Times of Refreshment

Text: Acts 3:12-19
Theme: “Times of Refreshment”
3rd Sunday of Easter
April 22, 2012
First Presbyterian Church Denton, Texas
Rev. Paul R. Dunklau

+In the Name of Jesus+

12 When Peter saw this, he said to them: “Fellow Israelites, why does this surprise you? Why do you stare at us as if by our own power or godliness we had made this man walk? 13 The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified his servant Jesus. You handed him over to be killed, and you disowned him before Pilate, though he had decided to let him go. 14 You disowned the Holy and Righteous One and asked that a murderer be released to you. 15 You killed the author of life, but God raised him from the dead. We are witnesses of this. 16 By faith in the name of Jesus, this man whom you see and know was made strong. It is Jesus’ name and the faith that comes through him that has completely healed him, as you can all see. 17 “Now, fellow Israelites, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did your leaders. 18 But this is how God fulfilled what he had foretold through all the prophets, saying that his Messiah would suffer. 19 Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord.

Today's message is about refreshment. More particularly, it's about the refreshment of the soul or spirit.

I like refreshments. Most of the time we think about food or drink. There's some event or get-together that we attend, and we are told that refreshments will be served. Take the prefix and the suffix off of the word refreshment, and right smack dab in the middle is the word fresh. What's the opposite of the word fresh? Stale. Someone asks: "Would you like a slice of bread?" You say: "Sure." Someone else says: "Why not try a slice of freshly-baked bread?" I mean, bread is bread, but do you want just bread or freshly-baked bread?

This morning, I'm talking to you under the assumption that everyone agrees that there are three parts to who we are as individuals -- and maybe even as a group: body, mind, and spirit. All three -- it's safe to say -- require refreshment, or they become stale. Your body needs refreshment, usually in the form of food and exercise, or it atrophies. Your mind needs refreshment, and that requires it to be open to receive and absorb new information. If not open, then closed. If closed, then closed-minded. Without refreshment for the mind, you end up with people who think they've got it all figured out. Needless to say, that has created a host of problems in world history.

But what of refreshment for the spirit? Without spiritual refreshment, we're basically left to ourselves. And, at least in my experience, the self cannot stand the strain of playing God. To use the Biblical language, a soul that is not refreshed is "disquieted" or "downcast". "Why are you downcast, O my soul?" asks the psalmist. In modern lingo, this staleness -- this notion of a disquieted or downcast soul -- is often understood as depression. Depression is often a matter of anger turned inward. Depressed people would tell you that their whole existence seems stale.

There is evidence that the soul itself can be like a wild horse. It would shun the bridle and bit. The spirit desires to run free. With any and all constraints removed, the spirit feels refreshed. Do you want to know about one of the great energizers of the soul? Notice, I said it is an energizer. I didn't say it was a refreshment. The energizer of soul that I speak of is called resentment. Resentment fires up the pistons of the soul, and it makes us think, say, and do many things. It insists that the soul lash out -- aggressively, or, at other times, in passive-aggressive ways. Another energizer is jealousy. Still another energizer is fear. If the soul runs on resentment, jealousy, and/or fear, it will feel energized.

But in the end, my friends, it burns out. It becomes stale, downcast, disquieted. Harboring resentments, jealousies, and fears appear to be delicious and refreshing to the soul. In actual fact, they are killers. This past week, I took some time off and went to Indiana to visit my two oldest daughters. Kiersten, who is twenty two years of age, and Caroline, who is twenty, are both autistic young adults. Kiersten was diagnosed, at a young age, with Aspberger's Syndrome. Caroline was diagnosed with Pervasive Developmental Disorder. The autistic diagnosis, once it sets in and is fully grasped, is a devastating one. Unmet expectations are simply resentments in embryonic form. I expected my daughter to be typical and normal children. But when the double diagnosis sank in, it most certainly gave birth to resentments, jealousies, and fears within me. But since then, something incredible has happened.

