“Author of Life”
Acts 3:11-16
April 19, 2015
Barbara Retzloff
A man who was lame from birth had just been healed and the people were all
in a tizzy so they followed Peter and John into the Temple. They were probably
looking for more healings or another miracle but what they got instead was a
sermon. And our passage is part of that sermon. So lucky you, today, you get a
sermon about a sermon.
This is the second big event in the Book of Acts which draws a great crowd,
evokes a sermon from Peter, and results in the masses being converted. Big stuff
was happening in the early church and we are only in the third chapter of Acts.
Without a doubt, one of the foundational pieces, one of the things that stands
out is that though this scripture records Peter’s sermon, it is not about his sermon.
And it’s not about the healing, or about the crowd, or about the man who had
been lame, or even about Peter. It is about Jesus.
There is a story about a little boy who was waiting for his mom one day after
church. She was chatting with a friend at the back of the sanctuary and, as little
boys do, he got impatient and began to explore, climbing under the pews,
walking through the choir loft, peeking into the baptismal font, and eventually
making his way to the chancel area. He tentatively snuck around behind the
pulpit and peered up over the edge and with his head just barely bobbing
above the pulpit, he shouts, “Mommy, Mommy, look at me, look at me!” To
which his mom’s friend turned to her and said, “I think I have heard that sermon
before!”
The church began with this rag-tag bunch of disciples who were so passionate
and so overtaken by the power of Easter that there was no doubt in their minds,
this movement was not about them…it was about Jesus. Just think about Peter
as he stood up to preach, he was well aware of his shortcomings. He knew what
it was to profess Jesus as Lord and then turn right around and rebuke Jesus for
saying he would suffer and be killed. Peter knew what it was like to step out of
the boat, walk on water, but then sink as he took his eyes off of Jesus. He knew
what it was to try to take control by insisting on building a tent for Jesus, Moses,
and Elijah on the mountain. Peter knew what it was like to test Jesus with
questions about how often should he forgive; or demand that Jesus wash not
only his feet but his whole body; or fall asleep when Jesus requested they stay
awake; or draw the sword in the garden when Jesus came to bring peace.
Peter knew what it was like to proclaim his loyalty and then deny his Lord three
times. And…Peter knew what it was like to go to the tomb and find the folded
grave clothes and encounter the Risen Living Lord.
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After that encounter, Peter would never be the same… resurrection changed
everything. It was no longer about him and he made that clear here as the
people wanted to ascribe power and piety to him but Peter turns from their
stares and gives all the glory to God; he basically says, ‘This was a God-thing,
people!’ Peter doesn’t focus on his elegant words or on the lame man who is
walking and leaping and praising God, instead Peter pointed to the big story of
our big God. The healed man doesn’t stand alone, and either does Peter. They
are part of God’s bigger plan and purpose. Peter said the one who is working
here is the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob…and from that line, Jesus Christ,
the Son of God, who was promised, crucified and raised again. What
happened that day at the gate called Beautiful was only one event in the big
story of our God.
These words should have rung true for those gathered, you see, Peter was a Jew
preaching to Jews and his words at times sound like he is pointing a finger at
them but when Peter says “you”, it is a plural and, after all he’d been through, I
am confident that he knew he was one of them…they say when you point a
finger, three are pointing back at you. I think Peter knew that as he said, you
delivered over, you denied, you asked for a murderer instead, you killed. But all
those human actions don’t even begin to match up to what God did… Peter
says, “You killed the Author of Life, whom God raised from the dead.” In other
words, you killed him but there is no keeping him down. You can ignore him,
deny him, betray him, wash your hands of him, crucify him…but there is no
destroying the Author of Life.
The Author of Life….it makes me think of the opening words to the Gospel of
John, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the
Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being
through him and without him not one thing came into being.” (John 1:1-3) He is
the Author of all of life and He lives whether the world acknowledges that or not.
His fingerprints and footprints are all over this world. Christ was with God in the
beginning and the breath of God brought life to all that lives, the creative hand
of God moved over the void like a master artist and the shapes and colors and
beauty of this world took form. And the Author of Life took his celestial pen and
the story of God’s people began…Psalm 139 reminds us, “In your book were
written all the days that were formed for me, when none of them as yet existed.”
(Psalm 139:16) My friends, these are beautiful words but I confess, I don’t know
how all that works or all that it means theologically… even eight years of
seminary does not cover the depth and breadth of God’s ways. But what it tells
me about the Author of Life is that every living thing, all of creation, every person
is part of this amazing and wonderful and mysterious story of God.
This man in our passage today was part of that story and he was healed
miraculously….no explanation. I believe miracles happen but I also know that
sometimes they don’t, and I don’t know how to explain that either except that
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God is God and I am not. But at the same time, the hope we have tells us that
healing comes in many ways; and if we think of how delicate and complex life
is, then isn’t all of life a miracle? St. Augustine said,
“Men go abroad to wonder at the heights of mountains, at the huge waves of
the sea, at the long courses of the rivers, at the vast compass of the ocean, at
the circular motions of the stars, and yet they pass by themselves without
wondering.”
The crowd in our story today rushed to Peter and John because they are
amazed, curious, and wanted to see more. But Peter asks, “Why do you wonder
at this?” It is as if he were saying to them and to us, we live in an Easter world
now. We should expect to see signs of God at work in this world…doctors who
find a new treatment for cancer, a husband or friend getting on a bike to ride
the MS150, broken relationships mended, hungry children fed, nations who can
put down weapons, mothers on their knees, fathers mentoring the
fatherless…the birth of a baby, the love between a man and a woman,
enduring friendships.
We are part of this amazing and wonderful and mysterious story of God. And
every once in a while we get glimpses of the Author who creates and
recreates… weaves and connects…and slides his pen across the pages of our
lives.
