"Can You Keep Quiet?" Sermon: Acts 4:13-31

“Can You Keep Quiet?”
[Acts 4:13-31]
August 2, 2009 Second Reformed Church

I got a call last week from the Mayor’s secretary, and she said that the Mayor would like to meet with me and one of our councilwomen this coming Monday – tomorrow. I asked if I could know why the Mayor wanted me to come to his office, and she told me that she didn’t know. Do I have an obligation to go see the Mayor? And more generally, should you and I obey the government?

A lame man had lay at the gate to the temple in Jerusalem, begging for enough to get by from those entering to worship, for his whole life – for over forty years. When Peter and John came upon him, he asked them for money, but they didn’t have any, and instead, in the Name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, they commanded him to walk. The Holy Spirit gave the man the faith to believe, and he believed. He was saved from the Wrath of God, he stood on his own two feet, and walked and leapt and praised God.

The elders, priests, Sadducees, scribes, and the high priest’s family were outraged that Peter and John had said that Jesus Christ of Nazareth had healed the man and that Jesus had physically risen from the dead – and not only that, they proclaimed that there was no other salvation by which humans may be saved except through Jesus. So they grabbed Peter and John and through them in prison and in the morning demanded an explanation from them, but they said the same thing again: Jesus saved and healed the man, and there is no salvation except through Jesus Alone.

The leaders of the temple were confused: where did these common workers get such boldness? Why were they unafraid to stand before the leaders of the temple? And then they remembered, these were not merely believers in Jesus, but these were two of His apostles – men who had trained with the Rabbi for three years – men who adopted the same boldness that Jesus had shown.

But what could the temple leaders do? The crowd had seen the lame man healed – it was a public miracle of someone who was well-known – there was no way they could deny the miracle happened. The people were in the courtyard praising God and thanking Him for the miracle. And they thought, “Let’s threaten them: we’ll let you go, but don’t ever preach or teach in the Name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth again – or else!”

But Peter said, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge, for we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard.” Peter said – tongue in cheek, “You must judge, because I don’t know – is it right to obey you over God? All I can say is that we don’t have a choice – we have seen and heard the Gospel of Jesus Christ of Nazareth and we can’t keep quiet We can’t keep from teaching and preaching in the Name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth because of what we have seen and heard!”

Have you ever been asked to keep a secret? To hold back telling someone some good news until a certain time? Have you felt it bubbling up in you – feeling like you would burst if you couldn’t announce the news to the person? Is there – or has there been – anything in your life where you have said, “I just have to do this”?

The novelist, Stephen King, was once asked in an interview why he writes horror novels, and he responded, “Who says I have a choice?” For him, there is something in him that makes him need to write the kind of stories he writes. He is compelled to write about the evils of humanity and evils of mythic realms.

Amos said, “The lion has roared; who will not fear? The Lord God has spoken; who can but prophecy?” (Amos 3:8, ESV). What Amos was saying is that just as people are naturally, instinctively afraid when they hear the roar of a lion, so he could not but preach when the Word of the Lord came to him.

Jeremiah, when he was angry with God, tried to suppress the Word of God that was given to him, and he said, “If I say, ‘I will not mention him, or speak any more in his name,’ there is in my heart as it were a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I am weary of holding it in, and I cannot’” (Jeremiah 20:9, ESV).

And Paul wrote of his preaching, “For if I preach the gospel, that gives me no ground for boasting. For necessity is laid upon me. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel!” (I Corinthians 9:16, ESV).

People who are called to the ordained ministry of Word and Sacrament – ministers, pastors, like me – cannot help but preach the Word of God. That inability to hold back the Word of God overcomes every other inability. Many of you know that I am an introvert – I love spending time alone. It is very difficult for me to be in crowds or to get up in front of people and speak – it is not something I would normally choose to do. But the Gospel of Jesus Christ of Nazareth compels me – I can’t help it! And on those Sundays when I am away from you, as much as I enjoy hearing other ministers preach, I miss being in the pulpit delivering God’s Word to you – I long to be in the pulpit whenever and as often as I can.

