“You’re Not in Kansas Anymore”

Acts 3:12-26

You’re not in Kansas anymore: what a strange thing to say. What in the world does a line from The Wizard of Oz have to do with today’s text? You’re not Dorothy. I’m not Toto. First Century Jerusalem is not some imaginary Emerald City that can be found at the end of a yellow brick road. What’s up with all these references to the Wizard of Oz? Bear with me and you’ll find out.

Today’s text is a sermon that Peter preached after the healing of the man lame from birth that’s described in the first ten verses of chapter three. In this sermon he makes clear to those children of Israel who had not yet accepted Jesus as the Messiah that God’s journey with humanity had taken a turn in a wonderfully new direction.

Those unbelievers who listened to that sermon were forced to deal with the reality that things had changed. Until they accepted that reality they would be just as lost and befuddled as was Dorothy when the tornado that picked her up in Kansas dropped her off in the Land of Oz. The bad news was that they were lost. The good news was that they didn’t have to stay that way.

What had so changed their world? The life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. A new covenant had been sealed with his blood. No longer was the Temple the locus of God’s presence and action. That locus was now found in Jesus Christ. It became a reality anywhere and anytime that prophetic deeds were performed or prophetic words were spoken in his name. The Christ event was the fruition of centuries of messianic prophecies. That which God had promised had now been fulfilled in Jesus Christ.

The healing of the man lame from birth was a sign of this fulfilled prophecy. Peter made it very clear that this healing was not his or John’s doing. Nor was it brought about by some angelic visitation. Peter and John were merely conduits of the healing power of God, a power that had been set in motion in the name of Jesus. For it was in the name of Jesus that the man had been healed. His faith in that name had set him free.

This new reality that had come into the world in the person of Jesus wasn’t really all that new. It was a continuation of the prophetic tradition and history of Israel. Others had set the stage. Jesus had stepped out on it in a seemingly new way. Peter wanted his listeners to realize that Kansas and Oz weren’t all that far apart. Peter’s message can be paraphrased thusly, “It was the God of your own fathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob who was responsible for this miracle, and in doing so God manifested the glory of his servant Jesus.” This is God doing what he had always done: acted in the world in saving, redemptive ways.

Earlier I said that the bad news for those who had rejected Jesus, those who had not perceived this new thing that God was doing in the world through Jesus, was that they were lost, and that the good news was that they didn’t have to stay that way. Peter makes this very clear: “… the God of our ancestors has glorified his servant Jesus, whom you handed over and rejected in the presence of Pilate, though he had decided to release him. But you rejected the Holy and Righteous One and asked to have a murderer given to you, and you killed the Author of life, whom God raised from the dead.”

You rejected Jesus, preferring to set free a murderer rather than an innocent man. You killed Jesus; you killed the Son of God. By God’s power he was raised from the dead, but the bad news is still that you killed him. How can that reality ever be translated into good news? If we listen to Peter, he will tell us.

“And now, friends, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did also your rulers. In this way God fulfilled what he had foretold through all the prophets, that his Messiah would suffer.” You acted in ignorance. You truly did not know what you were doing. You did a horrible thing yet God was able to use that horrible thing to work his will. That’s part of the good news.

Now comes the rest of it: “Repent, therefore, and turn to God so that your sins may be wiped out…” Repentance was still a possibility. No one had to be damned for all eternity for a horrible act of ignorant violence. There was still an opportunity to accept Jesus and be saved.

More than that, said Peter, “… [repent] so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord…” Times of refreshing – the realized Kingdom of God – the triumphant return of Christ – the perfect Messianic Age foretold by the prophets: in Jesus the time would come when all the prophecies would be fulfilled, when all the promises of God would be kept. The dark drab Kansas that is this sinful world would be recreated as the Oz God originally intended it to be. Then none of God’s children will live in Kansas anymore. The Body of Christ, the Communion of Saints, the Church Triumphant will abide forever with the Lord in a New Jerusalem that will make the Emerald City look dull in comparison. If that’s not good news then I don’t know what it is.

Oh, and for the record, 5,000 people became believers that day. But more about that next week.

We didn’t kill Jesus in the literal sense; we weren’t there. But ours were among the sins for which he died. Who among us hasn’t at one time or another rejected Jesus, or deserted him, or betrayed him, or stood silently by while his name was dragged through the mud? Who among us doesn’t deserve the hell our Lord Jesus endured on the cross? Who among us has not been in need of a healing, saving miracle that could happen only in the name and through the power of Jesus? Who among us never needed to repent of his or her sins? Who among us can go through a single day without committing a sin? Who among us has not longed – does not long – for that time of refreshing yet to be? Who among us, indeed?

It should come as no surprise that we have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. None of us is righteous, no, not even one. We can never be perfect. We can be forgiven, and in Christ, empowered to be conduits of God’s grace, mercy, love, and healing. As Christ’s Church, as the messianic community of God, in the name of Jesus we are sent out into the world to tell others about the possibility of forgiveness and salvation. We are sent out to live as visible reminders that God does indeed forgive, love, and heal those who have rejected his Son. We are sent out to let all people know that even our most horribly ignorant acts of sinfulness do not have to cut us off from God forever. Through us, in the name of Jesus, the prophetic tradition lives on. As the old song goes, maybe we can’t preach like Peter or pray like Paul, but we can tell the love of Jesus, “who died to save us all.”

The Book of Acts has traditionally been referred to as the Book of the Acts of the Apostles. But in reality it is the Book of the Acts of God. The coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost was an act of God. The calling into being that day of the messianic community that is Christ’s Church was an act of God. The ongoing growth and unity of that church was an act of God. The powerful sermons and miraculous healings were all acts of God. When we are able to tell somebody about the love of Jesus, that, too, is an act of God.

When God, in the name of Jesus, used Peter and John to heal that man lame from birth, well, that was most definitely an act of God. But most of the people who witnessed it didn’t see it that way. They wanted to give the credit to Peter and John, but Peter would have none of that. Anything that he or John said or did that brought healing, life, and salvation to people was an act of God, one accomplished only in the name of Jesus.

Just as anything that we do or say that brings healing, life, and salvation to the people around us is an act of God, accomplished only in the name of Jesus. Over the years a lot of people have invested a lot of time, energy, money, sweat, and prayer in order for Grace to be where it is today. For all of that we are thankful. But apart from God none of it was possible.

We’re tempted to give various people credit for what has happened, and the truth is that their gifts must be honored, recognized, and remembered. The ultimate credit, however, must always go to God. We have no gifts to use that he has not given us. It is his Spirit that enlightens and empowers us. It is in the name of his Son Jesus that all that is good about Grace has come to fruition.

We must never forget that it is only by God’s mercy that we are saved, redeemed, and forgiven. It is only through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus that we have any hope at all. Yes, as modern disciples we are called to act in the name of Jesus; to live out, model, and proclaim the Good News of his love. But we never act alone. And whatever God chooses to do through us, even though it may be new to us, it is something that God has been doing for an eternity.

“You Israelites, why do you wonder at this, or why do you stare at us, as though by our own power or piety we had made him walk… the God of our ancestors has glorified his servant Jesus…” Thus it was. Thus it is. Thus it will always be. Amen.