The pastor was very frustrated. It was almost time for the worship service to begin and he couldn't get the microphone to work. He paced back and forth by the baptismal font and stewed and brewed. He tried everything he could think of. Finally, he said, "This blankety, blank microphone doesn't work."

At that precise moment, the head usher, who had gone to the master control box for the sound system, turned the switch to "on." The pastor's words were broadcast to the people.

The shocked congregation immediately responded, "And also with you."

Something like that is going on in our story today, except it isn't curses that are coming across loud and clear, but blessings. Peter preached to the Jews gathered around the crippled man he had just healed in the name of the Lord. This spontaneous, bold sermon was given in Solomon's portico just outside the temple in Jerusalem.

The inciting incident that gave rise to the loud and clear message of Peter was the healing of a man crippled from birth. This precipitating event shocked the crowd at the temple. Peter broadcast his sermon loud and clear to the shocked crowd.

Using the healing as a point of departure, Peter boldly preached the law and the gospel to those gathered around the healed man. He spoke of both the bad news and the good news. He minced no words about the sins of the people; but he announced the blessings of God on his people even louder. "You killed the Author of life," he said, "but God raised (him) from the dead" (Acts 3:15). He came through loud and clear about both the bad news and the good news.

The Bad News

The astonished crowd looked at the cripple jumping and walking on strong ankles that had never carried him before. Then they looked intently at Peter as he spoke. We pick up the story in verse 12 of Acts 3.

You Israelites, why do you wonder at this or why do you stare at us, as though by our own power or piety we had made this man walk? The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, the God of our ancestors has glorified his servant Jesus, whom you handed over and rejected in the presence of Pilate, though he had decided to release him. But you rejected the Holy and Righteous One and asked to have a murderer given to you, and you killed the Author of life....
-- Acts 3:12-15a

Let's look at this bad news. Let me paraphrase and summarize what happened.

First, Peter said, "You misread the power you see. You think we have done this act of healing. We haven't done it. God, the God of our fathers, has done this, but you have misplaced the authority behind what has been done here. We have no authority. The authority for what you've seen is Jesus, not us."

Second, "You handed Jesus over to Pilate and the secular authorities. You rejected Jesus who is the real authority for life. You missed God's authority. God's authority is firmly lodged in Jesus, his servant. The authority for life is in Jesus, not Pilate, not in your religious leaders, but in Jesus who is the Christ."

Third, "Because you missed the authority that resides in Jesus, you preferred a murderer to the holy and righteous one. Pilate gave you a choice of releasing one prisoner. You chose Barabbas, the murderer, over Jesus as the prisoner to be released. You condemned the one God glorified. You defied the authority of God in the Christ."

Fourth, "You killed the author of life. All of you have heard what happened a few weeks ago here in Jerusalem. Some of you were there and participated in crying out, 'Crucify him. Crucify him.' when Pilate asked what he should do with Jesus. Jesus is the author of life and you presumed to take away his life."

That's the bad news Peter pronounced on the crowd just outside the temple in Jerusalem. That message produced guilt in the crowd. This kind of guilt is appropriate. There can be no accepting of grace without accepting responsibility for what we have done. Real guilt is good as a precursor of forgiveness.

In our day, real guilt is often confused with false guilt. False guilt comes from feelings of inferiority. When you feel inferior, you will feel guilty, even when you aren't guilty. False guilt is healed by acceptance and affirmation. On the other hand, real guilt comes from self-centered and selfish actions based on illusions. Real guilt comes from breaking the moral laws of God. Real guilt is a signal we must turn from the way we are going and return to God. Real guilt is resolved by the good news of forgiveness.

The Good News

Peter said, "You killed the author of life, but God raised him from the dead. To this we are witnesses. And by faith in his name, his name itself has made this man strong" (Acts 3:15-16). In other words, the good news is that Jesus, the author of life, is alive. Healing and wholeness are available in his name. "Repent therefore, and turn to God so that your sins may be wiped out" (Acts 15:19). In other words, the good news is that sins can be forgiven and new life given to those who repent.

