Easter 4B 2012

“Companions of Jesus”,  A Sermon preached by the Rev. Dr. C. Denise Yarbrough on Sunday, April 29, 2012 at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, Newark NY

8Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, ‘Rulers of the people and elders, 9if we are questioned today because of a good deed done to someone who was sick and are asked how this man has been healed, 10let it be known to all of you, and to all the people of Israel, that this man is standing before you in good health by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth,*…(13)Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John and realized that they were uneducated and ordinary men, they were amazed and recognized them as companions of Jesus. (Acts 4:8-9,13)

This past week a horrifying story broke in the news media concerning the treatment of an autistic boy in his New Jersey fourth grade classroom. Stuart Chaifetz, the father of ten year old Akian in Cherry Hill, New Jersey became concerned with reports he was getting from Akian’s teachers about alleged violent outbursts by his son in the classroom. Since these reports of violent behavior did not comport with Mr. Chaifetz’ experience of his son, he decided to send the child to school with a concealed digital audio recorder in his pocket.  He recorded seven hours of interactions in that classroom between the child and his teacher and several aides. The audio recording revealed abuse by the teachers and aides against the child, with one aide yelling at the child and calling him a bastard.  When the father released the recording to school officials a couple of the aides were fired while the teacher was transferred to another facility.  The outcry that this story has prompted has been impressive, with parents of special needs children hailing this father as a champion for the rights of disabled children.  The story has brought to light how difficult it is for parents of children with disabilities to ensure that their children get the appropriate care and education that they need in a safe and loving environment and how difficult it is for them to deal with school authorities and bureaucratic systems that protect people who perpetrate abuse on these innocent victims.

Last Sunday evening, the CBS program 60 Minutes ran a segment on the plight of Christians in Israeli occupied Palestine, reporting accurately on the effects of Israeli occupation on Palestinian Christians and on the impact the occupation is having on the Christian population in the Holy Land.  Christians have been leaving the Holy Land in significant numbers, with the percentage of Christians in Israel and the West Bank having dropped in the past decade from about 40% of the population to a mere 2%.  If the decline continues at its current rate, the Holy Land will soon have only museums representing the Christian faith, with no “living stones” still there.  The outcry that ensued in this country against 60 minutes and its anchor, Bob ______ has been incredible, although predictable.  The pro-Israel lobby, AIPAC, some segments of the American Jewish Community and many Christian Zionists have excoriated 60 minutes and their reporters with a fury that is testament to how unnerving this honest and fair reporting of the real facts on the ground is to those who would obfuscate and filter the news that is reported in this country about the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories, much of which is aided by US government funds and military aid. 

Both of these stories are examples of courageous people deciding that they will speak truth to power and expose the corruption and excesses and deceit of those who run various domination systems by revealing ugly truths that those in charge of the power systems do not want exposed.  In the story from Acts chapter four that we heard today, Peter and John do much the same thing in Jerusalem, as they speak truth to the religious powers of their day empowered by their faith in Jesus of Nazareth and their conviction that they are called as companions of Jesus to be about the ministry of healing in a world where powerful domination systems oppress and marginalize innocent people. 

The story of Peter and John begins in the previous chapter, where they are going to the temple to pray and see a lame man lying by the gate of the temple, called the Beautiful Gate, where he lay every day begging for alms from those who entered the temple.  Peter and John heal the lame man in the name of Jesus of Nazareth. Peter tells the assembled crowd in the temple that the healing has been done in the name of Jesus of Nazareth, reminding them of Jesus’ pedigree as the one sent by their God, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.  This healing unnerves the religious leaders in the Temple so Peter and John wind up spending a night in jail.  When they are released the next day, they again have to face the religious leaders who want to know by whose power they performed the healing the day before.  Peter testifies to them that the healing was done by the power of Jesus of Nazareth, “whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead.  This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders; it has become the cornerstone.  There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among mortals by which we must be saved.”  (Acts 4:10-12)

Now there are a few points that must be clarified to understand this story in its context and to avoid some unfortunate Christian triumphalistic interpretations that have marred and distorted the message of this story for centuries.  First, we must note that Peter is talking to his own people, first century Jews, in the context of internal conflicts that were roiling within that community as it struggled to survive as a minority religion in the context of Roman occupation.  The Jewish people themselves at that time were not the ones in power, rather they were trying to maintain their own hallowed religious tradition in the face of the oppression of the Roman Empire. Crucifixion was a Roman form of execution and it was Roman authorities who killed Jesus., not Jewish authorities. 

