“The Kirk of Jesus
Christ”
Acts
4:5-12
May 3, 2009
What kind of church has
God called us to be? Which values provide the framework for how we approach those
who are different from us as well as the wider world? Will we be agents of harm or
healing?
This morning I’d like
us to consider how both a timeless story and a timely cultural phenomenon provide us with
a guideline for how to be “The Kirk of Jesus Christ.”
Please listen for how the
Spirit is addressing us this morning through God’s word found on page 113 of your pew
Bibles from the Acts of the Apostles chapter four verses five through twelve….
The next day their rulers,
elders, and scribes assembled in Jerusalem, with Annas the high priest, Caiaphas, John,
and Alexander, and all who were of the high-priestly family. When they had made the
prisoners stand in their midst, they inquired, “By what power or by what name did you
do this?” Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Rulers
of the people and elders, if we are questioned today because of a good deed done to
someone who was sick and are asked how this man has been healed, let it be known to all of
you, and to all the people of Israel, that this man is standing before you in good health
by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the
dead. This Jesus is
‘the stone that was
rejected by you, the builders;
it has become the
cornerstone.’
There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given
among mortals by which we must be saved.”
This is God’s word to us…
The late nineteen sixties
can be remembered for many things, but for a die-hard group of people known as Trekkies;
those years marked the Genesis of Star Trek. This same group of people, probably a
number of you in attendance today, will see a new future unfold as a new Star Trek movie
hits the big-screen this week and it’s an “origins” film.
In case my estimate of how
many Star Trek fans are actually in worship today, let me give the rest of you a little
history so that you won’t be too lost. “Star Trek” debuted on NBC in
September 1966 and nothing quite like it had been seen before. Created by Gene
Roddenberry, who’d flown B-17 bombers in WWII, the show took the old trope of a
multiethnic military unit and spliced it into the most optimistic science fiction scenario
imaginable. It was upbeat and starry-eyed—a 180 degree turn from the paranoia
and specter of nuclear apocalypse of the 1960s.
“Star Trek”
posited that by the 23rd century, humanity would put aside warfare. The human race
would band together to form an interstellar “Federation,” exploring planets on
humanitarian missions in giant conveyances called “starships.” One of
these starships, the Enterprise, was under command of James T. Kirk. Of course, it
wasn’t all peace-signs and love-fests, as “Star Trek” allowed viewers to
continue indulging a fear of “the other” in the form of warmongering aliens like
the bearded, swarthy, nastily imperialistic Klingons, 23rd century stand-ins for the
Soviets.
Fast-forward to the
eleventh Star Trek movie coming out this Friday which goes back to the time when Captain
James T. Kirk was a young man, enrolling at Star Fleet Academy. Far from being
captain of a starship, Kirk just barely makes it onto the Enterprise for its inaugural
journey into space. Then, when the ship’s captain is forced to step down,
it’s Spock who’s left in charge—with Kirk as his assistant. For
die-hard Trekkies, this role reversal will take some getting-used-to. Still, the
film promises to be a summer blockbuster, and movie-goers will no doubt enjoy seeing all
their favorite characters; the close-knit futuristic community; the sense of idealism and
adventure; the desire to boldly go where no one has gone before….
When Christians want to
explore the origins of the church, there’s no better place to turn than the Acts of
the Apostles. This New Testament book contains stories from the earliest days of the
Jesus-movement, with well-known characters like Peter, John, Stephen, Paul, Philip and
Lydia. Much like the new “Star Trek” movie, Acts is a book of origins,
including the events that launch the greatest spiritual adventure of all time.
In Acts chapter four, the
future begins with a show-down between the apostles and the Jewish council in Jerusalem.
This text marks the first break from Judaism for the earliest followers of Jesus.
Peter and John have just healed a lame man “in the name of Jesus Christ of
Nazareth” (3:6), and have begun to preach about the resurrection (4:2). The
leaders of Jerusalem arrest them and then have Peter and John stand before the council in
a kind of pretrial hearing. The council felt threatened by the power of their
healing and preaching and so asked them through what means they were able to accomplish
such things.
“Rulers of the people and elders,” proclaims a
Spirit-filled Peter, “let it be known to all of you, and to all people of Israel,
that this man is standing before you in good health by the name of Jesus of Nazareth”
(4:8-10). Empowered by the Holy Spirit, Peter boldly goes where no one has gone
before—proclaiming the healing and saving power of the name of Jesus before the elite
of Jerusalem.
Peter makes it clear that he and his fellow apostles are on a
mission of healing and not one of harm. He begins by talking about the “good
deed done to someone who was sick.” Then he speaks the truth that it is through
Jesus Christ that the man was made well. Peter doesn’t hide the source of his
power, but is honest about where the power to heal came from.
Then Peter reminds the leaders that “Jesus is ‘the stone
that was rejected by you, the builders, [and] has become the cornerstone.’”, but
he does so in a way that shows them a new path by inviting them to follow in the way of
Jesus, too. Note here, that Peter corrects the council without condemning them, or
in Star Trek parlance he gives the order to “set phasers on stun.” Peter
gives his opponents a way to turn themselves around through Jesus; which is probably what
we should be doing too—giving people a way to follow Jesus.
