Rancho Bernardo Community Presbyterian Church

Acts 4:5-13

A few weeks ago, Bruce began a summer series tied to the theme of “Transitions.” He has been using the story of the Exodus, the Hebrew people journeying out of Egypt under Moses’ leadership. Bruce is away this weekend, in Alaska for the wedding of one of his daughters. But we are going to stick with the transitions theme.

My family has been experiencing the effects of transition quite personally. We have lived in San Diego since October, and in that time Bruce took his sabbatical, Tim Beal accepted another call and moved in Maryland, the second campus property and formation of the Porch was thrown for a loop, and other changes on church staff have created a transitional environment from the chair I sit in. All that thrown in with the usual moving cross country stuff, new house, learning our way around, making new friends, and learning a few thousand names (not all there yet).

When Tim preached, he would occasionally use a movie clip with a poignant point to illustrate what he was talking about. In following his lead, I found a movie clip that truly illustrates what my family is going through. [movie clip from Madagascar where the four characters are reunited on the beach trying to figure out where they are. Ends with Marty saying “I can hang here.”

We sincerely love it here. This place is “crack-a-lackin’.” But because we like where we are, that doesn’t mean the transition is easy. Even the transitions we like, where we feel like God is leading us through, we still might find ourselves in difficult places. For this weekend, I would like to consider one of those transitional times when great things are happening, but we are still stretched. Are we Jesus’ people in these transitional times?

The beginning of the church was a transitional time. Jesus is gone, and the church is being born, people are believing by the thousands. Things could get out of hand real quick in that environment. I’m sure the disciples and those early believers were blown away by the moving of the Holy Spirit„othat place (first century Jerusalem) was “crack-a-lackin’.” But it wasn’t easy.

In Acts 3, Peter and John are preaching the good news of Jesus in public places and doing miraculous healings in Jesus’ name, and people are believing! So the Hebrew rulers, priests, and elders are getting anxious. In the beginning of Acts 4, John and Peter are arrested for their continued preaching.

The next day their rulers, elders, and scribes assembled in Jerusalem, with Annas the high priest, Caiaphas, John, and Alexander, and all who were of the high-priestly family. When they had made the prisoners stand in their midst, they inquired, “By what power or by what name did you do this?” Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Rulers of the people and elders, if we are questioned today because of a good deed done to someone who was sick and are asked how this man has been healed, let it be known to all of you, and to all the people of Israel, that this man is standing before you in good health by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead. This Jesus is ‘the stone that was rejected by you, the builders; it has become the cornerstone.’ There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among mortals by which we must be saved.” Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John and realized that they were uneducated and ordinary men, they were amazed and recognized them as companions of Jesus.

- Acts 4:5-13

Uneducated and ordinary men; and the rulers and elders were amazed at them. What a great comeback for Peter. So often ridiculed and scorned as a thick-headed stubborn mule who just didn’t get it. And here, on trial, incredibly bold. What a compliment to Peter and John: they were recognized as companions of Jesus.

But wait, what about the first time Peter was publicly recognized and singled out as having been with Jesus. You remember, in Luke 22:54-62 Peter is recognized by three people as “one of those with him,” and he denies it. The results of being recognized as being with Jesus were not so good.

Now, here in Acts, Peter is recognized as having been with Jesus, and the results are much different. What does someone who has been with Jesus look like? And why are the results so different?

The first time Peter is recognized (Luke 22), he is alone. In Acts, it specifically mentions Peter and John. Peter has transitioned from trying to follow Jesus by himself without getting too close, to leading others to Jesus with a partner, within a community.

One of the responsibilities I have been given here at this church is small groups. For me, small groups have been a place of tremendous growth in my faith. Regular, consistently meeting small groups through high school, college, and the years after college. With family and life circumstances, time limitations, challenging logistics, still working out how this can be a significant piece of my spiritual growth. Participating, leading, joining existing, starting new, I have done almost all of it with small groups.

So here is one of, if not the most important reason for small group life in a church: to experience biblical community. Relational connection is foundational to our faith. The triune God is a relational God, and we are created in that image. One of the biggest weaknesses of large church life is the incredible barrier to authentic, biblical, relational connection. Just because we meet here on weekends, and know a bunch of people on a first-name basis does not mean we are living in community with the Holy Spirit or one another. One could experience as much community going to watch a movie in a theater as some might here on a weekend!

Bruce last week talked about people who need people. I don’t need to attempt to redo that, but it is worth revisiting. Peter went from being alone while he followed Jesus to being in a community of people who followed Jesus and opened the doors for others to follow him too.

Another difference in Peter is his personal transition from self-preserving to sacrificial. When Peter is recognized at the denial, he is in a mode of preserving his own life. In Acts, he is willing to give everything he is away, even his life, to proclaim the good news. This is a tough one for me. Even as a pastor, a model citizen, an example of devotion, a thoughtful, scholarly communicator, and quite humble(!), sacrificial living is really tough.

Social security, 401k, health insurance, auto insurance, home owners insurance, stocked refrigerator, stocked pantry, gas heat, AC (in my house, my car, my office), etc.; there is very little in our culture that teaches or allows or asks us to be sacrificial. Don’t get me wrong, none of those things I listed are bad, in fact I don’t know which I would find easy to give up. Here’s my struggle. We are so comfortable, we have so much, and it seems like “this is how everyone has it.”

I fear many of us might be a lot like that rich young ruler, who approached Jesus to ask, “What must I do to get eternal life?” “Follow the commandments,” Jesus replies. Yes! We are in, we do that. “What do I still lack?” Waiting for the “nothing” reply, instead we hear, “go, sell all your possessions and give to the poor, then come follow me.” Kick me in the gut, I like cool cell phones and fast computers. And we are told in Scripture to take care of ourselves, to have Sabbath, to be good stewards of what we have. I am conflicted.

So we see in Jesus one willing to lay down his life, to sacrifice himself on the cross, a model of sacrificial living. Then we see in Peter, that same willingness, and he is recognized as having been with Jesus. Does it take a life or death situation to know my true faith? It might … I hope not.

One last thing to point out today, we notice in Peter that he is recognized for his boldness. When Peter denies Jesus, he is scared. Here in Acts, he is bold. Why the difference? Prior to the resurrection, I would argue that Peter allowed WHAT he is dictate his response to the situation. What was he? He was lonely, self-preserving, he was recognized as a “Galilean,” not someone of prominence or stature. He played the part of what he was, “ordinary and uneducated.”

Then, in Acts, a transition happened. After the resurrection, WHAT he is does not dictate his response to the situation, rather WHO he is forms how he responds. WHO is he: 1 Peter 1:1 Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ; 1 Peter 1:3-5 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade-- kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.

In Peter’s transition from pre-resurrection to post-resurrection, what he is doesn’t change, especially in the eyes of those who ordered him imprisoned. He is ordinary and uneducated. But who he is (an apostle, newly born into living hope, in line for inheritance, shielded by God), empowers him to live boldly for Jesus.

Are you one to respond to circumstances because of WHAT you are? What you’ve done, or what you’ve accomplished? Or are you one that is able to respond because of WHO you are? Are you one WHO is recognized as a companion of Jesus?