All Things New
Sermon Notes
Signs and Wonders
So, dramatic miracles were happening
In fact, this is one of the stranger miracle stories in the New Testament: people were hoping to be healed by Peter’s shadow passing over them!
We don’t see anything like this anywhere else in the story. In other words, this is not supposed to be the norm. We shouldn’t go from here saying that, “Even our shadows will heal people.”
In fact, the Bible doesn’t even say that people were healed by Peter’s shadow, just that they were hoping to be.
The point here isn’t that shadows heal people but rather that things were going off! Luke is trying to communicate an atmosphere of excitement that surrounded the Church because the presence of God was heavy among them.
Wherever he is, anything is possible.
What does this means for us?
Be a people of his presence
Expect him to move in powerful ways
Don’t pin him down to any one of them (don’t pursue the means but the person).
Once again, signs and wonders lead to problems for the Church.
We’ve talked about how signs and wonders will be needed to lead the Church forward in a post-Christian culture.
But let’s not make the mistake of thinking that this will solve all our problems.
In fact, often this will create problems for us.
Remember, signs and wonders are not just about the moment but are indicators that the Kingdom of God is breaking out.
And where is the Kingdom of God breaking out? Right in the middle of the kingdoms of this world. In other words, in occupied territory.
14 But thanks be to God, who always leads us as captives in Christ’s triumphal procession and uses us to spread the aroma of the knowledge of him everywhere. 15 For we are to God the pleasing aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. 16 To the one we are an aroma that brings death; to the other, an aroma that brings life. (2 Corinthians 2:14-16)
Luke shows us time and again this pattern: advance and resistance (not just here but also in the ministry of Jesus)
Notice that the resistance doesn’t stop the advance
But the struggle is real.
From within the Church (Ananais and Sapphira)
And from without
Opposition
Why were Peter and John arrested? Because they threatened the status quo.
For us, our world is based on constant change, so even the most set in our ways among us are used to s certain amount of upheaval.
For them, change was something to be feared.
They saw themselves as guardians of a tradition.
They had centuries of stories that showed what happened when God’s people forgot who they were and went chasing after the newest thing.
They were determined not to let that happen again.
Their world was, in some ways, not all that different than ours.
It was in political upheaval
New technologies made the world smaller and more accessible than ever before
The result was a certain multiculturalism that was very disorienting for people of tradition.
I say all this to make two points.
First, let’s cut the Pharisees and Sadducees a bit of slack.
These weren’t simply bad people doing bad things. There were certainly some of those who had made compromises along the way and were simply after wealth and power.
But there were also people who were desperate to preserve a faith and way of life that had been handed down to them.
And remember, this wasn’t just about a way of life for its own sake.
They believed that this way of life was the key to their own prosperity and the restoration of the world.
In fact, there were some among the Pharisees who believed that, if the people of Israel could obey the law perfectly for one day, the Messiah would return and set everything right.
The first point: let’s have a bit of empathy and not make these into two-dimensional flannelgraph characters with their arms crossed and scowls on their faces. Why? Because (and here’s the second point)…
…when we make them two-dimensional “bad guys,” we don’t relate to them in the way we’re supposed to.
The way to read the parables is to put ourselves in the shoes of the “bad guys”
The way to read the Pharisees and Sadducees is to see how they went wrong so that we can recognize some of the same possibilities and tendencies in our own lives.
Where did they go wrong? They missed the move of God while working for God.
There's a strong and serious warning in this passage: it's entirely possible to miss the work of God while doing the work of God, that is, to miss God while operating in his name.
Do you suppose that kind of thing still happens? That God’s people miss God while working for God? Can you think of examples in the Church today where you see that happening? I know I can. But that’s not what we’re after here. The goal is not to identify it in the Church but to identify it in me…
Blind spots are a real thing. Does this raise an important question for anyone else: how do I avoid doing this? How do I address my blind spots? How do I discern the move of God and stay nimble to move with him?
The Rescue
Luke definitely enjoyed writing this part.
The angel’s words to the apostles are super interesting.
“Go, stand in the temple courts,” he said, “and tell the people all about this new life.” (Acts 5:20)
First, he sent them right back to where they were. What does this tell you? The miraculous deliverance is not just about their deliverance. In fact, they end up arrested again because the angel sent them right back where they were in the first place. Why?
Remember, every miracle is not just about the person experiencing the miracle but is about two other things:
The community that witnesses the miracle
And the Kingdom of God.
