9.00am and 10.30am Sunday 7 May 2006
Readings: Acts 5:12-42
The more I learn about the English language, the more I'm thankful that I grew up in an English speaking country and didn't have to try and learn it, as so many of our new New Zealanders have to do. Even with little words, as we saw some months back when we considered the word ' with', there are numerous ways and contexts in which it can be used. When we've grown up speaking the language we don't even have to think about what it means in a particular context, but spare a thought as to how difficult it must be for those who've had to learn English as a second language.
There's another little word that appears in our reading this morning at least seven times that also has a number of meanings. It's a little word that's most often translated as 'but', but also in this passage translated as 'nevertheless', and 'then'. The word 'but' in the English language can mean 'only', such as when we say, "She is but a child," or "I can but do it." It can mean 'except', like when we say, "They are all wrong but him," or "no one but him would do a thing like that." It can be used after a negative, such as, "I don't deny that, but this is what I think, etc." The Concise Oxford Dictionary gives nine uses for the word 'but', but it's the last that's the one I want to focus on this morning, when it is used in the sense of 'on the contrary', or 'nevertheless', 'on the other hand', 'moreover', or 'yet'.
The occasions where it's used in the reading are significant, because it reminds us so far as our own lives are concerned that there are times when God steps into the situation and, despite all odds, the situation is completely turned around and the outcome is far different to what we ever expected. It mayn't happen immediately, but in time it does, and when it does, we can see God's hand in the situation. You may know of a time when God brought good out of something bad that happened in your life. (EG Joseph)
If we were reading this story for the very first time, there'd be a number of things that we'd find quite astounding. First, the fact that the church kept on growing despite the awe and respect the people had for the believers. This we are told made them keep their distance. It says, "No one else dared to join them... Nevertheless (that's the first use of the word 'but', and then translating it literally) more believers were added to the Lord, multitudes of both men and women." Part of the reason for this awe and respect, of course, is what happened to Ananias and Sapphira, when they were struck dead for lying to the Holy Spirit. That would certainly make people think twice before joining. A healthy sense of awe and reverence and respect for God is good.
Secondly, we'd find it astounding to hear that people brought their sick out on to the streets so that at least Peter's shadow might fall on them. And this wasn't only from within Jerusalem, but we're told that they gathered them also from the towns around Jerusalem, both the sick and those tormented by evil spirits. Listen again to what it says, "all of them were healed." That's absolutely amazing! You could imagine the news spreading like wildfire, "Listen, so and so got healed the other day, just by sitting where Peter's shadow fell." "Yes, my friend was wonderfully set free, too. It's amazing!" No wonder the city was in a state of excitement. And no wonder the high priest and all his colleagues, who we're told were Sadducees, were jealous. You would have thought they would have been delighted that people were being healed and delivered, but the exact opposite was the case. They wanted to put a lid on it all. It was beginning to get out of hand. They felt they had to do something to stop all this, especially since they were being blamed for the death of Jesus, and so they arrested the apostles and dumped them in jail for the night, intending to put them on trial in the morning. What do you think the apostles did while in prison? They'd be praying and praising God, so it shouldn't surprise us that something miraculous happened. The Bible gives us God's cell phone number. It's Jeremiah 33:3. "Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things that you do not know." Jesus said, "Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and you joy will be complete."[1] This is so for any need we have.
'But', and this is the third astounding thing that happens in this passage, "during the night an angel of the Lord opened the doors of the jail and brought them out." The angel tells them to continue speaking in the temple about this new life. He was telling them to keep on doing exactly what they'd been put in prison for. And that's what they did. First thing in the morning they went to the temple and began teaching the people. The Lord can open the prison doors in our lives, too, for he came "to proclaim freedom for prisoners ... to set the oppressed free."[2]
While they are doing this events are unfolding in another part of the city. Imagine the consternation of the officers when they went to the jail to get their prisoners and discovered that they weren't there. The guards had been on duty the whole night. The jail door was still securely locked, but there was no one inside. They would have sworn on their very lives that not a soul had passed them during the night.