Fans of Star Trek might think Peter’s conflict resolution style
resembles that of Captain Kirk’s. Jim Kirk’s “mission” after
all, “was to explore the final frontier, not to conquer it. Week after week,
[Kirk and the crew of the Enterprise] confronted the specters of intolerance and
injustice, and week after week found a way to defeat them without ever becoming them.
Jim Kirk may have beat up his share of bad guys, but you could never imagine
him” becoming whatever evil or wrong he confronted.
Both the apostle Peter and Captain Kirk were on a mission to heal,
not harm. They spoke the truth and were honest in their beliefs. They
corrected people without condemning them and always gave their adversaries an opportunity
to turn themselves around. We could do worse than to look to James T. Kirk as a
cultural model for faithful Christian outreach. Perhaps it is no mistake that Gene
Roddenberry made the captain’s last name “Kirk”—which is the
Scottish-English word for “church.”
So what would it mean for us to be the Kirk of Jesus Christ today;
to be a church with a message of healing and hope? To reach out with a sense of
idealism and adventure; to boldly go where no one else has gone before?
We have to begin with a desire to heal and not harm. This
means doing good by people who are sick, hungry, homeless, abused and neglected.
Author Donald Miller tells the story of a friend named Andrew, who feeds the homeless on
Saturday mornings. Andrew sets up a portable kitchen on a sidewalk and makes
breakfast for people who live on the streets. He serves coffee to his homeless
friends, and talks with them and sometimes prays with them.
“All great Christian leaders are simple thinkers,” writes
Miller. “They actually believe that when Jesus says ‘feed the poor,’
he means you should do this directly. Andrew is one who taught [Donald Miller] that
what he believes is not [always] what he says he believes.” What we believe is
what we do. Feed the hungry. House the homeless. Heal the sick.
Often, actions do speak louder than words.
It’s also important for us to be clear about Jesus as the
source of our power. We are not free-lance do-gooders or independent charitable
contractors; we are ambassadors of Christ. Our effectiveness comes from our
connection to Christ and this is nothing to cover up or feel embarrassed about disclosing.
We should be as bold as Peter who proclaimed, “Let it be known to all of you
… that this man is standing before you in good health by the name of Jesus Christ of
Nazareth” (4:10).
Finally, in our quest to be the Kirk of Jesus Christ, we are
challenged to correct our opponents without condemning them, and to present the truth of
our faith in a clear and compelling way. Peter concludes his speech to the council
with the words, “There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under
heaven given among mortals by which we may be saved” (4:12).
These are strong words that may seem offensive to some and
overpowering to others, but there is a nuance in the original Greek that is lost when it
is translated into English. The word for “saved” at the very end of this
verse can also be translated as “healed.” So, in effect, what Peter is
saying is that there is no other name under heaven by which we must be healed.
In all of the various Star Trek creations the underlying mandate to
heal and do no harm comes from something called the “Prime Directive, which
stipulates that humanity should observe but never interfere with other cultures,” in
other words, they were to convey their values through a “ministry” of presence
and not through enforcement or occupation. This did not however, stop Jim Kirk and
other Starfleet members, when asked by some alien being, from sharing their own form of
gospel that worked for the healing of the universe.
So what is our “Prime Directive”? As Christians who
are Presbyterian we have the Bible and our Constitution, within part two of our
Constitution we have a mission and vision statement that guides us as we seek to bring
healing and wholeness to our community of faith and the wider world. This
Presbyterian “Prime Directive” is known as the Great Ends of the Church, they
are the proclamation of the gospel for the salvation of humankind; the shelter, nurture
and spiritual fellowship of the children of God; the maintenance of divine worship; the
preservation of the truth; the promotion of social righteousness; and the exhibition of
the Kingdom of Heaven to the world.
These six statements have been at the center of Presbyterian mission
and ministry for nearly one hundred years; they and Scriptures like Jesus’ Great
Commandment and Commission can helps us all in our mission of bringing healing and
wholeness to this broken world.
Movie director J.J. Abrams was drawn to the latest Star Trek project
because he believed in its message of close-knit community, idealism and adventure.
He told Entertainment Weekly (October 24, 2008): “I think a movie that shows people
of various races working together and surviving hundreds of years from now is not a bad
message to put out right now.”
Abrams speaks more truth than he knows, as the world surely needs a
message of healing and hope, a message we receive as we gather at the communion table
where the people of God will come from east and west and from north and south, empowered
with a sense of adventure and a challenge to go where no one has gone before as the Kirk
of Jesus Christ in ministry and mission.
Amen.
SOURCES:
Daly, Steve. “We’re All Trekkies Now.” Newsweek, May
4, 2009.
Jensen, Jeff. “Star Trek: New movie, new vision.” Entertainment
Weekly, October 24, 2008. Ew.com
Miller, Donald. Blue Like Jazz: Nonreligious Thoughts on Christian Spirituality.
Nashville: Thomas Nelson, Inc., 2003.
Moore, Ronald D. “Mr. Universe.” September 18, 2006.
Nytimes.com
