I. Commissioned and Empowered 00:00

…church here for the past few weeks. We’ve got this week and next week, and then we’ll take a little break and we’ll come back to it, because there’s a lot in this book of Acts about what a church should be like, who a church should be. And as I was going through our story today, I just want you to keep in mind some of the things we’ve been talking about, some of the ways we’ve been studying the early church.

We found out that they were commissioned, in the Ascension. We started way back then; that’s actually where Acts starts. It begins with Jesus leaving his disciples, and they’re standing there looking at the sky, and the angel goes, “Why are you standing there looking at the sky? There’s stuff to do.” So they were commissioned to go into the world and be the body of Christ to the world, since Christ has now risen to reign on high in heaven.

And then we found out that they were empowered. So they were commissioned to be the body of Christ to the world, and then they received power to do so, in fact the same power we were just singing about here, when we were talking about the Holy Spirit coming and moving in our midst. That’s what we talked about at Pentecost: the fire that came down to transform them, that they might bring that Spirit and that transforming power to the world.

And last week we got the first story of what the church did. Now that they’ve been empowered, now that they knew their mission, what did they do? We got this wonderful story about Peter and John walking into the temple to do their prayers. They’re doing the normal religious things, but they stop, because there’s a lame beggar there, and they speak Jesus’ healing power into his life, and he gets up. This man who was lame from birth (we’re told he was 40 years old) gets up, and he’s singing and dancing and praising the Lord, walking with them into the temple. And we’re told shortly thereafter that the number, the 3,000 who came into the church at Pentecost, has now increased to five thousand, because they’re doing things like this. They’re doing things where they had compassion, where they were generous, where they operated in the power of the Holy Spirit and brought healing to this man’s life.

And that brings us to what we’re talking about today. Because don’t you know, when that starts to shake things up, the religious leaders get a little bit concerned. The Jewish leaders, in fact, immediately come to see what the problem is. Peter’s preaching about the healing of this man. He’s talking about the saving power of Jesus in a temple that is run by the Sadducees. And if you guys remember, the Sadducees are the people who don’t believe in the resurrection of the dead. It’s pretty awkward to be preaching Jesus, who they know died on a cross, as the Lord of all creation, the Lord of life, the Messiah, if you don’t believe in the resurrection of the dead. And so that’s where we start. We’ve got Peter and John being detained by these religious leaders, and they’re being questioned. It’s very similar to how Jesus was treated by these same leaders.

II. The Resurrection From the Dead 03:16

And so we’re going to jump in here in Acts chapter 4, beginning in verse 1:

1 And as they were speaking to the people, the priests and the captain of the temple and the Sadducees came upon them, 2 greatly annoyed because they were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection from the dead. Acts 4.1–2

So there’s an interesting factor here that I want to consider, and it’s actually not just the historical animosity the Sadducees had for this idea of the resurrection of the dead. I think this idea, the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, is the chief stumbling block for the world today. What I mean by that is, I’ve heard even Christians who go to church say, “Yeah, I’m a Christian, but I don’t know about that whole resurrection-from-the-dead bit. That’s a little hard to believe.” That’s central to what you believe, and yet you think you could be a Christian without it? In our current day and age, if you walked up to literally anybody on the street and said, “Hey, do you believe that Jesus Christ died and rose from the dead?”, even if they were a Christian, I bet they might say, “I don’t know.” Because it’s a hard thing to believe: that someone who came and said, “I am the savior of the world,” was then brutally murdered and betrayed, and then, “Don’t worry, guys, he rose from the dead, and he still is the savior of the world.” That was a hard pill to swallow, a hard idea to understand.

But what does Paul say about this? He says, “If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied” (1 Cor 15.19). Why is that? Because in the early church, these same people, Peter and John, that we’re talking about, are being questioned by the religious leaders. Very soon they’re going to start to be killed. They’re going to be crucified or stoned or beheaded or drowned, in any number of ways. Well, guess what? If you don’t believe in the resurrection, that is stupid. It is dumb to believe a faith that gets you killed if there’s no resurrection from the dead, if there isn’t hope beyond death.