We shouldn't think such a thing odd, or impossible. God can blind people, or make people invisible when he wants to. Brother Andrew of Open Doors and others involved in smuggling Bibles into countries where they are banned tell of similar things happening. Corrie Ten Boom, the Dutch woman who spent a good part of the Second World War in German concentration camps, had the same happen to her. In her book she relates how she was able to smuggle her Bible into the concentration camp where she and her sister were imprisoned. She and all those with her had to undress and walk naked through an inspection area so it was very difficult to conceal a Bible, but it was as if she was invisible to the guard as he didn't even seem to see her as she went through without being stopped, whereas everyone in front of her and behind her were thoroughly examined.
No wonder that here in our reading the captain of the temple guard and the chief priests were puzzled and wondered what on earth was going on. They couldn't make it out. "Impossible!" you could imagine them saying. "People don't just disappear into thin air." This, of course, was partly because the Sadducees didn't believe in anything supernatural, which included the existence of spiritual beings like angels. God has a wonderful sense of humour. He had an angel that they didn't believe in to set his messengers free. I'm sure he had a smile on his face when he did this. The Sadducees' problem was that their God was too small. They wanted a god whom they could control, a god who would dance to their tune. They'd no time for a God who didn't fit in with their rational beliefs. Jesus quite rightly described them as 'blind', not because they couldn't see, but because they wouldn't see the truth. I wonder if your God is too small? (?A Story)
While they're deliberating about this, someone comes in and tells them that the apostles are back teaching in the temple. It would have been interesting to be a fly on the wall when they got this news. I'd imagine that what was said wouldn't have been too complimentary. And what was going through the captain's mind as he led his officers back to the temple to arrest the apostles a second time, albeit this time without force, because of the crowd gathered round. It may well have been this incident that encouraged Gamaliel to give them his wise advice. Although well known for his moderate views, he, at least, seems to have had some idea of what was going on here. This was something much bigger than his colleagues imagined.
Finally, after what must have been a frustrating morning for the Sanhedrin, the apostles are brought in. The high priest says, "We gave you strict orders not to teach in this name, ... yet you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and are determined to make us guilty of this man's blood." You can almost hear the frustration in his voice. This doesn't faze Peter and he and those with him reply, "We don't obey people. We obey God."[3] Then they lay the blame for Jesus' death squarely on these leaders.
Let's focus on Peter's words. "We must obey God rather than any human authority."[4] What does this mean for you and I in the twenty-first century? What's its application for today? Here are two.
Note the word 'must' in the apostle's reply - "We must obey God rather than any human authority.". When used in this sense it's a word that implies divine necessity. There's an obligation to be fulfilled. It's a word Jesus used on a number of occasions. As a twelve-year-old he said to his mother when she and Joseph found him in the temple after searching for him in great anxiety for two days, "Why were you searching for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father's house?"[5] Several times during his ministry Jesus sought to prepare his disciples for what was ahead when he said, "The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests, and the teachers of the law, and ... be killed and on the third day be raised to life."[6] And then after his resurrection to the two on the road to Emmaus he said, "Was it not necessary that the Messiah should suffer these things and then enter his glory?"[7]
It's this sense of divine necessity that's in this statement of the apostles. "We must obey God." It's a responsibility required of us. Obedience cannot be neglected. But the fear of others can stop us. A clear example of this in the Bible was King Saul. The fear of others prevented him from fully carrying out God's instructions. And in God's sight that's serious. The word Samuel gives Saul's disobedience is 'rebellion'. As a result he forfeited his position as king of Israel. He was a man of great promise and potential. Physically he was ideally suited to the role, as he stood head and shoulders above everyone else. Yet because he feared men and disobeyed the word of the Lord, God rejected him as king. Listen to his excuse to the prophet Samuel for not carrying out what God told him to do. He said, "I was afraid of the men and so I gave in to them." Samuel said to Saul, the words of our memory verse today, "To obey is better than sacrifice."[8]
What about you? Do you place more importance on what others think of you than God? Do you keep your mouth shut when you should speak up or speak out, for fear of what people might say about you, or because you're afraid they might ridicule you? Who do you live to please? Are you a people pleaser, or do you want above all to please God? You cannot do both. We're not to be secret followers of Jesus. Jesus said, "If any of you are ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of you when he comes in his glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels."[9] Fearing others is a snare.
