We All Like to be Chosen

 

Probably one of the more stressful parts of being a kid is during playground or team sports when everyone lines up to pick teams. There are always the kids you know everyone wants on their team. And then there is -you. "Will I be picked in the middle, or will I be last? And will I prove to everyone that I am as bad at the sport we are about to play, as they think I am? Please God, if the ball comes my direction,  just let me catch the ball and don't let me shut my eyes."  The thing is – we all want to be chosen.

In the passages for today, we hear Stephan give an eloquent testimony about the way God has planned and chosen certain people through out Biblical history to 'man the oars' of faith. Each one that he picked had a mission that they were led into by God. It was rarely one of their own choosing. Here is possibly the one instance when men were not anxious to be chosen. Being chosen by God means you will  have some really rough waters to sail on. It means that the challenges will be noticed not only by God but are meant to be noticed by all mankind. It is a very exclusive and hugely important job.

Thus in this passage Stephan speaks about Abraham, Jacob, Isaac, Joseph and finally Moses. He lists concisely all that they went through once they were chosen. He details that it was not a straight road to their mission, but often there was a falling away with troubles and probably doubt. Each were given enormous tasks (get all the Israelites out of Egypt and perform miracles to scare the Pharaoh along the way).

However, each of these great fathers of the faith provided a milestone in the faith of the one true God. Each brought human beings closer to a real understanding of who this living God was to them. The voice of the powerful, omniscient God who was the great creator and the great "I am" was also becoming the personal God who reached his hand down to stop Abraham from killing his own son. He was the same God who saved a wayward boy named Joseph from being deserted from his family forever and helped us understand a fathers love for his child. He was the same God who prompted the most unlikely man on earth (at that time) to become the leader of a Jewish nation trapped in Egypt as slaves. This was no accident!

As  people who have attended church all throughout their lives, we sometimes need to press the "re-fresh" button on our faith and the stories we are so familiar with. We need to remember how ordinary these people were and yet they were chosen to be on a unique team—God's team. Plucked from all the good guys out there, they were the ones chosen to have their names laid down forever in the Word of God.

Critics of faithful people often like to chastise believers by asking, "where are the great icons of faith now? How come God is not planting an Abraham, a Moses or a David in the world?" What they do not understand because they lack belief or knowledge of God and His Word, is that He is still planting these people. A very important point that they do not understand is that when Christ came into the world, lived and died and was raised from the dead, ALL THINGS WERE CHANGED. It is too bad, I suppose that God did not decide to make that point really clear to the non-believer by showing some great symbol such as re-coloring the sky from gorgeous blue to shiny red ( I am glad He didn't).  He hoped that we would all catch on, because raising His beloved Son from the dead should be a fairly spectacular event, enough for us to grasp that something had changed.

Jesus was the final and ultimate VIP of those who would lead men in faith. There was no greater thing that could be done  then what Jesus had done for us!. The mission was turned over to the disciples and eventually to Apostle Paul. With the entry of the Holy Spirit, Christ's commandment was to spread the word, develop the kingdom of God on earth so that all would be prepared for the time when Christ arrives again.

God has continued to chose individuals that rock the world of faith (Martin Luther all the way down to C.S. Lewis). He continues to pick leaders and whole nations who are in line with the Christian faith. The best example is our own nation. We must remember that most of  our founding fathers of this great nation were strong Christians. Faith has played an enormous role in our countries history from those who led it (Abe Lincoln) to those who have led the faithful in it (Billy Graham). 

            However, being a famous "faith filled" person is not what qualifies you to be chosen by God. There will be millions of people who are not in the news, but are leaders in faith in our churches, our communities, our state, and our nation. Every one of us, who has a personal and eternal relationship with Jesus Christ, has been chosen to spread the Good News of the savior for all humankind. We don't have to fret if we are good enough anymore, because we have been the first ones to be chosen  for God's team.

Laurie Erdman

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Glorious Dishonor

Acts 5:33 – 6:15

The council… called in the apostles and had them flogged. Then they ordered them never again to speak in the name of Jesus, and they let them go. The apostles left the high council rejoicing that God had counted them worthy to suffer dishonor for the name of Jesus.

Suffering dishonor (especially by flogging) is not something I typically value or aspire to. I suspect that I’m not alone. In fact, throughout America and, perhaps, within our own hearts, there are many places where we can hear the message that if we have enough faith everything will work out well for us; we won't have to suffer.

The apostles were full of faith and went out boldly proclaiming that Jesus is the Savior of the world. They were jailed, flogged, scolded,… and eventually killed. But did you hear what they said? They rejoiced not because God removed all trials and hardships from them, but because he counted them worthy to suffer.

