Highlighted Text: Acts 2:14a, 36-41

Summary of the text:

Setting the Context: After the introductory tag from 2:14a this week’s text begins with “therefore” in 2:36 (Greek oun, which is the second word in verse 36 in the Greek text), making it especially important to set the context for this passage, lest it seem as though a conclusion is being drawn ex nihilo. Remind the congregation that this is the conclusion of a lengthy address from Peter, and that the “therefore” stems from citations from Psalms 16 and 110 that prophesy of the resurrection and Lordship of Jesus.

Word Study: asphalōs: This adverb (rendered “with certainty” in the NRSV and lodged in the middle of verse 36) is emphasized in the Greek text by opening that verse. The etymological sense of the term, “not falling down,” is conveyed in a literal sense in the English cognate “asphalt.” This can be a useful image for conveying the certainty of the Lordship and Messiahship of Jesus, perhaps by working asphalt into the sermon title or by comparing the tentative steps one takes on wet concrete with the confident strides one can take on asphalt.

Both Lord and Messiah: What we know with this highlighted, italicized certainty is that God has made Jesus “both Lord and Messiah.” This can be an opportunity to develop nuances of different titles that Jesus bears in the New Testament. Maybe we are happy to have a Messiah, but we struggle with having Christ be Lord over our lives (cf. “Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I tell you?,” Luke 6:46). Or maybe we are happy to have Jesus as our Lord but we tend to spread out our hope for salvation into multiple messianic baskets, or we are uncomfortable with the suffering entailed in this particular redemptive plan (cf. Paul explaining “that it was necessary for the Messiah to suffer and to rise from the dead and saying, ‘This is the Messiah, Jesus whom I am proclaiming to you,’” Acts 17:3). It might not be possible to make a clean distinction between what each of these titles entails, but we can “with certainty” know that they are comprehensively fulfilled in Jesus Christ.

Confrontational Evangelism?
If I were teaching a preaching class and a student concluded a sermon by accusing the congregation of murdering Christ I would probably suggest a more tactful approach and a more uplifting ending (“Where’s the gospel here??”). And so when Peter wraps up his address with “this Jesus whom you crucified” (with the pronoun humeis adding some emphasis to the you), I expect a negative, defensive response from his hearers. And yet Peter’s cutting words are received more as scalpel than saber, with the crowd being “cut to the heart” by his convicting message. While I don’t know that this is sanction to breathe hellfire from the pulpit, it does serve as a reminder that a thoroughly anodyne message might not be what a congregation needs to hear. And it certainly warns against a “culture war” approach that pits a good “us” against a sinister “them.”

Protestant Divisions, in Utero: Peter’s response to the earnest Judean query as to what was to be done touches on several issues that would divide Protestants many centuries later: “Repent, and be baptized (in that order?) every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ (and the Father and the Holy Spirit?) so that your sins may be forgiven (is that forgiveness contingent upon the baptism as a means of grace?); and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit (are there particular signs accompanying this reception?). For the promise is for you, for your children (does that mean we should baptize them too?), and for all who are far away (even if they are too far away to hear the Church’s proclamation?), everyone whom the Lord our God calls to him (is this an indiscriminate call to everyone, a call to those whom God mysteriously elects, or a call to those whom God foresees will respond?). Any of these topics could be fruitfully developed and discussed in a sermon on this text, perhaps using the interpretive principle of analogia scripturae (the “analogy of the scriptures,” whereby clearer scriptures are used to interpret less clear scriptures). For instance, is “repent, and be baptized” or “the promise is…for your children” the more basic principle?—which is the clearer teaching that should guide the interpretation of the other? The phrase “everyone whom the Lord our God calls to him” could generate an especially interesting conversation with texts (like Romans 10:12, 1 Corinthians 1:2, and 2 Timothy 2:22) that speak of our calling out to God.

One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church: People are naturally drawn to Acts 2 as a locus for understanding the nature of the early Church, though their focus is usually either on the opening verses of the chapter, with the coming of the Holy Spirit, or the concluding section, with the nascent Christian community breaking bread together and sharing their goods with all according to their need. But this week’s portion of Peter’s speech also has some ecclesiastical connections. We can see in Peter’s response in verses 38-40 a glimpse of each of the Niceno-Constantinopolitan marks of the Church (one, holy, catholic, and apostolic). The Church’s holiness (being “set apart”) is seen in the call to be distinct from “this corrupt generation.” Catholicity (universality) is communicated in Peter’s reminder that the promise is also for their children and those who are far away (every time and place). We are reminded that the Church is one by way of the call for all to be baptized in the name of Christ (cf. Ephesians 4:5). And Peter’s evangelistic call itself reflects the Church’s apostolic mission.

“With Many Other Arguments”: I’m always a bit saddened when I reach the end of the Gospel of John and contemplate the “many other things that Jesus did” in his earthly ministry that John left out to ensure that his book wouldn’t become too unwieldy; it’s like discovering that Shakespeare’s mom threw out a folder of his sonnets, or that a box of Bach’s cantatas was misplaced in a move. I have a similar feeling when Luke tells us here that Peter also testified “with many other arguments.” Perhaps Luke knew that Theophilus had a limited attention span, or maybe these other arguments were repeated elsewhere in the book, but (while I trust that the Holy Spirit ensured that we would have the testimony that we need) it sure would be nice to have a full transcript of an address that led to the conversion of 3000 people. Christians at certain points in the Church’s history have been tempted to plug these holes with appeals to an unwritten apostolic tradition, but I think this is an impulse that is best to resist. Instead, acknowledging that not every action or every argument was recorded can be an exercise in being satisfied with the sufficient revelation that has been passed on to us, remembering that we are saved by grace through faith, and not by the comprehensiveness of our knowledge.

