The Gospel on the Move: Follow
Follow the Spirit
Acts 4:5-12
Rev. Tim Callow
Preached Sun. April 25th, 2021
The first century was and anxious and demanding time for the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem. Since Herod the Great died there hadn’t been a competent and clear sovereign in Roman Palestine. Pilate ran Jerusalem on behalf of Rome, Herod Antipas ruled the Galilee because he couldn’t be trusted with much else. Archileus and Philip ran their own territories. And the Temple was run through the Sanhedrin.
The Temple was the crown of the Jewish world. Herod the Great had it refurbished at great expense in a forty-six year project. It was at the Temple that the Jewish nation raised up praise and sacrifice to God. It was the Temple that formed the linch-pin between Israel and God. The Temple that held the finances for redistribution and tribute. But the Temple could also be a site of great strains and division. Not all Jews accepted the Temple’s authority, and those who did tended to think it was a tragedy that Rome occupied Jerusalem. Riots were not uncommon. It was not long ago that Pilate slaughtered many Galileans and mixed their blood with their sacrifices as a warning to others. One of the reasons they had to kill this Jesus of Nazareth was to keep him from upsetting the fine political balance between the Romans and the occupied Jews.
Two things were more important than all else. One was that the sacrifices continue. The other was that the nation be sustained. Caiaphus, Annas, and the rest did their best to achieve these two goals. But it was not always easy, and sometimes they had to make the hard decisions.
When you walk around in their shoes, a bit, you begin to understand why they couldn’t let the good deed of Peter, James, and John go unpunished. We are told that Peter, James, and John arrived at the Temple at three o’clock for prayer. There they found a crippled man at the Beautiful Gate whose friends would bring him there to beg for money. Peter told him they had no money to give, but they did have the name of Jesus by which all may be saved. And said, “In the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, rise up and walk!” He lifted the man up, and he began to jump for joy.
But all that jumping for joy and praising God caused a ruckus. The people poured around Peter, James, and John and the formerly crippled man. This gave Peter an opportunity to preach the gospel, which he did with boldness. He let them know it was not by his own power that he healed this man, but only by the power of Jesus Christ “The one you handed over and denied in Pilate’s presence.” He told them about Jesus’ resurrection, and called them all to repentance.
None of this could escape the notice of the guards, who seized them for causing a ruckus. That is where we are brought today. Peter, James, and John stand before the Sanhedrin once again preaching the gospel boldly. It is in the inspiration of the Holy Spirit that Peter tells his judges that it is by the name of Jesus Christ that the man was healed. The same Jesus they, the builders of Israel had rejected. The same Jesus God has raised, and made Lord, the chief cornerstone. And that it is in Jesus alone that salvation may be found.
The Chief Priests and the Apostles find themselves in very different situations. The Chief Priests feel the weight of the world on their shoulders. They are, as Peter says, the builders of Israel. They make order. They keep the peace. They keep Rome at bay. They make the sacrifice that sustains Israel. And because they are the builders, the keeper of order, they have to render judgments and make the tough decisions. But Peter, James, and John are not weighed down by the cares of the world. They have been taken from the world. They are witnesses to the one who sustains the world. They witness to the one who has already rendered judgment in his cross. They witness to the one who truly keeps order by the power of the Spirit.
The Chief Priests make order, but the Apostles are called to follow. The Gospel is on the move, but not because the Apostles decide where it should go. The Gospel is on the move because the Spirit is on the move. Because the name of Jesus is on the lips of people from every nation. The Gospel is on the move because Jesus has already claimed the world and calls us to preach in it.
We as the Church often face the temptation to put ourselves in the role of the Chief Priests. We are those who render judgments, those who hold the weight of the world. We imagine it is up to us to keep the institution afloat, up to us to make the mission of God work out in the end. But we need to be like the apostles who know a man already died for the sins of the world and so we don’t have to. We need to be like the apostles who are free to follow Jesus where he leads. Who are free to listen to the promptings of the Spirit no matter how uncouth. John Wesley was a man well formed in the ritual and practices of the Church of England. But he was also a man deep in prayer. So when the opportunity came and the Spirit called him to preach not in a Church but in a field, not from a prepared script but extemporaneously, he “submitted to be more vile” and did it. And with decisions such as that, the willingness to follow the Spirit, a movement was started that reached out to millions of souls.
We put so many burdens on ourselves, we weigh ourselves down with worry and anxiety. But Jesus tells us that no one extended their life by worrying for tomorrow and God takes care of the sparrow and has richly garbed the lilies of the field. What more will he do for his Church? We are called to faithfulness and to boldness. We are called to be on the move. That is what matters.