The Power of Solidarity (part one) (Acts 2:36-47) (May 31, 2026)
Location: Eden United Church of Christ
Date: May 31, 2026 (PAAM Sunday and Trinity Sunday, last
Sunday in AAPI Heritage Month)[1]
Scripture: Acts 2: 36-47
(joint) Sermon title: The Power of Solidarity (part one)
(revised, shortened)
I. Introduction: The Miracle of Hearing
Good morning.
Today is May 31, 2026, and our church and community meet at
a meaningful point. In the church calendar, it is Trinity Sunday. In the United
Church of Christ, it is PAAM—Pacific Islander and Asian American
Ministries—Sunday, bringing us to the end of AAPI Heritage Month. I would also
like to bring greetings to you from Eppie Encabo, the National Moderator of
PAAM-UCC. May our loving God continue to guide you and bless your
ministries.
Last Sunday, Pastor Jacki shared with us the "shock
and awe" of Pentecost: rushing wind, tongues of fire, and the birth of
the church. But the real miracle was not only people speaking in tongues. The
central miracle was God helping people hear and understand one another across
deep cultural and language differences. The Holy Spirit gave a divided world
power to lower its defenses, move beyond prejudice, and truly listen to the
particular "books" of each other’s lives.
Today, the wind has grown quiet, the fire has settled, and
Peter stands up to explain the message that has just shaken Jerusalem.
II. Standing Together and the Upside-Down King
If you look closely at Acts 2, there is a beautiful detail
that shapes everything. When Peter stands up to speak, he stands with the
eleven. He is not a solo act. He is part of a company of witness. These were
twelve ordinary people who work and struggle together.
Standing together, Peter retells Israel’s story. He points
to Jesus of Nazareth—a man whose ministry was marked by deeds, wonders, and
signs, yet who was handed over and crucified.
To show that this crucified Jesus is the center, Peter
brings together two ancient scriptures: Psalm 16 and Psalm 110.
By bringing these psalms together, Peter reaches his high
point in verse 36: "Therefore let the entire house of Israel know with
certainty that God has made him both Lord and Messiah, this Jesus whom you
crucified."
It is a great reversal. God chose to show divine power not
through empire, army power, or political influence, but through a crucified man
who defeated death. Through the resurrection, the world is turned upside down.
The one killed by state violence is now the Lord of salvation.
III. The Frightening Question and Our World Today
When the crowd hears this, scripture says they were "pierced
to the heart." Their sense of safety broke, and they asked the disciples
a frightening question:
"Brothers, what should we do?"
Why is that question frightening? Because these were already
faithful, religious people. They had come to Jerusalem for a holy festival;
their lives were organized and comfortable. Yet they suddenly realized their
ways of understanding society, politics, and religion were not enough. The
living God had opened their old ideas and called them in a new direction.
Like that ancient crowd, we have to look beyond the comfort
of our traditions and ask: What should we do?
As AAPI Heritage Month ends, we cannot ignore the
painful realities facing AAPI communities. Anti-Asian prejudice and hate crimes
in recent years have shown that racism is still built into our culture.
The label "Asian American"—started by activists in
1968 to build shared political power—covers over 50 ethnic groups speaking more
than 100 languages. Today, during the Call to Worship, we tasted one of
those 100 in Taiwanese. It is important for community, but a broad identity
can erase the stories and struggles of the most vulnerable.
When we break the data down by community, so that we can see
real people, the hidden unfairness becomes hard to ignore:
(1)
Poverty rates are much higher for particular 38%
among Hmong Americans, 30% among Cambodian Americans, and 18.5%
among Laotian Americans.[2]
the largest income gap of any racial group in the United States
(2)
40% of Hmong, Laotian, and Cambodian
populations do not complete high school.
(3)
31% of AAPI individuals reporting
employment discrimination, the highest of any group surveyed.
To see how deep these differences in history, nation, and
society run, we can look to a recent novel. Taiwan Travelogue by Yang
Shuang-zi, winner of the 2024 National Book Award for Translated Literature
in the U.S.[3]
and the 2026 International Booker Prize in the U.K.,[4]
explores these questions.
The novel is set in 1938, when Taiwan was a Japanese colony.
It follows Aoyama Chizuko, a Japanese novelist connected to colonial
power, and O Chizuru, her brilliant Taiwanese translator, who is
pressured to become like the people colonizing her. The novelist tries to
"help" her: she buys her a kimono and urges her to move to
Nagasaki instead of marrying a man chosen by her family.
But this raises a deep question: is the novelist a
generous friend, or is she pushing her own idea of freedom onto someone from a
different social place? The novel shows how translation can be both giving in
to empire and an act of quiet resistance.
My dear friends, we face the same pattern today.
Well-meaning people with power often try to "save" people on
the margins by forcing their own answers onto them. In doing so, they can
ignore historical wounds, nationality differences, and ethnic realities.
By the way, each chapter of Taiwan Travelogue begins
with a Taiwanese local dish or snack that is new to the Japanese novelist.
Today, during our concert, the refreshments may also amaze you—or surprise you.
When different cultures meet, uncertainty can feel stressful, but it can also
become part of a process of change. Food can become a small but powerful
teacher of openness.
We see something similar among the early Christians in Acts.
As they moved beyond familiar communities into unfamiliar places, they soon
faced arguments over kosher food, circumcision, Jewish identity, and what was
truly required for salvation—or to be a “real Christian.”
The crowd in Jerusalem was part of a system that crucified
love. When Peter proclaimed “Repent, and be baptized,” there were three
thousand of people changed their mindset that same day, joined the movement of
love and entered “the space, none has gone before.”
We are also part of the problem when our data, policies, and
assumptions erase our neighbors’ pain. Standing before the cross, our hearts
have to be pierced. What should we do?
Now, I am going to step aside, like the early disciples,
because we do not preach alone. Our senior pastor is coming up to share Part
Two of this message, based on the Gospel of John.
Let us keep our hearts open as the Holy Spirit dwells among
us. Amen.
[1]
PAAM Sunday 2026 worship materials, https://tinyurl.com/mw2xs8yb
[2]
https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/administration/eop/aapi/data/critical-issues/
[3] https://www.nytimes.com/2024/11/15/books/review/yang-shuangzi-taiwan-travelogue.html
[4] https://thebookerprizes.com/the-booker-library/books/taiwan-travelogue
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