Acts 2:1-24, 36-41
“I Don’t Believe in Organized Religion”
By: Ken Sauer, Pastor of East Ridge United MEthodist Church, Chattanooga, TN eastridgeumc.org
It is somewhat popular these days to say something to the effect of, “I don’t believe in organized religion,” and thus, “that is why I don’t go to church.”
In saying this, folks seem to be meaning that they don’t believe in institutionalized religion or religion which is used and twisted into different shapes and forms by human beings in order to fit certain political agendas.
I don’t believe in that either…
…well, I believe it probably exists, but that is not what I believe God and the people of God are up to.
In Psalm 127 the Psalmist says, “Unless the Lord builds the house, its builders labor in vain.”
Last Sunday morning, we talked about the Ascension of Jesus as it is recorded in Acts Chapter 1.
Jesus, speaking to His community, gave them this command, “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”
Soon after saying this, Jesus ascended back up to heaven before their very eyes.
And Jesus’ community of disciples obeyed what their Master had told them.
Rather than taking matters into their own hands, getting organized and venturing forth with their own banners unfurled, the disciples “all joined together constantly in prayer”—trusting in Christ to make good on His promise!!!
And just ten days later, the promise became reality!!!
But before we get to that, this is what prayer really is, is it not?
It is a boldness born out of a confidence and trust in the Lord that God will be true to God’s Self and give us what has been promised.
And more than that, it is, really, the Church’s humble realization that only God can give what the Church really needs!
Every thing else is sinking sand!
It’s popular to talk about Pentecost as the “birthday” of the Church, and there is lots of truth to that.
But it might be more accurate to say that Easter is the birthday—even of Pentecost!!!
For it is at Pentecost that the power of God which brought Christ forth from the dead is given as a free gift to those who will believe!!!
Notice, in verse 14 we are told that “Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice and addressed the crowd…”
Another way of saying this could be, in my estimation, “Peter was resurrected along with the Eleven, raised his voice and addressed the crowd…”
For this is what happens when the Holy Spirit comes upon us.
We die with Christ and are raised with Christ!!!
And we are given power—not military power…
…not necessarily physical power…
…and certainly not political power…
…but we are given the power of new life, fresh confidence, and new insight.
We are given power over death, and power to live—to really live lives to the full.
We are given the power to become “truly” human beings.
To be the people we were created to be!!!
We are given the very power of God!
In our Scripture we see that the dawn of God’s new day begins with an eruption of sounds from heaven and of fire.
Things are breaking loose, breaking open!
The New Creation is invading Satan’s space, so to speak.
The gates of hell are being blown apart by God’s Spirit which is entering into God’s Fallen creatures and making them new, forgiven and restored!
We are told in the very beginning of the very first Book of the Bible—Genesis—that “the Spirit of God was hovering over the [dark] waters…” and then,
“God said, “Let there be light…”
And here is the same Spirit, once again bringing something to life!!!
And that something is the Church.
It’s not a building.
It’s not some man-made political agenda or institution.
It is an assembly of believers.
It is the Resurrected Body of Christ on this earth—it is you, it is me, it is everyone who will believe!!!
On the day of Pentecost we are told that what is first heard is then seen—as “what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them.”
John the Baptist had said that the Christ, “will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.”
And these “tongues of fire” bring about the gift of “other tongues” that the Holy Spirit miraculously enables the followers of Christ to speak.
And the disciples quickly move from inside the upper room to the street outside where the Gospel of Jesus Christ immediately attracts a crowd!
And out in the street, “Jews from every nation under heaven,” are for the first time confronted with the Church…
…and they are bewildered!!!
They’ve never…no…
…nobody has ever seen anything like this!
It has never existed before.
It is something altogether brand new.
So, even though they can “all hear [the disciples] declaring the wonders of God in” their own languages they are still completely “amazed and perplexed,” and “they asked one another, ‘What does this mean?’”
