The Message We Proclaim
Texts: Acts 13:26-39
Pastor Phil Hughes, American Fork Presbyterian Church, Utah
April 21, 2024
Resurrection is more than a one-Sunday thing. It is the very breath of the Christian faith. These sermons are to help us linger in resurrection a little while beyond just Easter Sunday.
The story goes of some missionaries who brought the Jesus film to a remote tribe in the jungles of East Asia some years ago. The Jesus film was a popular film in the 80’s and 90’s, but continues to be shown even today. It is a film of the life of Christ from the Gospels. Well, the people who viewed this film had never heard of Jesus. Furthermore, they had never seen a motion picture. That combination produced a remarkable experience.
The people of the tribe watched this movie of the life and ministry of Jesus. They saw Jesus heal the sick, bless children, and they heard his teaching. Then they saw him arrested, mocked and beaten by soldiers. How could this good, loving man be held without trial and treated in such a way? They came unglued, and stood up and began to shout at the cruel men on the screen. They kept telling them to stop but nothing happened.
Getting no results they began to attack the missionary running the projector. (Do you remember movie projectors?) Why wasn’t he doing something about this? Surely he must know about this and be responsible in some way. The missionary stopped the film and explained that the story wasn’t over that there was more.
When he finally got the people of the tribe calmed down he started the projector again so they could see what would happen next. The next part was the crucifixion. Again, the people were deeply affected. They were so moved by what they were seeing that they began to weep. They grieved so loudly and intensely that once again the film had to be stopped. You couldn’t hear the movie anymore and most were missing what was going on.
Again, the missionary tried to calm them and explain to them that the story wasn’t over, and that there was more to come. So, again they settled down and sat back down to see what would happen next. Next came the resurrection.
When the tribespeople saw this, they could not contain themselves. They began laughing, clapping, dancing, and celebrating wildly. Christ had risen! They were feeling the power, the excitement and joy of that.
Again the missionary had to shut off the projector but this time it wasn’t a problem. They were getting the message. It had moved them and stirred them. The resurrection of Jesus Christ was affecting them.
Have we lost the wonder of this enormous message? Are we surprising anyone by our witness to Jesus risen from the dead?
The resurrection from the dead was what the very first preachers of this good news proclaimed. The apostles understood that Jesus Christ crucified and alive again was the power of the gospel. It was what set the story apart from every other story that had ever been. And people reacted. When the apostles went around speaking of Jesus they got arrested, riots started, some people were changed, cities went wild, kings felt threatened. Jesus gets proclaimed today and people want to know where to go to brunch afterward. What was being preached in those weeks and months shortly after Jesus’ resurrection that caused such a stir?
The book of Acts gives us a record not only of the beginnings of the church, but also of the message of the apostles after Jesus’ resurrection. One of the best examples of the heart of the preaching of the early church is from Acts 13. Paul and Barnabas have come to Antioch which, by the way, is where the name “Christians” first came about. Antioch was to become one of the hubs of Christianity. Today Antioch is located in what we know as Turkey.
Paul and Barnabas go to the synagogue where they participate in the worship and listen to the Scriptures that are read. Notice how Paul and Barnabas conduct themselves. The synagogue was not the place of Christian worship but Paul and Barnabas are there anyway. This was an unusual time as the first Christians, like Paul and Barnabas, were Jewish, but also had become followers of Jesus. Christians still went to synagogues on the Jewish sabbath.
Paul and Barnabas did not bulldoze their way into synagogues and begin to harangue Jewish people about Jesus and how miserably they failed to see who he was. They come, they participate, and they respect what is happening. And then they are invited to share.
The leaders say, “Brothers, if you have any word of exhortation for the people, give it.”
If we want the opportunity to speak of Jesus we often must wait, be respectful, and earn the opportunity to speak to others. We can’t barge in with the gospel. When we are on others “turf,” whether another place of worship, home, or work space, even on the “turf” of someone’s life, wait for them to invite. They will listen more intently, and the word will be more effective.
Some of us might be eager to speak to members of our family with whom we want to share Christ. Be with them. Respect and love them. Show them you are willing to be where they are and let them open the door for you to share.