The community
There must have been people at the temple that day that needed to hear what the apostles had to say (and those words would have been filled with even more power considering that the men speaking them were supposed to be in jail).
It was a testimony to the Sanhedrin as well (one that will pay off, I think, in the next story).
The Kingdom of God
What is the Kingdom statement being made here?
There are no locked doors in the Kingdom of God. Again, no such thing as impossible.
Second, what he told them to do is incredibly telling: “Tell all the people about this life” (I know it says, “This new life” in the NIV, but not in Greek). There are a few things that stand out to me about this:
The angel didn’t even know what to call this Jesus movement yet.
Eventually, it will be given the name “The Way,” and finally, “Christian.”
But, for now, it’s simply, “This Life.”
I love that because it’s a thoroughly appropriate way of talking about what it means to follow Jesus.
The way of Jesus is a new way of being human, not simply an add-on to life.
It's not simply something we believe; it's something we live.
It's something we are participants in.
It's something entirely new.
There is no section of our lives that are not touched by it. It affects everything. If Jesus is risen, if Jesus is King, everything is different. The old rules do not apply. This is, according to the book of Ephesians, a new humanity. Real humanity.
And notice, it also requires words.
This raises a second important question: how do we live this life?
The “Trial”
This is the longest part of the story and usually the focal point, but I’m going to spend the least amount of time here. It goes something like this:
We told you not to do what you’re doing.
The apostles responded:
We have to obey God and not you.
Again, it’s important that we are actually obeying God and not just using his name; the Pharisees and Sadducees thought they were obeying God too. Remember question #1: how do I discern the move of God?)
I love how impressive and dauntless these men have become. Remember, they weren’t always like this. Question #3: how do we live this life with boldness in the face of opposition?
Then, they led them through the story, a much shorter version than usual.
The key point of the story, as always, is Jesus crucified, risen, and reigning.
God did all of this, they said, so Jesus could “bring Israel to repentance and forgive their sins.”
They were witnesses of these things by the power of the Holy Spirit.
The Sanhedrin was furious. Why?
They were the ones who had killed Jesus.
Claiming that God sent Jesus meant that they had opposed God.
Claiming that Jesus was risen meant that they were inept
Claiming that Jesus was reigning meant that they were now opposing their king
Claiming that he forgave sins meant that their half of the reason for their existence (and the temple’s) was no longer relevant.
Claiming that these “nobodies” were filled with the Holy Spirit meant that the other half of the reason for the temple’s existence (to host the presence of God) was no longer valid.
So they decided to kill them; I told you. It’s getting real now.
But Gamaliel intervened with this accidentally prophetic statement:
38 “Therefore, in the present case I advise you: Leave these men alone! Let them go! For if their purpose or activity is of human origin, it will fail. 39 But if it is from God, you will not be able to stop these men; you will only find yourselves fighting against God.” (Acts 5:38-39)
He simply counseling the path of least resistance. He's telling them to let it be someone else's problem.
But he turns out to clearly articulate what was happening and accidentally prophesy what the future would hold.
Cooler heads prevail, so they just beat the apostles within an inch of their lives and send them home.
And the story ends,
41 The apostles left the Sanhedrin, rejoicing because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name. 42 Day after day, in the temple courts and from house to house, they never stopped teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Messiah. (Acts 5:41-42)
Question #4: how do we realign l our priorities so that suffering is turned to joy?
How? Fix our eyes of Jesus
The words that the apostles used to describe Jesus are incredibly interesting:
Savior, we have an idea of what this means, but the other is more unique.
NIV says, “Prince.” Others say, “Leader, Captain, Chief.”
The word in Greek is archego
To lead at the front
Used only 4 times in the New Testament, always of Jesus.
Used outside the New Testment to refer to people like Hercules.
In other words, another entirely way to translate this word is, “Hero” or “Champion.”
Stands at the head of the army and fights the battle on their behalf.
Their job, then, is simply to stick close behind him.
The author of Hebrews, using the same word, puts it like this:
1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, 2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3 Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. (Hebrews 12:1-3)
Eyes on Jesus
The witnesses are not telling us to try harder or be braver or toughen up. They’re telling us, “Keep your eyes on him. Stick with him.”
Our perseverance isn’t based on empathy with Jesus (that’s not what v. 3 means). It’s based on his victory.
And this answers all the questions:
How do we discern the move of God and stay nimble to move with him?
How do we live this life with boldness in the face of opposition?
How do we realign l our priorities so that suffering is turned to joy?
Eyes on Jesus