AJM Holy Trinity 17.10.04 Morning service
Introduction
Good morning. This term we are studying the book of Acts and looking at the growth of the church in its very first stages. So far it’s been an interesting journey; some of it seems familiar, some of it goes way beyond anything we recognise from our own experience of church.
We began in chapter 2 with the story of the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, with Peter’s sermon and with many of those who saw and heard committing their lives to Jesus. It’s in that chapter that we get the verse to which we often look when we are thinking about what a church should be. It’s chapter 2 verse 42: and they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. And in the context of all this, signs and wonders take place, and the Lord adds to their number day by day those who were being saved. It’s a wonderful beginning to the greatest movement the world has ever seen.
Then we moved on to chapters 3 and 4, and
we looked at the boldness of Peter and John as they began their ministry. A
crippled man was spectacularly healed, and the number of believers grew to
5000. The religious authorities began to get twitchy as they watched all his
happen. But the Christians grew stronger. Acts 4.31 summarises: they were all filled with the Holy Spirit
and spoke the word of God with boldness.
Well, so far, so good.
Things begin to go wrong
It’s easy to assume, from the standpoint of 2000 years after this first excitement in the life of the church, that to start with it was all very exciting and fulfilling, everyone was totally sold out for God, and that if only we could do things as they did them, everything would be fine.
And yet it wasn’t as simple as that. Looking at these early chapters in the book of Acts, we find that as soon as things began to go well, everything also started to go pear-shaped. And in the section we are looking at this week, these keen early Christians find themselves facing three problems. What were they:
*
- Corruption – the deceit of Ananias and Sapphira
- Persecution – the apostles are imprisoned and flogged
- Arguments – the needs and quarrels of the widows.
Ananias and Sapphira and the power
of the Holy Spirit
We haven’t time to look in detail at all three of these elements, and I want to focus mostly about the middle one. But let’s pause a moment and think about Ananias and Sapphira, a story which seems to us to be just a little bit over the top. A small lie, and hey presto they are struck by a thunderbolt and fall dead to the ground. Not the kind of thing we really associate with the God of love; a bit harsh, a bit more like vengeful Zeus, perhaps. So what is going on here?
Well, their offence is quite simple. We remember from chapter 2 that the members of this infant church had decided to sell their possessions and goods and give to anyone as he had need. Ananias and Sapphira don’t seem to have been all that keen on this. At any rate, they sold their field and gave part of the money into the common pot, pretending it was the whole amount but keeping some back. Peter realises this and objects very strongly. It isn’t that they kept some of the money – they weren’t under any obligation to sell the field, and having sold it they weren’t under any obligation to donate the proceeds, he points out. No, the problem was that they deliberately deceived the church, and that they seemed to think they could deceive the Holy Spirit of God himself.
I read a survey once which asked people
whether they would buy a train ticket if they knew that no one would find out
if they hadn’t – if there were no ticket inspectors on the train. A large
proportion said they wouldn’t buy one. I’m stunned when I look at some of the financial
corruption individuals engage in in the church in
So, why the extremeness of God’s reaction? Well, Peter says they have lied to the Holy Spirit. Remember that the Holy Spirit had just been poured out on every single believer for the first time in human history, and it was an immensely powerful thing. The prophets had promised it; now it was actually happening, and Luke said it was like tongues of fire. Well, playing with fire is dangerous. God may not respond quite as instantly nowadays; but it doesn’t mean he likes deception any more now than he did then.
Persecution and the purposes of God
So: that’s the first problem: corruption. The next is persecution.
Let me remind you what’s going on.
* Chapter 5 vs 12-16. The apostles performed many miraculous signs and wonders among the people. All sorts of things are going on. The Christians are meeting publicly in Solomon’s Colonnade, which was a roofed area on the inside of the outer court of the temple. Loads of people are becoming Christians, and everyone is bringing their sick family and friends into the street so that Peter’s shadow will fall on them and they will be healed – quite a high level of expectation here, and maybe more superstitious than theologically informed. * But it doesn’t seem to matter: the Holy Spirit has been released like water from behind a dam, as Ezekiel said he would be; and the whole lot are healed.
Now it’s not hard to imagine that the priests didn’t like this. Imagine if you like that a bunch of let’s say fanatical Palestinians have marched in here and are having a meeting in the foyer. Crowds of people are coming to join them, loads are being converted to their new sect, and the sick are being healed. Everyone’s so excited that there’s an awful lot of noise, and we can’t get out to go to the loo, look at the bookstall or check our pigeonholes. I can’t hear myself think, half of you are trickling out to see what’s going on, and the whole thing is getting completely out of hand. What do we do? Well, very likely we conclude we have no option but to do what we do when we get people in here who have had too much to drink and cause a disturbance. We call the police.
And that’s just what they did, too. So before they knew where they were Peter and John found themselves in jail. You might think that would be the end of the problem. But then this happened…
An angel of
the Lord opened the doors of the jail and brought them out. What did they do: they went straight back to the temple, and carried
on with the teaching.
