Sunday April 26, 2026

Risen Power

We have arrived at the final week of our series called Risen. On Easter we talked about hope. Mary went to the tomb weeping, and the risen Jesus met her in her grief. The following week we talked about peace. The disciples were hiding behind locked doors, and Jesus appeared among them and spoke peace into their fear. Last week we talked about purpose. Two disciples on the road to Emmaus, walking away from Jerusalem, dejected. Jesus joined them on the road, opened their eyes at the breaking of bread, and sent them running back.

This week we turn to power. And it lands on Confirmation Sunday. That is not an accident.Pastor Joel opened with a story from 2013. He was a Private in the Missouri Army National Guard, part of an aviation unit stationed at Whiteman Air Force Base. He had missed the cutoff for deployment to Afghanistan by a month, so he was part of the rear detachment.

The unit held an annual wellness exam. Doctors, nurses, and dentists came from across the state. When the Lieutenant needed someone to sponsor them onto base, he picked Joel. So he did. He sponsored everyone who came through for that event.

The event went off without a hitch. Afterward, he and a few buddies asked to be dismissed early. None of them knew what the implications were. They changed into civilian clothes and went to the movies.

They had just sat down to watch Last Vegas when his phone rang. His Sergeant was in a full panic. Joel was told to call the Base Command Line and report to the Police Command Station immediately. When he walked in, the Base General and two full-bird Colonels were waiting in the foyer. Armed guards appeared out of nowhere and did not leave his side. The base had been on total lockdown for several hours. No one had been permitted to leave.

One of the people he had sponsored onto base had been arrested on the tarmac with their vehicle pointed toward restricted facilities, their phone recording the entire ordeal. A live video feed was being sent to a One-Star General to determine whether to authorize lethal force. Rounds were live. K-9 units were ready to release. The base had reached its highest alert level since September 11. President Obama was briefed on the situation.

And Joel was at the movies. Because his ID was tied to that person, he was held responsible. He was charged with a military crime: failure to obey a lawful order. The Army sent its best lawyers for the trial. Joel was not invited. The case was dismissed. Why? Because even though his ID was tied to that person, he had never signed a form accepting responsibility for their actions. A clerical error saved him from Leavenworth.

He was given responsibility he was not ready for. And he was not given the power to handle what came with it. But the risen Jesus does not operate that way. He does not give responsibility without power. When Jesus ascended to the right hand of the Father, the first thing he did was pour out the Holy Spirit on his people. The disciples were not set up to fail. They were equipped.

Peter preaches in Acts 2 to a crowd in Jerusalem. Many of them had been there when Jesus was crucified. Some had called for it. Peter does not soften the message: "This Jesus God raised up, and of that all of us are witnesses."

Then comes verse 33: "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 both see and hear."

Three movements in one sentence. Jesus is exalted to the right hand of the Father. He receives the promised Spirit. And then he pours it out. The Spirit is not held back or rationed. It is poured out extravagantly.

Notice who received it. Peter had denied Jesus three times. The disciples had scattered when soldiers came to the garden. They hid behind locked doors after the crucifixion. They were not ready. They were not qualified. But Jesus poured out the Spirit anyway.

The same Peter who could not admit to a servant girl that he knew Jesus is now standing in the middle of Jerusalem, in front of hostile crowds, declaring that God raised him from the dead. Something changed. And that something was not a new strategy or better preparation. It was the power of the Holy Spirit, given by the risen and exalted Lord.

A clerical error saved Joel from Leavenworth. He was given responsibility without power. When things went wrong, he had no resources to handle it. But Jesus does not hand us a calling and walk away. He pours out his Spirit on everyone he sends.

Confirmands, you are about to step into something bigger than you know. But you are not alone. You are not unequipped. The power of the risen Christ goes with you.