Sermon 21 May 2006
6 Easter, Year B
Acts 10:44 – 48

“Who’s ready for Jesus? You might just be surprised…�

First, it was a British schoolboy with a strange scar on his forehead that took the nation by storm. Harry Potter, the down-and-out son of two wizards, is sent to Hogwarts’ School of Witchcraft and Wizardry to learn his parents’ trade. Millions read the books (there are probably going to be seven); millions more saw the movies (there have been four).

Then there were the TV shows: “Ghost Whisperer,� “Medium� and the rest. Shows where the spiritual answer is really the true one. This is in contrast, of course, to the decades of “the logical answer is true� and “there’s got to be a rational explanation for this.� Now TV is deeply “Spiritual� but, of course, hardly Christian.

Next, it was a college professor-turned author who wrote a conspiracy theory mystery novel. In it, the story uncovers a vast conspiracy to rewrite history to deny a secret about Jesus Christ himself and the Christian Church as we know it. Dan Brown’s Da Vinci Code with professor Robert Layton has found itself the subject of much discussion throughout all of our media outlets.

Both of these books are works of fiction. Even most (if not all) of Dan Brown’s so-called “facts� at the beginning of his novel are fictitious. While he makes claims to their veracity and truthfulness, they are fundamentally false. Nevertheless, a curious phenomenon has developed relative to Brown’s book: most people who read Brown’s fiction novel would rather believe his false story about Jesus and Mary Magdalene and the vast cover-up that surrounded it than believe the true Story of the Incarnate God, Jesus Christ.

Whole piles of books have now been written in response to the Da Vinci Code, all refuting (quite successfully, I may add) Dan Brown’s historical claims. While most of the work has been done by Evangelical Christians such as ourselves, even historians who have reputations for being antagonistic to Orthodox Christianity have come out against Brown’s so-called “history.�

Yet despite overwhelming evidence, many continue to believe this “alternative history� of Jesus and the Church. The book’s a bestseller, and I’m sure the movie will do well at least this weekend.

What is it about Harry Potter and the Da Vinci Code that is so attractive to Americans of all ages these days? What have J.K. Rowling and Dan Brown connected with inside of the soul of Western Culture (that’s us) that has gained them widespread popularity? And what is so compelling about these stories that people would rather believe this fiction than “the real thing�?

The evidence is mounting: Americans are starving for spiritual connection and fulfillment. They’re seeking it out left and right. Books, TV and the movies are filled with spirituality. And it’s not just the weirdo earth-mother types either. It seems to be just about everybody, from kids to adults and even senior citizens. It’s become “normal� to be spiritual.

All the while, other evidence is mounting as well: while Americans are seeking out spirituality, they are not seeking it out in the traditional forms of organized religion as they once did. Some are, of course. For some, their spiritual search takes them to church. For most, though, there is no connection between their spirituality and the church. For most of them, their grandfathers quit reading the Bible. Their parents quit going to church. So now most adults under 40 have grown up as “functional atheists� – God is not really part of their lives. Now, most of these adults have children who are the fans of Harry Potter and the Japanese cartoons (both heavily laced with spirituality).

This had left many “culture-watchers� scratching their heads. Why would Americans become “spiritual� again, and so decidedly un-Churched at the same time? But then along came Dan Brown and the Da Vinci Code. He accidentally let the cat out of the bag when he let everyone in on his secret conspiracy through the Mona Lisa.

Remember, the book is fictional. Fictional from beginning to end. Even the things he claims to be facts are fiction. Nevertheless, despite overwhelming scientific and cultural evidence, most people choose to believe (in other words, put their faith in) Dan Brown’s view of the facts. Two things have emerged from this. First, it has become clear that the American assumption is that “if you want to be spiritual, don’t do the church thing, because spirituality isn’t there.� Ok, now that you’ve picked your jaws up off the floor, let me explain. People’s experience of the church in America and the reputation of the church in America is that true spiritual connections with God do not happen there. If they wanted to see or experience something supernatural, the church would be one of the last places they would look. When people come up to me and tell me that they’re getting weird dreams and that they think God is speaking to them, they’re almost afraid to tell me because they think I’ll think they’re weird and try to explain their experience away with the excuse of late-night pizza or too much chocolate. They expect church people to discount and put down supernatural spiritual experience instead of living supernaturally all the time.

That may be shocking enough to hear – that this is the reputation of the church in America as far as unchurched Americans are concerned. But there’s more. It is becoming increasingly evident that people are ready to believe Dan Brown’s story because they basically don’t trust the church as they know it further than they can throw it. The view of the church by un-churched folks is overwhelmingly negative and mistrustful. And many of them have real experiences to explain and justify their wariness. There’s enough mistrust out there that if someone told the world that the church at large committed a vast cover-up, they’d believe it. And that’s exactly what we have today. Dan Brown’s conspiracy theory is more believable than overwhelming historical evidence because un-churched folks see the church as basically untrustworthy.

