1 Rev. William J. Shields St. Mark Lutheran Church, Lindenhurst, Illinois The Fourth Sunday After Pentecost Father s Day June 16, 2013 Gospel Lesson Acts 4:1-22 Sermon Series The Acts Of The Apostles Part 5 The Boldness Of Peter And John And as they were speaking to the people, the priests and the captain of the temple and the Sadducees came upon them, greatly annoyed because they were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection from the dead. And they arrested them and put them in custody until the next day, for it was already evening. But many of those who had heard the word believed, and the number of the men came to about five thousand. On the next day their rulers and elders and scribes gathered together in Jerusalem, with Annas the high priest and Caiaphas and John and Alexander, and all who were of the high-priestly family. And when they had set them in the midst, they inquired, By what power or by what name did you do this? Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, Rulers of the people and elders, if we are being examined today concerning a good deed done to a crippled man, by what means this man has been healed, let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead by him this man is standing before you well. This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone. And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved. Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated, common men, they were astonished. And they recognized that they had been with Jesus. But seeing the man who was healed standing beside them, they had nothing to say in opposition. But when they had commanded them to leave the council, they conferred with one another, saying, What shall we do with these men? For that a notable sign has been performed through them is evident to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and we cannot deny it. But in order that it may spread no further among the people, let us warn them to speak no more to anyone in this name. So they called them and charged them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. But Peter and John answered them, Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge, for we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard. And when they had further threatened them, they let them go, finding no way to punish them, because of the people, for all were praising God for what had happened. For the man on whom this sign of healing was performed was more than forty years old.
2 Grace be unto you and peace, from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. I read a news story the other day, about a man that most of you have probably never heard of. But you need to know his name. His name is Pastor Saeed Abedini. He was born in 1980, in the country of Iran, and he was raised as a Muslim. But in the year 2000, he converted to Christianity. It was a dangerous decision. In Iran, as in most Islamic countries, it is illegal for a Muslim to convert to another religion. Those who do convert are subject to constant harassment and intimidation. They are not allowed to worship openly in the few Christian churches that exist there. So most Muslim converts worship under the radar, in house churches. When Abedini became a Christian, he was such a natural leader that he became a powerful force in the house church movement. During that time, he met and married a Christian woman who was a U.S. citizen. She became his helper in the house church movement. And from the years 2000 to 2005, the Abedinis personally oversaw the development of more than 100 house churches, where more than 2,000 Iranian Christians were worshiping. But in 2005 the government began to crack down on these churches. The Abedinis had two young children by then and Saeed was worried about their safety. So the family moved to Boise, Idaho, where his wife had grown up. While living there, Saeed went to seminary and became an ordained pastor. And in 2010, Saeed Abedini proudly raised his right hand and took the oath to become a U.S. citizen. With his family safe, Saeed began to make frequent trips back to Iran, to support the house churches and to help build a Christian orphanage. He was sometimes detained and held in jail for a few days, but he was always released. In July of 2012, his wife begged him not to go back, but he felt called again to help his fellow Iranian Christians. Soon after he arrived, he was arrested again. But this time it seemed more serious. He was charged with endangering national security, because of his activities in support of the house churches. He was also charged with corrupting the youth, because of the orphanage that the churches were building. In January of 2013, Pastor Abedini was sentenced to eight years in Evin prison, the worst prison in Iran. While he has been in prison, he has been subjected to horrible torture and abuse. His wife believes that if he stays there much longer, he will die there. He could be released today if he would renounce Jesus Christ and return to his Muslim roots. But Pastor Abedini has told the Iranian authorities, in no uncertain terms, that no matter what happens to him, whether he lives or dies, he will never deny his Lord Jesus Christ. And he will never stop sharing his faith with his beloved brothers and sisters in Iran. That, people, is courage. That is what it means to really put your life on the line for Jesus Christ. Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the German Lutheran pastor who was arrested, and eventually executed, for opposing Adolph Hitler, wrote these words from his prison cell in 1937. He said, Suffering is the badge of the true Christian Discipleship means allegiance to the suffering Christ, and it is therefore not at all surprising that Christians should be called upon to suffer. In John 15:20, at the Last Supper, Jesus said to his Disciples, A servant is not greater than his master. If they persecuted me, they will also persecute me. And in our text for today, from Acts chapter 4, we see the beginning of that persecution. But more importantly, we see the response of