Yet, that should be true for all Christians. That is, everyone who has received the Gospel of Jesus Christ should have something in them that is bubbling up – something that makes us want to let others know. Like we have said – in various ways, depending on who we are and how God has gifted us. But we know the greatest and only saving news in heaven and earth and throughout all of eternity – can we keep quiet? Can we keep it to ourselves? Can we let our neighbors and friends and family members blindly walk down the corridor of time, never letting them know the Truth that we have received? Never letting them know that there is a hope and a future through Jesus?

I’ve got to tell the story of Jesus Christ of Nazareth! Peter and John had to tell: “Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge, for we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard.”
The religious government told them to stop teaching and preaching that Jesus had physically risen from the dead and that there is Only Salvation through Him Alone. And they said, “We can’t.” We can’t.

And the temple leaders threatened them again: “Well, you listen to us: you must stop preaching and teaching in the Name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth – or else ” That’s the best they could do to threaten them. The miracle that Jesus performed through them was too public, and the temple leaders were afraid of the people and what they might do if they tried to deny that the man who had been lame for forty years had been healed – he was standing right there – everyone knew him – there was nothing they could do.

Did Peter and John sin by not obeying the religious government? Remember what Paul wrote, “Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgement” (Romans 13:1-2, ESV). Peter and John did not obey – they resisted the government: did they sin? No.

Why not? Because what the religious government was commanding them to do was a sin. Everyone who holds a position of authority has been given that authority by God: both President Bush and President Obama have held the office of President because God put them there. We are to obey the government because those who are in authority have been put there by God. We may disagree with some of President Bush’s policies. We may disagree with some of President Obama’s policies. And in this country we have the freedom to disagree and express our opinion. But we are to subject ourselves to those in authority – those men and women who God has put in authority over us.

However, if the government commands to us sin, we must disobey the government and accept whatever punishment may follow. Understand, we may only disobey the government when we are clearly, biblically being commanded to sin. And, also understand, that if we disobey the government, we may have to suffer the consequences.

Some of us may believe it is wrong for the government to require us to pay taxes. However, it is not sinful for the government to require us to pay taxes. Paul wrote, “Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed” (Romans 13:7, ESV). It is not sinful to pay taxes, so we must pay the taxes levied on us.

However, if the government commands me – us – to stop preaching that Jesus is the Only Salvation – we must disobey. It would be a sin to preach that there is salvation in anyone other than Jesus Alone.

Another example: there has been an anti-racism bill – a hate crimes bill – floating around for some time that would make it a crime to say that homosexual acts are sinful. If that is ever passed, I will have to disobey it, because God has clearly stated in His Word that homosexual acts are sinful. It would be a sin for me to say that God did not say that something is a sin when God did say that it is a sin.

So, Peter and John were right to say that they couldn’t keep quiet – that they couldn’t obey the command of the religious leaders. And we, also, cannot obey the government when we are command to sin. But let us be careful, because, if something is not clearly a sin in the Scripture, we are to obey the government, even if we don’t agree with the government. And if we disobey the government, we also must be prepared and accept that we may be punished for our disobedience – even if we are right.

The leaders let Peter and John go – there was nothing more they could do at that point. And Peter and John went to their friends and told them what had happened and all that had been said, and they joined together in prayer.

They opened their prayer by recognizing that their God – the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ – is the God of heaven and earth – the God Who created everything that is, Who holds all authority over everything and everyone from before time and through the end of time. They acknowledged their faith and trust and confidence in He Who is Almighty and Sovereign.

Then the Holy Spirit let them understand that this is part of what was prophesied by David in Psalm 2:1-2 when he wrote, “Why did the Gentiles rage, and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers were gathered together, against the Lord and against his Anointed.”

