Speaking up for God

September 20, 2015 Background Scripture: Acts 5:12 – 42 Lesson Passage: Acts 5:27 – 29, 33 – 42 Our lesson’s topic hardly seems like a challenge in today’s environment in America. Even those who do not consider themselves religious by any stretch of the imagination wear Christian emblems on jewelry as a modest fashion statement. There is no threat to one’s well-being for openly embracing Christianity either through what we choose to wear or the conversations we have. There are many who claim to be Christians without any fear of repercussions except disparaging remarks by other Christians if they don’t appear to be Christian “enough” based on church attendance or the amount of their financial contributions. Other than that, Christianity in America is a fairly benign profession of religious faith. On the other hand, the Middle East has recently become a different world altogether for Christians. There are many persecutions of Christians reported in the media and no doubt many more persecutions and threats that go unreported in the Middle East. Those persecutions today in the Middle East and the persecutions of the first century church bear one striking similarity. The persecutions come from members of another religious faith. It is truly amazing what people are capable of in the name of religious faith. In our lesson today, the apostles were being arrested, beaten, and threatened for teaching and preaching in the name of Jesus. This mistreatment came at the hands of the Jewish leaders. The leaders of the Jewish establishment were defensive because the witness of the apostles pointed towards them as the instigators who led to the crucifixion of Jesus. The Jewish leaders were determined to not take the blame for Jesus’ death. They did not want Jesus’ blood on their hands. Meanwhile the Christians continued to gather in the Temple to be taught by the apostles. Perhaps this was adding insult to injury. The apostles were not out in the highways and byways but right there under the noses of the Jewish leaders. The last round of persecution came because of many acts of miraculous healing by the apostles and this drew a lot of attention to the apostles and their message. The Jewish leaders were finally rid of Jesus but now his followers had taken up where Jesus left off. Their message was more inflammatory because it included the testimony of the wrongful arrest, indictment, sentencing, and crucifixion of Jesus. And that testimony pointed right to the Jewish leadership as the perpetrators. The Jewish leaders did not seem particularly bothered by the working of miracles or the gathering in the Temple. The preaching of Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection was altogether a different matter. The Jewish leaders did not want to be held accountable for Jesus’ death although they orchestrated it. But they were missing the good news of the gospel message because of their defensive stance concerning Jesus’ death. It seems that there are those today who would readily embrace Christianity if Jesus could be removed from it. The threat to the apostles was clear. Don’t speak in the name of Jesus anymore. They added to the threats by beating the apostles before they let them go. This backfired because the apostles celebrated being whipped for the sake of Jesus’ name. No amount of threats or beatings would stop the apostles because they were determined to speak up for God. Robert C. Hudson September 9, 2015