| Acts 5:27-32 "A Nice Safe Church" |
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| Written by Rev. Don Lee | |
| Saturday, 14 April 2007 | |
27 When they had brought them, they had them stand before the council. The high priest questioned them, 28saying, ‘We gave you strict orders not to teach in this name, yet here you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and you are determined to bring this man’s blood on us.’ 29But Peter and the apostles answered, ‘We must obey God rather than any human authority. 30The God of our ancestors raised up Jesus, whom you had killed by hanging him on a tree. 31God exalted him at his right hand as Leader and Saviour, so that he might give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. 32And we are witnesses to these things, and so is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey him.’ For Jesus’ disciples, his resurrection changed everything. They came from their darkened homes and assorted places of hiding; streaming into Jerusalem from places like Emmaus, Capernaum, and Nazareth. Instead of hushed tones and cryptic words, they boldly proclaimed the Good News, accompanied by acts of power! God’s love was preached; Sick people healed; lives changed; and the religious authority of the Sanhedrin challenged at every turn, all in the name of Jesus. So the Sanhedrin, the ruling body of the day had the Apostles arrested. With no leaders, the movement would soon die, they thought. They were wrong. Not only did these Apostles escape their captors; they returned to the scene of their crime and started a revival that would put even the likes of Benny Hinn to shame! Frustration and curiosity drove the members of the Sanhedrin to question them. “We gave you strict orders; so why are you doing these things?” Implied but not said, “Do you not know that we have power to release or crucify you …as well?” “We must obey God rather than any human authority,” came the response. Repeatedly arrested, beaten and threatened, the Apostles would return to the temple daily to proclaim the Good News of God’s love in Jesus Christ. Outraged by their continued defiance, the Sanhedrin wanted the Apostles dead. It was a Pharisee named Gamaliel who counseled restraint, and whose words are eerily prophetic: “If this plan or this undertaking be of human origin, it will fail; but if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them-in that case you may even be found fighting against God.” (v. 38-39), Let us pray: O God, keep our whole country under your protection. Wipe out sin from this land; lift it up from the depth of sorrow, O Lord, our shining light. Save us from deep grief and misfortune, Lord of all nations. Bless us with your wisdom, so that the poor may not be oppressed and the rich may not be oppressors. Make this a nation having no ruler except God, a nation having no authority but that of love. Amen. (Toyohiko Kagawa, a 20th century Christian from Japan) Question: WHAT IS AUTHORITATIVE IN YOUR LIFE? For the apostles it was simply this, “We are accountable higher to a power.” There are two dimensions to what Peter is saying to the Sanhedrin: Corporate and personal: 1st) The Corporate Dimension of Peter’s proclamation is that the Church is called to be God’s prophetic voice! Vs. 32, “And we are witnesses…” Despite it’s monarchy, Israel conceived of itself as a theocracy. A nation ruled by God. God was speaking through its anointed leaders. The Apostles challenge this claim by suggesting that in this case, obeying the Sanhedrin meant disobeying God. Their angry response? “How dare you challenge our authority, why we speak for God!” There is always a danger when those in power (whoever they are) claim divine authority! The other day I happened on a law professors’ critique on John F. Kennedy’s inaugural speech. What intrigued me was his observation (and this is my take on it) that the placement of the name “God” in the speech, at in the beginning and end, served to frame what were very secular concerns of the state, with divine authority. I could be wrong, but I suspect this is true of each and every President who has ever invoked God’s name. Despite what might have been very sincere faith, the goal has never been to transform our democracy into a theocracy, a nation under God’s rule. Rather the desire is to draw or infer God’s blessing. If this were a theocracy, our leaders would gather the most prophetic voices in our country, to listen, dialogue, and pray about national policy; concerning things like poverty, the environment, foreign policy, and war. Our country’s defining values would be such Kingdom concerns as love, peace, justice for all, mercy, grace and humility before God, and not life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. To be fair, it is the government’s responsibility in a democracy to speak to matters of state and safeguard national interests, not to promote God’s agenda. So who’s responsibility is it to speak to Kingdom issues? The only answer I can come up with is