A Balancing Act

Acts 5:17-33

Then the high priest and all his associates, who were members of the party of the Sadducees, were filled with jealousy.

It is not difficult to understand why the Sadducees were jealous.

There was just one religion. There were not a number of religions from which to choose. And in this religious monopoly, these men had worked hard to get where they were. They had excelled in school. They had studied and studied and studied. They knew the Scriptures. They had poured their lives into their work.

Every religious leader wants the people in his or her church or synagogue or mosque to be committed and faithful to the faith. Every religious leader wants the people for whom they are responsible to be excited and energetic about their faith. And being human, every religious leader wants to be appreciated and admired for what they do.

The Sadducees worked hard and like all religious leaders, they had some success and some failure. There were those who yawned and fell asleep when they spoke. There were those who came to the temple on an occasional basis. There were those who clearly did not practice what they said they believed. There were those who were regular and faithful participants.

People streamed into Jerusalem for the three annual festivals. The priests were busy with all the grain offerings and animal sacrifices. There were daily prayers and the weekly Sabbath service. There was an order to religious life.

There had been a crisis when a Nazarene had threatened their establishment but that had been effectively resolved. And then these followers of Jesus popped up again. They had dealt effectively with this movement just a few weeks ago when they had orchestrated the crucifixion of their leader. They had thought it was back to business as usual, but like modern movies where the bad guy keeps popping up after you were sure he was dead, these followers of Jesus had risen once again and were now creating the same disturbance Jesus had caused. People had reported being healed by Jesus and now these followers of Jesus were doing the same thing. They had cut off the head but the body was still going strong.

Their strategy seemed to have worked in the past. When the leader was killed, the movement fell apart. Why not this time? What made these Galileans so bold. They should have been intimidated by the sophistication and overwhelming knowledge that confronted them, but they were not. In fact, when these followers of Jesus were called before the Sanhedrin, instead of being tongue-tied and intimidated, they boldly presented arguments that challenged their authority. These uneducated, unsophisticated Galileans had the nerve to confront and accuse this distinguished body of learned scholars and leaders.

Just a few weeks ago, their leader had been beaten and put to death and they had witnessed this. Crucifixion was a brutal way to die. Weren’t his followers intimidated and afraid they would face the same punishment and death? What was going on?

It does us well to ask the same questions.

Last week I talked about the inevitability of conflict when two opposing world views come in contact. The world view of the early church was incompatible with the world view of Jewish faith and so conflict resulted.

In our modern world, especially as the world shrinks with the development of new technology, world views that had been allowed to exist independently are now brought in close proximity with each other and conflict results. This is evident in reports from around the globe.

We will likely face the consequence of clashing world views and the question is how will we respond to the storm.

In the 2,000 year history of the church, sometimes those acting in the name of the church have reacted to clashing world views by picking up the sword, but this is not the model set by Jesus and his immediate disciples.

Peter, who picked up the sword to defend Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane, was reprimanded by Jesus
Put your sword back in its place for all who draw the sword will die by the sword.
and Peter learned this lesson. At the end of his life, when he wrote to Christians being persecuted for their faith, he told them to submit. (I Peter 4:12-13, 19)
Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you.  13 But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed.

19 So then, those who suffer according to God’s will should commit themselves to their faithful Creator and continue to do good.

The Christian response to being persecuted is not to strike back but to pray for the one who is persecuting and to forgive. The wife of one of the pastors murdered in Turkey spoke out on Turkish TV and forgave the men who killed her husband.

When Elisabeth Elliot’s husband and four other men were killed by the Auca Indians in Ecuador in 1956, she and some of the other widows continued to care for the Auca tribe and brought an end to the brutality of murder that was a part of their culture.

This is the Christian response to persecution, to submit, forgive and pray for those who persecute you.

This is not natural. This is not part of our human nature. When someone hits me, I hit back. When someone insults me, I insult back. When someone hurts someone in my family, I want to hurt them.

So what allowed the apostles to submit and forgive rather than strike back? What happened that allowed the apostles to be so bold in the face of persecution? What can we learn from the example of the apostles that will help us if in the future, if we too face persecution?