3 two of the Apostles, Peter and John, when they face that persecution. The title of my sermon today is The Boldness Of Peter And John. Now, I hope that you will never have to face the situation that Peter and John faced. But it is my firm belief that, if you will truly commit your life to your Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, he will give you that same kind of boldness that he gave to them, the same kind of boldness that he is giving to Pastor Abedini, as you face persecution and suffering in your own life. Our story begins with I. The Arrest Of Peter And John When we left Peter and John last week, Peter had just finished preaching a powerful sermon to a crowd of people who had gathered around them in the courtyard of the Temple. The crowd had gathered because Peter and John had healed a forty year old man who had been lame from birth. Many of the people in the courtyard knew the lame man and they knew that a powerful miracle had been performed. So they gathered around Peter and John to find out the source of their healing power. Peter took the opportunity to address the crowd and to tell them that the power to heal did not come from him or from his friend John. The power to heal the lame man came from Jesus of Nazareth. The people were surprised. They had heard about this Jesus guy. He had created quite a stir in Jerusalem a few months earlier. And the religious authorities had arrested him, and put him on trial, and then turned him over to the Romans to be crucified. Now Peter was telling them that the same Jesus who had died on that Roman cross had risen from the dead and ascended into heaven! And Peter told the people that this Jesus was their Christ the Messiah that they were all waiting for. And if they would believe in him and put their trust in him, then their sins would be blotted out, and their souls would be refreshed, and they would have to power of Jesus Christ in their lives. Well, Peter s sermon had an incredible effect on the crowd. After the miracle of Pentecost, described in chapter 2, Peter had preached a sermon and 3,000 people had repented and come to faith in Jesus Christ. But on this day, after the miraculous healing of the lame man and the powerful sermon of Peter, Acts 4:4 tells us that, Many of those who had heard the word believed, and the number of the men came to about five thousand. On one incredible afternoon, the Christian Church more than doubled in size! And the religious leaders took notice! We had a similar situation the last time that Bob and I were in Africa. We think that the reason the government began to investigate the conference and the reason that they hauled the host pastor in for questioning was because the conference was so successful! We had the largest number of pastors that we had ever had, and the largest number of Muslim converts. The music was incredible, and the testimonies were powerful, and the authorities suddenly noticed that something important was going on. Well, that s what happened in our story in Acts 4. The Jesus movement, which the religious leaders thought they had snuffed out when they crucified Jesus a few months earlier, was suddenly exploding in the temple courtyard. So they quickly sent the temple police out, to quiet the crowd and to arrest Peter and John. It was late in the afternoon, so they decided that they would not do anything with the two Apostles that night. They just put them in jail and made plans to deal with them in the morning. We don t know exactly what was going through the minds of Peter and John as they spent that night in jail. But they were probably thinking about the night that Jesus was arrested. And they were probably wondering if they were going to suffer the same fate that Jesus had suffered. But there was
4 an important difference this time. On the night that Jesus was arrested, the Disciples had all run away and abandoned him. But not tonight. Tonight, Peter and John were new men. Tonight, they were ready to go to the Cross, if that was what there Lord required of them. So that s the first part of our story The Arrest Of Peter And John. And that brings us, then, to the second part II. The Trial Of Peter And John After a night of uncertainty, Peter and John were brought before the Jewish ruling council, known as the Sanhedrin. The Sanhedrin was dominated by a political party known as the Sadducees. During the ministry of Jesus, most of the opposition to him came from the other major party the Pharisees. The Pharisees opposed Jesus on religious grounds. Jesus contradicted many of their interpretations of Scripture, especially the laws regarding the Sabbath. So they saw Jesus as a false teacher. But when Jesus began to have an impact on the capital city of Jerusalem, that s when the Sadducees began to take notice of him. The Sadducees opposed Jesus on political grounds. You see, the Sadducees and their leaders, the chief priests, had a cozy arrangement with the Roman authorities. As long as the priests and Sadducees could keep the people in line, and could prevent any rebellion from popping up, the Romans would allow them to run the Temple and to profit from the money changing and the animal sales. So they had an incentive to keep things calm and orderly in Jerusalem. But Jesus threatened the power and the authority of the chief priests and the Sadducees. First, he challenged them on theological grounds. The Sadducees were the