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Who We Are - Sermon, Good Shepherd Sunday, May 11th, 2003
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Sermon text: Acts 4:23-24, 29, 32-35 as follows —
On their release, Peter and John went back to their own people and reported all that the chief priests and elders had said to them. When they heard this, they raised their voices together in prayer to GodÉ "Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness."É All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they shared everything they had. With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and much grace was upon them all. There were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned lands or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales and put it at the apostles' feet, and it was distributed to anyone as he had need.
Dear Friends in Christ,
This past Wednesday evening, a bunch of folks met here at church for our annual congregational meeting. We reviewed reports from pastors, officers, committees. We elected some committee chairmen, and we issued another call to fill the vacancy on our school faculty. We also approved a budget of more than half a million dollars. That, to say the least, is challenging. For a congregation this size, a half-million dollar budget is — let's just say — ambitious. But then, "ambitious" just might be a good way to describe the atmosphere at Faith Lutheran these days. At least among those members who actively participate in these things and speak up about these things, there is an ambitious attitude. An attitude that says, "Let's get on with it! Let's keep challenging ourselves and each other, let's keep growing our school, let's increase our outreach to the lost souls of our community! Let's beef up our ministry to children and teens and families and more!"
Now, when all of our ambitious ideas for ministry are packaged in a budget for the coming year, it adds up to about $540,000. Yet, when it was time to discuss that budget, there was no debate; there were some questions about details, but there was no disagreement about what we are trying to accomplish through that budget. It seems that the members of this church are very much on the same page, and that's not surprising since we are agreed on our mission. We agree on what our purpose is as a Christian congregation: As people who are "alive in Christ," it's our mission "to share life in Christ with all."
It's really true that WHEN CHRISTIANS ARE ON THE SAME PAGE, IT SHOWS. It showed in the first congregation in Jerusalem in the days following Pentecost. Those were golden days! We're told that the believers were devoted to "the apostles' teaching and fellowship and breaking of bread and prayer." They met daily in the temple courts and ate together in their homes, "praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved."
Those golden days, however, would not last. There were storm clouds on the horizon, the looming dark clouds of persecution. The same people who had rejected Jesus would turn their attention to his church. Those who had failed to destroy the Head, now would attack the body of Christ. It all started with an outstanding miracle, outstanding because it was so public. Through Peter and John, the Lord Jesus healed a man crippled from birth. That caused quite a sensation, and Christ's enemies took note. The powers-that-be in the Jewish nation, the same bunch who had succeeded in getting Jesus crucified, had Peter and John seized and held overnight. The next day they hauled them in and grilled them about the miracle. Since no one could deny that it had happened, these rulers were stumped. They ended up ordering the apostles "not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus." They were to cease and desist, or else! We don't know what the specific threats were, but it's not hard to guess. "You know what we did to your leader..."
Peter and John didn't hesitate. Their response to the Sanhedrin was, in a word, no. Peter said, "Figure it out for yourselves: you're ordering us to stop doing precisely what God himself has commanded us to do!" A brave answer! Or was it just bravado, big talk, like Peter had spouted a few other times? Was it a rash response that they'd regret later? Furthermore, would the other aposltes agree with the position taken by these two? Would the other ten have the guts to go along with it? This was obviously a serious threat; their lives were on the line and the very existence of the church was threatened. From this moment on, their ministry was illegal. Their preaching about Jesus was against the law.
Peter and John reported it all to the others. So did they call a meeting, and someone made a motion to support Peter and John, and somebody seconded it and then they discussed it? And did one of them say, "Look, it's all well and good to say we're going to keep preaching, but what will happen to the church if we get put in jail or worse? You guys have to think about the consequences here! Maybe we ought to discuss some alternatives?" Well, it didn't happen that way because there was nothing to discuss, nothing to debate. The apostles didn't have to vote on what to do because they agreed on what to do. There was consensus. They agreed on what Job #1 is for Christ's church. When it came to their mission, the apostles clearly were all on the exact same page.
And that showed in their response to this threat. With one voice, St. Luke tells us, they turned to God in prayer. He also uses a word that means "with one mind, with one purpose." And when we read this prayer, one thing we might note is what they did not ask for. They did NOT pray for lightening to strike their enemies. They did NOT pray that the Lord would replace this evil government with a better one. They did NOT even pray to be kept safe from persecution.
In this prayer they first praised the almighty God, who rules also everything. They praised him for fulfilling his promises and sending his "holy servant Jesus," and for using even Christ's enemies to accomplish the great purpose of saving people from their sins through Jesus' death. And then they simply asked two things: "Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your Word with great boldness." There was no question about what they would do. They simply asked God to look on the threats — they weren't even going to worry about them — and to give them boldness to keep preaching his Word of truth.
When Christians are on the same page, when there's consensus on what Job #1 is, when we agree on what we're here for, it shows. One way that it shows is in how a group of believers responds to threats or challenges. Here at Faith, we aren't threatened by a government that orders us to stop preaching about Christ. As we seek to carry out our mission, though, we do face many challenges — facilities, staffing, funding, and more! But let's thank God that we agree on what the mission is. Job 1 for us is to "share life in Christ with all." To preach and teach God's Word for the eternal salvation of souls — those already in the flock, to keep them in God's grace, and those still outside the flock, that the Spirit may bring more in. Here at Faith, there's no debate about WHAT to do, and that's cause for us to praise God! What we need (as the church did then) is the courage and the confidence to keep on doing it. And that's cause for prayer!
The prayer of the apostles was answered immediately. Luke says: "With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus." They courageously preached that Jesus is the Lord, raised from death, that his death was the sacrifice for the sins of the world, that his name is the only name by which anyone is saved. Their preaching was accompanied with great power, and the flock continued to grow in numbers and in grace. In fact, our text says, "and great grace, much grace, was upon them all." The gracious love of God was at work on and in them. That grace put them all on the same page as forgiven sinners, as God's holy people in Christ; it powerfully united them: "All the believers were one in heart and mind." And that one-ness showed in another way: "No one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they shared everything they had." Their attitude toward earthly possessions was not, "What's mine is mine," but "What's mine is God's." And it wasn't, "ten percent is his and the rest is mine," but all of it is his and he lets me use it to serve him — and to serve and my brother and sister in Christ.
So there was not one needy person among them. As soon as a need became known, somebody took care of it — sold a house or some property, and laid the proceeds at the apostles' feet, and all were cared for. Because these Christians were all on the same page spiritually, united in Christ and loved by God, they also loved each other. And they exercised that love in concrete ways.
When Christians are on the same page, it shows. It shows in their single-minded focus on the mission of the church, and in how they respond to threats and challenges. It shows in their single-hearted love for each other and how they respond to individual needs. I pray that all of us would daily thank God for the unity of faith and purpose he has given us here, that he has put us on the same page as his redeemed and forgiven children, through the Shepherd who laid down his life for the sheep. And I pray that his grace would make us all even more ambitious — more ambitious in our service to him, more ambitious in our devotion to the mission, more ambitious in our love for one another. Amen.