SETTING THE CONTEXT

The passage we are about to read picks up John's story of Easter day after Mary Magdalene makes her announcement. It is now evening and the disciples were surely confused. The trauma of Jesus' arrest, public humiliation, and crucifixion had just happened. They were terrified by all they had seen and experienced and so they were afraid, afraid to even go outside. Mary's witness was hard to believe, Peter had seen the empty tomb but that didn't mean Jesus was alive. The Scripture said, "For as yet they did not understand the scripture that he must rise from the dead" and so they went home. Maybe Mary was just hysterical and saw things. John's story picks up on that first Easter evening.

Read John 20:19-23

Another Gospel writer Luke continues the story of the disciples after Jesus' ascension in the Book of Acts. The apostles have been preaching and healing in Jesus' name and it is causing quite a stir. The high priest and other religious leaders are jealous and they try to put a stop to the apostles' work. They arrest them and put them in jail. The middle of chapter 5 tells the story of the apostles' rescue by an angel. Now after that rescue you might think they would head out of town but instead they head right back to the temple to continue teaching. This is where our passage picks up.

Read Acts 5:27-32

THE SERMON

As John tells the story of the first Easter day it appears to be a day of confusion. In that short day's time the disciples were on a roller coaster of emotions, disappointment, grief, a ray of hope as they hear from Mary, then confusion, fear and finally pure joy. The disciples knew that they were in great danger. Jesus was their leader and they saw his fate and knew they risked the same thing. Crucifixion is a horrendous way to die. One can't blame them for hiding behind locked doors; I think any of us would do the same thing in their situation. But as George said last week something very significant, very dramatic happened to them because just a short time later Luke reports that they are proclaiming Jesus' story in the very streets where he had carried the cross of his execution. They were openly defying the authorities they had feared so much. What can help people overcome such deep fears? What can transform a person so completely?

For the disciples, it was a first hand experience of the resurrected Christ. Jesus appears to the disciples, John reports, making sure that they know it is him by having them examine his wounds. He commissions them to continue his work. And then he does something kind of strange, he breathed on them. In that breath, he gives them the Holy Spirit. This is John's Pentecost story where the Holy Spirit is given and the church is born. Luke uses the images of wind and fire in the Acts story we normally read on Pentecost, but John uses the image of breath. The verb "breath" in the original Greek is emphysaō that should sound familiar because we call the breathing disease emphysema. This is the only place in the New Testament where this word is used. It was a very special event, clearly a life-changing event.

The word inspire literally means "to breathe life into." In the book of Genesis, God breathes life into the first human (Genesis 2:7). In a vision God showed the prophet Ezekiel about the Hebrew people who had become very dry in their faith, God showed him a valley of dry bones and told him to tell the bones." Thus says the Lord God to these bones: I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live. I will lay sinews on you, and will cause flesh to come upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live; and you shall know that I am the Lord." (Ezekiel 37:5-6) Many generations later in the New Testament, John tells us that Jesus breathed upon the disciples and inspired them to continue his work in the world and the church was formed. As the New Interpreter's Bible said, "Jesus lives, not because he can walk through locked doors and show his wounds to frightened disciples, but because he breathes new life into those disciples through the gift of the Spirit and commissions them to continue his work."^[i] He inspires them.

Did you notice that in the first reading from John the followers were referred to as disciples and in the second reading from Acts they were referred to as apostles? George in his visioning work at his former church found distinctions between the two titles. "In Jesus' day, a disciple was a student who sat at the feet of the Rabbi, the teacher, to learn their wisdom and seek their guidance for life.  The Interpreter's Dictionary of the Bible defines disciple as, "an adherent of almost any great leader or movement."  Jesus, as the special presence of God in our midst, came to call us all and to teach us all as disciples of God's gospel for this world.  This call to learn and grow in Jesus' wisdom and grace is a lifelong journey as students of Jesus' good news." Apostleship takes that learning and puts it into action. "Again, citing the Interpreter's Dictionary, 'for Jesus apostleship, whether for himself or his disciples, is a purely religious commission to carry out the purpose of God for (humanity's) salvation, and it is a lifelong authorization, given once and for all.'  Apostles are sent to share what they have learned and use what they have learned for God's purposes."^[ii]  All of us, all Christians around the world, are called to be both disciples, learners of Jesus' way, and apostles, proclaimers, healers and workers inspired to be like him. We see this movement in Acts as the disciples go into Jerusalem preaching, teaching, healing and continuing Jesus' work. These frightened defeated disciples become fearless, daring apostles. It's amazing what a little breath can do.

There is another breathy word; it is con-spire; to conspire means to "breathe together".^[iii] Isn't that a cool? The apostles became a conspiracy as they came together, as they breathed together as one body, to share the Good News of Jesus Christ. Michael Yaconelli in his book Messy Spirituality talks about being a conspiracy of grace.^[iv] We breathe together inhaling the Spirit of God so that together we can offer a conspiracy of grace, of hope and of love. We conspire to embody the Gospel through small acts of Christ-likeness and large acts of Christ-likeness, a conspiracy of grace.

I'd like to share some thoughts about breath in this piece by Cry of the Spirit.

SHOW VIDEO CLIP "BREATH"^[v]. You can view the clip at www.cryofthespirit.com/breath.html.

Air comes into us all with the same potential, we change it, we charge it, we shape it, we make it, then we send it forth. …Changed. Regardless of what you have been through, no matter what your parents did, no matter what is or isn't in your bank account, no matter what hurts, you have a decision to make about the next breath. God not only breathed the breath of life into man (and woman) and he became a living soul, He gave us the choice of what to do with every breath. He literally gave you the power to breathe life into people and situations, all with the power of your words. He gave you the power of good and evil, life and death, with breath. Take a deep breath   …    and decide."

Our words, our breath does have power and we do have to decide. Will we breathe in the spirit of Christ? Will we allow him to in-spire or breathe life into us so that we can con-spire or breathe together in his name? God is manifested again not in the one body of one man, but in the body of believers, in us, as we continue Christ's work of calling people to return to God and receive the forgiveness and new life God offers. Christ comes again to inspire his church. Take a deep breath and inhale his Spirit. Are you ready to continue this conspiracy of grace as apostles sent into this world? "Breath on us breathe of God, fill us with life anew that we may love what you would love, and do what you would do."^[vi] Amen.

Sermon delived by Rev. Nancy Cushman on April 15, 2007.