educated elite of their day. And they were also the theological liberals. They didn t believe in supernatural healings. They didn t believe in angels or demons. And worst of all, they didn t believe in the resurrection from the dead. They were too sophisticated for all of that. And Jesus took them on for their lack of faith in the clear Word of God. But Jesus did more than that. He also challenged the chief priests and the Sadducees on political grounds. He challenged them on their leadership and authority. He condemned the way that they ran the temple and took advantage of the people. The chief priests and Sadducees used the temple as their personal source of money and power. And Jesus went right after this abusive system. He went into the temple courtyard, and tipped over the tables of the money changers, and released the sacrificial animals that they were selling. The leaders were incensed. This Jesus thing had gotten way out of hand. Jesus was a real threat to their power, so he had to die. And now these two hayseed Galilean followers of Jesus were stirring it all up again. But the mighty priests and Sadducees would put them in their place. So they brought Peter and John into the Council chamber. The members of the Council were seated in semi-circles, facing them. There were Pharisees, and Sadducees, and legal experts known as Scribes, and leading wealthy citizens known as Elders. And sitting in front of all the members of the Council were their leaders the chief priests. The most important of the priests was a man named Annas. In our story, Annas is called the high priest. Actually, he had been removed from that office by the Romans, and replaced by his sonin-law Caiaphas. But no one was fooled by that. Annas was the one calling the shots here. And it was probably Annas who asked the opening question in verse 7. He wanted to know how Peter and John had healed the lame man. So he asked, By what power or by what name did you do this? The last time that someone had confronted Peter about his relationship to Jesus, he had failed miserably. It was early in the morning on Good Friday. Jesus had been standing in this very same room where Peter and John were now standing, facing these same religious leaders. Outside in the
5 courtyard, a servant girl pointed at Peter and said, You are one of his disciples! And in the early morning darkness, Peter denied three times that he knew Jesus. And then the rooster crowed. But Peter would not deny his Lord on this day. In Matthew chapter 10, Jesus warned his Disciples that they would be arrested, and dragged before rulers and authorities. In verse 19 he said, When they deliver you over, do not be anxious how you are to speak or what you are to say, for what you are to say will be given to you in that hour. And that s what happened to Peter here. Beginning at Acts 4:8 we read, Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, Rulers of the people and elders, if we are being examined today concerning a good deed done to a crippled man, by what means this man has been healed, let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead by him this man is standing before you well. Not only did Peter boldly and courageously proclaim Jesus Christ before the Council, but he also pointed right at them and said, You crucified him, but God raised him from the dead! And then, at that critical moment, Peter remembered a Scripture verse that Jesus had quoted in the Temple courtyard, just a few days before he was arrested. It was Psalm 118:22, which says, The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. And Peter said to the chief priests and to the whole Council, This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone. And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved. Peter didn t come up with that speech on his own. The Holy Spirit gave him those words. And those words had an amazing effect on the religious leaders. The leaders had expected to see two stupid, bumbling fishermen from Galilee. They expected them to be cowering in fear and begging for their lives. But instead they saw III. The Boldness Of Peter And John In verses 13-14 of our text we read, Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated, common men, they were astonished. And they recognized that they had been with Jesus. But seeing the man who was healed standing beside them, they had nothing to say in opposition. I remember once when I was in High School, and it was Christmas break, and two of our little cousins were staying at our house. And one morning, we were going to go over to the High School to play basketball. One of the custodians was going to let us in. And our two cousins wanted to come with us. And we didn t want to take them, but we couldn t think of any reason not to. But then one of my brothers noticed that the two cousins were wearing hard shoes, kind of like clogs. And my brother said, Sorry, but you can t go with us. You can t wear those kind of shoes on the gym floor. To which my eight-year-old cousin replied, We ll take them off. And we all stood there with our mouths open stymied by an eight-year-old. And they went with us. Well, the most brilliant minds in Jerusalem were stymied by the simple testimony of two Galilean fishermen, and the obvious miracle of a lame man who could now walk. They didn t know what to do. So they ordered the soldiers to take Peter and John out of the chamber. Then they had a conversation. They said in verses 16-17, What shall we do with these men? For that a notable sign has been performed through them is evident to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and we cannot deny it. But in order that it may spread no further among the people, let us warn them to speak no more to anyone in this name.
