There is more beyond
Commentary
In the fifteenth century, King Philip of Spain stamped his coins with the motto, "Ne Plus Ultra" -- meaning, "There is nothing beyond." Spain was proud of the fact that she was believed to be the western extreme of the world. A traveler could go no further without falling off the edge of a supposedly flat earth. But, of course, King Philip was wrong. There was more beyond -- a whole new world yet to be discovered.
A colleague tells me of his days spent in modern Spain, and of an afternoon at the coast. A small boy sat at the end of a pier overlooking the ocean, gazing out at the horizon. What thoughts must have run through this child's mind? He was too young to go to school. He had probably never heard of Columbus. What wild imaginations must have soared through his head as he gazed across the endless sea?
A fisherman who was also observing the child came near and asked, "What do you think is out there, son?"
"America," the boy responded.
Somewhat taken back by this matter-of-fact reply, the fisherman shielded his eyes and studied the horizon. Then, teasing, he continued, "How do you know that? I don't see anything."
"Oh, I know," the little boy went on. "My father's been there. He came back and told me."
So how is it that a preschooler can know more than the king of Spain? He had someone go where he has not gone, and return to tell about it. So it is in Holy Week: our Lord Jesus Christ himself passes the point of no return and now, today, he comes back to us, to let us know there is more beyond.
Acts 10:34-43
These few verses come from Peter's sermon to Cornelius, an auspicious occasion in which the church crosses a boundary line and begins to minister intentionally to Gentiles. The central concern in this passage, as for the whole book of Acts, is cross-
cultural evangelism. Therefore, Peter begins with the most important proposition: God shows no partiality. This is an incredible thing for a Jewish person to say. Peter believes that the Jews are "God's chosen people." How can he maintain that God shows no partiality? Because the purpose for which they are chosen is that of bringing salvation to all people.
Peter does not begin with a universal negative ("all have sinned") but with a universal positive: there are good people among every nation on earth and they are acceptable to God. He is not affirming "works righteousness," but declaring that Christians are not intrinsically better than others. Later, when he defends his baptism of Cornelius, he will do so by saying that all people -- Jews and Gentiles -- are saved "through the grace of the Lord Jesus" (15:11). Even here, he recognizes that the good people among every nation who are acceptable to God have sins that need forgiving (v. 43). Good people can be sinners and vice-versa. Forgiveness is offered to these "good sinners" because they are acceptable to God.
The key word in Peter's summary of Jesus' ministry is benefactor. The NRSV says, "He went about doing good," (v. 38); literally, the text says, "He went about as a benefactor." The word was a technical term or title usually applied to Caesar. As Benefactor, Caesar supposedly brought peace and well-being to the world, often by serving as judge (administrator of justice). Of course, anyone who knows much Roman history will realize that this concept worked out better in theory than in practice. Peter's depiction gives Jesus the role that his social world ascribed to Caesar: Jesus is the Judge not only of the living but also of the dead; he is able to bring peace and well-being in a sense that Caesar never could (much less would). He is able to do this because his authority is grounded in the resurrection ("ordained by God," v. 42).
The reference to the risen Jesus eating and drinking with us is particularly significant. Why was this detail important? It isn't just that the act of eating and drinking proved he was really alive (not just a ghost). The action carries eucharistic symbolism, as is evident from Luke's Emmaus story ("made known to us in the breaking of the bread," Luke 24:35). Luke no doubt believes that the risen Jesus continues to eat and drink with his disciples whenever they gather for "the breaking of the bread" (Acts 2:46). Furthermore, eating with someone in the ancient world would have conveyed a strong sense of social acceptance -- this is why Jesus got in so much trouble for eating with outcasts. What Caesar ever ate with peasants, much less criminals? Jesus, our true Benefactor, the one who will judge the living and the dead, shows his continuing acceptance of us by regularly inviting us to his meal.
1 Corinthians 15:19-26
Radical existentialists hate this passage. They must ultimately dismiss it as weak or superstitious. Rudolf Bultmann, Paul says, is to be pitied. Not refuted or denounced as a heretic -- just pitied. Few theologians have testified to the vitality and integrity of Christian life as Bultmann did. But like the king of Spain, he didn't know there was more. Now, I trust, he does.