As I have observed them, I can say that they've been afraid at certain times. They have what some call separation anxiety, and they're afraid of change. But that whole resentment and jealousy thing is almost non-existent. They derive no spiritual energy from these things. It's almost as if resentment and jealousy are foreign to them. With Kiersten and Caroline, the autism has all but completely disabled the power of resentment and jealousy to eat their souls alive. And for that, along with many other things, I am so very grateful.

To quote Lou Gehrig, I, today, feel like the luckiest man alive. I have a wonderful wife, terrific children and stepchildren, a gregarious and happy little grandson, and an exquisite church family here at First Presbyterian. Along with that, I have two daughters who, without even knowing it, have become mentors. Autism notwithstanding, they have taught me that it is possible to live lives without being eaten up by resentment and jealousy. It may sound odd, but there are days when I wish I had a little autism.

So again, what is it that refreshes the soul? What is it that energizes the soul in a life-affirming and not a self-defeating way? In 1958, a downcast but energized soul bombed a building in the state of Georgia. It happened to be the largest Jewish synagogue in Atlanta. Nevertheless, on the first Friday evening after the bombing, at the Sabbath service, that shell of a building -- all boarded up with doors hanging on hinges -- was filled to overflowing. The rabbi stood up to speak. He saw a huge crowd -- a crowd unlike he'd ever seen before. After a few moments of gazing out over this large group, he quipped: "So, this is what it takes to get you to temple!"

Earlier, we heard about a similar scene taking place in the passage from Acts. The "big event" that drew the large crowd was not a bombing, however. It was the healing of a crippled beggar who, day in and day out, sat at the temple gate in Jerusalem begging and pan-handling for money. Peter and John, our Lord's disciples, didn't have any money for a handout that day. But what they did have they gave him. In the Name of Jesus, the crippled man was healed. And that, like rubber-necked motorists at the scene of an accident, drew a crowd. The event in itself was powerful enough, but only when the sermon was preached would the true meaning and whole truth emerge about what happened.

Before Peter's message, the crowd thought it was Peter and John that had done the healing. Even today, people like to believe that there are other people out there somewhere who hold the key, the solution, to everything that ails us. They have the right touch, the right prayer formula, the right technique, the right medications, the right plan of action, the right Bible study, the right wisdom to bring us great and lasting good. People will buy their CDs, attend their rallies, watch their programs, and read their books in the hope that they -- the enlightened ones -- might have the answers.

The apostle and disciple Peter spoke the truth to that pile of stuff that Bess Truman spent years trying to get Harry to call fertilizer. Getting the crowd's attention, he says: "Men of Israel, why does this surprise you? Why do you stare at us as if by our own power or godliness we have made this man walk? ... By faith in the name of Jesus, this man whom you see and know was made strong. It is Jesus' name and the faith that comes through him that has given this complete healing to him, as you all can see." When bodies, minds, and spirits are stale and not refreshed, any dramatic action -- and the healing of the crippled beggar certainly qualifies here -- will garner attention. But only when we interpret these events in the Jesus way will our spirits and souls find refreshment. Peter drew their attention to Jesus. He told the crowd, "You acted in ignorance, as did your leaders" (when you put Jesus to death). Ignorance -- like resentment, jealousy, and fear -- can, indeed, generate some energy and action. But our God, rich in mercy, worked the miracle of all even amid the ignorance. Through it all, as Peter remarked, "God fulfilled what he had foretold through all the prophets, saying that His Christ would suffer. Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord."

You want refreshment? You want a spirit forever young? Change your mind. Turn again to God. Believe that that last act of love of Jesus, when He was crucified on that cross, washes away the last vestiges of resentment, jealousy, and fear. Know that your destiny is glorious, for Christ is risen from grave and you get to ride along; you get to contribute a verse -- a verse of thanksgiving from a spirit that is truly refreshed.

Amen.