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I remember hearing Kervin give a Wednesday night Bible Study back when I served as a counselor for Sawyerville. Years later when I served as a minister in Greensboro, I asked Kervin to be one of our speakers for our Lenten Lunch series.
Kervin blew me and everyone else away with his talk. He told a simple story of how he experienced grace when in 2011 his home was destroyed by a tornado and leadership from Sawyerville, led by Leslie Manning, provided the resources to build him a new house. As Kervin put it, there was no expectation that Kervin would do anything, not even that Kervin would join The Episcopal Church. It was just an act of love. Thanks to that act of love, Kervin told us, he makes sure to share that love with others, even if it’s just with a smile, because you never know how that love will affect another person.
Kervin is one of the most humble of people I have ever met and, from my experience, would be the first to say he doesn’t understand everything. Having heard him speak and preach so many times, I’m not sure I can say I believe him. The reason that Kervin is able to come out of the pulpit making you feel like he just laid out an understanding of all of Scripture, is because he does what Jesus tells the Apostles to do in our reading from Acts today.
The Apostles want to know what’s going on. They think that this is the end of the story and that Jesus will finally restore the Kingdom of Israel to its rightful glory. They don’t really understand what is happening or even what is about to happen as Jesus ascends into Heaven, nor do they need to.
For Jesus, it’s not about how much they understood or how much they knew. Theirs was simply to spread the Good News, to share what they had experienced. That is where the power of the Apostles really came from. It wasn’t anything about themselves. It was about what they were telling from God.
It doesn’t matter who we are, what our education is, or how well we understand what is going on in the Bible or even the world around us. What matters is what we are called to do. We are called to simply deliver the Good News of the Grace each and every one of us has received from our Lord Jesus Christ. That is all we can do. That is all we are supposed to do.
The power in what we do and in what we say doesn’t come from our words or our actions. It comes from God, and God alone.
Just as Kervin tried to tell me, it doesn’t matter how skillfully or eloquently we talk. The power is in what comes from Jesus. The power isn’t in how we present it, but that we present it. That is all God is calling us to do.
If you are wondering how to reach out with the transformative power of God in this world, this is your answer: just do what Jesus tells you. Just go out and tell the story of how Jesus’ love and grace affects you.