praying and living boldly, 4.21.13

Psalm 4

¹Answer me when I call, O God of my right! You gave me room when I was in distress.

Be gracious to me, and hear my prayer.

²How long, you people, shall my honor suffer shame?

How long will you love vain words, and seek after lies? Selah

³But know that the Lord has set apart the faithful for himself;

the Lord hears when I call to him.

⁴When you are disturbed, do not sin; ponder it on your beds, and be silent. Selah

⁵Offer right sacrifices, and put your trust in the Lord.

⁶There are many who say, “O that we might see some good!

Let the light of your face shine on us, O Lord!”

⁷You have put gladness in my heart more than when their grain and wine abound.

⁸I will both lie down and sleep in peace; for you alone, O Lord, make me lie down in safety.

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            The sermon series we’re doing right now is about becoming the church. We started that broad topic the week after Easter by reflecting on how the disciples recognized the risen Jesus when he broke bread, and how we still meet Jesus in the sacrament of communion. Last week we looked at Jesus’ time with his disciples after he rose from the dead. He taught them how to understand the scriptures so they would be ready for their mission to share the good news of God’s love with the world.

            This week we’re talking about prayer, both how we connect to God on our own, and how the church as a community connects with God to strengthen it for its mission. First, a little background for our passage.

            The story of Acts starts right where Luke’s Gospel leaves off. Jesus has risen meets his disciples. He gives them a mission to proclaim the good news of God’s love to the whole world. Then he rises into heaven and the disciples return to Jerusalem to wait for the Holy Spirit. Fifty days after the resurrection of Jesus the Holy Spirit appears in the room where they are praying and fills the disciples with power. They minister to those around them, telling the good news in every language. As people hear the story of God’s love in Christ, they join the disciples in following Jesus.

While many believe, not everyone is happy with this new movement of faith. Like with Jesus’ teaching, many of the religious leaders are not comfortable about what the disciples had to say. They thought with Jesus’ death they had finished with his disturbance, but as the disciples keep preaching about Jesus, it’s clearly not done.

            One day Peter and John were walking into the temple when they saw a man who couldn’t walk begging for help. They healed him in Jesus’ name and the man not only started walking, he also ran and jumped with joy. A crowd gathered to hear how this miracle had happened. Peter explained that it wasn’t because they were more holy or wise than anyone else, but because of the power of Jesus Christ.

            As the crowd gathered, the religious leaders noticed what was going on, so they arrested Peter and John. The next day they interrogated them about what had happened. Peter told the story of healing the man through the name of Jesus and went on to proclaim how God’s love was working through Jesus even though the leaders had killed him.

            The leaders weren’t thrilled with that accusation, but they also couldn’t think of a way to punish Peter and John since they had just performed an obvious miracle in public. The situation was difficult because they couldn’t deny what had happened, but they wanted to minimize the impact and keep people from talking about Jesus. So they ordered Peter and John not to talk about Jesus anymore.

            Now, Peter and John were like most people. They preferred not to be beaten and threatened, but they also had a clear calling from Jesus to spread the word, and God’s power was working through them so they knew they were on the right track. So they were honest with the leaders. They told them God had commanded them to keep preaching about Jesus, so even though they heard the leader’s command, they had to follow God’s calling instead. With that, the leaders beat them and sent them on their way. That’s where our story for today picks up.

Acts 4:23-31

²³After they were released, they went to their friends and reported what the chief priests and the elders had said to them. ²⁴When they heard it, they raised their voices together to God and said, “Sovereign Lord, who made the heaven and the earth, the sea, and everything in them, ²⁵it is you who said by the Holy Spirit through our ancestor David, your servant: ‘Why did the Gentiles rage, and the peoples imagine vain things? ²⁶The kings of the earth took their stand, and the rulers have gathered together against the Lord and against his Messiah.’ ²⁷For in this city, in fact, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, ²⁸to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place.

²⁹And now, Lord, look at their threats, and grant to your servants to speak your word with all boldness, ³⁰while you stretch out your hand to heal, and signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant Jesus.” ³¹When they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God with boldness.