And so what Paul was responding to, just a short time later, was: “Hey, you know your friend who brought you to Christ, who was beheaded by the Romans? He is stupid if he didn’t believe in the resurrection of the dead, and you are stupid likewise.” Our hope is not just in this life. Our hope is in the resurrection of the dead.

The reason Peter and John are confidently standing before these religious leaders mere weeks after they barred themselves in their room when Jesus died, to hide from these same people… remember, these are the same cowering disciples who, after Jesus was crucified, locked themselves in a room and were waiting to be dragged to their own deaths by the religious leaders. Now they’re standing in the temple doing exactly what Jesus did and saying, “That guy rose from the dead,” fully knowing that they’re putting their head on the chopping block. Why would they do that? People don’t change, haven’t you heard? We’re all stuck in our ways. Well, they changed because they encountered the risen Christ. That will change you.

In fact, one of our greatest evidences for the truth of Christianity is the fact that eleven men of no repute (later it says they’re uneducated; they’re basically dumb hicks), eleven men were cowering in a room, betraying their Lord and Savior, and then 50 days later they’re proclaiming the good news of his resurrection. That doesn’t make sense. And then, when they tortured and killed them, they still said, “Yeah, but he rose from the dead.” I don’t know about you, but if I was lying, I would not let somebody torture me to death. It makes no sense. And so when we talk about the resurrection from the dead, although it is a stumbling block to our Western, modern, intellectual ideas about how the world works, we have to remember that we serve a powerful God who created life itself. So yes, of course we believe, and we declare today, that Jesus rose from the dead.

III. Trying to Resurrect Ourselves 06:52

Now, there’s this alternate option given in our modern world that is kind of cracking me up lately. Have you heard of these celebrities and these billionaires who are getting young people to donate their blood so that they can stay young? It’s this whole thing. Basically there’s this idea that you could actually regenerate your blood cells by getting transfusions from younger, healthier blood cells. Crazy. Or you look at an icon of pop culture, Madonna, and she looks like she’s not even human anymore, because she’s so committed to being young and living forever. What’s going on over here?

Or even (and this one might be a little more controversial, if you’ve heard of this guy) there’s this guy named Andrew Huberman. He’s a neuroscientist who optimizes human health. He takes like 15 different supplements that he’s researching. He does the cold plunge; you’ve probably heard of that, where people get in these ice baths, and then they do this workout, and they do these things. And literally you can be the most optimal human being you’ve ever seen if you just follow his plan to deny that we’re all dying. Now, I phrase that very aggressively. I think it’s awesome to optimize your life. Please do. It’s great. Worship God, who created everything that is, who said that the earth is good. But there’s this mania around some of these trends. And what are they trying to do? They’re trying to resurrect themselves. They deny the power of Christ’s resurrection, and then they spend all their time and money and effort trying to resurrect themselves.

This is the problem with the resurrection. That’s why I say I think it’s the stumbling block. Because we desperately, in this world, want to have significance, meaning, life after death. We all have that deeply ingrained, because God made us that way. And yet we chase all of these other ways to do it. And yet God says, “No, actually, the way that you resurrect from the dead is you die.” Makes no sense whatsoever, except that our whole faith is organized around a Savior who died on the cross and rose again. And in our baptism he invites us to join him: “Come along for the ride. Lay down your life.”

It’s absurd to tell people that in the modern day, when we have all of these tools and all of this technology and all of this power, unlike anybody in the history of the world. You can go to your home, you can flip a switch, and your home is heated, cooled, the lights turn on, the plumbing works. Kings didn’t have that. And yet we’re standing here saying, “And what you need to do is take up your cross, your torturous murder device, and follow Jesus, who died. Lay it all down for him.” Now, that doesn’t necessarily mean you have to turn the lights off and not have heating and air. That’s not what I’m saying. But I am saying everything you have needs to be given to him, because no matter what you do, no matter how powerful you are, there is no other name but his. There is no other way to life, the goodness we were just singing about: “Hello, hope. Hello, strength. Hello, peace.” How many people out there are chasing hope, strength, peace, and they just can’t find it, because it’s all here? It’s all with him. It’s all his way.

