January 17, 2010

Acts 12:1-19

I think most of you are aware of the devastating earthquake that hit Haiti this week. The poorest country in the world just got hit again by another devastating natural disaster.

The pictures of the destruction and pain are truly haunting. The loss of lives and of infrastructure has left them in desperate need.

Also, many of you are aware of a statement that Pat Robertson made. He said the earthquake was caused because of the country’s “pack with the devil.”

Now, many things have gone wrong in Haiti over the centuries but I disagree with Robertson’s interpretation. Our God does not cause evil. Instead, the Christian God suffers with those who suffer. God is in the midst of the tragedy – comforting the hurting and working to bring good out of it.

I know that many resources are pouring in and MCC is also responding, but I would like for us to spend a few moments in prayer for them right now. Let’s pray.

Well, today we are continuing our sermon series from the book of Acts. Last week we looked at the church in Antioch and learned that this is the place where they were first called “Christian”.

The church in Antioch was known for being interracial, interdependent, wildly generous, compassionate, and eager to learn what it means to follow Jesus in life.

The early church experienced some phenomenal growth up to this point, but they also experienced some severe persecution.

At first, the persecution came primarily from religious leaders. But in our scripture today – King Herod now gets in on the persecution too.

Herod begins first of all by executing the Apostle James. Luke doesn’t tell us why Herod had James killed, but we do know that Herod was somewhat popular with the Jewish people.

Herod may have been trying to solidify the favor of the Jewish people and to show his Roman overlords that he will not tolerate this new Christian movement.

When Herod discovers that his “poll numbers” rose significantly when he killed James – he decides to arrest Peter and have him killed too.

I think Luke tells the story here in such a way because he wants us to know that our political leaders do have this kind of power.

I think all of us know that presidents and rulers and kings – with the stroke of a pen or by making a speech – can send thousands of innocent people into poverty or war.

• When Jesus was born – Herod slaughtered all the male children because he felt threatened by this new king.
• Herod later had John the Baptist beheaded because he was pleased over a particular dance at a banquet.
• And now, he has James killed and Peter arrested because he needs Jewish support for him to remain in power.

One of the ironic things in this story is that Peter’s imprisonment comes during the “Passover” celebration.

Passover – is the festive celebration of Jewish deliverance from Egyptian bondage. And for these new Christians it was also the celebration of Jesus’ death and resurrection.

The problem is that Peter finds himself not celebrating liberation, but languishing in prison for his faith.

The very people, who once saw God deliver them from slavery, are now making prisoners of their own people during the feast of liberation. It reminds us of how quickly the oppressed can become the oppressors.

Luke also impresses upon us in verse 4 with how humanly impossible Peter’s situation appears to be.

Since Peter had escaped from prison once before – this time Herod has four squads of soldiers guarding him.

Peter is chained to a guard on either side of him and then there are soldiers guarding all of the doors. Security has never been tighter.

Herod’s political career is on the line here and he not only wants to sound tough, he wants to make sure that Peter does not get away this time.

Now, an important question for the church is – what will they do to respond to James’ death and Peter’s imprisonment?

Will the church take up arms as Peter tried to do in the garden to protect Jesus – after the last supper – when Peter cut off the guard’s ear?

Or will their response be different this time?

In verse 5 Luke tells us the church responds by praying. Instead of taking up arms the church calls on its “prayer chain”.

We might have hoped for a more effective strategy against this injustice and oppression by the state, but the real “power of the church” is the “power of prayer!”

The scene described here is similar to the scene in the OT between Elijah and the Baal prophets. It is a contest between the “praying church” and a “wicked king”.

Luke, then, goes on to tell us the night before Herod is to have Peter killed – God sends an angel to free him.

The angel tells Peter to “fasten his belt and put on his sandals” because they are moving out!

After his escape from prison – Peter heads over to Mary’s house where one group had gathered to pray for him.

Now, the story of what happens next is actually quite humorous.

When Rhoda, the maid, answers Peter’s knock on the door – she is so overjoyed that she leaves Peter standing in the street while she runs back in to tell everyone that Peter is outside.

Their response to her is – “you are crazy!”

And when she keeps insisting that Peter really is outside – these people of “great faith” tell Rhoda that she must be hearing and seeing his angel.

By this time Rhoda probably felt like many other women – Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James and others – when they tried to convince the disciples of Jesus’ resurrection and they wouldn’t believe them.

Meanwhile, as they debate whether Rhoda is crazy or not – Peter is outside knocking on the door trying to get in. He was able to get out of a highly secured prison but he couldn’t seem to get in the home of his friends.

Finally, when the prayer group goes out to look for themselves – they are shocked! Peter is actually alive and free and standing in front of them.

In a strange kind of way this story is rather comforting to me. We get to see a picture of the early church – not as great heroes or heroines of the faith – but as muddled and doubting people of faith.

They are just like us – praying and wanting to believe, but they feel weak and powerless in the face of such beefed up security and the forces of evil at work in the world.