a) We are to REPENT of our sins. We are to turn from them to God. The apostles speak of this here in Acts 5. God raised and exalted Jesus to his right hand, the place of highest honour, so "that he might bring Israel to repentance and forgive their sins." In times past God overlooked humankind's ignorance in their worship of other gods, but now, as Paul reminded the Athenians, "he commands all people everywhere to repent."[10] It isn't just the Jews or the Greeks that he's referring to. It's every human being in the whole world. God wants everyone to turn to him; he wants "everyone to come to repentance."[11] And repentance isn't just for people who don't believe. It necessary for Christians and for churches, too. In five of the seven letters to the churches in Revelation the Lord calls them to repentance; to one for forsaking the love they had at the first, to another for holding wrong teaching, to another for tolerating people that encourage wrong worship, to one for being spiritually dead, and to another for being lukewarm. Do any of those apply to you? Do you love the Lord as much as you did when you first became a Christian? Is the teaching you follow and your worship pure? Are you an alive Christian, on fire for God? If you are conscious that any of these apply to you, then God's word to you this morning is to repent, to forsake your wrong and turn back to God so that you might be forgiven. We know from the parables of the lost sheep, the lost coin and the lost son that there is joy in heaven when we repent.
b) We are to BELIEVE in God's Son. We read in this passage that "more and more men and women believed in the Lord..." That means they became followers of Jesus, they accepted him as their Messiah, their Saviour. We are to put our trust in Jesus Christ alone to save us. God wants us to take him as our "Prince", that is our Ruler, our King, our Lord, and to trust him as our "Saviour", for as we saw last week, "salvation is found in no one else."[12] And then as we follow him we are to trust him in our daily life, to walk by faith. What more than anything else earned the rebuke of Jesus to his disciples was their lack of faith. It's impossible to please God..."[13] without it.
c) We are to GO and share this Good News with others. James Stewart, a famous Scottish preacher of last century, said, "It is quite impossible to be "in Christ" and not participate in Christ's mission to the world."[14] This is part and parcel of belonging to the "one holy, catholic and apostolic Church." As the Father sent the Son, so Jesus sends his followers to continue his work in the world. We're to let our light shine so that people will see the difference following Jesus makes, and want to become followers, too. As we saw last week, people are challenged when they can see from our lives that we've been with Jesus.
Three brief notes in closing:
(i) The Lord Jesus is our role model of obedience. It was something that he had to learn, and we must do so too.[15]
(ii) Obedience is a sign of our love. Jesus said, "Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching."[16]
(iii) God gives the HOLY SPIRIT to those who obey him. Acts 5 says, "We are witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him." What an amazing provision. This is the 'the Helper' Jesus promised, the one God calls alongside us, to be with us always.
As many of you are aware, Communion has always been a very special time in the Church of Scotland. It might only be celebrated twice a year. There would be special services to prepare for the Communion season, and services of thanksgiving following the celebration. It was also the time when people were invited to make their covenant with God by committing their life to Christ. At each succeeding Communion the congregation would be invited to renew this covenant. As we prepare to receive Communion this morning, I invite you to use this as an opportunity for you to make or renew your covenant with God, to confess the faith of Christ crucified and to be his faithful soldier and servant until your life's end..
[1] John 16:24 TNIV
[2] Luke 4:18 TNIV
[3] Acts 5:29 CEV
[4] Acts 5:29 NRSV
[5] Luke 2:49 NRSV
[6] Luke 9:22 TNIV; cf. also 13:33, 17:25, 21:9, 24:7.
[7] Luke 24:26 NRSV
[8] 1 Samuel 15:24, 22 TNIV
[9] Luke 9:26 TNIV
[10] Acts 17:30
[11] 2 Peter 3:9
[12] Acts 4:12 TNIV
[13] Hebrews 11:6 TNIV
[14] Quoted in Larsen, David L., The Evangelism Mandate: Recovering the Centrality of Gospel Preaching, Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Publications, 1992, p.144.
[15] Cf. Hebrews 5:32
[16] John 14:23 TNIV