June 6, 2004

John W. Fowler

Scripture: Acts 4:1-21

June 6th is a very special day for several reasons. First of all it is the sixtieth anniversary of D-Day and a very special day. We remember those brave soldiers who came to France, and over nine thousand gave their lives. It is also a day that Liz and I became parents of a daughter and we talked with her this morning. She was with a high school trip to Europe and they were crossing on a ferry, going over to France, and as you can imagine, there were a lot of WWII veterans on board. A very special time over there. But we especially are inspired by soldiers and their courage or other examples of courage. Certainly if you watch the television about President Reagan you know many of them mention the great courage he displayed in his life. We are inspired and look for examples of courage, not only in the presidency and not only serving in wartime, but we need it in every day life. So I want you to think — especially as we look at Peter and John — remember that these were ordinary men and they were astonished at the courage they had, and they could tell that they had been with Jesus. To me that is really the key to having the courage that we need to have, to do God’s will.

Oftentimes we have a pretty good peace about what His will is but we lack the courage to do it. But God wants to give it to us — the courage to do His will — for when we do that, lives truly can be touched in a miraculous way, as we found in this story. Chapter 4, that I am getting ready to read to you, is preceded by Chapter 3 (which is not a profound statement) but in Chapter 3 you have a man who has been lame from birth. Peter touches Him and raises him up by the right hand in the name of Jesus. A crippled man, crippled all his life, is made well. It is a great miracle. They are astounded, but the Jews take him to task. He is going to upset everything; we just have to stop this Jesus talk. So we come to Chapter 4 in Acts. It says:

In James Moore’s book, Some Folks Feel the Rain Others Just Get Wet, there is a story about Bob and Karen. Bob and Karen had a new home built in a subdivision about twenty miles from town and there were plans for a lot of other homes in the subdivision but as yet theirs was the only home so Bob and Karen moved in. Bob went to work and then Karen looked up from the breakfast dishes and, to her horror, going through the kitchen was a five foot — at least five foot — snake slithering through the kitchen. She was mortified and horrified, to say the least. She had always been afraid of snakes. (I would be about the same; I wouldn’t care for a five-foot any kind of snake being inside.) But she saw this snake slithering through and she just panicked. She was paralyzed with fear. She didn’t know what to do. She couldn’t call her husband; there were no neighbors. She prayed. And she felt the verse come to mind: I can do all things through Christ Who strengthens me. The snake was in the living room at this time and she went and got a garbage bag and put it right in front of the snake. Its tongue was sticking out, but she got the bag right in front of him. She took an old cane, tapped him on the tail and, amazingly, he went right in. She grabbed it up, ran outside as far as she could and then just threw the bag and ran back in. She shut the door. She locked it. (I guess she was worried about the snake being able to pick the lock.) And then she called 911; she called her husband and when they finally got there she told them what happened. Then she fainted. But why was she so motivated? Because she wasn’t alone in the house. You see that snake was headed for the nursery where her two-month old was sleeping. She knew she had to do something.

Oftentimes, that’s the way it is. We think life is going just fine and we’ve got our day planned out, and then all a sudden we need to tap God for some courage that we don’t have, but God supplies it in amazing ways. And lives are changed when we tap that courage that God wants to give us. I want you to think for a few moments today about how do I need God’s courage in my life. What is it that I am afraid to face? What situation did I just keep hoping was going to go away? But God doesn’t want us to just avoid it. He wants us to tap into His courage that He wants to give us to, not just cope, but to overcome, and as Paul says, be more than conquerors through Him who loved us. I want you to look at the setting here. Peter and John are going to the temple in Acts, Chapter 3. It is probably about three-o’clock in the afternoon. This man has been probably at this entrance to the temple for years. He has been crippled all of his life. He probably had his license to beg. He probably had some kind of clothing to indicate that it was fine for him to be here. He had learned to look at the eyes of people as they would come in to know who was actually going to help him and who wasn’t. He caught eyes and as he was crying out for help, Peter looked straight at him, as did John.

Then Peter said, “Look at us.” So the man gave them his attention, expecting to get something from them.

Then Peter said, "Silver or gold I do not have, but what I have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk." (Acts3:6)

No one had ever said that to him before. He takes him by the right hand. The man gets up! He is standing! Peter lets go. He tries walking. He has never walked before. And then he tries jumping. He jumps. He likes jumping. And so, Church got off to a lively start that day. As they go into the temple they realize: Isn’t that the man who usually begs outside? What’s he doing, walking around? He’s jumping and praising God. How did he get so excited? Well, he’s been miraculously healed, so understandably he is excited.