IV. A Plenitude of Gods 10:26

That’s why Christianity was causing people to want to murder them, because they came into a scene where they had a plenitude of gods. They come onto the scene, and the Romans have been conquering every tribe, every nation, and they’re basically saying, “Yeah, your gods you served obviously don’t work, because we just took over.” But the Romans were interesting, because instead of saying, “Now you have to worship our god,” they said, “Well, we can worship your gods too. Just bring them all in.” They had a policy where they basically said everybody can do whatever they want. And we look around at America, and the next great Rome says, “You can do whatever you want. All of your religions are welcomed here.”

And yet the Christians came onto that scene and said, “No, actually, you have to serve this carpenter, this Jew from the Galilean backwater of Nazareth, and you have to praise him, the guy who died on a cross, and no other god gets to be worshiped.” That wasn’t going to fly, not with these people. And so when we talk about the early church, we have to remember that they are in the same context that we are in today. Now, of course, there are differences, but my point is that we’re facing the exact same challenges as them. We’re facing a world that says, “Just do what works for you. Worship the god that serves your purposes.” All of it boils down to one thing: you are the glowing center of the universe, and you get to decide whatever you want. And across all of history, the call of these early Christians is, “No, actually, you have to worship one God, and only him shall you serve.”

V. By What Power or by What Name? 12:44

And so let’s continue. Let’s get back to our story. I went a little long on my first rant here, but there’s more going on. So basically they pulled them in: “Because you’re preaching that this guy died and rose from the dead, and that’s crazy. We can’t let you preach that.” So we continue, and it says:

3 And they arrested them and put them in custody until the next day, for it was already evening. 4 But many of those who had heard the word believed, and the number of the men came to about five thousand. 5 On the next day their rulers and elders and scribes gathered together in Jerusalem, 6 with Annas the high priest and Caiaphas and John and Alexander, and all who were of the high-priestly family. 7 And when they had set them in the midst, they inquired, “By what power or by what name did you do this?” Acts 4.3–7

What are they talking about? They’re talking about, “How did you heal that lame beggar? What power did you use? What name did you use?” This is the central question of our culture: what power and what name? I literally spent half of my prep time writing a whole treatise on postmodernism. Derrida has a book, On the Name, and Foucault has a book called Power. And let me just tell you, this is central, and they know it. But let’s talk about how it applies to us today, because truly the question is: who are you going to trust? Where is the power? Where is the name? It has to do with what is true, what you can trust. A man would swear by the name of that which is trustworthy, that which is true.

And today in America the big question is, what is true? Who do you trust? And we all know: the government, the media, “trust the science.” We know that there are flaws in each of those. Yes, absolutely, they have their place. They can communicate information, or they can provide services. I mean, science gave us so much: the scientific method, and the people who develop these technologies. So it often seems like, “Well, isn’t it the smart thing just to trust the people who gave us the air conditioning, the lights, and the plumbing, and all the other stuff?” But we all know that that is empty in the end. More than ever we know that if you trust the government, you’re going to end up like the people who trusted the Roman government back in the day. You’re going to end up with the same problems of corruption, of power abused. You can trust the science, and we’ll have another COVID reaction, pandemic, epidemic, whatever you want to call it.

We all know that there were problems with these things. But what was the real problem? The real problem was putting government, science, media, whatever, in the place of God. They each have their place. In fact, the scientific method has brought more prosperity to the world than almost any idea in the history of the world. But do you know why it did that? Because it was driven by the Christian idea that all humans are worthy of love and care. Science as a tool for the expansion of the goodness of God? Praise him, that’s awesome, let’s do it. But science as your source of life, of truth, of resurrection? Empty.

And so when they say, “By what power, by what name did you do this?”, they mean, “Who’s your high priest? Who’s your Pharisee? Who’s the trusted one? How are you doing this?” Because they’re the gatekeepers for God. “So you can’t be doing it by the power of God. We’re the gatekeepers. You didn’t do it our way.” And so they had fallen into this problem where they weren’t able to hear what God was doing through these people. In fact, later on (we don’t even read this passage today, because we don’t have the time) they say, “We can’t deny that something amazing and powerful has happened, but we can’t let them talk about this Jesus guy.” How backwards is that? By the power and in the name of Jesus they heal someone, and they go, “Well, we can’t deny the power of what has happened here, but you’d better not talk about this Jesus fellow. Don’t do that again.”