Paul gets up and speaks in that synagogue. He begins by affirming the relationship between Israel and God going back to Israel being chosen as the people of God. He talks about the Exodus. Paul retells the larger story of God’s work from Moses to Samuel to David. Paul points to King David and says how Jesus is a descendant of David and is God’s promised Savior of Israel.
Jesus is not just the Savior of Christians. He is the Savior of Israel. He is the Savior of all people. Paul says, “this message of salvation has been sent to us!” What is the message of salvation for Paul? It is the whole story of God working from the creation of the world to Jesus and his cross and resurrection. Paul says that Jesus appeared to other and there are witnesses to this.
Everything that God did before sending Jesus – through Abraham, Moses, David, John the Baptist – was just a prelude. The entire Old Testament points to the Christ event. Paul tells the listeners in that synagogue that Jesus was the fulfillment of the promise made to their Jewish ancestors. That Jesus was the fulfillment of the Hebrew Scriptures (he quotes two psalms and a verse from Isaiah).
He ends by telling them that what the law of Moses could not do Jesus Christ has done which is bring forgiveness of sins and make people right with God. This is what the apostles were preaching all over the streets and synagogues of Jerusalem and beyond.
Read through the book of Acts and you will see how Peter preached Jesus risen from the dead at Pentecost.[1] When Peter and John healed the lame man they said it was because Jesus is alive.[2] When the authorities told Peter to stop talking about Jesus, Peter said that he must obey God rather than human authority and then said out loud for all to hear, “The God of our ancestors raised Jesus from the dead after you killed him by hanging him on a cross.”[3] The resurrection!
Peter preaches it again when he speaks at Cornelius’ house.[4] For three Sabbaths in a row Paul went to the synagogue in Thessalonica and it says rom the Hebrew Scriptures explained that the Messiah must suffer and rise from the dead.[5] When Paul preached in Athens it was the part about the resurrection of the dead that drew the biggest reaction.[6]
People’s thoughts about Jesus rising from death received some of the same response as it does today. It says some laughed in contempt, and others wanted to hear more. There was ridicule and there was intrigue.
Later when Paul is arrested and stands before the Jewish high council he makes it clear that he is on trial “because my hope is in the resurrection of the dead!”[7] And again Paul on trial says, “Ask these men here what crime the Jewish high council found me guilty of, except for the one time I shouted out, ‘I am on trial before you today because I believe in the resurrection of the dead!’”[8] Before King Agrippa Paul asks, “Why does it seem incredible to any of you that God can raise the dead?”[9]
Jesus Christ crucified and alive again was the issue. Paul made it the issue. It was the message they proclaimed. It burned in their hearts, gave fire to their witness, and poured courage into their hearts. It was what made it cutting edge and radical. And it turned the world upside down.
Have we gotten away from that message from this central conviction and most amazing event?
It’s a different time, a different century, a much different world. But has the larger Christian church moved away from the core message of Christian faith?
Now Jesus is preached so that we can become successful, lose weight, or become financially solvent. Jesus is preached today to address political agendas, to give you a stronger family, to make you a nicer person, to give you influence and power, lower your stress level.
What would those first believers, who forged the way for us sometimes with their blood, who stood before crowds, tribunals, rulers, and synagogues, what would they say about our preaching about losing weight, transforming our personality, and having our needs met?
They didn’t turn their lives over to Jesus because they thought Christianity was an answer to their earthly problems. Those Christians in Antioch did not see the message as being about meeting their needs. In fact, it created problems. Their problems and their needs were not the point. What was vital was something that had happened. It was real. It was the most real thing there was. Those first Christians persevered in hardship because they were convicted of the overwhelming truth of Jesus Christ crucified and alive again.
There are many issues facing us and there are times those issues need to be in the message of our churches. We read Paul’s letters and he instructs about other matters that face believers once they come to faith. So today there is a need for sermons and books and such on a host of topics and issues that face and concern Christians. We need to hear about doctrine, prayer, relationships, understanding trials. We need to see how our faith speaks to the issues of poverty, violence, sometimes politics, and being loving people in a broken world. Taking care of the poor is also something you will find in the New Testament. It was a foundational practice that came from believing Christ was alive and everything was now different. Because the resurrection is not just about our sins being forgiven and going to heaven. It touches on this life and this earth right now. Healing, justice and hope should be the byproducts of Jesus. But whatever the issue, it’s Jesus first, then the issue.
