Sermon – What Wind Is in Your Sail?
Psalm 150; Acts 5:27-42
Farmville Presbyterian Church
4/27/25
It is hard for me to believe that Easter and our celebration of the Resurrection was just last week. It feels like it has been a month ago, just because it has been busy. One of the things that has happened to me twice this week is people confessing that they are looking for God to provide an answer for something. They need to make a decision, and they are looking for help from God to make the right decision. You might imagine this kind of conversation is something that happens for me from time to time. You may have also found yourself in that boat before. I bet you have.
I know I have found myself in that situation of looking for an answer or guidance from God. When I was trying to figure out where to go to seminary or “minister school” back in 1997, I laid out the promotional information from all of the different Presbyterian seminaries on this half of the country and looked to see which ones expressed themselves most through Scripture. That was important to me. We continued narrowing down the pool of possible schools until we found the right one. Now, realistically, we could have gone to any of them and been fine and happy, but we wanted to believe that we were going with the most faithful intent.
I’m guessing that you have probably found yourself facing some kind of big choice or big decision and you wanted to try to take the most faithful option. That is actually something really interesting that I would love to talk to you about sometime, but that is exactly where the Jewish council is in their deliberation about Peter and the other apostles following Jesus’ death and “supposed” resurrection today. I say “supposed” because such an idea would have been beyond the realm of possibility to the council, or in other words – whacko, but Jesus’ followers certainly seemed to believe it happened. They had no trouble, no shame, and no worries about speaking up for something that should be impossible. Plus, these same disciples-turned-apostles had literally just been locked up in jail and somehow got loose with everything still being locked. This did not make sense and put the council in a very tricky situation. They wanted to do what they thought was the most faithful choice. I have no doubt the Council wanted to do what THEY thought was right, but they did not know how to really tell what was right. What if, just on the off chance, Peter and John were telling the truth. After all, Jesus’ body was gone. Someone could have stolen it, but there was no evidence that had actually happened. Something was genuinely driving this Jesus movement. They needed to know what that was. What wind, what spirit, what breath was filling that sail?
It is pretty clear what is driving Psalm 150. That Spirit is the Spirit of the Lord. It is just about the simplest and most straightforward expression of praise for God that you could have. There is no tricky or complicated imagery, just everything giving praise to God, a whole chorus of instruments and everything that breathes praising God from wherever they are. Our lives do not seem to come with the same kind of simplicity. That’s why sisters and brothers still struggle to identify God’s leading activity in their lives. We struggle to make sense of where God is in the complicated situations all around us and around the planet. We are less sure what is moving the efforts that we need to support. In fact, so many crises facing our world today are nowhere near cut and dry, simple and straightforward. Even something as simple as the fentanyl epidemic is complicated in that while we can all agree that drug overdose is a problem, five people have six ideas how to address it. Maybe we can agree as a society that something needs to be done. Among the Jewish council in Jesus’ day, they may have seen this as the start of something similar – something dangerous that was spreading rapidly. They wanted to act quickly and decisively, but they did not know what the best response might be. They needed to see where God was in all of this Jesus movement. In fact, it was essential to find out where God is. When we make decisions for others, we may find out we are working against God.
Russia and Ukraine may seem more straightforward. Russia is unleashing evil barrage after evil barrage. Children are being destroyed along with others in these senseless attacks. It is easy to think that God is on the side of the Ukranians, except that God loves those Russian and North Korean lives, too, that are being thrown into destruction in this terrible, terrible war. The same goes for Gaza and Israel. Even though the actions of Hamas speak for no god, God loves the lives of those caught up in this tragedy and great loss. How can we bring the wars to an end? How can lives be protected? God is not on national sides but for bringing health and life and peace and justice. That seems to be a good place to find the Spirit of God moving God’s children. We might not want to be in the way of efforts that value life. We should certainly want to support movements that do.
Where is God blowing in Farmville? The Spirit is moving where there is need. With budget cuts being the rule of the day, we do feel the pinch of less going to help neighbors in need. Of course, for those relying on that assistance, it is more than a pinch for them. Every follower of Jesus must be more attentive to how we might help our community where there is need. We can step up the good happening right here. Maybe you are one who is already very involved however you are able. Maybe you are passionate about working for the Kingdom of God right here in our area. May God bless you. Maybe you are not certain how to catch the Spirit’s movement in such a way. Then, talk to others. I am happy to help connect hearts with hands.
One of the most interesting things that I have learned lately about the Spirit’s moving in our area is out at Hampden-Sydney (but it can easily apply here). Students have become a regular, larger part of the worshipping community out there. What they attribute that to is their desire to be connected in a post-COVID world. We had the same thought in our deliberations here years ago and proposed considering ways we might help people become connected after being disconnected. We continue to live with that disconnect, and I would love for us to invest in that reconnection. Something as simple as a regular game night here at the church has been suggested. Our fellowship hall likes to be used. Please give us ideas of how the Spirit of God might be stirring you to enlarge God’s work among us.
So many things do press us to be done. Yes, there are lots and lots of things that need to be accomplished, but there are some things that are crying out for God’s direction. There are now and will always be directions that God wants us to go together. One idea is to ignore that and hope it goes away. We could be too busy or too distracted or we may not want to support things that God does. That seems scary to me, though. I would rather not miss where God is at work.
That brings us to where the Spirit is moving right now. We have already sensed the gift of hospitality in this congregation and the ability to host those looking for good spaces. We should definitely build on that. We should build on our work of valuing those around us, especially those in need. The work here is only increasing. Farmville needs mission hands and mission hearts and mission giving. There is a place for each of us in this journey. The question is whether we will see God’s hand and follow. To God be the glory. Amen.