Save Yourselves?: Given how firmly established it is in Christian theology that humanity is incapable of saving itself, it’s a bit unsettling to come across the words “save yourselves” in Peter’s address. Sōthēte in verse 40 is a passive imperative, which sounds like a contradiction (shouldn’t a command necessarily be active?). Most translations eliminate the tension inherent in this passive imperative construction (“Be saved!”) by rendering it as a reflexive (“Save yourselves!”). Fortunately, there are multiple interpretive options available here to save the preacher from becoming a Pelagian. The context is not obviously soteriological, in the sense of eternal salvation—to save yourself “from this corrupt generation” could refer more to a temporal kind of “salvation” (as with the hope of being “saved” from a storm at sea in Acts 27:20). So the reference here could simply be a call to be “in but not of the world.” Or the passive construction could point to God as the One who effects all salvation, with the imperative communicating that we are to walk boldly into the salvation that God secures for us.

“This Corrupt Generation”: One of the lessons I came away with when I was a commissioner to the 2018 General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA) was that being “countercultural” meant entirely different things to Presbyterians living in different regions. Coming from fairly progressive California, I had mostly heard the word used to push back against aspects of that west coast culture that had become a bit too liberal; for those commissioners coming from the Bible Belt, being countercultural meant rejecting aspects of a very traditional, conservative social ethos. So—sort of counterintuitively—commissioners from California and Oregon tended to sound more conservative than those from Alabama and Tennessee, with all thinking they were being countercultural. In our current socio-political climate in America perhaps the one thing we can all agree on is that “this generation” (wherever we may live) is “corrupt.” We just can’t seem to concur on what constitutes that corruption. So when preaching on Peter’s counsel to “Save yourselves from this corrupt generation,” it is good to keep in mind that while every congregant might assent to the phrase with nods, they will likely have very different forms of corruption in mind—and that every generation from Peter until now has seen its own generation as corrupt. This situation may be acknowledged tacitly or explicitly (perhaps by reminding the congregation that no political, social, or economic system, and no ideology, aligns perfectly with Christianity.   

Darren Pollock is Pastor of Panorama Presbyterian Church (PCUSA) and Adjunct Assistant Professor of Church History at Fuller Seminary. A graduate of UC Davis (BA in classics), Princeton Seminary (MDiv), and Calvin Seminary (PhD in historical theology), he lives in Temple City, CA, with his wife Ashley, two young children Charlie and Carter, and step-cat Fanny.

Darren is the author of Early Stuart Polemical Hermeneutics: Andrew Willet’s 1611 Hexapla on Romans (Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2017). He has also been published in Jonathan Edwards Studies, Anglican & Episcopal History, and Word & World, and he contributed multiple entries to The Jonathan Edwards Encyclopedia (Eerdmans, 2017).

After Christ and his family, Darren most loves crossword puzzles and Scrabble, Zion National Park, good coffee, passion fruit, and the ascendant Sacramento Kings.

Calls to Worship

Psalms 18, 25, and 37 all contain elements that would be fitting as calls to worship accompanying this text. All three have references to “the Lord” (though this can be said of most psalms). Psalm 18 also has references to God’s promises and salvation, a reference to God’s anointed (which connects to the reference to Jesus as Messiah in Acts 2:36), and to haughty eyes and darkness (which can suggest “this corrupt generation” in Acts 2:40). Psalm 25 contains references to salvation and forgiveness. Psalm 37 has several references to sure footing, which can evoke the asphalōs of Acts 2:36.

Adapted from Psalm 18

Leader: The Lord is our rock, our fortress, and our deliverer, our God, our shield, and the horn of our salvation.

People: God delivers a humble people, but the haughty eyes he brings down. The Lord our God lights up our darkness.

Leader: This God—his way is perfect; the promises of the Lord prove true.

All: The Lord shows steadfast love to his anointed, to David and his descendants forever.

Adapted from Psalm 25

Leader: Lift up your soul to the Lord! Trust in God alone. May the God of our salvation lead us in his truth.

People: Good and upright is the Lord; therefore he instructs sinners in the way and leads the humble in what is right. May God turn to us and be gracious to us, relieving the troubles of our hearts, and forgiving all our sins.

Leader: All the paths of the Lord are steadfast love and faithfulness, for those who keep his covenant and his decrees.

Adapted from Psalm 37

Leader: Trust in the Lord, and do good; take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him, and he will act.

People: Our steps are made firm by the Lord, when he delights in our way; though we stumble, we shall not fall headlong, for the Lord holds us by the hand.

Leader: The mouths of the righteous utter wisdom, and their tongues speak justice. The law of their God is in their hearts; their steps do not slip.

All: The salvation of the righteous is from the Lord; he is our refuge in the time of trouble.

Prayer of Confession

O God,

whose will it is that all your children should be one in Christ;

we pray for the unity of your Church.

Pardon all our pride and our lack of faith,

of understanding and of charity,

which are the causes of our divisions.

Deliver us from narrow-mindedness,

from our bitterness,

from our prejudices.

Save us from considering as normal

that which is a scandal to the world

and an offence to your love.

Teach us to recognize the gifts of grace

among all those who call upon you

and confess the faith of Jesus Christ our Lord.

French Reformed Church 

Assurance of Pardon

Hear the good news! Who is in a position to condemn? Only Christ, and Christ died for us, Christ rose for us, Christ reigns in power for us, Christ prays for us. (Romans 8:34)

Leader: Friends, believe the good news of the gospel.

People: In Jesus Christ we are forgiven!

Benedictions

Beloved of God, go now in peace. Go to love. Go to serve.

Go with the unending blessing of the One, True, Living God

Father – Son – Spirit. Amen

Lisa Ann Moss Degrenia