Obviously, the message of the gospel has meaning for the present, for "life after birth" as well as "life after death." If the story of Jesus' resurrection were only mythology, only a primitive way of expressing genuine existence in the here and now, that would still be something. But there's no way around it: that last enemy, death, would win. The church would be like a colony of prisoners on death row, like a hospice community of the terminally ill. Knowing we can't win, we could still find ways to make losing more palatable. Supporting each other and enhancing the quality of life until the inevitable arrived -- these would all be worthy and meaningful endeavors.
But that's not what we're about, Paul says. The last enemy will be destroyed. Easter faith is not just for some interim. It's forever.
John 20:1-18
The Revised Common Lectionary offers a choice of Gospel texts for Easter Sunday. One advantage to using the Johannine passage is that it introduces a series of lessons from the Fourth Gospel that will continue throughout the season. John's concern is to present attributes of Easter faith, characteristics of those who are children of the resurrection (see outline).
In this story we witness how Mary Magdalene comes (through tears) to be able to say, "I have seen the Lord" (v. 18). She is presented as the first witness to the resurrection, somewhat ironically in that two of Jesus' most prominent male disciples appear to have competed with each other to attain that honor themselves (vv. 4-10). But the story, like most narratives in John, is heavily symbolic. Jesus is right there with her, but she does not know it. If we ask why (did he look different? were her eyes clouded?), we will surely miss the point. It doesn't matter. Mary weeps because she thinks someone or something has taken away her Lord. But her Lord cannot be taken away and is actually there with her at that very moment. The same point, of course, is made in a different way in Luke's well-known Emmaus story (Luke 24:13-32). The beginning of Easter faith is this realization that our Lord's presence transcends our perception. He approaches us and abides with us in unrecognized ways.
I no longer remember when I came to see the Lord, but I do recall having a type of faith that was not Easter faith. At some point in my young life, I think that I really did believe that Jesus rose from the dead because the Bible, not to mention pastors and parents, said so and I was prone to respecting such authorities. But believing this happened is hardly Easter faith. At some later point, the concept begin to sink in that, if Jesus really did rise from the dead, he must still be alive -- some place, somewhere. The story of the resurrection wasn't just ancient history. And then, at some other point, I began to notice this living presence where I had never seen it before.
As such, this testimony may seem to describe "coming to see the Lord as present in our lives" as a finale of faith development. For John, it is not that. It is the beginning.
CHILDREN OF THE RESURRECTION ACCORDING TO JOHN
Children of the resurrection ... have seen the Lord (John 20:1-18; Easter Day)
believe the Word (John 20:19-31; Easter 2)
receive a new vocation (John 21:1-19; Easter 3)
find security in Christ (John 10:22-30; Easter 4)
love each other (John 13:31-35; Easter 5)
receive the Holy Spirit (John 14:23-29; Easter 6)
are one in God and with each other (John 17:20-26; Easter 7)*
*no Easter 7 in 1998
Luke 24:1-12
The Lukan text has one thing in common with the Johannine passage -- it strives to present women as the first to proclaim the Easter Gospel. They received this revelation from heavenly figures, no doubt the same ones whom Luke alone says were present to help interpret the ascension of Jesus (Acts 1:10-11). But, Luke tells us, the men did not believe them -- they dismissed their story as "an idle tale" (v. 11). Incredibly, interpreters have often cited this verse as a prooftext against women's ordination -- it reveals the incompetence of women preachers. Even more incredibly, many feminist critics have agreed with this interpretation and gone on to denounce Luke for presenting women as unpersuasive. Clearly, the point is that the women were divinely ordained (and I use that word advisedly) to share the gospel message and that the men were fools not to heed them.
FIRST LESSON FOCUS
By Elizabeth Achtemeier
Acts 10:34-43
We have a crowd here today on this Easter Sunday. Churches are always crowded on Easter. As the prophet Isaiah would say, the multitudes literally trample the courts of God. And we are glad you all have come.
A lot of different reasons have led us here, of course. For those of us who worship regularly in this church, Easter Sunday is the crown and climax of the Christian year. For others, who do not come so often, Easter Sunday always brings with it special music, and some of you are music lovers. Others of you just like to witness the pageantry of the church on two Sundays in the year -- on Easter and on Christmas -- those seem like special times. And then certainly there are a few here because they want to show off their new Easter clothes, joining the fashionable Easter parade. But maybe, too, this crowd has shown up because we all have the inkling that Easter bears with it some hope about that death we all have to face. Whatever your reasons for attending this morning, we are glad that you have come.