We don’t proclaim Jesus because he makes us feel better or because our needs are met but because his dying and rising has reconciled us to God and it is true. If someone asks us why do we believe, we can simply say “because Jesus died and rose, and I believe everything is different because of that.” We can even say, “My life has never been worse. I have tons of problems” because following Jesus isn’t about having it all together. But we know the living Lord is with us.
Those first believers had a message and it is the same message believers hold to today. There are three things the message of resurrection did to the first Christians.
1. The Resurrection changed them. The disciples were transformed. Those closest to Jesus never expected this to happen. They didn’t believe it when they first heard it from the women who came from the tomb and were the first to see Jesus alive again.[10] They had all ditched Jesus when it looked like the ship was going down when he was arrested. They were too scared to stay with Jesus. Heck, they were too scared to go the tomb at first. (Thank goodness for the courage of women. Amen?!) But these cowards were transformed into bold, mighty evangelists and preachers. Sometimes to the point of persecution. Sometimes to the point of prison. Some to the point of death. Always to the point of absolutely changing their lives and reorienting their priorities. Would this have happened if this message wasn’t true?
2. The Resurrection shaped them. It shaped them into a church, into a community of faith. They started to meet together every Sunday to worship Jesus. They devoted themselves to the apostle’s teaching, worshipping together, to sharing meals and praying together throughout the week. They began to share everything they had with others.[11]
Frederick Buechner, a Presbyterian minister and writer, said, we can say that the Resurrection means Jesus’ teachings are immortal, or that the remembrance of him lives among us, or that the language of the Gospels is really meant to be poetry. But that’s not what we find in the New Testament. “It is simply proclaimed as a fact. Christ is risen! In fact, the very existence of the New Testament itself proclaims it. Unless something very real indeed took place on that strange, confused morning, there would be no New Testament, no Church, no Christianity.”[12]
3. The Resurrection strengthened them. Every Christian became a witness. Where there were Christians, there would be a living, burning faith, and before long a Christian community that was growing.[13] They did not keep the message to themselves. It was to be proclaimed. The reality of Jesus alive allowed them to endure persecution, criticism, unpopularity, and personal hardship. It also infused them with joy, peace, and courage. It strengthened them to be living witnesses. If the message of followers of Jesus Christ for 2,000 years was “it will make you feel good and solve your problems” do you think it would still be around?
Paul stood in that synagogue in Antioch and preached Jesus, saying, “God raised him from the dead; and for many days he appeared to those who came up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, and they are now his witnesses to the people.”
Every Christian was a witness. They didn’t preach their own inner spiritual experiences. They didn’t preach anecdotes from their own biography. [14] (There is a little too much “personality” Christianity in our day. We find some engaging person on Youtube, social media or whatever and that person becomes the one we follow.) We follow Jesus.
There was an order of monks and they called themselves “The Community of the Resurrection.” That would be a good name for the whole church.[15] We exist because Jesus rose from the dead. It’s our calling card. That is why we try to live like Jesus. That is why we serve like Jesus. That is what we are founded upon. It is who we are and the message we proclaim.
Prayer: Lord Jesus, it was so long ago but give us a fresh vision of what happened that morning the tomb was found empty and you were seen alive. Nothing has been the same in this dying world since then.
We offer our lives again to you to not only speak your resurrection but live it. Make us your people in this world that is so desperate for life and love. Amen.
[1] Acts 2
[2] Acts 3:13-15
[3] Acts 5:30 NLT
[4] 10:38-41
[5] 17:2-3
[6] 17:32
[7] 23:6 NLT
[8] 24:21 NLT
[9] Acts 26:8
[10] Luke 24:11
[11] Acts 2:42-47
[12] The Magnificent Defeat, pp.77-78
[13] Stephen Neill, A History of Christian Missions, p. 22
[14] People’s Commentary, p. 367
[15] From quote by Robert McAfee Brown