Acts 4:13-21
Reading from the book of Acts this morning, it occurred to
me that the reading seems to be about tests. Then I thought about all the tests
I have gone through in my life, both in school and in life. I concluded that
God didn’t send these tests, being human did. No one gets out of this life
without having to pass or fail lessons that come upon us as we grow, learn, age,
and experience what life has to offer.
Peter and John faced a test when they went before the
Council, and it was a test for them. They had already tested Peter and John,
and it concluded that they were not educated and were quite ordinary men. They
were totally unlike those who felt they needed to stand in judgment of them, yet
here’s where another test came in. Peter and John had healed a man, a person
who stood with them before this Council. He had been cured, and the Council
could not perform that miracle. So what were they to do with Peter and John
preaching, teaching, and healing?
So they did what many committees and councils do when they
can’t quite figure out what they are supposed to do. They closed the Council
and told Peter and John to wait outside while they discussed the matter. Here
they could face the problem without having to do it in public. The problem was
that the people were aware that the disciples had been able to perform
miraculous healings through Jesus, and Jerusalem was abuzz with the news of
this. The Council was really in a pickle--how to keep this infection from
spreading, because to them, this new kind of faith ran contrary to their own,
and they were uncomfortable with it.
They went back in and suggested rather strongly that the
disciples not speak or teach about Jesus or in the name of Jesus. It was God’s
decision as to how they should proceed, whether following the Council or
obeying God. They had seen and heard many things, and these were things that
people wanted to know about. So they refused to stop preaching and teaching.
The Council had no alternative but to let them go. They couldn’t punish them
for their beliefs, and besides, the people would be angry at such treatment of
Jesus own people, especially since they were accompanied by one who had
experienced the miracle of healing from Jesus through them.
I keep thinking about people in positions of real or
perceived authority, like committees in Congress, who pepper witnesses with
questions and then have to withdraw into their chamber to discuss how they’re
going to handle this. Unfortunately, it happens rather often. There are always
at least two sides.
The idea of the public hearing is so that the people will
hear the truth — whether it is the real truth, perceived truth, or a partisan
truth. The committee is composed of members elected by the people and then
selected to serve on a particular committee.
Still, people expect their representatives to follow the majority rules.
It doesn’t always work that way.
Matthew 6:24e states, “You cannot serve both God and wealth,”
(NRSV). We are allowing human beings to tell us what we should think, what we
should believe, and whom we should obey. What if these beliefs are contrary to
what we ourselves believe? Then it becomes a moral and ethical as well as
spiritual problem. We're told in the Bible that we should love God, love our
neighbors, and do good. What is good? What’s right for one is not always proper
for another. Many sides have talking heads trying to convince a majority of
people that they are right and that they, the representatives of each side, are
being honest and truthful. They’re cutting God out of the equation, and for
those with eyes to see and ears to hear, it’s painfully obvious.
The high-priestly family, rulers, scribes, and elders were
probably frustrated not to be able to stifle these followers of Jesus who were
spreading the word and the teachings of Christ all over Israel, Judah, and
points beyond. It was like watching a stone roll downhill; once put in motion,
it was going to be almost impossible to stop.
So how do we respond to this rolling stone that we face
today? As Christians, we are supposed to be listening to God and taking the
words and teachings of the Bible not as literal commandments but as ethical and
moral ones. We should dig deep to understand what those words meant at the time
they were spoken and written, and not try to impose a modern degree of
literalness to something that wasn’t meant to be literal. We must do our
praying, and listening, and then making a judgment for ourselves as to where is
God in what we are hearing and seeing. That’s the important thing.
Here Peter and John got it right; they said that they could
not obey that demand. We are to have eyes that see and ears that hear, but also
minds and hearts that are set on God and lenses through which we can observe
the world as God intends for it to be. Too many Christians have died trying to
do that, so now it’s time for us to move in God’s direction for the good of
all.
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