Preached on April 19, 2026, Third Sunday of Easter, at First Presbyterian Church of Rolla. Based on Acts 2:14a, 36-41.
This year, I’m making an effort to preach texts other than the Gospel selection in the lectionary. During the season of Easter, the Gospel selections are largely the same every year. Last week was the story of Doubting Thomas, who I personally think gets a bad rap, and this week is the story of the road to Emmaus.
During most of the year, there is a complementary Old Testament reading, but in the season of Easter, the first lesson comes from the Acts of the Apostles. This helps us move beyond the empty tomb. Instead of just the fact of Jesus’s resurrection, as reported in the Gospel lessons, we have the story of the early church’s reaction to it. Initially, the twelve disciples and others who were close to the center of the movement stayed hidden for fear of the religious and civil authorities. But then on the Day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit came upon them, like the rush of a violent wind, like tongues of fire. They were empowered by the Holy Spirit and broke free of their fear.
As the Twelve spoke in diverse languages to those who were gathered outside, the crowd accused them of drunkenness. Then Peter, who seems so clueless throughout the Gospel accounts, preaches boldly. He opens the scriptures to the crowd. He quotes from the prophet Joel and from two Psalms of David to connect Jesus to the long history of God’s message to God’s people. He addresses Judeans, then all Israelites, then his brothers—an expansion of the notion of God’s family to encompass all humanity. This is the start of the great expansion of the church, from a dozen fearful Jewish men to a worldwide religion with all ethnicities and genders. Peter’s message is to those who are near, and those who are far away, both in space and in time.
Peter modeled his message on Jesus’s teaching on the road to Emmaus. As two followers of the Way were walking, a stranger joined them. But it turns out he wasn’t really a stranger, but Jesus. They didn’t recognize him—and how often do we fail to recognize Jesus when he shows up in our lives? “Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them the things about himself in all the scriptures.”
Jesus spoke to the disciples on the road in a way that they could understand. They were Jews hoping for a Messiah to lead their nation to freedom. Jesus was not that kind of Messiah, but was indeed anointed by God to institute God’s kingdom, which is different from earthly kingdoms. So, he had to speak to the disciples in a way that connected his life to the national story of the Jewish people.
In the same way, Peter spoke to the crowd that had gathered for the Day of Pentecost. That’s the Greek name for the festival known in Hebrew as Shavuot. It is one of the three pilgrimage festivals, along with Pesach (Passover) and Sukkot (the festival of booths). So observant Jews had come from all over the known world to celebrate at the Temple. We need to put ourselves in their frame of mind. They clung to the Temple as the literal dwelling place of God, the holiest place on earth. They hoped for a day when their nation would be restored. Into that hope, Peter preached about the last days, convincing them all that in fact the end of the age was upon them—and they missed it. That’s what led to their sorrow. That’s what cut them to their heart. They had been hoping for so long, and when the Messiah came, they missed it.
But the point I want to return to is that Peter spoke to them in a way that the crowd could understand. They needed to hear that God still treasured them as God’s beloved people. Peter had to connect Jesus’s Lordship to the prophets and the psalms so that they could accept his message of hope.
Modern society is not looking for a Messiah to re-establish God’s kingdom. And so, we need to speak to the needs of the people. We need to preach a message of hope to the hopeless, a message of GOOD NEWS, for that is what the Gospel is: good news.
So, what are the problems confronting Gen Xers like me, Millennials, and Gen Z like my kids? There are so many. Some of them, the church can do very little about, like the generational differences in wealth and home ownership. Some of them, we could perhaps influence through activism, like protection of the environment and reversal of climate change and habitat destruction.
But then there are the mental, emotional, and spiritual challenges that younger generations face. They have lost trust: trust in institutions, trust in leaders, trust in neighbors. One institution after another has failed them. Churches—not ours, thankfully, but enough other churches—have been harboring predators, or getting rich off their supporters, or both. Hypocrisy is rampant. Political leaders seem to think that rules are for the little people. Witness two congressmen, Eric Swalwell and Tony Gonzales, one Democrat and one Republican, who resigned this week due to accusations of sexual misconduct toward staff members.
When you don’t trust institutions and don’t trust leaders, it becomes harder to trust your neighbor. I barely know the people who live directly next to me, and really only know a couple of people in my neighborhood.
This social isolation leads to the next crisis: loneliness. The internet keeps us more connected than ever, but at the same time, we are more lonely than ever. In 2023, the Surgeon General issued a report indicating that half of all Americans are lonely. Loneliness leads to all sorts of negative health outcomes—physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual ailments.