And so we see we’re in this same context here. In fact, not to go down too many rabbit trails, but our culture is perfectly fine with lauding the power and the efficacy of the church, just as long as you don’t talk about how Jesus is Lord over all creation. “The church is great. They love people, they feed the poor, they have all these ministries. Just don’t bring that Jesus guy into it.” In fact, we still have honorary prayers at the inauguration. We have all these ways of honoring the role of the church; just don’t talk about Jesus. “Amen and awoman,” right? There is this idea in our culture that you are fine to do good works, but don’t have good ideas. Don’t talk about the truth that motivates everything.

Today what we’re learning is that part of what made the church the church was that it was always and ever centered on Jesus. When we talk about all their qualities, their generosity, their power, their compassion, it’s because they were centered on Jesus: who he was, who he is, who he will ever be. So when it says, “By what power or by what name?”: Jesus. It’s the Bible school answer.

Now, the problem we have is that we tend to fall into, maybe not trusting the government or the science or the media, or even your favorite podcaster. The problem I see more and more is: I want to do everything in my own name and power. By the name of Jesse I will buy that fancy new piece of technology. In the power of Jesse I will supply all my needs and wants, through Amazon and the sweat of my brow. We are so convinced of our own ability to satiate all of our needs. Or you’ll make decisions about your life, and you won’t even ask God for his opinion. He might have one. We are so confident in our own ability to discern truth. And I see this even when we’re arguing. When I used to work in the restaurants, I’d have these deep arguments about what was really going on in the government, or in this philosophy or this idea, and everyone knows that they are right. They’re so confident, including myself; let me just include that here. I am so sure that I know who to listen to and what to trust and how to discern. But it’s only by the power of Jesus, by the power of the Holy Spirit, that we can know the truth that sets you free.

VI. By the Name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth 19:27

So let’s talk about what happens next, because they’ve asked this question, and believe it or not (I know I’ve been talking a lot), we haven’t heard what the disciples said yet.

8 Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Rulers of the people and elders, 9 if we are being examined today concerning a good deed done to a crippled man, by what means this man has been healed, 10 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. Acts 4.8–10

I love how he phrases it. They’re coming at him. They’ve arrested them. They’re acting like they’ve done something wrong. And he goes, “If you’re wondering about this good deed we did to a crippled man, let me explain. It is by Jesus’ power.” This is how you know if Jesus is present in a community: by the power of healing, of life, of compassion, of truth. You know it by its fruits. What did Jesus say? How will they know you are my followers? By the way you love one another (John 13.35). And they’re saying, “Look, we’re loving this Jewish man in our community, and you’re coming at us saying you’ve done something wrong. This is what we do. This is who Jesus has called us to be.”

VII. No Other Name 21:43

And then he continues, because Peter (he might be my favorite sermon-giver of all time) just has to keep going. And he says:

11 This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone. 12 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.” Acts 4.11–12

There is no other name: science, government, media, pleasure, your own inflated arrogance. There is nothing that will save you except for Jesus. And that encounters the world, and they say, “You bigots! You hateful people! Don’t you know that Indians have been worshiping in Hinduism for thousands of years? And Buddhists, and Islam: look at the hundreds of years of tradition there. Look at all these great religions. And even the atheists; I mean, you can find atheists back in the days of Plato and Socrates. So who are you to say that you are right and they are wrong?”

And all we can do is say: Jesus was a man who was God, who walked around healing, performing works of power, teaching people what it means to be human the way God designed it. He died on a cross, he rose from the dead, and to this day his disciples, his followers, have continued to be that to the world. If you take that seriously, and if you look at the history of the church, the martyrs, the miracles, the long progression of ideas and truth and understanding, you will see evidence all around of the power and the truth of our testimony.