Well, if it hadn’t gone down well before,
it went down even less well now. Peter and John are brought before the
Sanhedrin, the supreme Jewish court, a kind of ruling council with most of the
seats occupied by priests. Like the House of Lords only with the bishops having
most of the power. The high priest throws a wobbly: we gave you strict orders not to teach in this name, he
said. Yet you have filled
Peter is incensed by this, and determined not to be cowed. So returns resolutely to the facts: You killed Jesus by hanging him on a tree. God raised him. We are witnesses, and so is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those (not you) who obey him.
Well, that’s a red rag to a bull. They are furious, they all leap up and start shouting for the apostles to be put to death too. Then Gamaliel stands up, and this is the bit that interests us.
* Gamaliel was a Pharisee, and the greatest religious teacher of the day, a gentle man with an immense reputation for godliness. Gamaliel makes a simple but profound point. The point is this:
Men of
So the Council were convinced. They decided to have the apostles flogged instead, told them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go. So off they trotted, and carried on as before, going from house to house, speaking in the temple courts, proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Christ.
The
purposes of God will prevail
So Gamaliel warns that the purposes of God will prevail, whatever measures you take against them. And it’s in his words that I find both the biggest challenge and the biggest reassurance. Gamaliel is reminding this council of undermined and furious religious leaders that they do actually believe in God. It’s a good reminder, because in the heat of the moment and in their fury at their loss of control over the people, they have completely forgotten God. But Gamaliel says, we believe in God. And he reminds them that God is almighty and all powerful, and that if things come from God they can’t be stopped. They knew this. God had said it clearly enough and often enough through the prophets.
* This is Isaiah:
I am God, and there is no other;
I am God, and there is none like me.
I make known the end from the beginning,
from ancient times, what is still to come.
I say: My purpose will stand,
and I will do all that I please.
From the east I summon a bird of prey;
from a far-off land, a man to fulfil my purpose.
What I have said, that will I bring about;
what I have planned, that will I do. 46.9-11
* Or again:
As the rain and the snow
come down from heaven,
and do not return to it
without watering the earth
and making it bud and flourish,
so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater,
so is my word that goes out from my mouth:
It will not return to me empty,
but will accomplish what I desire
and achieve the purpose for which I sent it. 55.10-11
And this is where the story bites for me.
For I too believe in this God, a God who has purposes and plans, and a God who will
carry those plans out, one way or another. And I think that Gamaliel’s words
have enormous resonance for us today. Let’s look again at what he said;
*
For if their purpose or activity is of human origin, it
will fail. But if it is from God, you will not be able to stop these men.
So: if we have a plan, a purpose or an activity which is of human origin, it will fail. If on the other hand we have one which is from God, no one will be able to stop us. That’s both immensely reassuring and immensely challenging. Let’s think about the ministry of the church. It’s easy, isn’t it, to look at the world out there and look at its needs, and then think of ways of meeting those needs. It’s easy to look at ourselves and think, the church will be a better place if we do this, or do that, organise ourselves in this way or that. It’s easy, in other words, to come up with purposes and activities which are of human origin. But what Gamaliel is saying is that purposes and activities which spring from the human heart will fail. And that is likely be so even if they are good ones.
If on the other hand we submit ourselves to God, so that instead of asking him to bless our plans and purposes, we make ourselves available to be part of his plans and purposes, then we are in a different ball game altogether. Nothing will be able to stop us.
What do we have to do in order to make sure our purposes and activities are not of human origin, but part of the plans of God himself? I think several things.
*
-
We have to believe in God. This is the underlying reality which
Gamaliel brings them back to. And I don’t mean we have to believe in God
in the way that 70% of the
- Secondly, we have to believe that God is interested in working with us. We have to believe that he is involved in our lives, that he is interested in his world, that he will send that same Holy Spirit to work in this city today. We have to believe in God not just in theory, but in practice also. We all believe in him in theory. But ask yourself: do you believe in him in practice also?
- Thirdly, we have to submit ourselves to his purposes. We have to be ready to go right outside our comfort zone. John pointed out last week that Peter, for all his human failings, was ready to do that. Peter fell down, and Peter just got back up again. Peter got it wrong, and Peter learnt from his mistakes. Peter was utterly ashamed of himself; and he had the courage not to go off and hide in a big hole, but to keep going, in public, in the face of this kind of opposition. Peter made himself available to the Holy Spirit. Peter’s God was a God who didn’t just wind up the universe like a clock and then sit back and put his feet up. Peter’s God was a God who was intimately involved with that universe and with the people in it. Peter wanted to work with God.
The example of Esther
There’s a story in the Old Testament which
these religious leaders would have known. There’s one line in it which strikes
me to the core every time I read it. It’s the story of Esther. Esther lived in
the time of Xerxes, king of
*
When Esther’s words were reported to Mordecai, he sent back this answer:
“Do not think that because you are in the king’s house you alone of all the
Jews will escape.
