is
only interested in glorifying themselves. In my mind, however, what was going
on in our lesson is that through the early Church God was publicly honoring
Jesus, whom the Jewish leaders had subjected to a humiliating death.
This is but one way in which the Church saw themselves bearing
witness to Jesus as our Savior and Lord. When you read the book of Acts
closely, I think it becomes clear that their witness was a combination of words
and deeds that promoted the new life in Christ as well as a lifestyle that publicly
demonstrated the reality of that new life. The gospel they proclaimed was that through
Jesus Christ God was in the process of bringing new life to all people.[2]
And those first believers saw themselves as a community that was already experiencing the new life of the
resurrected Jesus. What made their witness so effective at honoring Jesus was
the combination of their message with their life.
Our lesson for today recounts a story in which that new life
took a very tangible form. It is a story
of the Apostles Peter and John healing a man who was crippled from birth, so
that he “jumped up” and began “walking and leaping and praising God” (Acts
3:8)! Obviously that kind of thing would make a great stir. But what we should not overlook is the fact
that everything about the first
Christians’ life together demonstrated this gift of new life. When they devoted
themselves to their fellowship with one another, it enhanced their experience
of the new life in Christ. When they
shared their possessions with one another help the needy, it made God’s promise
to renew all things a reality. When they lived and worked in the harmony of
“one heart and mind,” it demonstrated the new life the Spirit had given them.
Many will debate the truth of a miracle story like this. But I
think to do so is to miss the greater truth: everything about the early Church’s life together bore witness that
in Jesus the Christ God was fulfilling all the great promises of restoration
and renewal and new life. The quality of their life and work served as evidence
that the “wonderful times of refreshment” were already coming “from the
presence of the Lord” and that “the final restoration of all things” that “God
promised long ago through his prophets” was already in the process of being
fulfilled (Acts 3:20-21, NLT). And
all of this was intended to honor Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord.
I think one of the most important ways we can demonstrate honor in
our personal lives is by seeking to line up our lives with our faith. It’s a
matter of doing what St. Paul said when he urged us to “lead lives worthy of
the Lord” (Col. 1:10). He put it a little differently when he said, “whatever
you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus” (Col.
3:17). As I tell the confirmation class every year, if we truly seek to live
out the question “What would Jesus do?” I don’t think we’ll go too far astray. Again,
the idea here is that by our words as well as our actions we are to bring honor
to Jesus. We are called to show forth by our whole lives the new life we have
received. And as we do so, hopefully we do it in such a way as to bring honor
to our Lord and Savior Jesus the Christ.
[1]
©2018 Alan Brehm. A sermon delivered by Rev. Dr. Alan Brehm on 4/15/2018 at
Hickman Presbyterian Church, Hickman, NE.
[2]
Cf. Diana Butler Bass, Christianity for
the Rest of Us, 110-111, where she speaks of shalom as “God’s dynamic wholeness” that is the “central vision” of
the Bible.
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