What do we do with all of this? Do we provide character evidence to the contrary? Do we base our relationships on trust, or are we always looking for hidden ulterior motives – and finding them in the people, especially the leaders of the congregation? Moreover, do we welcome and acknowledge the spiritual, supernatural work of God in our midst, acknowledging his work to do things in ways that breaks the rules of “normal�? Do the accusations stick, or do they slide right off of our trustworthy character that engages in the supernatural life we call Eternal?

Peter’s experience here is instructive for us. After having a rather strange, supernatural dream from God, Peter receives a summons to meet with a battalion commander of the foreign occupying army that has taken over his country and his people. When he arrives in the military capital with his escort, the battalion commander greets him by falling at his feet as if to worship him. Since Peter probably assumed that he would be arrested for disturbing the peace with all of his speeches he was giving, he was in shock.

The commander asks Peter to give them all a message from God, and Peter obliges by telling the story of Jesus, boldly and completely. Before the story’s words are completely out of his mouth, the Holy Spirit falls upon the assembled Roman household, and the whole room full of people starts speaking in tongues.

Peter was even more shocked that this occurred. For one, these weren’t Jewish people. Everyone who had received the message of Jesus was Jewish – until now. Moreover, the sign of the Holy Spirit was unmistakable. This group of people was so ready to receive the message of Christ that the Spirit came upon them right then and there.

The Roman commander, Cornelius, explained to Peter that God had sent him a message to send for Peter to come. God spoke to Cornelius long before Peter was ever aware that Cornelius existed.

Of course, when Peter returned to Jerusalem, the church questioned why he had associated with the occupying army – after all, this was an insult to his people and his country! He associated with non-Jews, and that was a big problem in their eyes. But Peter re-told the story, and they set their objections aside and praised God for what he was doing – to even bring this message to those outside the original group.

So it is today. We see that our culture is hungry for spiritual things. It is clear that many are seeking a connection with God. They are ready for the Holy Spirit to do something amazing in them. But instead of signing up with a traditional institutional model of church, they are waiting with ’bated breath for a deeply spiritual Story to transform their lives.

Where does that leave us? We have before us an American culture starving for spiritual connection with the Living God, all the while mistrustful of traditional religious institutions. Like Peter, as Christians in America we are standing in a foreigner’s house with a message of Good News for the Whole World. Were we to proclaim the message as Peter did, a large number of our friends, neighbors and co-workers would receive it with joy – especially if we understood the fact that the Spirit of God has already been at work in these people in our community.

In Jesus Christ, we have the Greatest Story the world has ever heard: and the people around us are ready to hear this Great Story. So the question becomes, “How do we tell them?�

Here is where the pie chart in your bulletin comes in. Most people do not come to Christ and become his people (that is, the church) through advertising. Most people don’t come to Christ through organized outreach. Most people don’t even come to Christ through a Pastor or other Christian professional. As you can see from this chart, most people come to Jesus Christ through their friends or their family. As you can see, it’s an overwhelming percentage: 86%. That’s more than four out of every five people. Seventeen out of twenty.

You see, most people come to Jesus Christ through personal friendship and relationship with other people who are themselves firmly connected to Christ. The people of God are the method God has chosen to use to get the Good News out about Jesus. Especially now, in these days, when Americans in general believe institutions (even Churches) to be untrustworthy, godly people are the means whereby the message gets out. And that message, like in the Scriptures, is accompanied by signs and wonders. And often, we see amazing things happening in people who have just connected with Christ for the first time.

That’s why the Vision Group and I are proposing that the Vision of God for First Baptist Warren is “We will be the community of disciples of Jesus Christ who invite, equip and empower others to be his disciples.� We are the method whereby the message is proclaimed to the world – the message that in Christ God has destroyed sin, evil and death and brought the New Creation of his Kingdom within reach of all who will turn to him and follow him.

If we will let God’s Vision for us set our priorities and arrange all we do, setting aside everything that stands in its way, then we will become like him and join him in the things he is already doing. And when God leads the way, even pagan battalion commanders of foreign occupying armies can receive the Spirit of God – let alone our friends or family.

So let us prepare ourselves to do the work of God by joining with other disciples of Jesus to deepen our faith for the work ahead of us. This is a job we will do together. This message of Good News is the work of the whole body of Christ, not just that of the pastor, the deacons or other leaders. The fire of the Spirit is burning – let’s be the fuel for the bonfire of God!