I cannot help thinking, however, that the crowd that you are this morning reminds me of the crowd that the Apostle Peter faced in Caesarea in our Old Testament lesson. Most of them were unknown to Peter, and what is more, they were Gentiles.
Days before Peter had received a strange vision from the Lord -- a vision in which a large sheet was lowered from heaven with all kinds of unclean animals upon it. And Peter, the strict Jew, had been commanded to eat that unclean food. Following that, a delegation of men, sent by one Cornelius, a Roman centurion, had shown up at Peter's house and told him that he should follow them to Cornelius' residence in Gentile territory. So Peter, not knowing exactly where he was going, followed and arrived in Caesarea. And there in Cornelius' house, Peter found an assembly of uncircumcised Gentiles waiting for him. Moreover, they told him, "We are all here present in the sight of God, to hear all that you have been commanded by the Lord" (v. 33). In short, those Gentiles wanted to hear a sermon.
It was an amazing request of Peter, because that apostle had always preached to Jews -- throughout Jerusalem and Judea and Galilee, all Jewish territory. The Gospel had been sent to the Jews, and that was Peter's usual audience. And now he was being asked to preach to non-Jews and strangers, just as the church is asked every Easter to proclaim the Gospel to outsiders -- those who do not regularly attend Christian worship.
It raises an interesting question, doesn't it? Is the Gospel of Jesus Christ intended only for those inside the church, for those who come every Sunday and pay their pledge and take part in church activities? Is the Gospel exclusive good news? Or is it intended to be spread throughout the earth?
There are some misguided souls who have tried to turn the Christian faith into an exclusive club, of course. "If you don't believe exactly what I believe," they say, "you don't belong. If you do those things of which I disapprove, you're not among the righteous. If you associate with that kind of people, you can't associate with us." Someone took a poll once in a particular denomination and found that three fourths of the members of that church thought they would go to heaven. But they were sure that only one fourth of their neighbors would. Such is our propensity to take upon ourselves the judgments that belong only to God and to shut out others from our exclusive club.
But Peter, in our Old Testament lesson, has learned differently. That strange vision that he had from God, the arrival of the delegation from Cornelius, and the eager faces of the Gentile crowd before him, convince him otherwise. "Truly, I perceive," he says, "that God shows no partiality."
God doesn't care a whit, you see, who you are or where you came from. He does not judge according to human standards. God sees our hearts. And those of us here this morning whose hearts are open to hear the Gospel are accepted by God and counted among his flock. "I have other sheep who are not of this fold," Jesus told his Jewish listeners (John 10:16). And surely you and I and all of us Gentiles are numbered among those other sheep.
So what does Peter tell those foreigners who are gathered together in Cornelius' house? He tells them the simple story of Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus, in whom dwelt the Holy Spirit of God, Jesus who acted for God, went about all of Palestine doing good, says our text. He healed the sick and overcame evil spirits and taught about the will of God, preaching justice and the love of God and forgiveness for all who believed in him. But because the Jews were shocked when he claimed that he was from God, and because the Roman authorities were afraid when they saw so many following him, they crucified Jesus between two thieves on the hill of Golgotha.
But on the third day at dawn, when some women went to the tomb where Jesus had been buried, in order to anoint his dead body, they found the tomb empty. To the amazement of the disciples, then, Jesus appeared alive first to Mary Magdalene, but then to his disciples, who saw the wounds of the nails in his hands and the mark where the spear had been thrust in his side. After that, the Apostle Paul tells us that Jesus appeared alive to more than 500 people and to Paul himself. What is more, the risen Christ commissioned his disciples to go throughout all the world, and to tell the good news that he was risen. Because that good news, you see, means that our evil world cannot do Jesus Christ to death. And death itself has lost its sting and the grave has lost its victory. There is life eternal for all who trust Christ. There is the forgiveness of sins. And there is new life, a good way of living abundantly, right now on this earth.
Peter preached that sermon to those Gentiles, because he knew that Jesus Christ is Lord -- not Lord just of an exclusive little group, not Lord of just those whom we would choose -- but Lord over all the earth, with all its multitudes of peoples. Jesus Christ is risen and reigns over earth and seas and skies. Death could not hold him fast, and our sinful ways and the ways of this sin-marked planet cannot defeat him. As Handel celebrated in the Hallelujah chorus, the kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever, to the glory of God.