And they looked at Peter and Peter said, “Men of Israel, why does this surprise you? Why do you stare at us as if by our own power and godliness we have made this man walk? The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of our fathers has glorified his servant Jesus. You handed him over to be killed. You disowned him before Pilate, but we are witnesses of this.”

This oftentimes happened in the book of Acts. There would be a sign and a wonder but it wouldn’t just stop there. There would be an object lesson of: This is God Almighty who has moved in this person’s life. That’s why they can walk; that’s why they can see. And then they would begin to preach the Gospel, that Christ came into the world; that Christ died on the cross for us; He was dead and buried; that Christ rose from the dead; that He sent the gift of the Holy Spirit. They would preach the Gospel.

Well, they responded and some 5,120 are believers now. And the Jews don’t like it. I mean, it is one thing to have 120 sequestered in a room praying, but now three thousand the day of Pentecost, two thousand more — this is getting to be a big group. And the Sadducees, especially are the Jews who, well, they made a good living by keeping the peace with Romans. They didn’t want anything to change. They didn’t want them to disrupt things. And they knew that a riot is going to be coming, the Romans will squash them and — we’ve got to do something about it. So they arrest them and they put them in jail. (Tape change)

… had great courage because he certainly believed in the Resurrection. He said, For me to live is Christ and to die is to gain. (Philippians 1:21) I think of visiting people, especially when they are coming close to the end of time — the courage that is oftentimes displayed by those of Christian faith. How inspiring it is. It is a God-given courage that comes when we believe that Jesus truly is the Resurrection and the Life and those who believe in Him, even though they die, yet shall they live. Peter and John believed in the Resurrection. They were not afraid to die. They were not afraid of this Sanhedrin who had sentenced their Lord to death. They had the courage of their belief in the Resurrection. They had the courage of the Holy Spirit. They are questioning Peter and they are wondering by what power or name did you do this.

Verse 8 says 8Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them…… What does Peter do? He preaches the Gospel. He shares that it is Jesus Christ, whom you crucified, in His name, that this man has been made well. When the Holy Spirit comes upon us, He gives us courage to speak forth His name and the courage to be involved.

His name was St. Francis. His life was difficult, especially in the beginning. He went against the wishes of his family and the career they had for him. And it was in seeing the need of someone, much like Peter and John seeing the need of the man who was crippled. He saw a leper, and especially at time, people would avoid lepers. They would have nothing to do with them. But what does Francis do? He gets off his animal; he hugs the leper. And he had a great ministry of compassion throughout his life. And we have this prayer, the Prayer of St. Francis:

And what God calls us to do, oftentimes, is not anything fancy, but it is a work of compassion. He wants us to be involved. I mentioned earlier that today our daughter’s eighteenth birthday. On that day Liz had plenty to do, but she ended up having to — I’m not making this up — she went to the vet to pick up Michael Jackson. Now, that’s true, she did. Michael Jackson was the name of a dog in our community where we lived. Michael was this big mutt that was definitely in need of medical care, and you could always tell when he came by, because he would have this real heavy breathing. I’m sure he had asthma or something like that. He was the local drug dealer’s dog. Well, we didn’t realize he was the local drug dealer, but he was. I went over to his house and asked, “Do you mind if we do something for your dog?”

“Well, it’s not my dog. If you want to take him to the doctor, you just have at it.”

So, that’s what we did and we paid the bill and the day that Catherine was born she had to go pick up Michael Jackson because he needed it. Now, why did we do that? Well, for one thing, it seemed like all the dogs in the community hung out at our house. We had one dog and a lot of the dogs, well, they just hung out in the big yard that we had. There was a big tree and there was shade. When my Treasurer would bring the check by she would just talk from the window and say, “John, I’m not getting out with all of those dogs in the yard.”

But we had lived in the another community where there was a dog that had been neglected. It was a dog that we petted when we would go on walks. It was a neighborhood dog, but we saw him one day and it was obvious that he was sick; something needed to be done. Well, it’s not our dog, though, so we didn’t do anything. And he died. So we made up our minds that if we see that again, we are not going to ignore it, we’re going to get involved.

