Pastor Dan Eddy
Acts 1:1-11
What are you looking for?
5-16-10
In the Name of the One who will return in the flesh someday, our
Ascended Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.
I.
Introduction
The following story was sent to me by Candace Cramer.
A young and successful executive was traveling down a neighborhood
street, going a bit too fast in his new Jaguar. He was watching for kids
darting out from between parked cars and slowed down when he thought he saw
something.
As his car passed, no children appeared. Instead, a brick smashed into the
Jag's side door! He slammed on the brakes and backed up the Jag to the spot
where the brick had been thrown.
The angry driver then jumped out of the car, grabbed the nearest kid and pushed
him up against a parked car shouting, “What
was that all about and who are you and what are you doing? That's a new car and
that brick you threw is going to cost a lot of money. Why did you do it?” The
young boy was apologetic.
“Please, mister.....please, I'm sorry
but I didn't know what else to do,” He pleaded. “I threw the brick because no one else would stop....” With tears
dripping down his face and off his chin, the youth pointed to a spot just
around a parked car. “It's my brother,” he
said, “He rolled off the curb and fell
out of his wheelchair and I can't lift him up.”
Now sobbing, the boy asked the stunned executive, “Would you, please, help me get him back into his wheelchair? He's hurt
and he's too heavy for me.”
Moved
beyond words, the driver tried to swallow the rapidly swelling lump in his
throat. He hurriedly lifted the handicapped boy back into the wheelchair, then
took out a linen handkerchief and dabbed at the fresh scrapes and cuts. A quick
look told him everything was going to be okay.
“Thank you and may God bless you,” the
grateful child told the stranger. Too
shook up for words, the man simply watched the boy push his wheelchair-bound
brother down the sidewalk toward their home.
It was a long, slow walk back to the Jaguar. The damage was very
noticeable, but the driver never bothered to repair the dented side door. He
kept the dent there to remind him of what just happened.
Many times in our fast changing world of stress we often forget our
reason for being here. We forget our purpose in life. Something drastic things happen to remind us
of life’s real meaning.
II.
The Disciples’
Purpose
The Disciples in this morning’s First Reading thought they had their
purpose in life all figured out. Here
the 11 assembled out East of Jerusalem. They had been through the past three years
with Jesus. They saw Him do many miraculous things…even raise the dead to life.
They received incredible teachings and wisdom from Him. Massive crowds follow
Jesus and them. The Apostles had their highs and lows.
Just six weeks ago, they saw their leader humiliated, beaten, and killed
on the Cross then three days later came back to life in the flesh. And they had
been walking with Him these past 40 days. They probably figured they had paid
their dues and now it was time to really bask in the glory of Jesus as the
Prophet, Priest and King.
In fact in verse 6 they asked, “Lord,
are you at this time going to restore the
Perhaps they were looking for Jesus to finally kick out those nasty Romans,
put those mean Pharisees and Sadducees in their place, and assemble a worldly
kingdom more powerful than King David’s. They were going to be the light of the
world again. And maybe the Disciples figured they had earned their Jaguar, a
spot high up in Christ’s earthly government.
Boy, were they in for a surprise? Just when they thought their expected
glory was coming, Christ told them to wait and then disappeared in a cloud. How
bizarre…so much so the men in white (believed to be angels) had to shake them
out of their stare, their stupor to ask them what they were looking for. It was as though a metaphorical brick had been
thrown at them. At first they didn’t know whether they were coming or going.
III.
Our purpose in
life
Aren’t we sometimes like that as believers in Christ? We come here week
after week in worship. We tread through the muck and mire of life. We struggle
at work, at school, in our homes and with our families…and don’t we sometimes
wonder what the meaning of all of this is? And at other times life moves so fast,
we wonder what our real purpose is? Don’t we sometimes put expectations on God
that we have somehow earned a better place with Him?
Well this morning to help you put things into perspective, I would like
you to meet
Unemployed, a father, divorced. He’s done things in his past he’s not
proud of. He had self-esteem issues and has had his identity misplaced. He was
labeled an addict by culture. He didn’t know his true meaning or purpose in
life.
Even though he beat back the addictions,
This picture is one of
(Switch
pictures) I want you to meet Amanda and her two girls Chloe and Lily. They didn’t
go church. Amanda had only been to church three times in her life. Amanda’s
sister Shannon gave her a Bible.
These pictures are all of their baptisms this past Palm Sunday. They
preferred sprinkling to the full immersion
And this congregation where these people were saved is not in the
They’ve done 5 baptisms in the past 9 months. We’ve done only 7 in the
past three years. The effects of the work being done there and here will last
forever. The other work we do in life is important, but only has a temporary
effect.
You see Jesus gave the Disciples clues as to what their purpose would be
for the rest of their lives. He said it right in verse 8…”You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you
will be my witnesses in
And 10 days later that became crystal clear with the events of
Pentecost…the birth of the Church.
But I think many times we get stuck in the Ascension mode…we’re looking up
in the sky and waiting for Christ to come back…and failing to move beyond our congregation’s
four walls to the Judea’s, Samaria’s, and the to ends of our own communities,
because we move so fast in our Jaguars of life that we’ve sometimes miss our
real purpose ….to give witness to Christ and to show it with our actions.
Why we do this? Because Jesus loves you, has saved you, and given you
forgiveness from your sins. And now He
wants you to pass that onto others.
The disciples really didn’t get the whole outreach thing either until
after Jesus was gone in the flesh. He said they would do greater things with
Him invisible in the flesh…with Him being with them through the Holy Spirit.
Jesus spent three years instructing, equipping, and loving the
Disciples, before sending them out to save others. The whole rest of the book
of Acts is Christ, through the power of the Holy Spirit, acting through the
Disciples and others. The result was thousands saved for eternity from their
sins as the Church grew quickly.
Christ has done the same to you. Here He’s instructed, equipped and
loved you, so we can go out and save the Wayne’s, Amanda’s and Lily’s Why?
Ephesians 4:14-15 from our Epistle Reading “So
that we may no longer be children tossed to and fro by the waves and carried
about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful
schemes. Rather speaking the truth in love we are to grow up in every way into
Him who is the head, into Christ.”
It’s as simple as giving a Bible, offering a prayer, and inviting to
church. If you’ve done this…praise God.
Keep doing it. And if you haven’t, may I loving offer you to the opportunity to
save another person’s life from drowning.
And if you notice in your bulletin, I have given you a sheet of paper. I
would like your help in formulating a Congregational Outreach Strategy for our
What are you passionate about? Tell us. Where are your talents? Let us
know. Where is the Holy Spirit calling you to serve? Please write down your
thoughts, and email them to me, put them in the offering basket, or give them
to me in person.
Charlie MacPherson has said, “The
definition of mission is to alleviate human suffering.” That’s what happened to these people
here. And that’s what we’ve been called
to do here in our community.
Who are the Wayne’s, Amanda’s, Chloe’s, and Lily’s we know in life? We
are here to save them for eternity. This is part of the Christ’s vision for
this congregation we voted on last November.
IV.
Conclusion
Don't go through life so fast that the Lord has to throw a brick at you
to get your attention! God whispers to your souls and speaks to your hearts your
reason for existence…your purpose in life. We don’t need a dent in our car to remind us. The
Cross reminds of that every time we remember our baptism and renew our faith
with His Supper.
Let His Word expressed to you this morning match your deeds done and let
your deeds done reflect His Word you speak. Amen.