And everyone here knows that you actually can’t believe two contradictory things at the same time. This is not a logical lesson, but let’s just walk through something really quick. People say you should be able to accept your truth and my truth. But then you have one religion… let’s use Islam for an example. Very popular; very amazing people that I’ve encountered and met who believe this religion. But in their religion they say Jesus didn’t actually die on the cross. Well, the truth of the matter is, Jesus either did die on the cross or he didn’t. You actually don’t get to play both sides. You don’t get to play both sides of the court. That’s what the Romans were trying to do. They were saying, “Yes, your gods were not the supreme gods, but they can be a part of our group. You guys can all worship whatever you want.” But that is not the truth.

And going back to what we were talking about with resurrection: if our hope is for the life after this world, well, someday we’re all going to die, and guess what? You’re going to meet your Maker. And Jesus said those who are not for me are against me (Matt 12.30). So I don’t know about all of you, but I want to serve the God who created everything, and his Son, who died for my sins and rose from the dead. I don’t want to play the field. I don’t want to hedge my bets. I want to know what’s true.

Now, if you want a whole course on apologetics, we can talk about everything. Let me just tell you, the evidence is on our side. But the power of the Holy Spirit is the evidence in our life that we have been welcomed into his kingdom. And so I know it from the ways I’ve walked with these people in this room. I’ve seen people healed. I’ve seen people set free. I’ve seen people transformed by the power of the word of God and his Holy Spirit.

So why were the disciples so effective in their time? I think there are a lot of ways to answer that question, but at the very least it starts here: they built their faith on the man Jesus Christ, who they knew had died and rose from the dead, and on the power that he had given them to heal the sick, raise the dead, and set people free. And so when we look at our church, I do want to ask that question. Are we operating in the gifts of the Spirit that God has given us? Are we walking with him, and are we seeing people set free and healed and raised from the dead? Because that’s what we’re told is central to our faith. Ultimately, I think part of what needs to happen is that all of us need our eyes opened, because I think we see miracles every day: ways that God provides for us, ways that God comes through for us, ways that God transforms us.

VIII. The Boldness of Peter and John 26:36

And when you look at this and you see the boldness of Peter and John (that’s the very next verse), I just want more of that. Because I’m perfectly happy to stand here at this pulpit with all of you nodding along and smiling and amening. But am I the guy who’s going to go before the religious leaders, the zealots of our day, and say, “No, Jesus Christ is Lord”? Am I willing to even share with my neighbor who might be curious, “Hey, do you know who Jesus is?” An open question. I will tell you, I don’t have the evidence to back myself up here. It’s an open question.

So let’s talk about what happened here. This is actually my favorite paragraph of the story. We’ll keep going. It says, in verse 13:

13 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. 14 But seeing the man who was healed standing beside them, they had nothing to say in opposition. Acts 4.13–14

There’s that classic bumper sticker: “Preach the gospel; use words only if you have to.” I get it. The words really matter, let me just tell you that. But we should be living such that people have nothing to say in opposition. “How can I confront the healthy, vibrant, life-giving work of the church with opposition?” That should be the question on everybody’s minds. Instead the question is, “Why is the church so corrupt and hypocritical?” We’ve got work to do.

Now, I will say, I think God is doing that work in us at Saint Michael’s, from what I see. I’m proud to tell people about what God’s doing. At Starbucks, me and my dad go there, and we pray in the morning and kind of prep our sermons on Sundays, and people walk through, and we get to have these great little conversations with people. “Oh, what are you doing?” “Oh, I’m writing a sermon. I’m a pastor down at a local church.” “Oh, what church?” “Saint Michael’s.” “Oh, the Charismatic Episcopal Church.” “Oh, the snake handlers?” “No, not that charismatic. Come on.” I literally got asked that this morning. But I get an opportunity to say, “I’m going to serve Jesus, and I live my life oriented around him.” And do you know what the most common response to that is? “Man, I’ve got to get back to church. I’ve got to go to church.” It’s like, yes, you do. Absolutely. Please do.

The reason the church grew is because of all the stories in Acts, and all the stories in Acts have to do with the people in the church going into the community and bringing Christ with them. And so, as we end the sermon today: our church is a church centered on Jesus Christ. But if it only stays a church here, then we’re not really centered on Jesus Christ, because Jesus Christ was out there. It’s impossible to be a church centered on Jesus Christ if all you ever do is here. You have to be out there. Amen.