Remember that these apostles who reacted so boldly to the threats of the Sanhedrin all ran away from Jesus just a couple months earlier when he had been arrested. Judas betrayed Jesus and the other eleven disciples deserted him, all too afraid of what was happening to stand with him. And Peter, when he was directly questioned, denied three times that he knew Jesus.

In the Gospels the disciples were intimidated and afraid but in the book of Acts, the disciples are bold and eloquent in their expression of faith in Jesus. What happened between the arrest of Jesus and these accounts in the book of Acts?

Let me suggest four significant factors that led to the change in their behavior. The first is that they experienced Pentecost.

Forty days after Jesus ascended, the disciples were sitting in a room when the long promised Holy Spirit came. This was the critical turning point in the history of God’s interaction with his creation. With the coming of the Holy Spirit we entered into what the Old Testament calls the Last Days.

There are some races where you run to a certain point and then turn around and head back to where you started. Until the turning point, each step you run is another step farther away from the finish line. After you turn, each step is one step closer to the end of the race when you can stop running and rest.

Pentecost was the turning point in the history of God’s interaction with his creation and now we are steadily moving closer to the time when God will call an end to time and this world will fade away. We live in the Last Days when the Holy Spirit is given to those who believe in Jesus.

Don’t underestimate the difference the Holy Spirit makes. Without the Holy Spirit, Jesus taught and the disciples scratched their heads trying to figure out what he was talking about. With the Holy Spirit, the teachings of Jesus became clear to them and they understood the deeper spiritual meaning in his teaching. Without the Holy Spirit they ran and hid from the Temple guard and Roman soldiers. With the Holy Spirit, they stood up and boldly confronted the ruling authorities.

It is easy to read the Gospel accounts and be amazed at how dense the disciples seemed to be. But when you read the Gospels, remember that the disciples were not yet filled with the Holy Spirit. When you see how dense they were and how badly they stumbled, take into consideration that they were operating without the Holy Spirit.

We live in the Last Days when we are filled with the Holy Spirit when we accept God’s gift of salvation. So if you are a Christian, you are filled with the Holy Spirit and when you stumble, remember that you do so with the Holy Spirit. We marvel at the denseness of the disciples in the Gospel accounts but how much more embarrassing and humiliating for us that we, with the Holy Spirit, stumble as we do.

Jesus said (Luke 12:48)
From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.
We who have been given the Holy Spirit have been given much. So we carry with us responsibility for living well.

One factor in the change of the disciples from the Gospels to Acts is that they were now filled with the Holy Spirit.

A second factor that made a change in the way the apostles reacted to persecution is that they entered into the confrontations with the Sadducees with a sense of humility. They knew that in their own nature, with their own strength, they would fail.

On the night Jesus was arrested, the disciples were confident in their support of Jesus. But then Jesus told them
Matthew 26
“This very night you will all fall away on account of me, for it is written:
”‘I will strike the shepherd,
and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’  32 But after I have risen, I will go ahead of you into Galilee.”
33 Peter replied, “Even if all fall away on account of you, I never will.”
34 “I tell you the truth,” Jesus answered, “this very night, before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times.”
35 But Peter declared, “Even if I have to die with you, I will never disown you.” And all the other disciples said the same.

They were bold and confident they would stand by Jesus but they all ran, leaving Jesus to suffer alone.

I have read many stories about those who faced persecution. I have envisioned what it was like for the disciples who faced persecution. When I receive an email about someone in the world experiencing persecution for their faith in Jesus, I wonder how I would react. Would I stand firm and pronounce my faith in Christ if I knew I would be beaten or killed for doing so?

In my mind I would stand by Jesus and not deny that I was a Christian, but how do we know how we will react until we are in that situation? I think Peter was surprised and embarrassed by his denial of Jesus. I don’t think he ever thought he would deny Jesus. But he did.

Bold, proud, self-sufficient strength will not carry the day for us when we face persecution. Peter tried this and failed. I imagine there are some of us who might get by with our own stubborn strength, but we do far better to enter into persecution knowing our weakness and relying on the strength of God.

If and when we face persecution, our hope is not that we will be strong but that we will cling to Jesus and that he will sustain us, strengthen us, support us.

When Jesus taught his disciples about what would come in the future, he told them:
Mark 13:11
Whenever you are arrested and brought to trial, do not worry beforehand about what to say. Just say whatever is given you at the time, for it is not you speaking, but the Holy Spirit.

