I just had no words!
Well, after that vote of semi-confidence,
I started to think about how much I have been thinking about the
other vote that’s coming in February at General Conference. And the Father began speaking into my heart
and mind several concerns, one of which is addressed by what happened to the
early church when the culture began to invade Christianity.
Let’s unpack the vote of the Pharisees,
Sadducees, and ruling elders of Israel in the Acts text we just heard:
1.
Confrontation by Cultural Puppets
While
Peter and John were speaking to the people, they were confronted by the
priests, the captain of the Temple guard, and some of the Sadducees. These leaders were very
disturbed that Peter and John were teaching the people that through Jesus there
is a resurrection of the dead. They
arrested them and, since it was already evening, put them in jail until
morning. Acts 4:1-3(NLT)
The culture of Judaism was so entrenched
that they would not entertain anything but what their power structure
dictated. The Pharisees, religious
leaders wanted to keep their power base untouched, so they had these
trouble-makers arrested. It’s amazing
how people can start out in life with genuine concerns and truth to guide them,
and eventually become puppets to the power structure. There was little question then, and little
question now, that speaking truth in the presence of power-puppets will get you
in trouble!
But many
of the people who heard their message believed it, so the number of men who
believed now totaled about 5,000. Acts
4:4(NLT)
Despite the possible consequences of being
arrested and even put to death, the message of Christ birthed faith in the
hearts of those who heard the Gospel.
Faith knows no crippling fear.
So, the church was growing, despite the heat from the elders. If you read the next couple of chapters of
Acts it becomes clear that this courageous group in the early church got not
only the attention of the in-charge group, they got
their anger stirred-up. This was the
beginning of persecution that resulted in incredible growth. The Pharisees and ruling elders were trying
to stamp out this upstart bunch of Christians, but it was like pouring water on
a grease fire…persecution only produced more courageous faith and growth.
3.
Conceit of the Wicked Minds
The next
day the council of all the rulers and elders and teachers of religious law met
in Jerusalem. Annas
the high priest was there, along with Caiaphas, John, Alexander, and other
relatives of the high priest. They
brought in the two disciples and demanded, “By what power, or in whose name,
have you done this?” Acts 4:5-7(NLT)
Demanding an accounting of Peter and John
about their faith, these rulers were steeped in their own self-importance.
4.
Cause-Driven Testimony
Then
Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Rulers and elders of our
people, are we being questioned today because we’ve done a good deed for a
crippled man? Do you want to know how he was healed? Let me clearly state to
all of you and to all the people of Israel that he was healed by the powerful
name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, the man you crucified but whom God raised
from the dead. For
Jesus is the one referred to in the Scriptures, where it says, ‘The stone that
you builders rejected has now become the cornerstone.’ There is salvation in no
one else! God has given no other name
under heaven by which we must be saved.”
Acts 4:8-12(NLT)
This answer, given by Peter, was driven by
a clear understanding of the mission to proclaim the Gospel. This is what Jesus had told his disciples:
“Go into all the world and preach the
Good News to everyone. Mark 16:15(NLT)
5.
Confusion of the Powerful, but Lost
The
members of the council were amazed when they saw the boldness of Peter and
John, for they could see that they were ordinary men with no special training
in the Scriptures. They also recognized
them as men who had been with Jesus. But since they could see the man who had been healed
standing right there among them, there was nothing the council could say. So they ordered Peter and
John out of the council chamber and conferred among themselves. “What
should we do with these men?” they asked each other. We can’t deny that they have performed a
miraculous sign, and everybody in Jerusalem knows about it. But to keep them from
spreading their propaganda any further, we must warn them not to speak to
anyone in Jesus’ name again.” So
they called the apostles back in and commanded them never again to speak or
teach in the name of Jesus. Acts 4:13-18(NLT)
In every way the rulers were unreasonable,
not even coming close to appearing like they wanted to get to the truth. They even ignored the fact that a man who had
been paralyzed was standing whole before them.
They couldn’t say a word, so they wanted to
drag the disciples down to that level and keep them from speaking. The only thing important to them was holding
together their precious organized crime syndicate.
Sticking with the Gospel as our mission (like
the disciples did) will confound the so-called wise. It will stymie and silence the powerful. Christ’s work done in Christ’s way will be
its own validation.