They believed God had an incredible plan. They were convinced that there was no hope apart from Jesus. They knew that the Gospel itself is the power of God to change lives. And they believed that their difficult circumstances were another opportunity for God to do incredible things. Whether they were set free, whether they were beaten unjustly, whether they were martyred, they were looking forward to God being glorified by their lives. Whatever the circumstances, they were trusting God to use their lives and their experiences to bring the Gospel to hearts that still desperately needed it.

What circumstances are we facing today? Let’s follow the example of the apostles and trust God to use both our joys and our hardships to bring the Gospel further than it was before. And let’s pray for a faith that’s not measured or limited by the outcome of our circumstances, but a faith that’s an unmistakable testimony to our great God in the midst of whatever circumstances we face.

Disastrous Deceit

I decided today that when someone writes the story of my family, our church or our community, I really don't want the mention of my name to begin with "But then there was a certain woman named Karen." You just know that something unflattering is about to come. In our families, it's usually something like this: "But, then there was Uncle Jim. Remember how he used to tell us that smoking was actually good for him before he got emphysema?" (Truth be told, that story is from my family -- maybe it was that caffeine actually made his blood pressure drop, unlike what it did to everyone else. It's the stuff of family legend, but the stories seem to grow in my mind with each passing year.)

So the story begins in Acts 5:1: But there was a certain man named Ananias, who with his wife Sapphira, sold some property. The scripture begins with but because it is being contrasted to the description that came in Acts 4:32: All of the believers were united in heart and mind. And they felt that what they owned was not their own, so they shared everything they had. In today's reading, Ananias and Sapphira pretended to give everything they had to the church and, in judgment, were struck dead in the presence of the apostles.

This scripture is confusing to us, so just imagine the fear and confusion that must have swept over the early church! Even when I try to put myself in the shoes of those who were friends of Ananias and Sapphira, or the apostles who saw these events unfold, my simple understanding of this scripture only comes down to this -- deceit is always destructive.

In withholding some of the money from their land sale while pretending to give it all away, scripture says that Ananias had let Satan fill his heart, lied to the Holy Spirit and lied to God. When Sapphira was confronted with their deceit, Peter told her that they were conspiring to test the Spirit of the Lord. From the outside it looked like greed, but it was actually symptomatic of something far deeper, wasn't it?

Deceit is always destructive, and it can be spiritually disastrous. Sin, however we try to justify it, can ruin our personal relationships and create a distance between ourselves and our God. By misrepresenting ourselves to others, both inside and outside of the church, we are damaging the reputation of the God we worship. And, what may look like a "simple" sin on the outside, is often a manifestation of something far more sinister growing inside of a believer.

The little bit that I understand about this example from the early church tells me that when we are deceptive in personal and spiritual matters, it is an affront to God. I am thankful that He no longer seems to act with such swift and drastic judgment, but human efforts to simply look good on the outside must cause Him just as much pain today as they did in the first century church.

Lord Jesus, help us to be more concerned with true obedience than perceived piousness. You know that we can be scared that you may ask more of us than we are willing to give. Like the rich young ruler, we're not so sure that we could sell all of our possessions to follow You. Forgive us for holding anything back, Jesus. As you gave everything You had for us, may we be increasingly willing to give our all for You. We're not there yet, Lord. Thank you that your death on the cross has covered all of our sins and shortcoming, even this one. Amen.

Wherever You Go, There You Are

Acts 2:43-3:26

All the believers met together in one place and shared everything they had. They sold their property and possessions and shared the money with those in need. They worshiped together at the Temple each day, met in homes for the Lord's Supper, and shared their meals with great joy and generosity -- all the while praising God and enjoying the goodwill of all the people. And each day the Lord added to their fellowship those who were being saved.

That passage, part of today's reading, has always been a favorite of mine, and I admit to having a somewhat romantic notion about its practicality. It describes an ideal communal living situation. When I was in college I thought it would be fantastic if I could gather together a bunch of believers, buy a big ol' house somewhere, and we could all live as these early Christians did. Verse 47 even seems to promise that living in such a manner would naturally cause non-believers to become Christians and join in.

In my twenties, I had several roommates who were Christians. I assumed that because they were Christians they would be easy to live with. We would all get along fantastically, we'd pray together, we'd have Bible studies in our apartment, we'd be just like those early Christians.

In reality, it didn't always work out. One roommate drove me crazy with his odd little habits, and his refusal to actually keep the place clean. Another stole from me, lied to me frequently, and seemed determined to make my life miserable until I finally moved out. These were Christians! How could they be like that?

In the history of the United States, there have been many attempts to form utopian communities -- little towns and villages made up of like-minded people. Few lasted. Most dissolved from external pressures and internal conflicts.