Our scripture lesson tells us that after the assembly in Cornelius' house heard Peter's sermon, the Holy Spirit descended upon them all, and they were baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. God, through the preaching of his Gospel, offers the forgiveness, the new life, the eternal life, the victory of our Lord Jesus Christ, to all. To me, and to you -- to all of you here this morning.
A colleague tells me of his days spent in modern Spain, and of an afternoon at the coast. A small boy sat at the end of a pier overlooking the ocean, gazing out at the horizon. What thoughts must have run through this child's mind? He was too young to go to school. He had probably never heard of Columbus. What wild imaginations must have soared through his head as he gazed across the endless sea?
A fisherman who was also observing the child came near and asked, "What do you think is out there, son?"
"America," the boy responded.
Somewhat taken back by this matter-of-fact reply, the fisherman shielded his eyes and studied the horizon. Then, teasing, he continued, "How do you know that? I don't see anything."
"Oh, I know," the little boy went on. "My father's been there. He came back and told me."
So how is it that a preschooler can know more than the king of Spain? He had someone go where he has not gone, and return to tell about it. So it is in Holy Week: our Lord Jesus Christ himself passes the point of no return and now, today, he comes back to us, to let us know there is more beyond.
Acts 10:34-43
These few verses come from Peter's sermon to Cornelius, an auspicious occasion in which the church crosses a boundary line and begins to minister intentionally to Gentiles. The central concern in this passage, as for the whole book of Acts, is cross-
cultural evangelism. Therefore, Peter begins with the most important proposition: God shows no partiality. This is an incredible thing for a Jewish person to say. Peter believes that the Jews are "God's chosen people." How can he maintain that God shows no partiality? Because the purpose for which they are chosen is that of bringing salvation to all people.
Peter does not begin with a universal negative ("all have sinned") but with a universal positive: there are good people among every nation on earth and they are acceptable to God. He is not affirming "works righteousness," but declaring that Christians are not intrinsically better than others. Later, when he defends his baptism of Cornelius, he will do so by saying that all people -- Jews and Gentiles -- are saved "through the grace of the Lord Jesus" (15:11). Even here, he recognizes that the good people among every nation who are acceptable to God have sins that need forgiving (v. 43). Good people can be sinners and vice-versa. Forgiveness is offered to these "good sinners" because they are acceptable to God.
The key word in Peter's summary of Jesus' ministry is benefactor. The NRSV says, "He went about doing good," (v. 38); literally, the text says, "He went about as a benefactor." The word was a technical term or title usually applied to Caesar. As Benefactor, Caesar supposedly brought peace and well-being to the world, often by serving as judge (administrator of justice). Of course, anyone who knows much Roman history will realize that this concept worked out better in theory than in practice. Peter's depiction gives Jesus the role that his social world ascribed to Caesar: Jesus is the Judge not only of the living but also of the dead; he is able to bring peace and well-being in a sense that Caesar never could (much less would). He is able to do this because his authority is grounded in the resurrection ("ordained by God," v. 42).
The reference to the risen Jesus eating and drinking with us is particularly significant. Why was this detail important? It isn't just that the act of eating and drinking proved he was really alive (not just a ghost). The action carries eucharistic symbolism, as is evident from Luke's Emmaus story ("made known to us in the breaking of the bread," Luke 24:35). Luke no doubt believes that the risen Jesus continues to eat and drink with his disciples whenever they gather for "the breaking of the bread" (Acts 2:46). Furthermore, eating with someone in the ancient world would have conveyed a strong sense of social acceptance -- this is why Jesus got in so much trouble for eating with outcasts. What Caesar ever ate with peasants, much less criminals? Jesus, our true Benefactor, the one who will judge the living and the dead, shows his continuing acceptance of us by regularly inviting us to his meal.
1 Corinthians 15:19-26
Radical existentialists hate this passage. They must ultimately dismiss it as weak or superstitious. Rudolf Bultmann, Paul says, is to be pitied. Not refuted or denounced as a heretic -- just pitied. Few theologians have testified to the vitality and integrity of Christian life as Bultmann did. But like the king of Spain, he didn't know there was more. Now, I trust, he does.
Obviously, the message of the gospel has meaning for the present, for "life after birth" as well as "life after death." If the story of Jesus' resurrection were only mythology, only a primitive way of expressing genuine existence in the here and now, that would still be something. But there's no way around it: that last enemy, death, would win. The church would be like a colony of prisoners on death row, like a hospice community of the terminally ill. Knowing we can't win, we could still find ways to make losing more palatable. Supporting each other and enhancing the quality of life until the inevitable arrived -- these would all be worthy and meaningful endeavors.
