Sermon on May 8, 2011

“Confessing Christ” (Psalm 116:1-4, 12-19; Acts 2:14a, 36-41)
May 8, 2011 (Second Sunday After Easter)
Rev. John B. Erthein, Euchee Valley Presbyterian Church

You will recall that last week I talked to you about the importance of witnessing Christ in building the early church, and in sustaining the church to this very day. I spoke about the role of witnesses in the crime dramas I enjoy watching. Another important part in crime dramas is the confession. Someone is suspected of a bad act, and if that person is guilty, he will hopefully confess to his crime. In law school, I took criminal law and criminal procedure, and there are careful safeguards around the rights of an accused: the police can’t beat him up or imprison him without a lawyer to get him to confess. On the other hand, the police can use trickery or dishonesty to elicit a confession, saying something like “the driver of your getaway car is telling us everything right now,” or “three nuns saw you run out of the liquor store carrying a smoking gun and a big wad of cash.” Stuff like that.

Whatever tactics are used to get a confession, it is generally understood that it can be hard to get a confession. A person is understandably reluctant to confess something that might land him in jail, maybe for life. So the confession may have to be dragged out of him; he won’t give it up easily.

In my experience as a pastor who has served two churches before this one, I have found more often than I would like that confessing Christ fills people with as much reluctance or even fear than would confessing a crime. At best, this confession is something that has to be dragged out of the person. And I wonder why that is. What harm will befall a person if he confesses Christ, at least if they are believers in this country? And yet there are many believers in other parts of the world who risk a great deal, sometimes including their very lives, if they confess Christ.

Let’s look at how the Bible describes confessing Christ. The reading from Psalm 116 gives a good explanation of why we would confess Christ. As verses 1 through four explain, it is because we love the Lord. And why do we love the Lord? We love the Lord because he has heard our voice and our pleas for mercy. The Lord has delivered our souls from the snares of death and the pangs of Sheol. Verses 12-19 explain how one shows his love for the Lord. Look especially at verses 14 and 18, where the Psalmist twice says “I will pay my vows to the LORD in the presence of all his people.” I want to highlight these verses because they emphasize the public or communal nature of these vows.

And this leads me to comment on the context in which Psalm 116 was written. The culture of the time was very different from our modern American culture. The people of Israel understood their faith to be communal. They did not have the same kind of individualistic understanding of faith that many of us Americans have. Our faith is often so personal that no one else ever sees it. Now, don’t misunderstand me: having a personal relationship with Jesus Christ is indispensable. But I cannot agree with the constant refrain that someone is “spiritual, but not religious,” or that “I worship God in my own way at home.” This is a way of trying to claim the benefits of a relationship with God while refusing the accept the responsibilities or obligations. The Bible does not give us these options. If it is possible to do so, we “pay our vows to the LORD in the presence of all his people.”

Now, if I were referring only to the words in Psalm 116, I might be more cautious in my statements. After all, Psalm 116 was written for the people of Israel; it was part of the Hebrew Scriptures. Someone reading the Psalms soon after they were composed would not associate them with Jesus Christ. I believe the Psalms were prophetically pointing to Jesus Christ, but I have the benefit of hindsight. But even so, as followers of Jesus Christ, we have not literally obeyed every jot and tittle of the Old Testament because we believe some of it no longer applies under the New Covenant through and with Jesus Christ.

But public confession still applies. Let’s consider the reading from Acts. Acts is a very important resource for understanding the early church. In Acts there are some explicit changes made in the early church’s understanding of what God’s Law required. Remember that the core of the early church was composed of people who understood themselves to be good Jews … and remember that Jesus himself understood himself to be a good Jew. So, whether or not to keep all of the Mosiac law as it had developed over the centuries was of great concern to these early followers of Jesus. Acts shows how their understanding developed. For example: Peter received a revelation that the Hebrew dietary restrictions were no longer in force. The early church also decided after considerable debate that converts did not have to be circumcised … a decision that undoubtedly encouraged the conversion of more male adults! So it’s important to discern what all of the Scriptures, Old and New Testament, tell us about what we should do as Christians.

Having said that, Acts reaffirms the public nature of our confession of faith. You will remember that Peter has been preaching to the sons of Israel. He reminds them of their complicity in the betrayal and crucifixion of Jesus Christ. He indicts them with these words: “Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God had made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.” And these men were convicted by Peter’s words, which has to have been an act of the Holy Spirit. Their hearts were torn. They were in distress. And so they ask Peter and the Apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” And Peter tells them, “repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ … the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone who the Lord our God calls to himself.” And what a day that turned out to be for the church! Three thousand joined the church that day! Praise God for all of those saved souls! I imagine a joyous multitude, being baptized one after another, or perhaps several people at once. They are proudly and gratefully proclaiming their newfound love for and faith in Jesus Christ.

If one goes a little beyond the lectionary passage, you will see how the “public” aspect of these confessions of faith is reinforced. Verse 42 explains: “And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, the breaking of bread and the prayers.” Verse 44: “And all who believed were together and had all things in common.” That is as far from a private faith as one can imagine. And that makes sense, I think. When we are together with people, and when we share of ourselves … our time, talents, treasures, and faith … we are following God’s will. God has shared so much with us, how can we not share with others?

So what does God call us to do today? I think the words of the Scriptures apply very well to us. Some of what we need to do is certainly individual. We examine ourselves and prayerfully repent of our sins. No one can do this for us. We have to do that ourselves. But what happens then? When people join the church, they do not do so in private. When people are baptized, they are not ordinarily baptized in private, either. Our Book of Order rightly requires these occasions to take place in public services of worship. Everyone present has the privilege and responsibility of helping to nuture the newly received or baptized in the faith.

And, going beyond that, everyone has the privilege and responsibility to confess their faith to others. Returning to my opening theme, faith in Christ is not a crime that we should be ashamed of confessing. We should confess it with joy, just as those early followers did …indeed, just as the Psalmist confessed his love for the Lord before the congregation. I think it is good to confess our love for Jesus with our lips, and also with our lives. How well do we do that?

Well, on this Mother’s Day, one way we can confess our love for God is to do what he commanded … to love our mothers (fathers too, but this isn’t their day yet). And let us consider how we can confess Christ in the days to come. It is a privilege for me to be your pastor and live out the Gospel together, in common with you.

In the Name of him whose name we joyously confess from our lips and in our hearts. Amen.