Jesus is the author of life. Authors have the rights of authorship over their books. If a man writes a book, he has control of it. It's his to change or throw into the trash. It's his to submit to a publisher. He has authority over the book, at least until the publisher has offered a contract for publication, and he has received and signed it. Then, the publisher has many rights over the book. The word "authority" means rights of authorship.

Jesus has rights of authorship over all things. That's what we mean when we say that he is the ultimate authority in life. The Gospel of John puts it this way: "All things were made through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What came into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people" (John 1:3). In other words, Jesus, the author of life, has authority over all creation.

Jesus, the author of life, heals. He healed the crippled man. In his ministry, he also healed the blind, the deaf, lepers, and people who were possessed by demons. Today, we pray to God through Jesus Christ for healing, believing that Jesus, the author of life and healer, can and does work through doctors and nurses and unknown ways to restore a person to health and wholeness. Today, Jesus, the author of life and healer, can cast out the demons of drinking, drugs, resentment, and hatred. Today, we believe that even when death comes to a loved one, Jesus gives victory over death by promising the resurrection from the dead to those who believe.

Jesus, the author of life, also wipes away sins from those who believe and repent. The specific reference in our story to this wiping away of sins probably comes from the practice in ancient times of writing on papyrus. The ink in those days had no acid in it. Therefore, it just laid on top of the papyrus and could be wiped away with a damp sponge. In the same way, the past sins of a person who repents can be wiped away by the Lord Jesus Christ and a person's future refreshed.1

Peter put it this way, "Repent therefore and turn to God so that your sins may be wiped out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord ..." (Acts 3:19-20). As in Peter's time, repentance means changing your mind. It also means more than just changing your mind; it means changing your life. The past is erased and the future refreshed when we truly repent.

First John 3:5 puts it this way: "... He [Jesus] was revealed to take away sins." The purpose of God sending his Son to earth is to wipe away our sins, giving us renewal for this life and victory over the ultimate power of death. Healing, wholeness, and forgiveness are all within reach through Jesus, the author of life.

We are called, not only to receive these gifts of grace from the author of life, but to witness to others about their availability. Peter puts it this way, "God raised him [Jesus] from the dead. To this we are witnesses" (Acts 3:15). Peter and all the apostles were eyewitnesses to the resurrection. Today, we are not eyewitnesses in the same sense as Peter and the others were, but we are called to witness to the ultimate truth that Jesus is Lord, that people may know the author of life and find wholeness and forgiveness in him. Someone just turned the power switch to the "on" position so that we too may declare the wonderful deeds of the author of life.

We began with the story of the frustrated pastor who didn't realize the power had been turned "on." Because the congregation was accustomed to hearing the pastor say, "The Lord be with you," they responded to what he said by saying, "And also with you."

That's the good news for you today.

"The Lord be with you." That means salvation comes to you through the author of life. That means healing, wholeness, and forgiveness comes to you in his name. When the Lord is with us, life has a purpose and a meaning. Life is renewed by the one who created it. Your life can be restored and refreshed by the forgiveness of your sins. All this comes to you by the assurance of the presence of God in this liturgical reminder of the presence of God. "Times of refreshing come from the presence of the Lord" (Acts 3:20).

That's also good news for the pastor who initiates this liturgical announcement. Pastors are people with sins just like yours. Pastors not only declare wholeness in Jesus' name, they need this refreshing wholeness restored over and over in their lives, too. They not only proclaim the forgiveness of sins through Jesus Christ, they need this refreshing forgiveness for their lives, too. They announce the good news in Jesus Christ. They also need to hear this announcement from the congregation.

Therefore, the liturgical exchange between pastor and people takes place every Sunday. The pastor says, "The Lord be with you." The people of God respond: "And also with you."