Now, what might a story like this have meant to the early church and what might it mean for us in the early part of the 21^st century?

1. I think one thing this story reveals is that too often we believe more in the power of the state and our political leaders than we do in the unlimited power of God.

Like the early church – we see the power of the state represented in the security forces guarding Peter and we give up and say to ourselves – there is nothing we can do.

The power of the state and the forces of evil in our world can seem overwhelming. We can feel powerless to make any difference.

• When we see a natural disaster like the one in Haiti – we say what can we do?
• When we see new prisons being built as “public housing” and being filled with our young men and women – we say what can we do?
• When we see the gap between the rich and the poor increasing – we say what can we do?
• When we see homelessness increasing and the need for affordable housing growing – we say what can we do?
• When we see our tax dollars going to pay for wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and not being used for community development or health care or education – we say what can we do?

I confess this morning that too often my faith is weak and I doubt that we can make a difference.

1. A number of years ago when I was living in Raleigh, NC I remember when a young man from our church wanted to change the design and location of a “Persian Gulf War Memorial” that was to be built honoring those killed in the war.

My immediate thought was – he is crazy. It isn’t worth his energy or our time to get involved in this.

I knew the Kuwaiti government was giving $100,000 and Senator Jesse Helms was putting all his influence behind it. I just knew we had no chance of making a difference.

But like the early church when Peter was released – I found myself shocked and amazed when many of the changes asked for in the monument were actually made.

God does move in mysterious ways.

1. Or when I think about us purchasing this building my first response when I saw this building was – it is too big and we will never be able to afford it.

And yet here we are today and God has provided a way for us to be here and the building is paid for. Now, it still needs improvements but I was surprised by how God worked in our midst and provided this building for us.

God still answers prayers.

1. Or as we celebrate the life and message of Dr. Martin Luther King this week I am always amazed at his influence on this country. This country was born in genocide and developed on the backs of slaves and yet Dr. King helped us move forward.

We aren’t yet the “beloved community” he talked about but who would have imagined a few years ago that we could even think about having an African American president given our history?

So, a question this morning is – who is your Peter in prison that you think nothing can be done for?

Our scripture today ends with Peter being freed from prison and King Herod dead – eaten by worms.

The message to this vibrant young church was – no chains, no prisons, and not even Herod’s power can stop the movement of God.

The forces of evil are strong and sometimes they can be brutal and crushing – but in the end they do not have the last word. God does and God is still at work today bringing healing and hope and reconciliation to our world.

1. The other thing this story reveals to me is that God desires us to pray boldly and then open ourselves to receive the gifts God gives us.

It seems to me that there are two parts to prayer: there is the “listening and praying boldly part” and then there is the “entrusting to God our requests.”

We usually do well at “entrusting to God” our requests. We can easily say – “God, your will be done.”

I think the more difficult part for us is – the praying boldly part.

Like the early church we might find it hard to pray boldly – because if the Apostle James was killed – surely Peter will be killed too – so why pray for his release?

Instead of praying for his release – we may simply pray that he will be strong in his suffering. To pray for strength in suffering is a good thing too – we need strength as well.

But this story invites us to “pray boldly”. To make “daring requests” of God. Just because we got “no” for an answer in the past doesn’t mean we will get “no” for an answer this time.

Jesus even tells a parable about the need for us to be “persistent in prayer”. Jesus says, if human beings know how to give good gifts to their children – how much more will God give the Holy Spirit to those to ask him.

Jesus taught his disciples to ask, seek, and to keep on knocking until they got an answer.

So God wants us to be persistent in prayer. God wants us to pray boldly for God’s kingdom to come on earth as it is in heaven.

Walter Wink in his book on “Engaging the Powers” says that it is through prayer that Christians bring about change in the world. It is through prayer that we participate with what God is doing in the world.

I know that some of us struggle with “praying boldly” because it can be associated with some forms of “faith healing”.  Some people believe that if you are not healed – it is because you did not have enough faith.

Many people have been hurt by this kind of thinking and so they shy away from asking God for anything.

And yet God wants us to “pray boldly” and at the same time to “receive graciously whatever God gives us.” God also wants us to pray – Not my will, but your will be done.

So, another question for us today is – who is your Peter in prison that God wants you to pray for? Who or what has God placed on your heart to be persistent in prayer about?

And then, after you have prayed – are you ready to accept whatever God gives you? Many times I think God wants us to open the door and gratefully receive what the Lord has given to us.

This story of Peter in prison reminds me of Paul’s words to the Roman church when he proclaimed:

“If God is for us… then who is against us? In all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation – will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Today, in a world where the forces of evil can seem overpowering – we need to be reminded that nothing can separate us from the love of God.

The Christian journey we are on can be a hard and dangerous journey at times, but the good news is that God is always with us and goes before us.

So, we need to “fasten our seatbelts” and be prepared to journey where ever God leads because God still opens doors and removes chains.

And because God is with us – we can pray boldly and live daringly – knowing that nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus.

(Communion – go down front)