In humility, with an awareness of your weakness, cling to Jesus. Hold tight to Jesus and he will sustain you. The Holy Spirit will give you the words to speak when you are confronted by those who persecute you for your faith in Jesus.

A third factor that made a change in the way the apostles reacted to persecution is that they devoted themselves to
the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.

In the forty days between the resurrection and the ascension of Jesus, the disciples were in graduate school, reviewing the teaching of Jesus they had received over the three years they were with him in his public ministry. Then there were another forty or fifty days that they waited in Jerusalem before the Holy Spirit came at Pentecost.

In these days they studied the Scriptures. They learned how to worship God and how to worship Jesus, the risen Lord. He had been their teacher and they had respected him but now he was their Lord and they needed to worship him.

In this waiting time and in the weeks after Pentecost, they settled into a pattern. They met in Solomon’s Colonnade, in their part of the Temple, where the apostles taught the followers of Jesus. In addition to this meeting place, they met in each other’s homes where they prayed together, ate meals together, broke bread with each other.

People had jobs and work to do but the days were filled with meaningful time with the church and devotion to God.

It is this devotion that helped them when persecution came. Their devotion to teaching, fellowship, breaking of the bread and prayer helped them to fill their reservoir with water that sustained them when trouble came.

I went to a meeting a year or so ago where they talked about what to do in case Avian Bird flu came. They said we should have a several week supply of food and water available so that we would not need to go out in the streets when the contagion was particularly bad.

If you wait until Avian Bird flu comes, it is too late to go out and get food and water. You have to be prepared ahead of time.

It is too late when persecution comes to build up the reservoir of spiritual strength you will need to stand with Jesus. A regular, consistent devotion to Jesus and the church is needed so you will not stumble and fall away from Jesus when persecution comes.

When you are not living in a proper rhythm, you are more likely to stumble. When you get so caught up in the busyness of work, the busyness of ministry, the busyness of life, that you do not have time to devote yourself to the teaching, fellowship, Sunday worship and prayers of the church, you will be unprepared for persecution when it comes.

Living in a proper rhythm of life means that you take a day off each week to rest and restore. It means you take part of each day to read scripture, reflect, perhaps journal and pray. If you are married, it means you take time each week to make sure you and your spouse have time alone to relax together. If you have children, it means you take time to relax and be with your children. It means you take time to meet with other believers to study the Bible together and to share and support each other with prayer. It means coming to church regularly.

When you are taking time to exercise these disciplines of the faith, you will be better able to withstand the storms when they come.

This is what Jesus meant by his warnings to be prepared.
Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour.

A fourth factor that made a change in the way the apostles reacted to persecution is that they fully expected Jesus to return within their own generation.

When the disciples stood and watched Jesus ascend, they thought it would be just a few short years and then Jesus would return.

The disciples thought this. Paul thought this. Jesus thought this.

When Jesus taught his disciples about the end times, he said
I tell you the truth, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened.

Jesus is God in the flesh but when he was on earth, he was limited in many ways. His knowledge was limited. Just after he said this generation would not pass away until all the these things have happened, he said
No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.  33 Be on guard! Be alert! You do not know when that time will come.

The early church lived with the expectation that Jesus would come in their generation so when Christians began to die and Jesus had not yet returned, it created a tension in the church. So Paul had to address this issue in his letters (I Thessalonians 4)
Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep, or to grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope.  14 We believe that Jesus died and rose again and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him.  15 According to the Lord’s own word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left till the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep.

Because the apostles expected Jesus to return, they were less interested in feathering their nest here on earth. They lived for Jesus and worked for Jesus believing Jesus would soon return. If they were beaten, they rejoiced that they were considered worthy of sharing the sufferings of Jesus.

The difficulty for us is that it has been 67 generations since then and Jesus has still not returned. We do not live with the same sense of imminence of the return of Jesus. It has been 2,000 years that the church has waited and it may well be another 2,000 years that the church will wait for the return of Jesus.

There are some who talk of world events as evidence that Jesus will come soon but these arguments do not convince me. When the plague swept through Europe in the 1340s and 1/3 to 2/3 of the population of Europe was killed by this disease, don’t you think Christians thought this was the end of the world?

