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Jose Luis Villaseñor
ON OUR WAY
Acts 2: 42-47
Jose Luis Villaseñor
Watts Street Baptist Church
April 13, 2008 –Fourth Sunday of Easter
Brief instructions before the sermon:
We will have three moments of prayer during the sermon.
The first will be a silent prayer before the sermon to gain a listening posture.
The other two prayers will happen during the sermon. I will signal the start with "Pray with me." I will signal the end with "Amen."
Let us have a moment of silent prayer. Amen.
I was one of the parents to go to the Camp Kanata retreat this year. That’s our retreat for kids in 2nd through 5th grade. If you’ve ever been you know that Kanata is only about a 30-40 minute drive from our church. Five girls were assigned to ride with me. A very anxious group I must say. Halfway I heard the first "are we there yet." More "are we there yets" followed. As we got closer, the excitement grew, and than something interesting happened. Word got around the minivan that I had missed the road that led to the Camp. We were headed the wrong way! I could see it coming: turn around Mr. Jose! Turn around! Yes daddy, you missed the sign! We saw it! This was my first trip to Kanata anything was possible. Every minute after that got longer and longer. Finally, ahead of us we spotted the wooden sign on the side of the road that pointed us on the right direction. To my relief, and the relief of everyone else, we were not lost. We had not missed the sign. We could now relax and start to imagine the beautiful trees, the fresh smell in the air, the fun we would have together for the weekend. Which we did. We were on our way.
As Christian we are people on our way. In fact, it is possible that early Christians were known as the people of "The Way" before they were know as Christians. To be people of the "Way," or on our way, conveys a sense that we Christians are constantly on the move. Or that at least we should be. If we are serious about following Jesus we better have a good pair of snickers. With all these movement it is fitting that we call our Christian life a journey, a pilgrimage, a walk. We use these names as images to make the point that we Christians are travelers. W are headed somewhere.
So much walking begs the question: where are we going? What is the horizon of this journey? Why do we seem to always be on the go? Part of it is that Jesus told us to hit the road. And as his followers we do it. Whether building a local Habitat house, CROP walking, volunteering for a community event, delivering a meal or getting on a plane to places like El Salvador, we often find ourselves on the road. Still, where are we going? All of these activities or ministries that we do are sort of an introductory offer of what we are really about. A taste of something we know is far greater.
PRAY WITH ME:
We constitute a people on our way to the discovery of God’s perfect will for us as a witnessing Christian community. Through this process of discovery, aid by prayer and discernment, we are also seeking a more full understanding of what it means to be Christian community. A Believer’s fellowship with a relevant message for our own lives and our own context. As we often hear from this pulpit, as a church we exist not primarily for those already in the church but for those outside the church. We are on our way to a life of holiness and wholeness. To be a community of love under Christ’s Lordship for the sake of all. Amen.
By gathering here, by the Holy Spirit bringing us to this place and allowing us to enter into fellowship, we already are on our way to what we are meant to be. ALREADY, we are a miraculous bunch with a power from above to live a new way of life here below. We make the bold claim that the gathered church, the Body of Christ, is "the salt and light of the world" in so far that it represents the new humanity God desires for all.
The Acts 2 community is an incarnation of this power from heaven of a new life here on earth. They are new creation. A Pentecost fellowship formed voluntarily, mixed racially, religiously and economically. They practice prayer and cultivate an awareness of God’s presence among them. The community makes decisions in light of Jesus ethical teachings. And so they make sure that no one goes hungry spiritually or physically. They do away with economic disparity in practical terms: putting all material things in common and distributing them according to peoples needs. Even when the world is hostile to their new ways they maintain a peaceful witness. Their way of life is so powerful, so revolutionary, that in a short period of time thousands of people join in. We see in this Grace Community a snapshot of a Resurrected people who follow in Jesus steps.
To this we are called. Because Christ suffered for us, leaving an example, that we may follow on His steps. I have a friend who when I suggest an idea she often teases me and says, No Way Jose! No way this way is a way.
I started thinking about this text during our family vacation a couple of weeks ago. On a rainy afternoon I found myself in front of the TV watching Mary Poppins with the kids, Bible open on my lap. In view of the program I asked myself the question "is this a spoon full of sugar?" Two spoons full actually. You know, a way to sort of help us swallow the medicine.