But that's not what we're about, Paul says. The last enemy will be destroyed. Easter faith is not just for some interim. It's forever.
John 20:1-18
The Revised Common Lectionary offers a choice of Gospel texts for Easter Sunday. One advantage to using the Johannine passage is that it introduces a series of lessons from the Fourth Gospel that will continue throughout the season. John's concern is to present attributes of Easter faith, characteristics of those who are children of the resurrection (see outline).
In this story we witness how Mary Magdalene comes (through tears) to be able to say, "I have seen the Lord" (v. 18). She is presented as the first witness to the resurrection, somewhat ironically in that two of Jesus' most prominent male disciples appear to have competed with each other to attain that honor themselves (vv. 4-10). But the story, like most narratives in John, is heavily symbolic. Jesus is right there with her, but she does not know it. If we ask why (did he look different? were her eyes clouded?), we will surely miss the point. It doesn't matter. Mary weeps because she thinks someone or something has taken away her Lord. But her Lord cannot be taken away and is actually there with her at that very moment. The same point, of course, is made in a different way in Luke's well-known Emmaus story (Luke 24:13-32). The beginning of Easter faith is this realization that our Lord's presence transcends our perception. He approaches us and abides with us in unrecognized ways.
I no longer remember when I came to see the Lord, but I do recall having a type of faith that was not Easter faith. At some point in my young life, I think that I really did believe that Jesus rose from the dead because the Bible, not to mention pastors and parents, said so and I was prone to respecting such authorities. But believing this happened is hardly Easter faith. At some later point, the concept begin to sink in that, if Jesus really did rise from the dead, he must still be alive -- some place, somewhere. The story of the resurrection wasn't just ancient history. And then, at some other point, I began to notice this living presence where I had never seen it before.
As such, this testimony may seem to describe "coming to see the Lord as present in our lives" as a finale of faith development. For John, it is not that. It is the beginning.
CHILDREN OF THE RESURRECTION ACCORDING TO JOHN
Children of the resurrection ... have seen the Lord (John 20:1-18; Easter Day)
believe the Word (John 20:19-31; Easter 2)
receive a new vocation (John 21:1-19; Easter 3)
find security in Christ (John 10:22-30; Easter 4)
love each other (John 13:31-35; Easter 5)
receive the Holy Spirit (John 14:23-29; Easter 6)
are one in God and with each other (John 17:20-26; Easter 7)*
*no Easter 7 in 1998
Luke 24:1-12
The Lukan text has one thing in common with the Johannine passage -- it strives to present women as the first to proclaim the Easter Gospel. They received this revelation from heavenly figures, no doubt the same ones whom Luke alone says were present to help interpret the ascension of Jesus (Acts 1:10-11). But, Luke tells us, the men did not believe them -- they dismissed their story as "an idle tale" (v. 11). Incredibly, interpreters have often cited this verse as a prooftext against women's ordination -- it reveals the incompetence of women preachers. Even more incredibly, many feminist critics have agreed with this interpretation and gone on to denounce Luke for presenting women as unpersuasive. Clearly, the point is that the women were divinely ordained (and I use that word advisedly) to share the gospel message and that the men were fools not to heed them.
FIRST LESSON FOCUS
By Elizabeth Achtemeier
Acts 10:34-43
We have a crowd here today on this Easter Sunday. Churches are always crowded on Easter. As the prophet Isaiah would say, the multitudes literally trample the courts of God. And we are glad you all have come.
A lot of different reasons have led us here, of course. For those of us who worship regularly in this church, Easter Sunday is the crown and climax of the Christian year. For others, who do not come so often, Easter Sunday always brings with it special music, and some of you are music lovers. Others of you just like to witness the pageantry of the church on two Sundays in the year -- on Easter and on Christmas -- those seem like special times. And then certainly there are a few here because they want to show off their new Easter clothes, joining the fashionable Easter parade. But maybe, too, this crowd has shown up because we all have the inkling that Easter bears with it some hope about that death we all have to face. Whatever your reasons for attending this morning, we are glad that you have come.
I cannot help thinking, however, that the crowd that you are this morning reminds me of the crowd that the Apostle Peter faced in Caesarea in our Old Testament lesson. Most of them were unknown to Peter, and what is more, they were Gentiles.