Oftentimes the Holy Spirit will call us to be involved. Peter and John could have ignored that man, but they got involved, didn’t they? But they had the courage of the Holy Spirit and they had the courage also of a transformed life. The verse that especially leapt off the page to me was verse 13:

How could they tell that they had been with Jesus? Well, they remember what Jesus was like when He came before them. He was courageous. He was not begging for His life. He was not making excuses for who He was. He was very courageous. They remember Him on the cross. He did not die like other people had died on the cross. He didn’t die cursing and swearing and spitting. He died saying, Father, forgive them for they know not what they do. And they see in Peter and John the same kind of God-given courage and they could tell: These men — they’ve been with Jesus. Paul said it this way in Romans 12:1-2:

Peter and John have been transformed. Remember John? John and James — they wanted to call down fire and brimstone on the towns that wouldn’t receive them (shock and awe?) Of they wanted the best seats in the kingdom. They were very ambitious. But John. Well, John was given the distinction of being the only Disciple who lived to old age. They did try to boil him in oil one time but he survived it. But when you read his writing, you read the Gospel of John, the First, Second and Third John and the Revelation of John, you don’t find an ambitious, vengeful Disciple. You find the Apostle of Love, that’s what you find. He’s been transformed. He’s been changed. Or you look at Peter’s life and you see that he certainly didn’t demonstrate a great deal of courage when Jesus was arrested, but, here he is — second sermon — two thousand more come to Christ. Here he is before the Sanhedrin. Before, he was denying the Lord left and right, but now he’s bold; he’s courageous. What has happened? His life has been transformed.

How can we be transformed today? Four ways I see, especially from the lives of Peter and John. First of all, they worshipped with the community. What you are doing now is so important. I know you can worship God anywhere and throughout the week, but there is something very special about your coming and assembling together, as we worship the Lord together. Especially as weeks and weeks and years go by, what a comfort it is that you made the effort to be here. It means a lot to other people that you are here worshipping the Lord. I know there are times when you are here and you would rather be somewhere else; you don’t feel like it. But there is a transformation that takes place when you worship on a regular basis with a community of faith.

Second, as we worship, I believe that God begins to open our eyes to the needs of those around us. Sometimes we are preoccupied with ourselves, our lives, but when we connect with the Lord we begin to see the needs. I know we can’t respond to everything, but we certainly can respond to those that God opens our eyes to and that He calls us to care for.

Third, they put their faith into action like the Good Samaritan who got off his animal and helped the man who had been left to die among thieves. He didn’t do anything fancy; he took the time; he got involved; he took him to the inn; he cared for him. And that’s what Peter and John did: They cared for this man.

And then, as the opportunity came, they shared their faith. The opportunity presented itself. They wanted to know how this man’s life could change and they shared. Oftentimes I believe it is just like Peter said, “We have the opportunity to give account for the hope that is within us.” If Christ has changed you, you give credit for that. You don’t just take the credit for yourself. You let people know how God has changed you. He’ll give you the way as the opportunity presents itself.

And God transforms churches as well. He shows them new missions.

I remember, I was at annual conference years ago and talked to Liz on the phone: “You know, I heard on the news, I think the fellowship hall of the church we are going to burned down. Now, I think that’s not the right church.”

So, I went back to conference and my superintendent came up to me and said, “Well, I hear you are going to be in a building program.”

I said, “What?”

He said, “Well, yes, the fellowship hall burned down.”

One person told me, “I have heard of people protesting the new minister before, but that takes the cake.”

But, a couple of days before I got there the fellowship hall had burned down. There are not a lot of good things about a fire, but it does make simple the decision about whether to build or not, because when it’s burned down, all of a sudden, the building committee has to convene.

Well, after it was build it became very apparent (and we prayed) that God had a mission in mind. I kept thinking we should have a preschool because that’s what I wanted to have. Some other people though, who were involved in the children’s mission said, “No, the real need is after-school in this community.”

So, we prayed; we did a whole lot of work. We got a little playground there, and started an after school program because that was the need. And that was a big step for that church. They had never done anything like that. I remember the first day those children got off the bus — about seven of them — getting teary eyes, to see how this had begun some two years before. God will do that. He will transform us as we see the needs around us.

How does it happen? We take the time to be with the Lord and we take time to be holy. William Longstaff was a Christian businessman. He was the treasurer of his church, a Christian man. He had been inspired by the preaching of D. L. Moody. He was inspired to write this poem.

And the last stanza:

Let us pray.