Back to the blog, finally.

Well, I'm pretty sure by now that nobody is even viewing this blog as I haven't posted anything in months, but I shall for my own sake resume posting. Rather than start back up with a rant or a commentary on church life, I thought I would offer up my sermon for tomorrow morning. Someone said recently on a radio program I enjoy that we should be careful when blogging because blogs don't go away. So here we have an opportunity to leave something of a legacy behind for our children. I can either leave behind a vapor trail of my hot air regarding current events, or I could leave behind footprints of my journey with Jesus. I am choosing the latter. I hope these thoughts bless you or someone you know. God be with you on your journey, friend.


“Turning the World Upside Down”
A sermon for the 5th Sunday of Easter, Year A
April 24, 2005
The Reverend Father Ronald E. Drummond, Jr.

“Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do; because I go to the Father.”
John 14:12

Imagine a scene at the Peoria county courthouse. A judge looks attentively as some city authorities drag in a couple of urban missionaries. The judge sternly asks, “What charge do you bring against these people?” One city official says, “Your honor, these people who are turning the world upside-down have come here also.” After a rundown of their missionary activities the judge gives them a stiff fine and lets them go.

That’s what it may have looked like had the episode from today’s reading from Acts occurred in our own time.

“Turning the world upside-down.”

That’s quite a way to describe the impact of what Paul, Silas, and all of the early Christians were doing in the first century. This description comes from some Jewish detractors who are trying to stop the evangelistic activities of Paul, Silas, and their companions.

Just what were these men up to?

We can find out by reading Acts chapter 7 all the way up to this point. In just 10 chapters Paul has gone from newly-converted believer who had violently persecuted the church to fearless apostle who was the subject of violent persecution. Like General Sherman of Civil War fame he blazed a trail on a determined march through cities and towns and set each one on fire as he went. But unlike Sherman, Paul’s fire was the fire of the gospel. It was a fire that blazed with the light of Jesus Christ’s love and power. It was a fire that destroyed unbelief and apathy and ignited passion and conviction in the hearts of those who heard. Paul’s was a message that turned the world upside down. In fact, the entire book of Acts could be titled “the world upside down.” Love them or hate them, there was no denying back then that something real, something powerful was happening among these followers of “The Way,” these “Christians” as they had recently been named.

What has happened in 2000 years?

I never see a headline in the newspaper that says, “Local Church turns the world upside down.” I don’t hear a buzz in the coffee shop or at the Mall about how Christians are turning the world upside down. I don’t see people beating down the doors of our churches to see just what all the excitement is about. I hear about that in Africa and Asia and South America, but I don’t hear it here at home. What I mostly hear about Christians is how nice and polite our services and community activities are or what hypocrites we are.

What have we lost and how do we get it back? How can we turn the world upside down again?

Perhaps we can start by admitting that our view of what the Church can be and do is often quite different from the way Jesus, the head of the whole operation, envisioned it. We have come up with some very sophisticated plans and statements for how the ministry of the church should be done. The language we use in our mission and vision statements is often lofty, noble, and intentional but if we’re really honest, our experience as a church doesn’t quite match our stated mission and vision. Conferences and workshops and courses and seminars are available in abundance in the frantic race to find out how to “grow the church” or “equip leadership” or “increase pledging units.” But are these things bringing the promised results? Are these trees bearing the fruit we hoped for? As I read the story of the early church in Acts and reflect on my experience of the church today, I am discouraged by the glaring discontinuity of it all. Is this the way it’s supposed to be, or are we missing something?

We as Christians are inheritors of great promises. One of the most frightening, thrilling, and encouraging promises is found in today’s gospel. Jesus says in John 14:12, “Truly, truly I say to you, he who believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I go to the Father.”

Greater works than the Son of God? How is it possible? The early church of the book of Acts seemed to embrace and live into this promise in a way that we have forgotten. You see, the early Christians didn’t have a master plan for ministry, they simply followed the master planner. They did the works of Jesus because the Holy Spirit was sent to fill them and empower them to do so. Jesus promised early on in Acts that his followers would “receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon [them];” What was this power?Simply put, it was the power to do the things that Jesus did.