Days before Peter had received a strange vision from the Lord -- a vision in which a large sheet was lowered from heaven with all kinds of unclean animals upon it. And Peter, the strict Jew, had been commanded to eat that unclean food. Following that, a delegation of men, sent by one Cornelius, a Roman centurion, had shown up at Peter's house and told him that he should follow them to Cornelius' residence in Gentile territory. So Peter, not knowing exactly where he was going, followed and arrived in Caesarea. And there in Cornelius' house, Peter found an assembly of uncircumcised Gentiles waiting for him. Moreover, they told him, "We are all here present in the sight of God, to hear all that you have been commanded by the Lord" (v. 33). In short, those Gentiles wanted to hear a sermon.
It was an amazing request of Peter, because that apostle had always preached to Jews -- throughout Jerusalem and Judea and Galilee, all Jewish territory. The Gospel had been sent to the Jews, and that was Peter's usual audience. And now he was being asked to preach to non-Jews and strangers, just as the church is asked every Easter to proclaim the Gospel to outsiders -- those who do not regularly attend Christian worship.
It raises an interesting question, doesn't it? Is the Gospel of Jesus Christ intended only for those inside the church, for those who come every Sunday and pay their pledge and take part in church activities? Is the Gospel exclusive good news? Or is it intended to be spread throughout the earth?
There are some misguided souls who have tried to turn the Christian faith into an exclusive club, of course. "If you don't believe exactly what I believe," they say, "you don't belong. If you do those things of which I disapprove, you're not among the righteous. If you associate with that kind of people, you can't associate with us." Someone took a poll once in a particular denomination and found that three fourths of the members of that church thought they would go to heaven. But they were sure that only one fourth of their neighbors would. Such is our propensity to take upon ourselves the judgments that belong only to God and to shut out others from our exclusive club.
But Peter, in our Old Testament lesson, has learned differently. That strange vision that he had from God, the arrival of the delegation from Cornelius, and the eager faces of the Gentile crowd before him, convince him otherwise. "Truly, I perceive," he says, "that God shows no partiality."
God doesn't care a whit, you see, who you are or where you came from. He does not judge according to human standards. God sees our hearts. And those of us here this morning whose hearts are open to hear the Gospel are accepted by God and counted among his flock. "I have other sheep who are not of this fold," Jesus told his Jewish listeners (John 10:16). And surely you and I and all of us Gentiles are numbered among those other sheep.
So what does Peter tell those foreigners who are gathered together in Cornelius' house? He tells them the simple story of Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus, in whom dwelt the Holy Spirit of God, Jesus who acted for God, went about all of Palestine doing good, says our text. He healed the sick and overcame evil spirits and taught about the will of God, preaching justice and the love of God and forgiveness for all who believed in him. But because the Jews were shocked when he claimed that he was from God, and because the Roman authorities were afraid when they saw so many following him, they crucified Jesus between two thieves on the hill of Golgotha.
But on the third day at dawn, when some women went to the tomb where Jesus had been buried, in order to anoint his dead body, they found the tomb empty. To the amazement of the disciples, then, Jesus appeared alive first to Mary Magdalene, but then to his disciples, who saw the wounds of the nails in his hands and the mark where the spear had been thrust in his side. After that, the Apostle Paul tells us that Jesus appeared alive to more than 500 people and to Paul himself. What is more, the risen Christ commissioned his disciples to go throughout all the world, and to tell the good news that he was risen. Because that good news, you see, means that our evil world cannot do Jesus Christ to death. And death itself has lost its sting and the grave has lost its victory. There is life eternal for all who trust Christ. There is the forgiveness of sins. And there is new life, a good way of living abundantly, right now on this earth.
Peter preached that sermon to those Gentiles, because he knew that Jesus Christ is Lord -- not Lord just of an exclusive little group, not Lord of just those whom we would choose -- but Lord over all the earth, with all its multitudes of peoples. Jesus Christ is risen and reigns over earth and seas and skies. Death could not hold him fast, and our sinful ways and the ways of this sin-marked planet cannot defeat him. As Handel celebrated in the Hallelujah chorus, the kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever, to the glory of God.
Our scripture lesson tells us that after the assembly in Cornelius' house heard Peter's sermon, the Holy Spirit descended upon them all, and they were baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. God, through the preaching of his Gospel, offers the forgiveness, the new life, the eternal life, the victory of our Lord Jesus Christ, to all. To me, and to you -- to all of you here this morning.