One factor in loneliness is that people move more often and further away than ever before. Among my dad’s siblings, one stayed in his hometown, two moved about 80 miles away, and my dad moved across the country. But then in my generation, we all scattered to the winds—North Carolina, Ohio, Indiana, Missouri, Oklahoma. My kids are continuing the trend—Sam is in Rhode Island and Jesse is planning to move to Cleveland this summer. For the most part, we’ve all moved for the sake of our careers. In a changing world, you can either stay where you are and stagnate, or move away and thrive economically while suffering disconnection.
Honestly, there is a lot that the church can and should do about these challenges that younger generations face. Instead of preaching just about salvation and righteousness and sanctification, we should be preaching about community and connections. We should be telling the world that God’s family is characterized by deep relationships, the only antidote to loneliness.
So Peter gave his sermon, explaining that Jesus was the Messiah and connecting him to the prophets and the psalms. When the people realized that they had missed their chance to follow the Messiah, Peter gave the first altar call: Come forward and be baptized, and you will become part of Christ’s family.
According to the PC(USA) website:
In the Reformed/Presbyterian tradition, baptism is a sign and seal of God’s gift of salvation — the saving work already done for us in Jesus Christ. Through baptism, we respond to God’s gracious gift, offering our lives to God in service and entering into a covenant relationship with God as members of the body of Christ. Ordinarily, the sacrament of baptism takes place at the time of profession of faith, whether by oneself or by one’s parents or guardians. Either way, God chooses, calls, and claims us long before we can articulate our faith on our own.
We understand baptism to be an outward sign of something that has already happened to us. God has already claimed us, but baptism is an outward sign that we accept that claim.
Not only that, but also, through baptism, we connect to a specific community. Baptism is not supposed to be performed in a private service, except in extreme circumstances. Rather, it is supposed to be performed in the context of congregational worship. Just as the first Christians did, we are baptized because we have chosen to turn towards God. And in turning towards God, we turn towards one another.
That’s what repentance truly means. Usually, people associate repentance with people like Brother Jed. He has passed away, but his followers have continued his ministry. Basically, they travel to college campuses, set up in a public place such as the area in front of the library, and yell at passersby. “Repent!” they say. “You’re a bunch of filthy sinners! Stop sinning and accept Jesus into your heart!” Apparently, they believe that if they insult people enough, they will win converts. A ministry colleague once described that as inoculating people against the Gospel. If that’s what you think Christianity is, if that’s what you think the Gospel message is, if that’s what you think repentance is, why would you ever become part of a Christian community?
I believe that repentance is not a wholesale rejection of a former way of life. Rather, it’s a commitment to turn towards God, while simultaneously turning towards God’s people. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, and love your neighbor as yourself. That is repentance. And love should feel like love. It shouldn’t feel like someone yelling at you for being a sinner. It should feel like someone accompanying you as you grow into a better person. It should feel like someone welcoming you into a loving community.
We had an interesting discussion at Sacred Paths on Thursday. The topic of the day was Tiger Woods’s recent arrest for a DUI. We talked about addiction and sin. Addiction is terrible. The question is, what do you do when someone is suffering from it? We didn’t come to any conclusion, but let me tell you what I think. You allow natural consequences. You don’t punish someone, you don’t chastise them, you don’t tell them what to do with their lives. You simply love them, but without rescuing them from the consequences of their actions. Forgiving past harms does not mean tolerating present and ongoing harm. Sometimes the most loving thing to do is to do nothing.
But then sometimes, what someone needs is material support. Sometimes, someone needs to go to a place like The Mission. By the way, there is an event Thursday night at 5:30 at CrossRoads, a community conversation about homelessness and The Mission. Everyone is welcome. The Mission is a place where people learn how to thrive, and in that way, it is an expression of God’s kingdom. They don’t tolerate active addiction, but when someone is ready to get their life back on track, the Mission will help them on their path.
Or sometimes, someone needs a place like Russell House. It’s a place for women who have nowhere else to go when they are escaping a bad situation. They go and find community: people who will help them build a new and better life.
The story of the book of Acts is that when people come together and support one another, amazing things happen! The following chapters of Acts describe miracles and explosive growth. By turning towards one another and turning towards God, their lives were changed into something new and wonderful. This same potential is within us today, and within every group that seeks wholeness and loving community.
Our task is to call others to this kind of repentance. Christianity is not a list of rules that we use to chastise or shame or exclude others. It’s an attitude of love. It’s a call to turn towards God and find what is missing in your life. It’s a call to provide what’s missing in one another’s lives through a loving community.
One of the Great Ends of the Church is the proclamation of the Gospel for the salvation of humankind. My understanding of the Gospel is the good news that the kingdom of God is at hand, and that kingdom is universal human flourishing. My understanding of salvation is being made whole, so that you can flourish. So repent and be saved! Turn towards God and towards loving God’s people, and you will be made whole so that you can flourish. Share the Good News that God’s family is for everyone who desires a better life. Amen.