6.
Conquering Evil by the Spirit of God
But Peter
and John replied, “Do you think God wants us to obey you rather than him? We
cannot stop telling about everything we have seen and heard.” Acts 4:19-20(NLT)
This was a question no Pharisee or
Sadducee could answer without convicting himself. This was a courageous move by Peter; his faith
had grown by tremendous leaps and bounds in the few weeks since he’d denied he
even knew Jesus. He stood and put that
faith to the test with the kind of boldness only a fool, or man possessing
great faith can muster. And when faith
marries bold courage, Christ will always be honored. And Christ, in turn, will always vindicate
righteous faith!
The
Message for Today’s Church
There is a message in all this for today’s
church, and our United Methodist tribe in particular; it comes in two parts:
1. Take Heart
As we sung earlier in the service, Jesus
calls us o’er the tumult of life’s wild, restless sea to follow and love Him
more than anyone or anything this world offers.
Now that would sound like a daunting task,
and who feels up to it? Most of us are
over 50 in this church, probably a median age of over 60. Who has that much strength or influence? But do we remember that we’re not alone in
this?
Scripture tells us there is a great cloud
of witnesses in Heaven saying Take Heart:
Therefore,
since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith,
let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so
easily trips us up. And let us run with
endurance the race God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion
who initiates and perfects our faith. Because
of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside
God’s throne. Think
of all the hostility he endured from sinful people; then you won’t become weary
and give up. Hebrews 12:1-3(NLT)
Stephen, one of the first martyrs for the
faith, took heart to stand for, and to proclaim the truth before the
powerful. He was rejected, and the mob
took him out to the edge of the city to kill him. Stephen never lost heart, he prayed while he
was being stoned to death for God to forgive his killers.
We have just passed another Reformation
Day, celebrating Martin Luther nailing 95 theses of disagreement with the
powerful church of his day that had grown cold, indifferent to the needs of the
poor and powerless. For thanks he was
hauled before a court to defend himself.
This is what he said:
I am bound by the Scriptures I have quoted and my conscience is captive
to the
Word of God. I cannot and I will not recant anything, since it is
neither safe nor right to go against conscience. May God help me. Amen[2]
Peter, the apostle who denied faith in
Christ in the cold, darkness outside of Pilate’s house while Jesus was being
unfairly beaten, tried, and illegally-convicted by a kangaroo court, more than
turned it around. He was so bold to
proclaim Christ it got him in trouble over and over, until finally he was crucified. When it came time to be put on his cross, he
begged to be turned upside down, declaring he wasn’t even worthy to be killed
right-side-up.
These early believers, and many to follow
through history took heart and served their Lord. That is what their testimony calls us to do
in this current tumult of our days.
Whatever happens in the vote of General Conference 2019, take heart;
Christ is in your heart, and He will not abandon us.
The second part of this message for the
tribe known as United Methodist is to…
2. Take
Responsibility
There’s a more important question than what
will happen after the vote at General Conference. That question is what will you DO after the
vote? The possibilities
are:
·
We can take our ball and go home…let this church fall apart on its
foundations.
·
We can sit and wait for the wave of the powerful to overwhelm whatever
is left of this denomination, until they kill it altogether, and just shake our
heads.
·
We can take heart and serve the Lord with gladness
There is a great illustration of this in the story of Shawshank
Redemption.[3] Two men,
Andy DuFrane and Red
Reddington are imprisoned, and bond over nearly 20 years. The warden is an evil man, while the two
prisoners act with common decency. At
every turn the warden does what he can to beat-down all the prisoners, breaking
spirits.
The ordeal nearly robs Andy of all hope, but in the final minutes of the
movie he turns to Red and says: I
guess it all comes down to a small choice; you either have to get busy livin’
or get busy dyin’!
If I had the right as pastor to commission you in your next steps as a
church, here is what I would say: Get
busy living!
In light of all the Saints of that great cloud of witnesses, and the
Great Commission of Christ, himself, do not let bishops, delegates, District
Superintendents, unbelieving clergy, or anyone else of evil desires cause you
to fail in serving Christ.
With bold faith and unending courage, take heart, take responsibility,
and serve the Lord with gladness!
In the
name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; Let the church say “Amen”!
[3] 1994, Columbia Pictures