What we are asking is: is this ideal of community really realistic? Or is it an illusion? Aren’t we beyond this sort of golden age Christianity? Maybe this could be a model for a rural village society. Even that is questionable. Early Christians seemed unconcerned about the future. So can we draw any practical application for our own Christian walk today?
First of all, we should not think that early Christians were naïve about the world they lived in. Quite the opposite. They knew in flesh the power of evil. Enduring trials made their faith even stronger. Consider some of the things that had happened to this community before and after this gathering. Jesus died on a cross. Many of Jesus’ followers went into hiding. One belonging to his inner circle is now dead. Others are being persecuted. Stephen, a new convert, is stoned to death for his witness. Yet, in the midst of all these suffering the community persists. They struggle to overcome external and internal challenges. These early Christians knew the world perhaps to well, to understand that a new order was needed. The old ways come only to steal, kill and destroy. Jesus brings a new way. He is the way to life, and life abundant.
We have concluded that this story is true. It is no fairy tale. I don’t mean this particular Acts text but us. All of us. We constitute a people on our way to the discovery of God’s perfect will. And through that process we are also seeking a more full understanding of what it means to be Christian community in Durham and anywhere God may send us.
Before we were not a people. We were not allowed to enter the sheep pen. Christ has opened the gate for us. In Christ, we are on our way of becoming community, a reconciled people, a beloved community.
PRAY WITH ME:
The church wants to rouse men and women to the true meaning of being a people. A people is a community of persons where all cooperate for the common good. The Christian knows that Christ has been working in humanity for twenty centuries and that the person who is converted to Christ is the new human being that society needs to organize a world according to God’s heart. Amen. (Monseñor Romero).
Are we there yet? We’ll like to think that we are on our way. But it is a journey. A long journey. At least does how it feels to me. I grew up in the context of a civil war. The prophetic witness of Emmanuel Baptist Church in that context taught me the value of Christian community. I also learned the hard way that the forces of evil are real. One of my brothers was killed by the Salvadoran military at age 16. My oldest brother was captured, tortured and imprisoned also by the military under false accusations when he was 18. I had to live my country and immigrated to the United States illegally when I was 15 to reunite with my mother. My mom had left El Salvador when I was still a child. These life events caused deep wounds in me. Many of you know the US government involvement funding the military operations of the Salvadoran army.
By Jesus wounds I have being healed. I stand today able to say with a glad and sincere heart that I belong to this church. This community is my people. I was recently with a friend who asked me if I fell safe to live our children with people from this church. I said, there is no safer place for our children than around people from this community. This is there home. This community has truly being home away from home for us.
Christian fellowship is not perfect. I learned that in all my years at Emmanuel Baptist. I’ve learned that all my years here at Watts. We learn that from studying the life of early Christians. We should actually feel good about ourselves. I mean, those brethren had some serious internal issues. The complaints of Greek-speaking Jewish Christians against Hebrew-speaking Jewish Christians that their widows are being neglected, disputes as to manner to reach non-Jews or whether to reach them at all. Some of Paul’s letters are a laundry list of complains.
Yet, I believe that because Jesus is in our midst we are on our way. Jesus reconciles us. We are becoming One Body of Many Faces. If we become still enough, quite enough, long enough to create sacred space among us God will grant us the wisdom and power to overcome any challenges.
An illusion? Yes. In the Spanish sense of the word. "Ilusion" in Spanish means "Esperanza" (hope). It refers to dreams. An expectancy of what is possible here and now. Some of you have heard or are involve in our church’s new Latino ministry. One of the programs that we are doing involves teaching computer skills to Latino parents. For six weeks a parent and a child work together to acquire basic computer skills while putting together a book called the All About Me journal. Parent and child, share visions and dreams for the future. Ilusiones (Illusions). Real illusions.
I like the fact that this book is call a journal. Just as our Christian walk is a journal. An on going process of catching up to God’s vision. We are seekers and doers of God’s Kingdom. We are followers of Jesus’ ways. We are pilgrims who flock to church for togetherness, inspiration and remembrance. We are missionaries at home and to the nations.
From time to time we need kids like my five anxious passengers asking are we there yet? People making sure that we didn’t miss the sign aware of the banquet that God has prepared for us when we get there. We are on our way. So may it be. Amen.
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Discussion: On Our Way |
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