The ancient Celtic’s often referred to these experiences as “thin places” saying
that it is in those places that the boundary between the natural world and
spiritual world is more permeable – or thin. Sometimes we call these moments
“A God thing” or “God sightings”, my Wednesday Bible study refers to them as
“God Winks”, some say they are “God-incidences”, or sometimes we know them
by those “small world” experiences that catch our attention.
I will tell you, if we are really tuned in we would be amazed at how much we
would see the Author of Life moving across the face of our lives. Let me tell you
about Thursday a week ago. I was thinking about this sermon. I had read the
scripture over and over, and the phrase “Author of Life” kept popping out at
me, I just love that! And I was thinking of all the ways the Author of Life
permeates all of our lives, our stories, and how connected we are and how
those “small world” incidences happen because we have the same Author. So,
it was Thursday and I was thinking all of this. Then that morning, I was reading
through my e-mails and, lo and behold, I had this note about the 4th and 5th
grade kids…
The most wonderful “God Sighting” occurred during the Easter Egg hunt after
class. All of the children from our class had collected their quota of eggs when
two of them ran up to me and excitedly said, “The young girl over there came
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late and there weren’t many eggs left for her to collect so we gave her seven of
our eggs.”
I love that these kids have been encouraged to watch for “God sightings”!
Then that afternoon I went to Sherwood where I meet once a week with a little
girl named Millie whom I mentor. We usually work through a workbook, play
word games, or do crafts but this day the room we always meet in had a
wonderful surprise for us…a box of newly hatched chicks. So we sat around the
box and watched them and talked about them the whole time. There was one
little gray chick who we learned was the youngest and seemed to be having a
harder time getting up on his feet. The others would come around him, poke at
him, lie down next to him, or try to herd him toward the food. At one point the
principal, Stefanie Spencer, came in and watched with us. Then she made the
comment… “The older ones keep surrounding the gray one and are really trying
to take care of and help that little guy…the same way people do, I guess.” And
I left Sherwood that day thankful for the glimpse God gave me of my time with
Millie…
When I arrived back at church, Roger and Jerry Mowell and Cindy Houlihan
were standing in the hallway talking. Cindy was sharing a story of how she had
worshipped with a friend on Easter at a little church in Hope, Texas. There were
maybe forty people at that church and Cindy met two people with connections
to Pines…what are the chances, right? One who was a student at UT who knows
my son, John. The other knew Cathy Bankhead and her last name was Thigpen,
yes, Thigpen, then when Roger and Jerry heard that, they said they knew
someone by the name of Thigpen who had done some work for them. Roger
was then reminded of a man who worked for the same company he did whose
name was Roger William Mowll and he is Roger William Mowell. One letter
difference and the other man lived in London. We all exclaimed what a small
world it is…and then I said I was working on a sermon with this same theme and
here we are talking about it…small world story about small world stories….kind-of
like a sermon about a sermon…these were all fun reminders of the Author of Life
and his creative writing in our lives.
But it is more than just fun stories that make us smile and feel like God is winking
at us. On that same Thursday night at Stephen Ministry training, Tim Jenkinson
came in a little late. He had spent the day at MD Anderson with Martha as she
began her treatment. He must have been exhausted but it seems he is in this
supportive and caring group for such a time as this, and he didn’t want to miss.
Then he told me that one of the things he did during all the waiting around at
the hospital was e-mail someone he had worked with long ago at Mobile to let
him know what was going on…it was someone that he hadn’t been in touch
with for years but who had just come to mind. Turns out this man’s wife is a nurse
at MD Anderson. At Taco and a Prayer the next morning, four or five…maybe
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more…people came through to report on answered prayer and thanked us for
being there at just the right time. These are stories from a 24 hour period in my
little life only because I was actually paying attention! The Author of Life is
eternally busy connecting our lives with each other and with his, if we only
pause to notice.
And I have to share this….last week when we learned that Walter LaForge was
in critical condition at Methodist Hospital. Cindy called and talked to a nurse
there who said Walter was having a procedure but the family was in the waiting
room and they could sure use someone to come and be with them. Cindy
called Phil Wetz who serves as a lay chaplain and he just so happened to be at
Methodist so Phil went to be with them. Olivia Kaufman had surgery there that
same day and her mom, Jan, e-mailed me saying she stopped by to pray for
Walter on her way to Olivia’s room. I think God was winking all over Methodist
last week.
One more God Wink or small world story…I came upon one of those quizzes that
are on Facebook these days. If you have seen them, you know what I
mean…they will ask you a series of questions to determine silly things like “Who is
your superhero soul mate?” or “What kind of animal are you when you are
angry?” or “What is the color of your personality?” Deep stuff, I know. Well the
one I happened upon last week, believe it or not, was “Which famous author
should write the story of your life?” There were ten questions along these lines:
Can your story be contained in a single book or do you need a series? What
rating would the film adaptation of your story be? What genre do you wish your
life was? Think of the worst thing you’ve ever done. Who knows about it? When
people finish reading your story, how do you want them to feel?
The answers to the quiz were fun and each came with a description as to why. I
got John Green, others posted JK Rowling, Jane Austen, Jules Verne, Stephen
King.
But, my friends, the story we live is real life and we are part of the big story of our
God…my hope and prayer for us all is that daily we would be aware of the true
Author of our Lives, that we would watch for God sightings, God winks, small
world connections and that like Peter, we would point to God and say it is all
about Jesus. I pray that we would live with the assurance that nothing we face
can destroy the presence of the Author of Life in our lives or separate us from his
love. And, I pray, that others would get glimpses of the Author in our lives as he
creates and recreates… weaves and connects…and slides his pen across the
pages of our lives. Amen.
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