Three Things
Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and to the other apostles, ‘Brothers, what should we do?’ Peter said to them, ‘Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ so that your sins may be forgiven; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you, for your children, and for all who are far away, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to him.’ And he testified with many other arguments and exhorted them, saying, ‘Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.’ So those who welcomed his message were baptized, and that day about three thousand persons were added. They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.
Awe came upon everyone, because many wonders and signs were being done by the apostles. All who believed were together and had all things in common; they would sell their possessions and goods and distribute the proceeds to all, as any had need. Day by day, as they spent much time together in the temple, they broke bread at home and ate their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having the goodwill of all the people. And day by day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved.
Acts 2:37-47
Look back and repent from your past.
Be baptized to represent your commitment for the present.
And you will receive the Holy Spirit into the future.
This is the simple and yet revolutionary foundation for the Church. We haven’t moved on yet, to not forget what happens to this diverse group that the Spirit called together on Pentecost.
We know that the early church was specifically called to be diverse because of what we learned last week. All those different languages, all those different places represented. They don’t go away after Pentecost. The early church is defined by its unique makeup of different people, from different places, races, classes, genders, and more. Paul later wouldn’t have had to write to the Galatians, “There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus” if the church wasn’t struggling to be a united community when there was both Jew and Gentile present. Both slave and free. Both male and female.
The forces around them didn’t want the Church to be this way. It’s easier and simpler to have uniformity and unanimity. The Roman Empire certainly wanted the rich to stay in their place, for unbalanced systems of slavery and subjugation to remain. To form a truly diverse community was as difficult then as it is today.
Because don’t you know, it’s extraordinarily difficult to maintain difference. Churches are an extraordinarily segregated place. Schools dependent on property taxes form stark lines between us and them. Most White people can’t name even a single Black friend.
And of course, diversity on it’s own doesn’t really solve the problems of the world anyway. We know this from the inadequacy that comes from the lips of White folk like myself when we excuse away deep racism by saying things like, “But I have Black friends/family/neighbors.” Simply being in proximity to people who are unlike us does not form a just world.
But it’s a place to start.
And we cannot forget that it is where the Church started. After the experience of Pentecost, after hearing Peter’s sermon found earlier in Acts 2, the group gathered had a very important question. What are we to do now? What are we to do because we don’t know what to do with this new community, this new Church, this body of Christ that is not just a reflection of one people or place.
Peter, with a directness that should give us great comfort, told them.
Repent. Be baptized. And receive the Holy Spirit.
Two thousand years later our orders have not changed.
We are still called to look back and repent, to turn more toward God.
To put it in the context of what I have witnessed this week, this is a particularly important step for White people like myself to not skip over. If confronted by racism, if called out on racist behaviors and tendencies, if there is recognition that something we have done is not correct, how do we respond? With repentance. Not with that phrase that is so easy to roll off our tongues, “But I’m not a racist,” but instead with repentance, with “I’m sorry. How can I change? How can I help?”
When we are willing to repent, willing to feel embarrassment and say we’re sorry, it helps maintain the bonds between us, even when it is difficult.
We are also still called to be baptized. Now, this is a direct and simple call, if you haven’t and want to be baptized, call me up. But also, baptism and remembering our baptism is simple a way of stating our commitment to the cause. Baptism is about placing ourselves under the authority of our Trinitarian God and seeking to be blessed and brought into a new community, a new family. So even if you’ve already been baptized, you can still affirm your baptismal commitment.
And we are called to receive the Spirit. This is maybe the most difficult of the three tasks Peter placed before the early church and us today. Because the Spirit leads us into places that we do not want to go. This little moment in Acts might trick us into thinking that following the Spirit leads us into peace and sitting together and singing kum by yah. Because it does look like this for a moment at the end of Acts 2. And yet, from here on out, the story goes on to be about conflict between people, the displeasure of the Roman Empire with this new Church, and how difficult it is to maintain this group for both Jews and Gentiles, slave and free, male and female.
We should not ignore how difficult it will be for us too.
Repent. Be baptized. Receive the Spirit.
We look to the witness of the early church to give us courage to face what we are called to today. We must repent and do the work of digging up the deep and ugly sin of racism. We must repent when we hurt one another, even inadvertently. We must be baptized and commit ourselves to a new family in Christ. Joining the Church might mean a betrayal of the roles and communities we have inhabited before. It’s difficult to be a citizen in the Kindom of God and also pledge allegiance to anyone else. We must continue to receive the Spirit for ongoing guidance. Wherever we are going, we need God with us.
Convicted by the Spirit and the words from Peter, the still-forming Church asked, “What shall we do?”
Do we have the courage to ask and hear the answers once again?