Monday, July 28, 2025  

Today's Scripture
Acts 2:22–36

“Fellow Israelites, listen to what I have to say: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with deeds of power, wonders, and signs that God did through him among you, as you yourselves know — this man, handed over to you according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of those outside the law. But God raised him up, having released him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for him to be held in its power. For David says concerning him,

‘I saw the Lord always before me,
for he is at my right hand so that I will not be shaken;
therefore my heart was glad, and my tongue rejoiced;
moreover, my flesh will live in hope.
For you will not abandon my soul to Hades
or let your Holy One experience corruption.
You have made known to me the ways of life;
you will make me full of gladness with your presence.’

“Fellow Israelites, I may say to you confidently of our ancestor David that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. Since he was a prophet, he knew that God had sworn with an oath to him that he would put one of his descendants on his throne. Foreseeing this, David spoke of the resurrection of the Messiah, saying,

‘He was not abandoned to Hades,
nor did his flesh experience corruption.’

“This Jesus God raised up, and of that all of us are witnesses. Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you see and hear. For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he himself says,

‘The Lord said to my Lord,
“Sit at my right hand,
until I make your enemies your footstool.” ’

“Therefore let the entire house of Israel know with certainty that God has made him both Lord and Messiah, this Jesus whom you crucified.” (NRSVUE)

Reflection

I began my college years in the early days of laptops. Mine was so heavy that I would often forgo bringing it to class, opting instead for a spiral notebook and pen. The problem was that my notoriously cryptic handwriting could not keep up with some of my professors’ lectures. I can go back and look at one such notebook even now and see the feverish pace at which I tried to write while a certain professor droned on about political history, and can then detect where my pen made a precipitous vertical mark where I likely dozed off after an hour of trying to keep up. The words, though informative, could not compel my attention.

I almost get a bit of that feeling attempting to follow Peter’s sermon here in Acts. But what keeps me engaged is that Peter is doing more than pontificating. He’s ultimately telling a story. It’s a story about who Jesus was, told by narrating his life, death, and connection to the fervent hope of past heroes of faith like King David.

The way we tell a story makes all the difference. When I was younger, I thought of Christian faith as the pursuit of timeless truths, almost in a formulaic way. Where could I find the E=mc² of spirituality? How could Christian faith help me unlock the secrets of a successful life or the pursuit of a just and loving society?

What you begin to notice in Peter’s words is that a gospel refuses those forms. Instead, a gospel testimony draws us into a story that unfolds around us and that invites our participation, our adding of a verse as Walt Whitman might put it, to the cosmic drama. What story will you dare to tell with your faith?

Prayer

Holy One, Word made Flesh, help us tell with boldness the story of your love. Give us the power to speak that story with our whole lives. Amen. 

Written by Joseph L. Morrow, Associate Pastor

Reflection and Prayer © Fourth Presbyterian Church

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