Wherever we go, there we are. And there we bring our sinful nature as well. It's a constant struggle to keep that sin nature in line. It goes with us everywhere, threatening to destroy everything we build and every relationship we have.

But here's the amazing thing: living in community worked for those early Christians, and they were sinners, too.

When we read on in today's reading, we see Peter and John healing a man by the Temple gate and preaching to the crowd with power and authority. This is the same Peter who denied Jesus on the day of his crucifixion. But something's changed in him. This is a very different sort of Peter than the one we read about in the gospels. This is a new Peter -- a Peter empowered by the Holy Spirit. And that same gift of the Holy Spirit has been given to us as well.

We don't have to live together under the same roof or even in the same town to have the same effectiveness as the early Christians did. We can worship together, pray together, we can reach out to help each other during difficult times, and we can reach out to those around us who are in need. We can demonstrate what it means to live as a true community of believers.

Because wherever we go, there we are, and there we bring Jesus as well.


-Drew Clausen

No Alibi

Acts 2:1-42

The old Lenten hymn inquires among a list of other introspections, "Were you there when they crucified my Lord?" & "Were you there when He rose up from the grave?" The hymn-writer is really asking the question for any of us:

Still stickin' with your alibi?!

Do we understand, know, claim that Jesus' death and triumph were neither mere historical fact nor for impersonal pan-humanity? But, it was for me He died? It was for me He rose. I was with Him. My sin was there upon Him. I was present. My one hand held the spike while the other laid full blow with the hammer. I was full participant. I died with Him. My self was laid in the grave with Him. And, by grace it was I who rose up with Him from that grave.

My greatest fascination with Peter's 2nd chapter of Acts sermon is when he says to the crowd of Pentecost pilgrims, "With the help of lawless Gentiles, you nailed him to a cross and killed him." (v23)

Can't you feel the alibi of the ages rising within?! "I most certainly did not! I am not to blame. I did no such nailing; don't even own a hammer!" I am innocent. Others were to blame. More to blame. The Sanhedrin. The chief priest. Pilate. Barabbas. The soldiers. Really bad people. But not me. (Recall John Belushi in Blues Brothers: "No I didn't. Honest... I ran out of gas. I, I had a flat tire. I didn't have enough money for cab fare. My tux didn't come back from the cleaners. An old friend came in from out of town. Someone stole my car. There was an earthquake. A terrible flood. Locusts. IT WASN'T MY FAULT!!")

As a matter of fact, I have an out! I wasn't even present in Jerusalem at the time. (Certainly these pilgrims present in Jerusalem for Pentecost were a different lot than the ones who had taken their holiday earlier to travel to Jerusalem for Passover!) Some of us might say, "I wasn't even born yet! How could I be to blame?!"

Yet Peter lays accusation, "you nailed him!", "you killed him." And, by sermon's end, it seems many having searched their lives and hearts agree & confess to the crime:

"let everyone know in Israel for certain that God made this Jesus, whom you crucified, to be both Lord and Messiah!" Peter's words pierced their hearts, and they said to him and to the other apostles, "Brothers, what should we do?" (vv.36-37)

This is humanity's great hurdle. To seek or claim no longer no alibi.

I don't know that there is any 'doctrine' by this name, but I like to call it Attendency. I was there. I made him die. He looked through the campfire during his trial not only into Peter's denying eyes, but mine as well.

In the OT, this attendency takes form in the phrase both Moses and Joshua repeatedly use speaking to the nation of Israel (who were mostly born in the wilderness and after) saying, "You saw with your own eyes" how the Lord rescued you from Egypt (Deut 4:3; 7:19; 10:21; Josh 24:7). The last of these even was when Joshua was a 110 year old patriarch about to die. There likely wasn't a person present who literally was alive when God brought Israel from Egypt! But as his mentor Moses before him, and his pupil Peter after him, Joshua says, "Sure you were there! You saw it with your own eyes! What excuse do you have to not trust Him?!"

In the NT this doctrine of attendency is expressed by our absolute interconnection and participation with both the first Adam and second. Romans 5:12 & 17 say,

12...sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned—
17 For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ.

So, today, June 4, 2007. Nearly 2000 years after the event. Are you stickin' with your alibi? Am I? Or, were we there?

A New Character

Acts 1:1-26

The Holy Spirit becomes the newest character in our reading as we march in to the life of the early church.

The Holy Spirit; the third person of the Trinity seems linked to the spread of the gospel because of verses like 1:8. But the Holy Spirit is much more than making you bold in outreach.

The Holy Spirit will do greater things than Jesus (Jn 14:12). The Spirit supports the operational base for our relationship with God; teaches us God’s word; helps us know God’s will to mention a few.

Lord, today fill me with your Spirit so I can walk wisely with you.

Steve Louden