When Christians have suffered from epidemics or natural disasters or wars, they have seen these tragedies as evidence that the end was at hand and Jesus would soon come back.

The truth is that we do not know the time. Even Jesus did not know the time. Jesus taught that we will not know the time but that he will come unexpectedly, as a thief in the night.

But this too is truth: it does not matter if Jesus returns in our lifetime or we die, in either case we will soon meet with Jesus. There is a line in Don Quixote, “Whether the stone hits the pitcher or the pitcher hits the stone, it’s going to be bad news for the pitcher.”

Whether Jesus returns or you die, in your lifetime, you will meet with Jesus.

Jesus may return before the end of this service or next year or a thousand years from now. But long before that, you will be dead and buried and you will have met with him. You may die today after church in some accident or you may die later this year or it may be fifty or eighty years before you die, but you will die and come before Jesus.

It is important to keep this awareness so that you know how to live in this life. All illusions to the contrary, we are not going to live in this world forever.

Pay attention to what you observe and learn. When you hear that someone has died or that someone has become seriously ill, grieve and have compassion, but let this news inspire you to remember that our bodies are not meant to live for eternity.

When someone has an accident and breaks a bone or you feel some new ache or pain in your body, let this inspire you to remember that the body you are inhabiting will one day need to be traded in for a new model.

All the evidence of this world leads us to the conclusion that we are mortal and yet we deny our mortality. Learn from what you observe around you and live with the expectation that you could soon be with Jesus.

When persecution comes and you have to choose between this life and your faith in Jesus, choose what will last and reject what you will soon lose anyway. This is what the disciples did.

Jim Elliot who was killed by the Auca Indians in Ecuador in 1956 wrote.
He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.
He gave his life that he was going to one day lose anyway to gain his heavenly existence that cannot be taken away.

Where is the safest place on earth?

The disciples knew that there was no safer place for them to be than to be with Jesus. Holding on to Jesus, clinging to Jesus was the safest place for them.

When the angel came to rescue them in prison, where did the angel tell them to go? Normally, in stories where someone is rescued, they are taken to a safe place where they cannot be harmed. But what did the angel tell them to do when they were miraculously delivered from prison?
“Go, stand in the temple courts,” he said, “and tell the people the full message of this new life.”

The angel delivered them from prison and sent them to stand where they were sure to be arrested once again.

I am sure they prayed for deliverance when they were put in prison and God heard their prayers and delivered them and took them to where they would be safe, safe in his presence, safe by being obedient to him – not safe from the world’s perspective, but safe from his perspective.

I don’t know what the future holds for us. But I do know this, the safest place for you to be is with Jesus. If persecution comes and you are offered a choice between a nice comfortable life if you deny Jesus or jail and maybe death if you affirm your faith in Jesus, the safest choice for you will be to hold on to Jesus and affirm your faith in him.

How full is your spiritual reservoir? Are you living in a rhythm of life that is helping you to be ready for whatever might come? Be watchful. Be ready.

I can’t promise you that you will live a comfortable life and die of old age. I can promise you that if you hold on to Jesus, he will keep you safe and take you to be with him when you die your physical death.

The writer of Hebrews wrote to Christians experiencing persecution. Let me read this part of the letter and you can read the part in bold type with me at the end. Let this speak of your resolve to stand with Jesus and be saved.

Hebrews 10
Remember those earlier days after you had received the light, when you stood your ground in a great contest in the face of suffering.  33 Sometimes you were publicly exposed to insult and persecution; at other times you stood side by side with those who were so treated.  34 You sympathized with those in prison and joyfully accepted the confiscation of your property, because you knew that you yourselves had better and lasting possessions.
35 So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded.  36 You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised.  37 For in just a very little while,
“He who is coming will come and will not delay.
38 But my righteous one will live by faith.
And if he shrinks back,
I will not be pleased with him.”
39 But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who believe and are saved.
*****************************************************
Mark 13:35
“Therefore keep watch because you do not know when the owner of the house will come back—whether in the evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or at dawn.  36 If he comes suddenly, do not let him find you sleeping.  37 What I say to you, I say to everyone: ‘Watch!’”