For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the
Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father’s family will
perish. And who knows but that you have come to royal position for such a time
as this?”
This is the bit that always gets to me:
if you remain silent at this time, relief
and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place. And who knows but
that you have come to royal position for such a time as this?
For me that means firstly that God’s purposes and plans don’t depend on me. His word will go out, and it will not return to him empty. If I don’t play the part he offers me, he will find someone else. It won’t make any difference to the outcome. And secondly, it means that maybe I am where I am precisely because he has put me there and planned it that way, because I really do have a part in his purposes. He is offering me the opportunity to engage alongside him in a task which is immensely important. Will I have the guts to do it? It’s a challenge. You do it, God says; but if you don’t, I’ll find someone else. The story’s there – do you want to be in it?
Well I don’t know about you, but for me the
answer has always been yes, I do want to be in it. It’s not taken me to a place
where I get imprisoned or flogged, but my answer of yes has nonetheless
determined the course of my life. It’s taken me away from the career I was
headed for. It’s taken me to live on a housing estate where bricks came through
the window. It’s taken me through countries engaged in civil war and to places where
I have had to sleep on floors with rats running round my head. It’s taken me to
places of vulnerability and conflict. But it’s also taken me to places where I
can see what God is doing, to places where I know that what is
going on is his plan and not a human plan. I’ve seen that especially in
I’ve just started a new job, working part time for an organisation called ReSource. It’s a national organisation and its strapline is ‘Renewal for mission in the power of the Holy Spirit’. Its aim is to resource leaders and churches to engage with God’s purposes, to experience the renewing power of the Holy Spirit and to reach out as a consequence of that experience to their communities. Why am I doing it? Well, partly because they asked me, partly because they pay me, partly because it’s a natural follow-on from the book I’ve just written. But fundamentally for none of those reasons. Fundamentally I’m doing it because I was sitting on a chair in a conference 2 years ago, and God asked me those three questions:
*
- Do you believe in me?
- Do you believe that I am interested in working with you?
- Are you prepared to trust me and submit yourself to my purposes?
I was absolutely terrified; but the voice in my head was unmistakeable. And again, it’s had the same feeling of being just part of a much bigger thing, with that conversation going on in the heads of a whole load of other people too, all being drawn together because God has a plan. My part in both these things is only a small one; but it’s the one he’s asking me to perform. Like being a single piece in an enormous jigsaw.
Finding your place in the narrative
So let me ask you, where are you in this story? How do you answer those three questions? Do you believe in God in practice, or only in theory? Do you believe that he is interested in working with you? And are you prepared to do what Esther did, and stick your neck out, to be part of his purposes however uncomfortable?
Well, only you know the answers to those questions. But I bet a fair number of you will be saying, that’s all very well, but God has never asked me to heal cripples, he’s never asked me to preach the gospel to crowds of people. This stuff is really only for a few people, for the carefully chosen exceptions, not for ordinary people like me.
That’s understandable, but maybe not quite right.
Firstly, one of the things that incensed these religious leaders was that Peter and John and the others were precisely that: ordinary, unqualified individuals.
Secondly, I think the framework of this middle section is helpful. These early chapters show us a committed group of believers who were determined to belong to one another, to be part of a community in which each member made their contribution and pulled their weight. Ananias and Sapphira weren’t being asked by God to be preachers, to get flogged and imprisoned. They were being asked to sell a field and share the proceeds with their brothers and sisters. Peter is at pains to point out that the brothers and sisters themselves were not asking them to do that; if they’d been asked at all it was by God himself. Which perhaps explains their partial obedience.
But there’s a third section, too. And after all this dramatic stuff with angels and floggings, it’s gloriously practical. Let’s look at it. It’s about arguments.
Arguments
* It’s the first 7 verses of chapter 6. There are 2 types of people
in this first church. They all have a Jewish background. But some of them are
natives of
So what do they do. They choose seven godly, Spirit-filled men to take over the administration. They were all people with a spiritual ministry; there is no distinction made here between those who do practical things and those who do spiritual things. In Christ, practical things are spiritual things. So when God says, do you believe in me, to you believe I am interested in working with you, are you prepared to trust me and submit yourself to my purposes, he isn’t necessarily calling you to perform miracles or endure floggings. He may be asking you to do something much more practical. To be sure, signing on the dotted line with God is a bit scary because you don’t get to read the small print first – for one of these men, Stephen, it went on to mean martyrdom. For another, Philip, it meant a travelling ministry as an evangelist. When God terrified me at the conference, I didn’t have a heroic response. I just said, well, as long as we can take it one step at a time, I’m up for it. I expect God just grinned. But he’s gone along with it. The result?
So the word of God
spread. The number of disciples in
Conclusion
So there we are.
Corruption. Persecution. Arguments.
Looked at another way, a simple lesson. That in the midst of everything we do to mess things up, there is one simple truth.
The purposes of God will prevail. That means, God will do what he wants to do. Do you want to be part of it?