that it is our responsibility; that is the Churches! We are witnesses! The question is not, would we be happier to be a church that never concerns itself with the needs of uninsured children in the US, the AIDS pandemic in Africa, and the mass genocide in the Sudan, but rather can we be faithful disciples and ignore what is happening all around us in our world? Does Jesus intend for his church to limit itself to self-care and improving the lives of its members while millions suffer? What do you think? Following Jesus always required his disciples to step repeatedly outside their comfort zones and to take bold risks. It is not to safety Jesus calls us but radical discipleship. As chair of the Sending Servant Team, the distinctly missional arm of our Conference leadership, we are promoting 2 initiatives that address global health at this year’s annual conference; The Global AIDS Awareness Fund and NothingButNets, an interfaith effort to address the problem of malaria among children. Malaria and HIV/AIDS are killing hundreds of thousands of children every year and they are entirely preventable diseases! As a Church, why should we care about the global problem of HIV/AIDS and malaria? Because we are His witnesses! If you have your Bibles, turn with me to Matthew 10:40-42. Says Jesus: 40 ‘Whoever welcomes you welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. 41Whoever welcomes a prophet in the name of a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward; and whoever welcomes a righteous person in the name of a righteous person will receive the reward of the righteous; 42and whoever gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones in the name of a disciple—truly I tell you, none of these will lose their reward.’ Corporately, we are called to be God’s prophetic voice! 2ndly) The Personal dimension of Peter’s proclamation is a call to Individual Holiness. Wesley defined holiness as loving God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength; basically, with everything that you are. This means holding nothing back. It means living rightly; forgiving generously someone who hurts or angers you. It means learning to get along with others; and applying the values of God’s Kingdom (love, peace, justice, mercy) to our daily lives. Vs. 31 “God exalted [Jesus] at his right hand as our leader and savior that he might give repentance and forgiveness of sins.” Repentance means a change in the direction of our lives. What for you is authoritative? I was in the parking lot of Trinity Medical last week when I saw a man walking around the parking lot with his arm in the air, hand extended walking, turn this way and that. It wasn’t until I got closer that I recognized a set of car keys in his extended hand and his thumb on the remote. Unable to remember where he had parked his car, he was doing “what works” to find it. Doing what works. It’s been my experience that’s how many of us Christians often decide how we will believe, think and act. In other words, “What works” is authoritative to us. The advantage of this kind of approach is that it “works.” The disadvantages? What works now may not work later. And just because it works doesn’t mean it works well. Often there are graduations of just how well something works. We may hold on to a belief until a better looking one comes along; like a hermit crab looking for new digs! If we are really serious about holiness we need to jettison this approach and begin praying for God’s discernment about how we will live our lives; what jobs we take, what relationships we nurture, how we spend our time, money and resources. We need to be intentional about giving God more “say” in our lives. As United Methodists we are fortunate to have a four-fold answer to the question of what is authoritative in our lives. We claim scripture, tradition, experience, and reason as authoritative. Depending on the values we give each, we may not all end up at the same place but it is a good place to start and it is a place where healthy dialogue in the church can begin. In the fall we are going to offer an Adult Confirmation class called “Beginnings.” Its purpose will be to clearly articulate the dimensions of the Christian life (not as random snippets of belief and morality) but as a cohesive way of being and doing. I want to invite you to participate especially if you’ve never been through confirmation. -Individually, we are called to be holy. -Corporately, we are called to be God’s prophetic voice! Why? “Because,” says Jesus, “You are my witnesses!” “If this plan or this undertaking be of human origin, it will fail; but if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them-in that case you may even be found fighting against God.” (v. 38-39), Lord I want to be a Christian in my heart, in my heart. Lord I want to be a Christian in my heart, in my heart. In my heart, in my heart. Lord I want to be a Christian in my heart, in my heart. Hear our Prayer, O Lord. |
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