6 I love what Kent Hughes says about this. He says, These incredibly hard-hearted men were so intent on protecting their own interests that a bona fide, undeniable miracle did not get through to them. They had no understanding of what was going on with this new resurrection sect. So the leaders called Peter and John back into the Council chamber. And they read them the riot act. They told them that they must not speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. They hoped to scare them into being silent. Peter and John knew what had happened to Jesus. The leaders wanted them to know that the same thing could happen to them. But Peter had the Holy Spirit in him. And he rose to the occasion. Peter said, Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge. In other words, Peter was saying to them, You might think that you are the highest authority for the Jewish people, but you are not. There is an authority that is higher than all men. That authority is God. And Peter said, We will continue to speak about what we have seen and heard. Outside the chamber, thousands of new Christians, who had seen the miracle of the lame man who could now walk, were waiting to see what the leaders would do with Peter and John. And in that moment of tension, as the Apostles and the chief priests were staring each other down, it was the priests who blinked. They were afraid of the crowd, so they released Peter and John. And there was great rejoicing in the streets. Round one went to the followers of Christ. But the religious leaders in Jerusalem will not let this drop. There will be persecution in the chapters to come. People will be arrested, people will be beaten, and people will die. But with every blow struck against the Church, God will use the suffering of his people to take the Gospel further and further out into the world. And it is still that way today. Today we pray for Pastor Saeed Abedini, and we urge our government to put pressure on Iran to release him from prison, so that he can return to his family in Idaho. But we know that his imprisonment has already borne fruit for the Church. An online petition has been started at SaveSaeed.org, calling for his release from prison. More than 600,000 people from all over the world have signed the petition. I signed it this past Friday. Saeed learned about the petition from a family member who visited him in prison. He said that he was honored to know that his suffering was uniting Christians around the world and bringing glory to his Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. And word has been coming out of Iran that the house church movement, which Saeed had such an impact on, is thriving and growing, even in the face of great persecution. The believers there are saying, If Pastor Abedini can endure such intense suffering for the cause of Christ, then we can endure as well. We can be courageous. With that in mind, I leave you with this question. How might God be calling you, in your life, to be bold and courageous for the cause of Jesus Christ? Maybe you are enduring some kind of physical or emotional suffering, and God is challenging you to bear that burden with faith and hope and joy, so that you can be a powerful witness for Jesus to all those who are watching you. Maybe you have some persistent sin in your life that it is preventing you from having a closer relationship with Christ, and is hindering your Christian witness. And maybe God is calling you to courageously confront that sin and overcome it, so that you can truly be the man or the woman that God wants you to be. Maybe you have seen some injustice or dishonesty or immorality going on around you, and you have been silent you haven t said a word. Maybe God wants you to speak up boldly to confront that evil or to protect the innocent. I don t know what God wants you to be courageous about. But I do know that God wants you to be a bold witness for the cause of Jesus Christ in the world. May you answer that call, as Peter and
7 John did more than 2,000 years ago, in front of some of the most powerful men in Jerusalem. May you answer that call, as Pastor Abedini is doing every day in his prison cell, in that brutal Islamic republic. May you see their examples, and may they inspire you to be bold witnesses for Jesus Christ. Because, as Peter said, There is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved. Amen and Amen.