"What do you need?" | Donovan Drake preaching | 04.26.26

"What do you need?" | Donovan Drake preaching | 04.26.26

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:03

On Easter Sunday, we heard the story of the sad one who thought he was the gardener, but then there was something in the way he said her name, Mary, and suddenly it was Easter. I have seen the Lord. The next Sunday it was Thomas who said, I'm not going to believe anything unless I put my finger in the marks of his hands and my hand in his side. And when he received the opportunity, well, I've seen the Lord. Suddenly it's Easter. Last Sunday, two people looking sad, heading for nowhere, and then they're met by a stranger. And then when he took bread and broke it, their eyes were opened, and it suddenly was Easter. They had seen the Lord. The last three Sundays are all familiar Easter passages. But what we're about to read from is Acts chapter 2. And Acts chapter 2 isn't Easter. It's Pentecost. We're not supposed to read Acts chapter 2 until 50 days after the resurrection. Acts chapter 2 is when the people were all gathered in one place and suddenly there was that rush of wind and the fire, and everybody started speaking in tongues, but everybody could understand one another. Peter interprets for the crowd what's happening, and people are cut to the heart, repent and be baptized, and boom, 3,000 people are added to the rolls. Pentecost. So why a Pentecost text for the fourth Sunday of Easter? We're supposed to be talking about people who have seen the risen Lord. Unless the lectionary is saying that while there was a handful of history-making people like Mary and the disciples who got to see the risen Lord face to face, since the time of Pentecost, the encounter of the risen Lord has been found in the word made flesh, in the body of Christ. In other words, Easter has dawned on me and has dawned on you, because we have seen the risen Lord in one another. So Acts chapter 2, verses 42 through 47, hear the word of God. 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 through the apostles. All who believed were together, and all had all things in common, and they would sell their possessions and goods and distribute the proceeds to all as any had need. And 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 good will of all the people. And day by day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved. The word of the Lord. All who believed were together, 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 the Lord added to their number those who would be saved. Salvation comes in many forms. What do you need? I need you to pick me up. Salvation. What do you need? I need you to forgive me. That's salvation. What do you need? Well, I need you to figure out how to cut off my water. That's salvation. What do you need? I need to know where to turn. Salvation. What do you need? I need you to listen. That's salvation. Salvation is an eternal thing. We talk about it for years. Salvation is that you were an answer to prayer. We'll talk about that for years upon years. Salvation is discovering that you have a life. It's been an interesting week for me. It started with a staff staff retreat up at Cullen Douglas's tree houses up on the plateau. If you've not been there, Cullen's got all these brand new tree houses. They're beautiful and they have a beautiful scenic view. You should go up there and tell them I sent you. I'm working on a free night stay with him. But the staff was all gathered there in one place, and our icebreaker was to share our call stories. Well, I'm still formulating my call story. I went to seminary and I wasn't sure why I was going to seminary. I couldn't see my future in the church, mostly because I was a pastor's kid and my past was in the church, and I didn't see my future as being working in the church, but I was married. I needed some employment, and the call process through the presbytery kept marching me through ordination. And sure enough, I remember kneeling on the floor of the first Presbyterian church in Morgan, North Carolina, a strange new place, and the only thing familiar was my father who had his hands upon my shoulder, and then a bunch of strangers who had their hands upon my shoulder, and suddenly I was ordained. I remember getting out of my car in the parking lot and looking up at the tall steeple of the church, a bright steeple against a blue morning sky, and I remember saying a prayer. Lord help me in this. Help me in this calling because if this doesn't work, I don't know what I'll do. I can remember for months seeing people come Sunday after Sunday to church, and I wondered why on earth they were sitting in hard pews, listening, praying. You would think you would think I would have had that answer before I became ordained. Here's how the question is getting answered. Because it's been an interesting week for me. A few days ago I sat across a table from a woman who is planning her ex-husband's funeral service. Usually when a woman is planning her ex-husband's funeral service, it's called premeditated murder. But this occurrence was love. Ex-husband, because uh he was an alcoholic. Died an alcoholic, lived, she did, some forty-six years with an alcoholic. She had to get out because it was like being with a drowning man, and a drowning person will take you down. Salvation looks like getting your life back. Salvation looks like celebrating a life of a man who died because of an addiction. She told me he was a traveling salesman, selling lines of jewelry to jewelry stores all around the south. But he was more than traveling salesman, he was a conveyor of information. He could say to owners of jewelry stores who are struggling, hey, have you tried this? I saw this work down in Tuscaloosa. You might want to try this. Salvation comes like a net, a network of people who are just trying to make a living. Maybe maybe you could try. Well, he was more than a network, he was he was a friend. The stone the store owner would say, Hey, there's nowhere for you to stay in this town. Why don't you just come and stay with us? Invite in the stranger. He was a friend. And a friend is someone who says, if you ever need some help with that, if you ever need someone to get you there, i if you never if you ever need an ear to hear, if you ever need, if you ever need, if you ever need, that's what friends say. This woman who sat across the table from me said I was surprised that after he died, I received all these notes from people all over the South saying how touched they were by his life. You know, no one ever grows up saying I want to become an alcoholic. It kills people who are made in the image of God. There across the table from me was a woman who knew that. And there across the table from me was a love that bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. And I have seen the Lord. It's a calling. It's what I need. What do you need? It's been an interesting week for me. I received word this week that Cardi Davis was not long for this word, world. Cardi, a tall and distinguished man who would sit right there. I remember visiting him years ago after he had a leg injury over at Richland Place. I expected to walk in and see him miserable because that's how I would be, you can ask my wife. But Cardi was a mover and shaker in this world, and I just assumed that a mover and shaker who had an injury and stuck in a room would not be a happy person. But when I came into the room, he smiled broadly, and that Cardi smile welcomed me in, and then told me how grateful he was for the church. That's a gift. And I have seen the Lord. I left that place feeling better than when I came. He healed me there. It's what I needed. This week when I visited him, he didn't welcome me in. For after all, he was not long for this world. I leaned over his bedside and I said his name. And then I said, The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside the still waters, he restores my soul. He leadeth me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake, and yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil. Have you ever seen someone receive a word? Like it's just what they needed. I have this call and I'm I'm and I'm trying to work it out. It's been an interesting week. On Thursday I took that candle and brought it up here and put it in the chancel because we were going through the face stories of the new elders coming on board. You pray and you ask the spirit to show up, and the spirit shows up, and it's something. He said, That's okay, I know how to change a flat tire. He opened the trunk and then realized that he was used his jack to prop up a sink at home for a home project. And just at that moment, a van, a pool van, a pool repair cleanup van showed up, and three strangers got up. And one of them said, Sir, you're so nicely dressed. Let us change your tire. He said, Listen, if the if the rolls had been reversed and they were stuck, I would not have stopped. I would have kept going. He said, after they were finished, I tried to offer them money. Money is not what they needed. They needed to share that they had seen the Lord. And because of that moment, that young man was in the chancel telling a story of faith. Telling about some good word. And I have seen the Lord. It's like Pentecost. And the next day I'm doing a puzzle with John at the desk, and uh one of the elders who was there last night taps me on the shoulder and says, Last night was fabulous.

SPEAKER_00 15:24

It was just what I needed. This word of God that shows up in people.

SPEAKER_01 15:40

And I have seen the Lord. 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 had any 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 good will of all people. And day by day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved. In this crazy world, it's just what we need.