And isn’t this what the world, what the people in the street are still asking the Church today?
“What does this mean?”
“What is salvation?”
“Who is Jesus Christ?”
“Why do you all devote your lives to following this man?”
And as we see, one of the first fruits of the Sprit of God is proclamation!
We are to tell them what it means.
We are to tell the world—about Christ by our words, by our lives, by our love and witness made available only through the Holy Spirit!!!
How are we doing with this?
Now, of course, some of the people on the streets don’t want to know “what this means.”
They think they already have the answers figured out.
They feel they are getting along just fine on their own, “thank you very much!”
They have their own mocking theories for Christ’s following enthusiasts: “They have had too much wine.”
The power that the Church proclaims as a gift of God the world sometimes explains as intoxication!!!
After-all, the inbreaking of the Holy Spirit can be profoundly unsettling indeed!
It can be deeply threatening to the crowd in the street, and so the crowd has got to come up with some explanation, some rationality!
They’ve either got to explain it away, or they’ve got to believe.
And if they are to believe, truly believe…
…they might just need to do something about this belief!!!
Not everyone is going to accept Christ.
Not everyone is going to be excited about our message.
But that should never cause us to stop sharing it.
It’s always been that way and it always will be that way.
And after all, it’s not about us anyway; it’s about God.
God is the One Who gives us new life and God is the One Who gives us the Words to speak and the life to live.
It is God Who delivers us from the grave!
It is God Who resurrects us, as God resurrected Peter.
And here is a wild card!
Who would have predicted that Peter would be the first person to give the first sermon of the Christian Church?
I mean, Peter still lingers in our memories as the one who “followed [Christ] at a distance,” and said to the “servant girl” the words, “Woman, I don’t know him.”
Peter is the one who was left weeping in the courtyard as Christ was taken away to be tried.
Peter had been tested and had failed the test.
But haven’t we all failed the test?
It was while we were yet sinners that Christ died for us!!!
And we who believe are given the very power of God, if we die with Him and are raised with Him.
So, here we see that in front of the half inquiring, half mocking crowd in the street, Peter is the first one to raise his voice and proclaim openly the words that only a few weeks before he couldn’t speak…not even to a servant girl at midnight!!!
If God can do this with Peter, what can God do with you?
In Genesis 2:7 we are told that the Spirit of God breathed life into dust and created a human being.
Here in Acts Chapter 2, the same Spirit has breathed life into a once cowardly crew, and created a Church out of human beings.
And this Church is called and commissioned to go and make disciples for the transformation of the world!!!
We are called to go boldly and with wisdom…and this not of our own, but of the Holy Spirit of God!!!
It can be somewhat understandable why some people might be put-off by what they interpret as “organized religion.”
For if it is something created merely by human beings, it does indeed lack and deny the very power of God!!!
But if it is Christ’s true Church, it is a living organism created by God!!!
And it lives not for itself.
Its message is not inside stuff!
It is not a clique nor a country club.
It is for all and open to all!!!
The story of Pentecost itself, tells us this much!!!
The Spirit is anything but a selfish church mouse that says, “Mine, mine, mine!”
Instead, it is symbolized by wind and fire!
It moves outside and everywhere!
It goes public!
And with its Good News, it attracts a crowd!!!
In verse 36 Peter proclaims to the crowd “be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.”
And “When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, ‘Brothers, what shall we do?’”
The answer?
“Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins.
And you will receive the Holy Spirit.”
We are told that the Church grew to over 3,000 people that very first day!
A day which began with the gift of the Holy Spirit being poured out on a few disciples inside a room, spilled out onto the street and ended as a day where a good portion of those on the outside became Spirit-filled believers as well!
This is God’s plan for the Church.
And when we, God’s Church, fail to live into that plan…
…into our calling and commission…
…people barely look and then intelligently walk away muttering, “I don’t believe in organized religion.”
Well neither do I.
How about you?
Amen.