Now, it is true that David was writing this Psalm about himself and how the nations were coming against him – the anointed king – and Israel – and against God, Himself, but the Holy Spirit helped them to understand that this is one of those times when a prophecy has more than one fulfillment – remember I have explained that prophecy is often like looking at a mountain range from a distance – they look like they are one on top of another, but they are actually far apart. So in prophecy, there is often one prophecy that is fulfilled in more than one step or time. Here we see that Psalm 2 is about King David, but also about his Son, King Jesus. As they explained in their prayer, “for truly in this city there were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel.”

And lest we forget – the Gentiles and the Jews sinned against Jesus and God for putting Jesus to death, but God also did a good thing – the greatest thing – in predestining the same act – Jesus’ Crucifixion: “to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place.” The human murderers of Jesus sinned, but God, in planning the same act, did something righteous and good.

Notice, now, what they asked for, “And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness.” The Christians prayed that Peter and John and all the Christians, in the face of the sinful command of the temple leaders, would boldly continue to preach and teach in the Name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth. They asked that they would be given the gift to be able to heal, to do signs and wonders, through the Name of Jesus. They prayed that they would continue to steadfastly do the same things that they were doing, in the Name of Jesus, and to the Glory of God, that they had been doing since the day of Pentecost – and even before.

Notice what they did not pray for: they did not pray to be delivered from persecution. They did not pray to be delivered from the evil of the temple leaders. They did not pray to be kept from being hunted down for being Christians. Understand, it is not wrong to pray for Christians who are being persecuted – that they would be delivered and kept safe – we are to pray for those Christians around the world who are being persecuted. But the primary issue of their prayer – and our prayer – is not to be that we will be physically safe, but that we will boldly announce the Gospel of Jesus Christ no matter what we may face in the way of opposition. The German martyr, Dietrich Bonhoffer wrote, “When Jesus calls a man, He bids him to come and die.”

When Jesus calls us to Himself, he bids us to die to ourselves, to die to our priorities, to die to everything that does not put the spread of the Gospel first and foremost – and if that means that we must die physically for our faith, so be it. Although that is unlikely in this country at this time, it is still happening around the world: Christians are still being put to death for believing – proclaiming – that Jesus is the Only Salvation. We ought to be in prayer for them. And we ought to be in prayer for those, like us, who are not really experiencing persecution – we need to pray that we will not become lazy, but will boldly continue to tell others that there is Only Salvation in Jesus Alone.

After they prayed, like on the day of Pentecost, God gave them a visible sign – the place where they were meeting shook. At the start of the persecution of the Church, they needed to have the physical sign of God’s approval and reception of their prayer – it’s unlikely that we will experience a physical manifestation to our prayers. But God does hear our prayers – and God answers every prayer that is prayed in Jesus’ Name according to His Will with a “yes.” That means that if we pray that we would also have boldness to let others know that there is salvation only in Jesus Alone, God will give it to us, because He wants us to go out and tell everyone His Gospel.

So, just like on that day, we will be filled with the Holy Spirit – He will gift us with what we need to be His witnesses – and we will “continue[] to speak the word of God with boldness.”

I intend to meet with the Mayor and our congresswoman tomorrow, and I will let you know what it is about – unless it is a secret! But whatever he has to say or ask of me, I will make it clear to him that I cannot compromise the Gospel of Jesus Christ and I will not say anything less than that there is Only Salvation in Jesus Alone. I would ask that you would pray for me to be bold before him for the sake of the Gospel, and let us pray for each other that we would not be afraid of what humans can do to us, but for the joy that we receive through Christ Jesus, let us confess that we “cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard.”

May God give us boldness and the words to speak.

Let us pray:
Sovereign God, Creator, Sustainer, and Ruler of the Creation, we rejoice and give thanks that You have been pleased to let us know Jesus and His Salvation and that You have now called all of us to boldly go out from this place and let others know – through many and various ways – that Jesus is the Only Way, the Only Truth, the Only Life, the Only Salvation. Give us boldness, we pray. Assure us of the Truth of Your Gospel. Minister to us with Your Grace as we receive the bread and the cup of the Sacrament that is before us. Make us useful and use us to Your Glory and the furtherance of Your Kingdom. For it is in Jesus’ Name we pray, Amen.