Jesus preached and taught about the Kingdom of God
Jesus healed the sick
Jesus cast demons out of afflicted persons
Jesus raised the dead

But did much more than the miraculous and spectacular. He ministered in very ordinary and quiet ways as well:

Jesus loved the unlovable
Jesus touched the untouchable
Jesus reached the unreachable
Jesus held and blessed little children
Jesus ate meals with the elite and the lowly
Jesus brought lost sheep back to the fold

And if you spend enough time reading the Acts of the Apostles, this is what the early church did! They simply did the works Jesus did.

These are the things that turned the world upside down in the 1st century and they will do it again in the twenty-first century!!

We can do these things because Jesus promised that we could and then empowered us to do them. In fact, we can do greater works than Jesus simply because Jesus is one man but his living body on earth numbers billions of men and women.

If I began to distribute pamphlets to the city of Peoria, I may reach a few hundred persons. But if I equipped you all with pamphlets, gave you instructions, and sent you out to various places, I would reach thousands.

That is what Christ has done with his Church. He spent three years on this earth doing the works the Father had given him to do. Then, before returning to his Father, he left instructions for his followers, equipped them by sending the Holy Spirit, and sent them out to spread his life-changing message.

I said earlier that Jesus’ promise that we would do greater works than his is frightening, thrilling, and encouraging. It’s frightening because what we are talking about is having the power of the living God in us by the presence of the Holy Spirit, and to me that’s scary! But it’s also thrilling to think that what we are called to do is the very work of the Son of God, the King of Kings, and Lord of Lords!! And it’s encouraging because we realize that we are not left to fulfill our ministries in our own strength or cleverness, but in power that is freely given to all without regard to qualifications except the openness of our hearts.

The Acts of the Apostles reveals what the Spirit-filled Body of Christ looked like in the first century but also gives us guidance on how we should operate today.

The early church was a praying church. They did nothing apart from intimate communion with their Lord and Savior. They prayed before ministry, during ministry, after ministry. They prayed when selecting leaders. They prayed and sang hymns when they were put into prison. They praised God, thanked God, worshipped God. They were a people given to constant prayer

The early church was an obedient church. What they heard from God in prayer they obeyed in practice. They went where they were lead to go and did what God told them to do.

The early church was a sacrificial church. We read of how the people of the church shared their goods with those in need so that no one wanted for anything. We read of people giving substantially of their substance to support the work of spreading the gospel. And we see men and women minister as God has called them at great personal expense, whether it be of money, of reputation, or of life itself.

The early church was a bold church. They weren’t content to live out their faith privately. They knew that they were called to share the faith as well as keep the faith. They were not afraid to invoke the very name of Jesus to heal the sick and cast out evil spirits. They were not afraid to preach in places of hostility or difficulty.

These are the characteristics of a church that does the works of Jesus. These are the characteristics of a church that turns the world upside-down.

Ask yourself this question: Can Jesus use me to do his works? The answer lies not in asking questions like “am I talented enough?” or “am I smart enough” or “am I spiritual enough?” or “do I have the right kind of personality?”

It lies in one simple question: Do you believe?

Do you believe that Jesus really did all of the things recorded in the Gospels? Do you believe He has the power to do these things today? Do you believe that the Holy Spirit given to you at Baptism and poured our upon you at Confirmation really empowers you? Do you believe that the church should be turning the world upside down today?

Do you believe?

Christian belief is not simply agreement or acceptance of the mind. It is also the openness and trust of the heart. I pray that this day you would truly believe all that Christ promised. I pray that this day you may know and feel that the power that raised Christ from the dead dwells in you today. I pray that you may “fan into flame” the gift that was given you by the laying on of hands at Confirmation. But most of all, I pray that you and I, as living members of the Body of Jesus Christ, might once again turn the world upside-down.