Rough Road Ahead – June 20, 2021

Psalm 29, Acts 5:12-42
June 20, 2021

You see those signs on the road.  “Rough Road Ahead.”  What do you do?  The first thing is you try to think what that might mean.  Potholes?  Milled road?  Bumps?  Uneven pavement?  Who knows? Then maybe you slow down?  You prepare yourself.  You grip the wheel a little harder.  You take another road!  And if you don’t, when you’re in it, maybe you’re thinking, “How much longer can this last?”

When I’m on a plane, and the air is choppy, it helps me a lot just knowing how much longer!  I hate it when things get bumpy and the seatbelt light comes on, and there’s no explanation.  Is it going to be a short time?  Or is it going to be like this for the rest of the flight?  For me, all the captain has to do is talk, and that makes all the difference!  Whether he says this will be a brief time or if it will be for the rest of the flight, still, that calming voice eases any anxiety I might have.

That’s been one of the tough things about this pandemic.  We’ve just not known how long!  We’ve been driving down a rough road, and even though there seems now to be light at the end of a much longer tunnel than we ever anticipated, still the “not knowing how long” has been a hard part of this!

I was thinking that the disciples had a rough road ahead!  We’re in the beginning of Acts, and the persecution of the believers has only just begun.  And they didn’t know how long it would be, either.  And yes, it would be an amazing and miraculous time!  But it would also be a time of hardship.  And through those hard times, I believe they had that calming voice of their captain.  And with it, they knew they’d be ok.

As we pick up the story for today, we have a picture of that “amazing and miraculous time.”  Luke tells us, that “Many signs and wonders were done among the people by the hands of the Apostles.”  And yet we have this interesting addition to that statement.  “None of the rest dared join them, but the people held them in high honor.”

There was still fear!  They knew the disposition of the authorities.  They had already been thrown into jail once!  But still, the people were believing in even greater numbers, and they came to them with their sick and possessed!  And I love this description, “They even carried their sick into the streets, and laid them on beds and pallets, that as Peter came by, at least his shadow might fall on some of them!”  Can we imagine that?  This was an amazing time!

As that paragraph closes, we have this.  “The people also gathered from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing the sick and those afflicted with unclean spirits, and they were all healed!”  This is a mass healing!  For me, it’s reminiscent of the time early in Jesus’ ministry, right after he had healed Peter’s mother-in-law.  Do you remember that?  The people crowded around Peter’s house, and they brought to Jesus all the sick and infirmed and possessed, from the whole region!  Well, this was like that!  Remember in the upper room, Jesus said, “Greater things than these will you do, because I go to the father.” (John 14:12)  And that has come true.

Well, what the people feared a few verses back has also come true.  The disciples were arrested and thrown in prison… again!  And this is the “rough road ahead” for them!  And it’s only just begun!

As we read today, they were arrested, and then they were miraculously released from prison.  And where did soldiers find them?  They found them out in public, teaching the people… again!  And so they arrested them… yet again!  And this time Luke describes it like this.  They arrested them “but without violence, for they were afraid of being stoned by the people!”  The stakes were high, weren’t they?!

So the Apostles were brought before the council… again!  And this time Luke is careful to say that “The High Priest called together the council, and all the Senate of Israel.”  We didn’t have those words before.  “All the Senate of Israel!”  It appears that this has now been elevated to a higher level.  And so they questioned them, saying, “We charged you not to teach in this name.”  Notice, they questioned them concerning the violation of their injunction!  We talked about last week.”  They “charged” them not to speak to the people in Jesus’ name.  We know that’s not what’s ultimately at stake here, but legally, that’s the issue before them.  That’s the power the religious leaders had.

“We charged you not to speak in this name, and yet here you have filled all Jerusalem with your teaching, and you intend to bring this man’s blood upon us.”  Notice also, that the Apostles’ message was not just that God had come to earth and brought redemption.  The message also included the accusation that the religious leaders of Israel were the ones that had Jesus crucified!  That was part of their message.  At least at first.  And that made things worse for them!

Would things have gone better for them if Peter had just stuck to the message of Jesus?  Did the religious authorities begin to see that accusation as the worst part of their message?  Were they fearful of losing their power and influence over the people because of it?  That does seem to be at least a part of the objection they had.

Whatever the reason, the road ahead appeared to be “rough going.”  These religious leaders were more than mad.  In our story, “They were enraged, and they wanted to kill them!”  That’s what Luke tells us.  And that’s when Gamaliel stands and gives them this wonderful advice.  “Leave these men alone.” he said.  “If what they are doing is their own idea, it will fail.  But if what they are doing is of God, you will not be able to stop them.  And you might even find yourselves fighting against God!”  As I’ve said, I’ve always loved that passage!

Well, the council took his advice.  The “council” took his “counsel.”  But they hardly left them alone!  “They beat them, and charged them again not to speak in the name of Jesus, and then they let them go.”  We can only imagine what that looked like!  They beat them and gave them another “cease and desist order.”  And then Luke tells us, that “They left the presence of the council rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor because of the name of Jesus!”  We love that, don’t we!

And it would be a rough road ahead.  We can’t imagine what that was like to be persecuted for the name of Jesus – especially in the early days like this, when the whole “Jesus thing” had not yet been firmly established.  We have two thousand years of history and tradition  Our “church life” is all beauty and inspiration.  We have wonderful sanctuaries and stained glass.

All they had was the message.  And that message was everything!  All they had was the call of God.  And that call was enough!  Sure, at times they must have felt like Elijah, running from the soldiers of Jezebel, looking for a cave to hide in.  Sometimes they must have wished the voice of God would be in the earthquake, wind, and fire.  But I think always they heard God speaking to them in that still, small voice.

That same still, small voice is what we listen for.  For we have the same message.  And I hope we see that the message is everything!  We have the same call.  I hope we see that the call is enough!  I hope we see their rough road ahead, and know that, even in the rough roads we must travel, we too have the calming voice of our captain, assuring us that, that no matter what lies ahead of us on that road, he is with us, and we’ll be alright.

Prayer

Eternal God, we know that life isn’t always easy, but we also know that you are always present.  Help us to know that.  Help us to feel the touch of your Spirit.  Help us to hear your still, small voice.  Help us to have your strength and your peace, no matter what the road ahead. For we pray in our Savior’s name, Amen.