Second, the word “salvation” is not the best translation, in this context, of the Greek word sodtzo which also means “to heal.”  Given that the event that landed Peter and John in jail was a healing event, a better translation of the Greek word in this context would be “there is healing by no one else” and “there is no other name…by which we must be healed.”  The word “salvation” has become a loaded term, by virtue of centuries of Christian theological interpretation. Moreover, as Christianity became the instrument of domination over other religious traditions, Peter’s words, taken out of context, were used as justifications for our own tradition’s abuse of its power. It is critical that as we read those words today, we be careful and intentional to understand their original context. Peter was not pronouncing judgment on people of other world religious traditions.  We have to read this passionate sermon of his with the understanding that he is talking to people of his own faith and calling them to live up to what he believes are the best and most exalted responsibilities of their covenant with God.  He was talking about healing, not as a cure for a physical malady, but as a process of integrating the marginalized people of the society back into the faith community and restoring their human dignity and the integrity of that community. For Peter, Jesus is the way he and his community would find healing. 

By his very witness, Peter modeled what it is to be a follower of the Resurrected Christ.  Verse 13, which was left out of our lectionary text tells us that Peter and John were  “ordinary and uneducated” men.  The Greek actually says idiotai which translates literally as “idiots” although the translation “uneducated” captures the meaning of the Greek at least as well and confers a bit more dignity to Peter and John! These ordinary and uneducated men stood up to the powers of their community, the religious leaders who questioned their authority to heal a lame man, calling upon the name of Jesus of Nazareth and proclaiming a healing mission in his name.  Jesus empowered these ordinary guys to speak up to the powers that be in their own community and later, to take on the Roman Empire as well.  As “companions of Jesus” in the 21st century, it behooves us to consider how we can speak up to the domination systems of our culture that oppress and dehumanize the weak and voiceless in our own day.  

Stuart Chaifetz and the 60 Minutes news anchors both modeled what it is to take on domination systems in our contemporary world.  CBS broke away from the code of silence in the mainstream media about the true effects of the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories and bore witness and gave voice to those who’s story is never told in our media.   Stuart Chaifetz stood up to bureaucratic school authorities and bore witness for his autistic son thereby empowering not only his child but all children with special needs and their parents to claim their rights to be treated as whole and valuable members of the human community.  

It is easy for us middle class American Christians to become complacent and to forget that we are called as companions of Jesus to be about ministries of healing and reconciliation in a world that is chock full of conflict and polarization.   It is also easy to completely miss how we are manipulated and deceived by domination systems in our own culture, including the media, politicians, corporations and the entertainment industry all of which contribute to an overall culture that encourages us, often drives us to behave in ways and to condone behaviors that are antithetical to the gospel we purport to proclaim. 

When Peter and John named Jesus of Nazareth as the source of their authority for healing the lame man, they spoke words of identity.  Their ability to heal and their sense of personal identity derived from Jesus, the one who empowers and heals.  We too have to live in our world and speak to our own culture as companions of Jesus, claiming our identity as baptized members of Jesus’ community, with a mission to respect the dignity of every human being and to work for justice and peace, reconciliation and healing.  We ordinary folk, like Peter and John, are called to speak courageously against systems of domination and oppression when we see them at work in our world.    When a father protects his autistic son or a media giant finally breaks the unwritten silence on a serious matter of oppression in which our government is implicit, the kingdom that Jesus came to proclaim is born in our midst. The writer of the epistle of First John says it well: 7How does God’s love abide in anyone who has the world’s goods and sees a brother or sister in need and yet refuses help? 18Little children, let us love, not in word or speech, but in truth and action.  May we live our lives in such as way that others will look at us and see ordinary people who are companions of Jesus bringing healing into a broken world.  Amen.