J.B. Phillips translated “The Acts of the Apostles” back in the early 1950’s and wrote something quite interesting in his preface to the translation.  “It is impossible to spend several months in close study of this remarkable short book…without being profoundly stirred and, to be honest, disturbed.”  Stirred because the factual account of the newborn church in action “without money, influence or power” reminds us that God is at work in the world!  Behind the scenes, and in spite of the enemy, God is drawing, wooing, winning, redeeming and transforming people.  His means are creative but His partners are always the same…people.  The accounts we’re going to study are not merely the Acts of the Holy Spirit, they are the Acts of the Holy Spirit through His apostles.  God has created us for coregency and we have a choice of whether or not to participate with Him.  The Apostles said “yes” to this opportunity and we are proof of the ongoing story.  Why did Phillips write that his study caused him to be disturbed?  Because as he considered church history, the state of his own Anglican Church in England and the state of many churches around the world, he saw little resemblance to the original.  He wrote of the young church that it was “vigorous and flexible, for these are the days before it ever became fat and short of breath through prosperity, or muscle-bound by over-organization.”  Of course JB was not suggesting that today’s church should be an identical replica of the Acts 2 description.  Such mimicry would not be true to the changes our culture has experienced and the various contexts of human expression.  However, a “vigorous flexibility” should in fact characterize the church’s ongoing ministry in the world.  Bowing to tradition and structure can be idolatry.  Refusing orthodoxy leads to heresy.  Interpreting what is descriptive (what they did), and what is prescriptive (what we should do), can be tricky sometimes.  The track record of the church historically is a bit disturbing on these matters for sure.  As we study Acts together I am both excited and worried.  Excited as JB was, to immerse ourselves weekly in these stories of our ancestral apprentices.  Worried because I wonder if I am ready for some “fresh wind and fresh fire.”  I do hope and pray that we will be both stirred and disturbed to the point of participation in God’s Mission.  I hope to see you Sunday for “Acts: The Story Continues.”