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            There are times I have a hard time relating to the early church. There’s a power in their faith life that I have never experienced. I’ve never prayed and felt the Spirit shake the room. I’ve never healed anyone through prayer, at least not in such an obvious way. It’s easy to feel a great distance between the power of the early church and the lack of drama in my own spiritual life.

            At the same time, what I love about this passage is that the disciples are honest, humble and very clear about their role. They look right at the threats against them. They know that the religious leaders can kill them or beat them or lock them in prison. They don’t ask God to protect them from danger. Instead, they ask for boldness to speak God’s word courageously in the face of danger.

            They don’t ask for eloquence, or persuasiveness, or church growth. They don’t ask for fame or comfort or long life. They know what their mission is: their mission is to share the story of Jesus and the love of God with the world. They don’t know how the story is going to go from there, but they are open and available to God’s plan.

            There are a lot of things we can focus on when we talk about prayer, but today I want to look at prayer as openness to God in word and action. We don’t have to know where we’re going as a congregation or as individuals, but if we want to be faithful to God’s calling, we need to be open to God’s leading along the way. Part of how we do that is with specific moments of prayer. It’s helpful to set aside periods of time to talk to God and to listen to God.

Often in my own life that’s frustratingly quiet. I don’t hear God’s voice or see visions of where I’m being led. But when I make space to quiet myself, sometimes I find that I just know things. Sometimes one path I’ve been thinking about feels right. Sometimes in a conversation I find myself saying the right words, even if I didn’t know they were right before they came out.

power in weakness (6.5.11)

Acts 1:6-14
6So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, is this the time when you will restore the kingdom to Israel?” 7He replied, “It is not for you to know the times or periods that the Father has set by his own authority. 8But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” 9When he had said this, as they were watching, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight.

10While he was going and they were gazing up toward heaven, suddenly two men in white robes stood by them. 11They said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up toward heaven? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.”

12Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a sabbath day’s journey away. 13When they had entered the city, they went to the room upstairs where they were staying, Peter, and John, and James, and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James son of Alphaeus, and Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of James. 14All these were constantly devoting themselves to prayer, together with certain women, including Mary the mother of Jesus, as well as his brothers.
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Let’s talk about the passage Karen just read. This passage comes from the Book of Acts. Can someone tell us in a few words what the Book of Acts is about?

That’s a good way to put it. Acts is the sequel to Luke’s Gospel. Luke wrote his Gospel to give, as he put it, an “orderly account” of Jesus life. He tells about Jesus’ teachings and how he healed the sick and welcomed all kinds of people. Jesus showed people, especially those who were excluded by religious tradition, that God loved them.

The way Jesus lived led to conflict with the religious and political leaders. That conflict revved up until the leaders finally got so scared that they had Jesus executed. Amazingly, that wasn’t the end of the story. God raised Jesus from the dead and he appeared to his followers. That’s where Luke’s Gospel ends and the Book of Acts begins. Acts is the follow-up story.

As Acts begins Jesus spends some time explaining scripture to his followers in the light of his resurrection. In this passage the disciples ask Jesus if now’s the time for the Kingdom of God to be established. In other words, “Is today judgment day?” This is a great passage to hear in light of our recent rapture scare. Many people were afraid or excited that judgment was coming on May 21st. Predictions like that have been made many times before since Christ’s death, but so far none of them has been right.

This passage reminds us why predictions of rapture or judgment are so tempting, but also why they are a waste of time and anxiety. The disciples were excited about the possibility that Jesus was about to usher in God’s peaceful kingdom. They were excited that they might soon be free from the oppression of the Roman Empire. There’s part of us that wants to know when the end is coming. We want to know when the story of the world will end. We also sometimes feel afraid that the end, the final judgment will catch us off guard.

Jesus tells them it’s not for them to know when the end is coming. Nobody knows, so don’t let anyone fool you into thinking they do. In another passage Jesus says even he doesn’t know when judgment will come. We just don’t know, so there’s no point worrying about May 21st or 2012 or whatever the doom prophesy of the moment is. There’s also no need to worry because God is in control of the story and we know the end of the story is a good one. God loves each of us, so there’s no need to fear the end.